Ms. Devyani reminisce the decade back story at Jaipuria “In those days, when we used to enter the Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow campus we had to walk roughly a distance of 500 mts. before reaching our classrooms. And during that walk, we used to come across the campus Maggi point, where an old gentleman used make the tastiest Maggi I have ever tasted,” recalls Devyani as she talks about some of the fondest memories from her days at Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow. As a part of the second Batch of Jaipuria, Lucknow, Devyani Sinha the Global Head Human Resources (VP), Nucleus Software has some amazing stories to narrate. And we could not resist the temptation of gathering around her and sit down over a steaming cup of coffee to hear her talk of what the initial years of Jaipuria, Lucknow was like and how the B-school has evolved in the last two decades. 

The Class of 1996-1998 used to study in the class that was situated within Seth M.R. Jaipuria school campus. “ The B-school was at its did not have its own building at that point in time. It was all very new- a new set-up; initial days. It was almost like going back to school days,” mentions Devyani with a bright smile on her face. “And imagine how far we have come now! There is hardly any Ranking in the Indian B-school space that does not recognise Jaipuria Institute of management, Lucknow to be among the leading B-schools of the country today,” adds the alumnus who was taken aback when she had returned to her B-school in the year 2008- a decade after graduating from its premises. 

Devyani illustrious career covers TCS, Onicra, Usha Com and NEC’s HR offices prior to taking the office of the Global Head Human Resources VP at Nucleus Software in the year 2017. In fact, Devyani spent 9 years at NEC Technologies India Ltd. as General Manager- HR (Lead) before making the big bold career move. Clearly, she has seen HR evolve as a domain in the Indian landscape and with each change, Devyani has ensured to keep aligning her skill sets with that of her professional goals as well. Starting as a mid-level manager HR in 2000, Devyani has climbed from strength to strength and she thinks- “agility, flexibility and a killer survival instinct are critical to help one find their feet in the world of Human Resources.”

Devyani’s work revolves primarily around looking for strategies and activities around how to increase inflow of talent and how to reduce outflow of talent from the organization. Her work in daily basis includes operational and strategic involvement alongside building business and client relationship. And in all of these “the Jaipuria education comes handy till date because we were taught the fundamental principals of managerial subjects in ways we just cannot forget. There was tremendous thrust upon the concept of learning by practicing. I remember Prof. Luthra who used to pay attention to students’ weak and strength areas individually. In fact, she used to call me during lunch hours and ask me to speak on any topic under the sun for a stretch of 10mins and exercises like that leave long lasting impact in young minds in unimaginable ways.” 

Devyani last visited the campus 3 months back and was thrilled by the energy of the students and the pace with which the campus has grown over the years. “I was overwhelmed to see the kind of work Jaipuria Institute of Management is doing to give India some really brilliant leaders of tomorrow,” she says.