Whether children have access to formal education or not, what they do need in terms of a foundation are literacy and numeracy skills. They may be taught in
school or in any other way. With these pandemic-induced school closures, these
skills even for those going to school have been compromised, creating learning
gaps that will take targeted efforts to fill.
Tell us about your background, journey, and upbringing.
After spending over 25 years on the corporate side, my last assignment being the CEO of Motorola managing the countries in South Asia, I joined Magic Bus. Besides I also started two technology start-ups, one a social venture & the other for-profit.
I have worked in ASEAN, managed businesses at the APAC level for over 10 years. I joined Magic Bus in September 2016, the organization had grown -thanks to the Companies Act which meant more corporate money coming in. As a result our programs had grown, as had the teams running them.
And while the organization had scaled, its systems and processes—be it financial systems, delivery, impact, HR & culture & due diligence processes—had not kept pace. This was worrisome, but at the same time also an opportunity to improve things.
Since then, my journey with Magic Bus as Global CEO has been extremely gratifying. As I continue learning & working to solve generational old complex problems related to poverty, gender equity, sustainable livelihoods. We have built one of the finest teams, which is a mix of development and corporate sectors.
It leverages the best of both the for-profit & not-for-profit worlds. Having introduced technology innovations we have been able to strengthen efficiency, transparency and program delivery at scale resulting in Magic Bus is one of the most automated NGOs today.
It leverages the best of both the for-profit & not-for-profit worlds. Having introduced technology innovations we have been able to strengthen efficiency, transparency and program delivery at scale resulting in Magic Bus is one of the most automated NGOs today.
We are very happy to have become one of the strongest sectoral organizations,
recognized as one of the top 5 NGOs in India*. It's just not about efficiency, it’s also about carrying the teams with you, and we have a fairly large team of 5000+ employees -direct & indirect. Building a strong culture of respect, diversity, innovation & risk-taking and not being afraid to fail.
I always remember Ratan Tata’s quote, “If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk together.” This is something I have always believed in and just to elaborate this further, will share a first-hand perspective.
Magic Bus is a wonderful organization and has always had a very strong DNA of innovation and also using sports as a means of building life skills. And as part of the growth phase, it was going through the usual problems that an organization does.
recognized as one of the top 5 NGOs in India*. It's just not about efficiency, it’s also about carrying the teams with you, and we have a fairly large team of 5000+ employees -direct & indirect. Building a strong culture of respect, diversity, innovation & risk-taking and not being afraid to fail.
I always remember Ratan Tata’s quote, “If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk together.” This is something I have always believed in and just to elaborate this further, will share a first-hand perspective.
Magic Bus is a wonderful organization and has always had a very strong DNA of innovation and also using sports as a means of building life skills. And as part of the growth phase, it was going through the usual problems that an organization does.
One of the key issues, when I joined four years back, was the motivation of the employees, Our Employee Net promoter Score(ENPS) was -35 (which meant that hardly any employees would recommend Magic Bus as a good place to work). We religiously do our ENPS survey every year and our recent survey showed that our scores have moved up to +56, which is a very good space to be in & which means the employees are well aligned and consider the organization a very good place to work.
The important point is that Magic Bus has been on a journey of massive transformation across the organization in terms of bringing in systems, technology & processes, and a change in the leadership team.
The important point is that Magic Bus has been on a journey of massive transformation across the organization in terms of bringing in systems, technology & processes, and a change in the leadership team.
It shows that despite the massive changes Magic Bus has been able to carry its
team and keep them aligned to the overall mission & vision. This has been great learning for me in terms of carrying large teams through a big transformation. My journey of learning continues & gives me the much-needed impetus to carry on.
team and keep them aligned to the overall mission & vision. This has been great learning for me in terms of carrying large teams through a big transformation. My journey of learning continues & gives me the much-needed impetus to carry on.
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When and how did you get clarity on what you wanted to do?
I have always had an inclination for the social sector. My father was a bureaucrat and we moved around India. During my growing years, I have seen my mother actively working towards women’s welfare.
Post-Motorola, I followed my entrepreneurial ambitions and co-founded two technology-led ventures - one a social venture focused on providing affordable healthcare for the less privileged and the other an aggregator platform for commercial transportation.
I thought that post my corporate stint I could leverage my experience of scaling organizations and building robust processes in contributing to the growth journey of a social sector organization. Magic Bus had worked with a million children in developing life skills through sports.
I thought that post my corporate stint I could leverage my experience of scaling organizations and building robust processes in contributing to the growth journey of a social sector organization. Magic Bus had worked with a million children in developing life skills through sports.
I realized that the opportunity of enabling these children complete their school
education and further attain sustainable livelihoods would directly enable them to move out of poverty.
education and further attain sustainable livelihoods would directly enable them to move out of poverty.
In addition, I also saw an opportunity to widen the outreach and deepen the impact of Magic Bus through focused technology-based solutions across the organizational processes. This was a really compelling cause and a sweet spot for me.
What does your typical workday look like?
It's every CEO's ambition to build good and strong teams, having motivated & passionate employees, and creating an organization that is world-class in every aspect of it. My four Mantras, which have kept me in good stead are,
This is even more important in the current situation.
Problems happen when teams are not aligned and one of the main tasks of the leadership team is to see that we are able to transparently communicate top-down, and also have an equally effective cascade of information traveling bottoms up.
It's every CEO's ambition to build good and strong teams, having motivated & passionate employees, and creating an organization that is world-class in every aspect of it. My four Mantras, which have kept me in good stead are,
- The attitude of gratitude: being thankful for what we have and having the right attitude. Even when we are hiring new employees we are very careful to not compromise on the attitude part
- Forgive & Forget: One needs to move in professional life. There are times that we might not be the best and so is the case with our colleagues. We should be able to forget any mishappenings & move on for a good congenial working environment.
- Be a team player: We spend a good part of our life every day with our colleagues, it's important to enjoy our work, to be able to impart energy into any meetings/projects we are part of.
- SQ: Everyone talks about EQ & IQ, but the most important quality is to be able to bounce back. SQ- Survival Quotient, brings out our ability to get back in case of failure.
This is even more important in the current situation.
Problems happen when teams are not aligned and one of the main tasks of the leadership team is to see that we are able to transparently communicate top-down, and also have an equally effective cascade of information traveling bottoms up.
It's important that every function understands and aligns with the overall objective of the organization as a clear strategy to which everybody is committed. understands and aligns with the overall objective of the organization as a clear strategy to which everybody is committed.
I am responsible for the overall functioning, health, outcomes & the impact of the organization, It’s my job to see that there is alignment and connect the dots so that the organization marches along with its mission and purpose.
I am responsible for the overall functioning, health, outcomes & the impact of the organization, It’s my job to see that there is alignment and connect the dots so that the organization marches along with its mission and purpose.
Several global companies have come out and thrown their support behind not needing a formal education. What is your opinion about this?
It is not so much about formal education or not, as education itself happens in many ways, schooling is just one of them.
It is not so much about formal education or not, as education itself happens in many ways, schooling is just one of them.
There is informal education, learning of a family trade that the child sees and possibly engages with every day, there is work they ‘see’ and learn from the agricultural fields and while grazing animals, while collecting firewood or cooking, and there is the kind of experiential, activity-based learning that magic bus supports and facilitates to prepare children for life and work.
Whether children have access to formal education or not, what they do need in terms of a foundation are literacy and numeracy skills. They may be taught in
school or in any other way. With these pandemic-induced school closures, these
skills even for those going to school have been compromised, creating learning
gaps that will take targeted efforts to fill.
Whether children have access to formal education or not, what they do need in terms of a foundation are literacy and numeracy skills. They may be taught in
school or in any other way. With these pandemic-induced school closures, these
skills even for those going to school have been compromised, creating learning
gaps that will take targeted efforts to fill.
We, at Magic Bus, try to promote an interest in learning primarily in the child being a lifelong learner and that is beyond just being a student in school. Our community learning centers engage children with science and math experiments, improve reading, vocabulary, and comprehension through stories.
That does more to remove the fear of math, science, reading than learning in school, which at times might be rote.
So, in a nutshell, the debate is not really about needing or not needing formal education. It is definitely about creating opportunities to promote experientially
learning, engage with children/learners at their pace and build continued interest in learning.
learning, engage with children/learners at their pace and build continued interest in learning.
All of these now are recognized in the new national education policy, which inspires a lot of hope towards recrafting education itself, in and outside of schools.
How do you handle someone who has lied on their resume?
It’s been our endeavor to have the best talent in Magic Bus. We have made our whole recruitment process so rigorous with multiple rounds of interviews, written tests, and at times Psychometric tests (for senior positions), that it would become very difficult for someone to put a false claim.
It’s been our endeavor to have the best talent in Magic Bus. We have made our whole recruitment process so rigorous with multiple rounds of interviews, written tests, and at times Psychometric tests (for senior positions), that it would become very difficult for someone to put a false claim.
Besides, we also do a very rigorous check for all the potential joiners. I very much doubt anybody can get away with the rigor of our recruitment processes.
What are some of your typical challenges and how have they evolved over time?
When I joined one of the main challenges was around self-reporting, data authenticity, and governance. We were able to bring in technology with strong governance & a stronger delivery mechanism.
We also validated, everything that we did with a strong maker-checker system, be it our Financial or HR processes or the massive data that we collect through our operations team.
When I joined one of the main challenges was around self-reporting, data authenticity, and governance. We were able to bring in technology with strong governance & a stronger delivery mechanism.
We also validated, everything that we did with a strong maker-checker system, be it our Financial or HR processes or the massive data that we collect through our operations team.
This has helped us do two things,…..This tells everyone in the system that data integrity is paramount and it also helps us take proactive measures before things go completely south.
We have built top-class governance & compliance for our internal & external processes, along with the very high quality of delivery of programs & deepened impact which gives funders great comfort in partnering with Magic Bus.
We believe that change takes time and our adolescent programs are delivered over a number of years. We find at times funding gaps because of the long cycle and because a major part of our funding comes from corporate donors.
We have built top-class governance & compliance for our internal & external processes, along with the very high quality of delivery of programs & deepened impact which gives funders great comfort in partnering with Magic Bus.
We believe that change takes time and our adolescent programs are delivered over a number of years. We find at times funding gaps because of the long cycle and because a major part of our funding comes from corporate donors.
To mitigate the situation we have decided that wherever we work we will be there for a certain minimum period for the change to happen and have started building a diversified funding portfolio with institutional funders, HNIs, Family foundations & Individual giving besides the CSR.
The external environment is changing continuously & more so with technology becoming the mainstay. It is important to keep the skill sets & build capacities for the employees to stay in tune with the new needs. This is an ever-evolving journey.
The external environment is changing continuously & more so with technology becoming the mainstay. It is important to keep the skill sets & build capacities for the employees to stay in tune with the new needs. This is an ever-evolving journey.
What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs or those eyeing the top job?
I have been an entrepreneur with one of my projects being a miserable failure. & I probably learned more from this. My advice is to go for your passion, don’t overthink or over plan. Saying that the right amount is essential.
I have been an entrepreneur with one of my projects being a miserable failure. & I probably learned more from this. My advice is to go for your passion, don’t overthink or over plan. Saying that the right amount is essential.
It is sometimes good to get the project started, rather than being at the conceptualisation stage all the time It's not necessary that everything you conceive will work as it is. Once you get sorted things will evolve. One should be ready to accept the change.
Which is your favorite book and why?
Two of my current favorites are Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think- Anna Rosling Rönnlund, Hans Rosling, and Ola Rosling And Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas.
These books bring a sense of balance between one telling us with data why the world is better than what we think it is (Factfulness) and the other book – Winners Take all says there’s a lot the world needs to improve.
I believe the life is about equilibrium and a sense of balance, it is for our choosing
how we would like to view it.
Two of my current favorites are Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think- Anna Rosling Rönnlund, Hans Rosling, and Ola Rosling And Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas.
These books bring a sense of balance between one telling us with data why the world is better than what we think it is (Factfulness) and the other book – Winners Take all says there’s a lot the world needs to improve.
I believe the life is about equilibrium and a sense of balance, it is for our choosing
how we would like to view it.
Bio -
Jayant is committed to innovations that lead to social outcomes, and this has helped evidence-based programming & deepened the impact. Prior to joining Magic Bus, he co-founded a social venture focused on providing affordable healthcare. Jayant has also served as the Country Manager & CEO for Motorola Solutions and ASEAN Director of Novell.
He has brought his private–sector management approach to Magic Bus and implemented strong systems and processes to increase efficiencies, reduce administration costs and ensure transparency and accuracy in donor reporting.
Jayant has a long track record of building partnerships and fostering collaborative relationships. This has been key to building Magic Bus’ fundraising capabilities. Magic Bus has also successfully forged new relationships with government authorities across different states in India.
Jayant values diversity and inclusion and can be credited with focusing recruiting efforts to bring about a greater gender balance in the organization.
Jayant is a disciplined follower of yoga and maintains a balanced fitness regime in his daily life.
Jayant has a long track record of building partnerships and fostering collaborative relationships. This has been key to building Magic Bus’ fundraising capabilities. Magic Bus has also successfully forged new relationships with government authorities across different states in India.
Jayant values diversity and inclusion and can be credited with focusing recruiting efforts to bring about a greater gender balance in the organization.
Jayant is a disciplined follower of yoga and maintains a balanced fitness regime in his daily life.
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2 Comments
Good Journey Jayant! Super!
ReplyDeleteReally feeling proud of you
ReplyDeleteGreat going