It’s a universal fact that if anyone is ready to tackle sudden challenges with solid strategies, success is just one step ahead. Mr. Amrit Gurung shares how he began his journey as Customer Service Representative (CSR) to holding the position of Operations Manager currently.
Amrit Gurung is a current Operations Manager at Rolling Plans Pvt. Ltd, an ISO 9001:2015 certified consulting firm with specialization in Human Resource Management (HRM), Contact Center Management (CCM), and IT-enabled services. Rolling Plans successfully launched Rolling Nexus, Nepal’s first Professional Networking Site on September 10, 2020, with a mission to support institutional & human capital development with strategic as well as innovative technology-enabled operational solutions maintaining the highest level of socio-ethical standards. He reminisces that he was referred by one of his friends for the opened position of CSR and he joined Rolling Plans officially on March 13, 2013.
“My journey with Rolling Plans has been really wonderful so far and I still have the feeling that I joined the company just yesterday but it’s already been 7.5+ years that I’ve been sailing a boat with Rolling Plans. I’ve been able to gain a lot of qualities both in professional and personal aspects. I consider myself fortunate enough to have a circle more than I’ve ever expected, such a talented team and colleagues, inspiring, enthusiastic, and supportive SMTs, whom I’ve always found committed to excellence. Today, all of them are the reasons that this grass can call himself a tree.”, shares Mr. Gurung.
Starting your journey in Rolling Plans as a customer service representative, now you are holding the position of Operations Manager, what progressive changes have you felt in past years?
I believe after I started my journey in RPPL, I have become always prepared and ready to take any sudden challenges accompanied with calming personality whereas professional communication, multi-tasking, leadership and parenting roles, anger management, managerial strategies techniques, etc. are the major progressive changes that I felt in past years.
What problems do you have to face while fulfilling core operation responsibilities?
Decreased performance levels, being understaffed, lack of communication, everyone knows you and your team are performing but still pressure to perform more, time management, inadequate support from the concerned team, problematic employees, etc. are some major challenges when I’ve to remember. But I guess without challenges, no one can pursue achievements and these mind-boggling challenges are the reasons that are responsible to change you from an ordinary person to a creative one and any ordinary organization to a strong one.
What do you think are the main skills required to be a proficient Operations Manager?
I strongly believe POLCs, logical /critical thinking, helping nature, analytical, calming personality, strong negotiation skills, strict but friendly behavior, supportive and motivative, never giving up attitude, acting as per the situation, dedicative, stress management, etc. are the major ones to become a proficient Operations Manager and I’m still heading to grab all these skills.
What are your priorities for achieving organizational goals? What wins do you need?
Achieving the organizational goal by an individual effort only is not practical actually nor the “One Man Army” concept does refer to it. Ultimately, the team is the only reality, for every work and planning we do to achieve something. So, a few of my pre-set priorities to attain a common goal by focusing,
· On opportunity
· On the future, not the past
· On problem-preventing rather than problem-solving
· On long-term fixes rather than the “quick fix”
· On system-wide solutions rather than a local solution
· On priorities that support employees’ value
· On high-impact priorities that matter to a lot of people
· On breakthroughs rather than perfecting the fixed ones
In an organization, to win, we need to be motivated and keep everyone motivated and we should not forget that team is the key to our dream to turn it into reality.
What gives you the confidence to perform challenging works or when you feel stressed about your work?
Rather than taking my job only as a work/task, I always take it as my responsibility. Responsibility that has been handed by my seniors and trusted by my subordinates and this belief has always brought a sense of ownership on me, so whatever the challenging work and stress that I have, it gets washed out into simpler ways.
Can you tell us some of the struggling parts when you were promoted to Operations Manager?
I would not call it a struggle/s but, there have been a lot of challenges that I had ever imagined. Actually, I always look and ask myself for any problem/issue as to why it’s happening and what would be the solution to solve it promptly/permanently. To share a few, firstly all my seniors have left the organization when I got appointed in a managerial position, so there were no experienced seniors to guide me. So, it’s like a hit and trial phase for me and at the same time, organization KPIs were also not in flow.
I felt the task was too huge for me as I had no prior experience in a managerial role. But, without letting others know about it, I regained my confidence as I focused on my strengths and capabilities that I had during my previous position as head supervisor.
Later, along with the team, I’ve analyzed/identified the major problem/s and its solution naming a few – a.) staff demotivation and turnover – so I ensured staff performed to their optimum level, by building an honest rapport, needful training, coaching, motivation plans, b.) The organization KPIs were not in the position where it has to be– so I worked out proper processes, systems as well as plans/ strategies for better KPIs considering the customer service level more than a par.
What do you think were the most important areas you mastered for the successful journey from a Customer service representative to an Operations Manager?
I think I'm not successful enough to qualify for this answer, but I did overcome a mountainous hurdle in my professional life and I’m still working to have the best version of myself. Not a mastery but the proud moment for me during the journey with the Rolling Plans is, from the Supervisor to Operations Manager’s journey, I had been able to collect the total 6 titles of “Best Employee” (3 annual, 2 semi-annual &1 quarter), which would be the best ever gift during my whole professional life.
What were the biggest barriers you faced while working as a Customer service representative?
Having limited system access to aware the customers about their queries, huge presence of uneducated customers, on-spot technical glitches, considering yourself as a robotic human, health issues, balancing both student and professional life, etc. were some major barriers that I had to face during the tenure of Customer Service Representative.
Who do you look up to in Rolling Plans and who do you see as the promising employee in future days in Rolling Plans and for what qualities do you make this assumption?
Here at Rolling Plans, every employee who are my colleagues, juniors or seniors are like my teachers, as I always get something to learn from themselves both in/direct ways. Honestly, I won’t be able to compare and choose for only one promising employee among the groups, although I find every employee as hardworking, committed, productive, dedicated, and holding their own unique personality. So, for me, every employee out here is more than a promising employee.
Please share the best memories at Rolling Plans and what do you think are the major factors required to be a leading employee in the company?
Every moment that I’ve spent with Rolling Plans is the best memory for me. As per my opinion, to become a leading employee, one must have a sense of ownership whatever the role s/he has been assigned for, multi-tasking, leadership role, analytical, quality decision maker, problem solver, etc.
What changes do you want to see in Rolling Plans in the upcoming future?
I can sense the occurrence of changes which I really wanted to see in the company, like always, getting the senior management's support/understanding of the importance of creating the right network to support the mutual growth of the business and employees concurrently.
Any message you want to share.
“Work hard in a smarter way.” So, just wanted to share it with all the readers out there, whatever the situation is/will be, stay calm and just “work hard in a smarter way” results will be all yours.
Amrit Gurung always believes in hard work with smart tactics and optimistic thinking. Amrit Gurung's Journey in RPPL is an exemplary definition of strong leadership with a firm desire of never giving up. His peregrination towards growth and explorations has proven that every person is a Gem and one has to know his/her capability and efficiency chaperoned with dedication and hard-and-smart efforts.