Dr. Vandana Sharma: A Remarkably Steadfast & Persevering Healthcare Leader
Dr. Vandana Sharma
Director- Administrative Services
In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, Dr. Vandana sheds light on her professional journey and thoughts on the Indian healthcare sector and its future.
Brief us on your educational and professional background that helped you to be a great leader of today.
I am a Bachelor in Alternative Medicine and have also pursued MBA in Hospital Administration, after a few years of work experience. The Advanced Management Program in Healthcare (Executive MBA) from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad/Mohali greatly benefitted my work. I have 13 years of experience working in the healthcare sector.
I feel women are naturally nurturing, and the leadership role in healthcare industry has refined and built that side of me. In addition to the continuous learning experiences acquired through the job, I believe we need to be exposed to state-of-the-art academic & industrial research and practices for continued education and growth. To keep pace with ever-changing healthcare practices globally, and to keep performing well at your position, it is critical to keep learning, studying, trend exploring latest developments in the field. So now, I am enrolled in the Managing Healthcare Delivery program for executive education from the Harvard Business School.
Tell us about your roles & responsibilities at Indus? Having
experience of working across different verticals of healthcare industry, how have been leading Indus' business operations?
As the Director Administrative Services, I am expected to drive vision of the organization implying strong leadership and effective management skills. Hence, I strive to improve business focusing on sound policies and quality care. I am also involved in planning, development, and implementation of strong operational strategies & daily tasks related to effective facility monitoring and management.
My various roles in distinct departments in hospital industry have helped me in developing a deeper understanding and broad knowledge of functions and operations. As a torchbearer in this leadership role, I oversee planning & strategy, and then also engage with all the stages of execution to attain business goals. I follow the 80:20 rule on decision making: 80 percent routine and 20 percent target progress.
I have learned through my experience that it is important to be flexible and fluid in developing management methodology informed by evolving challenges. I believe I am experimenting and learning from new experiences every day.
What novel measures did you introduce across the functionalities of Indus Healthcare after the Pandemic outbreak?
The pandemic has thrown unprecedented challenges at us. Typically, our disaster preparedness is a theoretical thing, and remains in the background, as long as it fulfils the government guidelines. Given the nature & severity of the pandemic, as a healthcare leader, I faced tremendous challenges and pressures streamlining and redesigning our operations & facility management, while simultaneously responding to the dynamic regulated environment.
Staying compassionate and courageous, I stood by the storm and also encouraged my co-workers to rise up to the challenges- keeping them motivated on the job, I avoided lay-offs or pay-cuts even when regular patients number decreased. We incentivised the Corona Warriors during the pandemics and did our best to minimize sufferings of the patients and their families.
How has your journey been so far
As the Director Administrative Services, I am expected to drive vision of the organization implying strong leadership and effective management skills. Hence, I strive to improve business focusing on sound policies and quality care. I am also involved in planning, development, and implementation of strong operational strategies & daily tasks related to effective facility monitoring and management.
My various roles in distinct departments in hospital industry have helped me in developing a deeper understanding and broad knowledge of functions and operations. As a torchbearer in this leadership role, I oversee planning & strategy, and then also engage with all the stages of execution to attain business goals. I follow the 80:20 rule on decision making: 80 percent routine and 20 percent target progress.
My various roles in distinct departments in hospital industry have helped me in developing a deeper understanding and broad knowledge of functions and operations
I have learned through my experience that it is important to be flexible and fluid in developing management methodology informed by evolving challenges. I believe I am experimenting and learning from new experiences every day.
What novel measures did you introduce across the functionalities of Indus Healthcare after the Pandemic outbreak?
The pandemic has thrown unprecedented challenges at us. Typically, our disaster preparedness is a theoretical thing, and remains in the background, as long as it fulfils the government guidelines. Given the nature & severity of the pandemic, as a healthcare leader, I faced tremendous challenges and pressures streamlining and redesigning our operations & facility management, while simultaneously responding to the dynamic regulated environment.
Staying compassionate and courageous, I stood by the storm and also encouraged my co-workers to rise up to the challenges- keeping them motivated on the job, I avoided lay-offs or pay-cuts even when regular patients number decreased. We incentivised the Corona Warriors during the pandemics and did our best to minimize sufferings of the patients and their families.
How has your journey been so far
and what challenges did you encounter during this journey?
It's been quite a ride, with both professional and personal life. Professionally though, women remain underrepresented at every level and it gets worse at the Senior Management positions. The moment women enter the workforce, we encounter an unequal landscape, an ecosystem structured for men, by men and crowded by men. To keep-up, an understanding of landscape, and dedication to learning new things, commitment to professional & intellectual growth are important, hence I continuously push myself to learn new things by taking examinations like a student while working fulltime.
Personally, work life balance is a huge challenge, and it took me years to appreciate how important it is. I have a six-year-old son and I am a single mother. As a single parent, the challenges and tasks requiring your full attention grow tremendously. I am thankful to my parents who were there to support me all along the journey. Both professionally and personally, I feel three attributes: Patience, Courage, and Perseverance, have helped me to grow & prosper.
Which are the milestones that bestowed you with utmost satisfaction - both as an individual and a Director?
Each smile of a cured patient, of their well-wishers gives me great satisfaction and reminds me of my role. Of course, the big hits help, like more efficient processes to help in reducing time from patient admission to diagnostics to recovery & discharge; professional growth of my teammates, and increase in breadth of services while maintaining affordability and profit. There are daily joys & daily learnings, and even in the midst of the worst time in pandemic, I derived some satisfaction & peace from knowing how impactful my actions & decisions can be on lives of so many people.
Dr. Vandana Sharma, Director -Administrative Services, Indus Healthcare
1. Millennium Women of the Year (Anti Corruption Foundation of India, Karnal, Haryana).
2. Golden Women of the Year (Healing Urja Foundation, Dehradun - July 2018)
3. Humanity Achiever Award (AR Foundation, New Delhi -2018)
4. Charismatic Achiever Award (Sai Entertainment, Delhi- August 2018)
5. National Women Excellence Award (Elite Club, Punjabi University Patiala- 8th March 2018)
6. Indian Women Achiever Award for exemplary contribution to Society and the Nation-Jan, 2017
7. Mrs. India Queen of Substance|Mrs. India Earth|Charity Ambassador 2016 held at ITC, Welcome Hotel Dwarka, New Delhi
8. Mrs. India Beauty Queen|Mrs. Perfect 2015, in Beauty Pageant organized by Divya Himachal Group in association with WOWW Foundation and judged by Mrs. Bir Kaur Dhillon- Mrs. India Globe 2013
It's been quite a ride, with both professional and personal life. Professionally though, women remain underrepresented at every level and it gets worse at the Senior Management positions. The moment women enter the workforce, we encounter an unequal landscape, an ecosystem structured for men, by men and crowded by men. To keep-up, an understanding of landscape, and dedication to learning new things, commitment to professional & intellectual growth are important, hence I continuously push myself to learn new things by taking examinations like a student while working fulltime.
Personally, work life balance is a huge challenge, and it took me years to appreciate how important it is. I have a six-year-old son and I am a single mother. As a single parent, the challenges and tasks requiring your full attention grow tremendously. I am thankful to my parents who were there to support me all along the journey. Both professionally and personally, I feel three attributes: Patience, Courage, and Perseverance, have helped me to grow & prosper.
Which are the milestones that bestowed you with utmost satisfaction - both as an individual and a Director?
Each smile of a cured patient, of their well-wishers gives me great satisfaction and reminds me of my role. Of course, the big hits help, like more efficient processes to help in reducing time from patient admission to diagnostics to recovery & discharge; professional growth of my teammates, and increase in breadth of services while maintaining affordability and profit. There are daily joys & daily learnings, and even in the midst of the worst time in pandemic, I derived some satisfaction & peace from knowing how impactful my actions & decisions can be on lives of so many people.
Dr. Vandana Sharma, Director -Administrative Services, Indus Healthcare
1. Millennium Women of the Year (Anti Corruption Foundation of India, Karnal, Haryana).
2. Golden Women of the Year (Healing Urja Foundation, Dehradun - July 2018)
3. Humanity Achiever Award (AR Foundation, New Delhi -2018)
4. Charismatic Achiever Award (Sai Entertainment, Delhi- August 2018)
5. National Women Excellence Award (Elite Club, Punjabi University Patiala- 8th March 2018)
6. Indian Women Achiever Award for exemplary contribution to Society and the Nation-Jan, 2017
7. Mrs. India Queen of Substance|Mrs. India Earth|Charity Ambassador 2016 held at ITC, Welcome Hotel Dwarka, New Delhi
8. Mrs. India Beauty Queen|Mrs. Perfect 2015, in Beauty Pageant organized by Divya Himachal Group in association with WOWW Foundation and judged by Mrs. Bir Kaur Dhillon- Mrs. India Globe 2013