An astute HR professional with nearly 18 years of diverse experience in luxury wines and spirits, fashion and lifestyle retail, and the sports industry, Ankita Gupta has been a seasoned HR practitioner, having worked with global brands. Ankita is currently the Head of Human Resources and Learning and Development for the footwear business of the landmark group for the GCC, which includes Shoemart, Shoexpress, and Pablosky Brand. She has a B. Tech. degree in electronics and communication and a double master’s degree with a specialization in HR and IR. Strong experience in partnering with business leaders and CXOs as a strategic business partner and coach to drive result focused HR interventions aligned with business goals.
A dynamic go-getter with multi-tasking abilities who drives efforts towards achieving organizational goals, Ankita has a fierce resolve for achieving goals and is very persistent in forging forward. She has solid discipline and the determination to see that what she strives for will come true. With her ability to translate vision into reality and act on plans, she has consulted many start-ups on setting up HR operations in India. She truly embodies an inclusive leader, who through hard work, sincerity, and an exceptional propensity in managing processes and people, has achieved merit in developing effective organizational and people capabilities, HR transformation, digitization, and automation in start-ups and MNCs, introducing best in class people practices, and building inclusive and thriving work cultures in all her assignments.
Her experience in volunteering has added more dimensions to her journey. She says, “Volunteering takes you outside the workplace and gives you an insight into the problems that plague our society and environment. It is humbling.”
Below are highlights of the interview conducted between World’s Leaders and Ankita Gupta:
Which are the major services of the company and how do the company to get ahead in the competition? What value-added services does the company provide?
The Landmark Group began its journey in 1973 with one store in Bahrain and has grown into one of the largest retail and hospitality conglomerates in the Middle East, Africa, and India. Currently, the Group operates over 2,200 outlets, encompassing over 30 million square feet across 21 countries.
The Footwear Division has been an integral part of the business and has witnessed amazing growth and expansion since its inception. The footwear division today includes, Shoemart, Shoexpress, and international brands such as Pablosky.
Shoemart was founded in Dubai in March 1990 as part of the Landmark Group and has since expanded to over 155 stores across 6 countries in the GCC. Shoemart is the region’s leading retailer of footwear and accessories for women, men, and children. Featuring an extensive collection of fashionable, contemporary footwear and bags, as well as a vast array of accessories, our products walk the line between trendy and classic.
Shoexpress was started in 2009, with the aim of offering customers a real value experience through an extensive assortment of fashionable footwear and accessories at truly unbelievable prices. Shoexpress currently operates across four territories in the GCC through more than 50 stores.
Pablosky is one of the leading international brands of footwear dedicated to selling footwear for children and teenagers.
At the heart of everything we do are our people and our customers. Creating exceptional value for the lives we touch Our teams across our stores, offices, and warehouses have contributed immensely to our growth as a business. While we stand on a solid foundation today, we look forward to what the future holds. Innovation, tech advancements, and sustainable practices for our business and our community guide our strategy and competitive advantage.
What has made you successful? What do you value?
My success mantra is “Never Stop, Never Settle, Never Give Up,” because you can’t beat someone who never quits. There is never a shortcut to success; if you want something, do not wish for it; work for it. Everything I have achieved today is due to hard work, persistence, driving excellence, and never quitting. As a leader, you need to be authentic, genuine, and practice service leadership. As an HR leader, one needs to be courageous and strategic to guide business leaders to balance business centricity with people centricity—people and business together, not business above people.
What is the significance of innovative ideas in the company?
Innovation is no longer a choice, but an essential attribute for any business and has become key to staying ahead of the curve and the bedrock of creating future-ready practices.
We’ve all heard the phrase “adapt or die,” and for businesses to achieve success in today’s modern world, this is a universal truth. Unforeseen challenges are inevitable in business. Innovation can help you stay ahead of the curve and grow your company in the process. Here are three reasons why innovation is crucial for your business:
- It allows adaptability and companies to stay relevant: Innovation is often necessary for companies to adapt and overcome the challenges of change.
- It fosters growth: Stagnation can be extremely detrimental to your business. Achieving organizational and economic growth through innovation is key to staying afloat in today’s highly competitive world.
- Increased competitiveness: Most industries are populated with multiple competitors offering similar products or services. Innovation can distinguish your business from others.
- Leads to growth: more customers (repeat or new), improved products or offerings, or entering new markets
- Better utilization of resources.
We need to continue to encourage employees to embrace the true spirit of being entrepreneurial, to think like they own the business to help them develop a mindset that supports continuous innovation and business development.
Give us your opinion on; do organizations rely heavily on individual heroics or team processes?
Every well-run organization has to strike a balance between talent and process. The best organizations anticipate change and plan for unintended consequences or unexpected situations. That way, they don’t have to rely on heroic behavior to bail them out when things don’t happen as they should. For young companies that have yet to develop processes and systems, it’s natural to rely on the heroic efforts of their people to help grow the business. But to build a truly scalable business, you need more processes and systems, and you can’t just afford to rely on heroic efforts and expect people to pull all-nighters every week to grow the business and expect them to stay healthy physically and mentally. Again, it’s not sustainable.
