Shallu Arora: An Efficacious Leader Showcasing Progressive Mindset And Dedicated Approach
Shallu Arora
CFO
Having shattered the prevailing patriarchal beliefs associated with the executive position, Shallu has never let herself be excluded from seizing the opportunities either because of her young age or gender. A phenomenal persona whose professional success speaks for herself, Shallu’s pivotal participation in the financial function has not only led Sirca Paints way ahead in terms of completion, but she also managed to attract the eyeballs of a lot of industry stalwarts.
Below is an excerpt of Shallu’s interview with CEO Insights.
Describe some unique aspects of your leadership personality. How do you ensure to keep your team aligned with the brand vision and work collaboratively without any hassle?
One of the major differences between a manager and a leader is that a manager orders to do the work whereas a leader joins with the team to complete the work. I am as much a member of the team as anybody else with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. An important differentiation is that my team is the most cohesive unit and is so because we have one common goal for all the team members. We either succeed together as a team or improve. No individual team member can achieve his/her target if we have not delivered as a whole team.
To ensure that we are always aligned to the brand vision, we keep the final destination in mind and improvise processes to meet the same. The team objectives are finally adding to the overall organizational objective is one of my key tasks. We have defined milestones to monitor and review progress periodically.
Finance has been perceived as a men’s forte since ages! Did you face any challenges initially while establishing yourself as a woman leader in the niche? How did Sirca Paints support you to grow as a successful professional?
Undoubtedly, there was a glass ceiling that had to be broken. The challenge is not competencies but prejudices. Hopefully, we are following the right example of the western world in overcoming these mindset challenges.
As a norm, women start on an initial accep tance challenge which just takes a little longer and consistency established. I consider myself lucky to have full legal support and trust from Sirca Management as well as my team.
Illustrate the growth graph of your journey. What crucial lessons did the seven years of career life teach you? How did you make use of those learnings to better yourself both personally and professionally?
I started my career as an Account Officer in a reputed health care brand and then further started my practice in Corporate Consultancy and Taxation advisory. The opportunity at Sirca came in 2019 and I took it as an out of my comfort zone challenge. There have been numerous learnings like big and small each contributing towards where I am today. In the current context I would just like to share a few important ones which triggered many self-realizations. Being a numbers person, I realized that I should consider my age also as a mere number and it must not impact my decision making.
Of course, there is respect for more years of experience but that must not bog you down to make a decision which you believe is correct. Learning in terms of people management is another important aspect and is still ongoing. Different people have different aspirations & motivations and must be dealt with it accordingly. ‘One-size-fits-all’ is definitely not the mantra for team management. While I maintain consistent standards, I also ensure that there is no bias within the team.
Learning is an ongoing process and there are no different professional and personal learnings. Learning how to manage my team, also helps me in improving my personal relations with friends and family. My emotional quotient improved, and I could better imagine things from different prospects. Similarly, I also promise myself that I will listen to everybody irrespective of age and background as well as enhance my learning.
Enumerate on how one should strategi cally ensure seamless cash flow in emerging businesses. Could you tell me some tips and plan-of-action for budding leaders in the finance segment?
Cash flow is a base for any company to grow. So, one should frequently invest time and energy while formulating an effective financial plan in which one should use data from your accounting reports, create monthly financial
Illustrate the growth graph of your journey. What crucial lessons did the seven years of career life teach you? How did you make use of those learnings to better yourself both personally and professionally?
I started my career as an Account Officer in a reputed health care brand and then further started my practice in Corporate Consultancy and Taxation advisory. The opportunity at Sirca came in 2019 and I took it as an out of my comfort zone challenge. There have been numerous learnings like big and small each contributing towards where I am today. In the current context I would just like to share a few important ones which triggered many self-realizations. Being a numbers person, I realized that I should consider my age also as a mere number and it must not impact my decision making.
Shallu's hardwork and zeal has gained recognition by Women Entrepreneur Magazine as one among the top ten CFO and by The Global Choice Awards as 'Women Icon of the Year', further, she has procured Indian Achiever Award 2021 (CFO of the Year)
Of course, there is respect for more years of experience but that must not bog you down to make a decision which you believe is correct. Learning in terms of people management is another important aspect and is still ongoing. Different people have different aspirations & motivations and must be dealt with it accordingly. ‘One-size-fits-all’ is definitely not the mantra for team management. While I maintain consistent standards, I also ensure that there is no bias within the team.
Learning is an ongoing process and there are no different professional and personal learnings. Learning how to manage my team, also helps me in improving my personal relations with friends and family. My emotional quotient improved, and I could better imagine things from different prospects. Similarly, I also promise myself that I will listen to everybody irrespective of age and background as well as enhance my learning.
Enumerate on how one should strategi cally ensure seamless cash flow in emerging businesses. Could you tell me some tips and plan-of-action for budding leaders in the finance segment?
Cash flow is a base for any company to grow. So, one should frequently invest time and energy while formulating an effective financial plan in which one should use data from your accounting reports, create monthly financial
forecasts to anticipate incoming and outgoing payments. Secondly, reducing business costs is the best strategy to improve cash flow. Expense reduction helps businesses save more money to ensure long term viability. It also ensures smooth operations of business and reduces cash problems and reserves more money to invest in business growth. Thirdly,business houses should accelerate the AR collection process, this will bring more money into the business. Providing incentives and rewards for on-time payments, offer more convenient payment solutions and follow up regularly with late paying customers.
What are some of the most impactful trends developing in the finance functions currently? How are you gearing up to stay abreast with the advancements?
Effective financial management is of paramount importance for any business to survive and grow. It involves planning, organizing, controlling, and monitoring the financial resources, which can help in achieving the business objectives of the organization. Learning is a signi ficant aspect in lengthening the career graph. So, one should keep themselves shoulder to shoulder with evolution. I try to set the seal on all platforms and possible forms where I can magnify my perspective and comprehension along with making sure that my team will become a part of this learning phase is also an incredible approach to me.
What important facts do you keep in mind to achieve the desired business goals?
I have a simple approach: PDCA - Plan-Do-Check-Act. Looking at the macro picture, setting up a desired plan and step by step execution are separate things. To ensure the success of business, break down the business plan into short term goals and define individual roles and responsibility with clearly defined actions. Subsequently, tracking of goals by conducting weekly/monthly check-ins that help you evaluate what you have achieved so far and where you need to focus on. This approach has helped the team immensely and they are more or less independently following the process that I have introduced. Besides this we have a monthly informal dialog called ‘Crazy Me’ in which we come up with all out of the box ideas and together evaluate if any of them can be put to daily use.
Share a piece of advice/suggestion to young women who would like to set a benchmark in their career especially in financial operations.
First, competency is gender neutral. Second, be the hammer and break the glass ceiling!
Shallu Arora, Chief Financial Officer, Sirca Paints
At the age of 22, Shallu completed her CA (in November 2014), and CS (in Dec’14), before going ahead to complete Forensic Audit course in 2018 and INDAS course in 2019. Apart from having a diversified post qualification experience of around seven years, Shallu has been actively involved in publishing articles in NIRC student journal with ICAI. She has been a part of the faculty members for conducting the Orientation, GMCS Program for CA Students organized by ICAI. Specialized in the ICAI ethics and code of conduct, Shallu has taken various seminars and study sessions in ICSI as faculty of their certificate courses.
What are some of the most impactful trends developing in the finance functions currently? How are you gearing up to stay abreast with the advancements?
Effective financial management is of paramount importance for any business to survive and grow. It involves planning, organizing, controlling, and monitoring the financial resources, which can help in achieving the business objectives of the organization. Learning is a signi ficant aspect in lengthening the career graph. So, one should keep themselves shoulder to shoulder with evolution. I try to set the seal on all platforms and possible forms where I can magnify my perspective and comprehension along with making sure that my team will become a part of this learning phase is also an incredible approach to me.
What important facts do you keep in mind to achieve the desired business goals?
I have a simple approach: PDCA - Plan-Do-Check-Act. Looking at the macro picture, setting up a desired plan and step by step execution are separate things. To ensure the success of business, break down the business plan into short term goals and define individual roles and responsibility with clearly defined actions. Subsequently, tracking of goals by conducting weekly/monthly check-ins that help you evaluate what you have achieved so far and where you need to focus on. This approach has helped the team immensely and they are more or less independently following the process that I have introduced. Besides this we have a monthly informal dialog called ‘Crazy Me’ in which we come up with all out of the box ideas and together evaluate if any of them can be put to daily use.
Share a piece of advice/suggestion to young women who would like to set a benchmark in their career especially in financial operations.
First, competency is gender neutral. Second, be the hammer and break the glass ceiling!
Shallu Arora, Chief Financial Officer, Sirca Paints
At the age of 22, Shallu completed her CA (in November 2014), and CS (in Dec’14), before going ahead to complete Forensic Audit course in 2018 and INDAS course in 2019. Apart from having a diversified post qualification experience of around seven years, Shallu has been actively involved in publishing articles in NIRC student journal with ICAI. She has been a part of the faculty members for conducting the Orientation, GMCS Program for CA Students organized by ICAI. Specialized in the ICAI ethics and code of conduct, Shallu has taken various seminars and study sessions in ICSI as faculty of their certificate courses.