Welcome back to the Beyond The Data blog series! This month, we’re highlighting Indu Krishnadas, a People Ops Manager and collaboration enthusiast on our Bangalore team.
Tell us your name, where you’re from, and a little about you.
Hello! My name is Indu Krishnadas. I’m a native of Kerala, India, and have been living in Bengaluru for 20 years. Here are a few random surprises about me. I cannot sleep until I listen to this one song – this has been my routine for 11 years. Just hung on to the rhythm! I’m a hardcore fan of the lively and flowing dance forms and have been taking the lessons for cha-cha and foxtrot to name a few. When I’m working, I often play one song on repeat over and over again. It helps me focus and float in sequence. While I’m writing this, I have played “Let me Down Slowly-Alec Benjamin” 11 times already. I love traveling and backpacking, any time and any day!
What does it mean to be a People Ops Manager?
The responsibilities of a People Ops Manager are to empower employees, facilitate day-to-day work life, and manage the entire employee lifecycle inside the organization. My days are filled with employee engagement planning, payroll processing, and other HR tasks.
Tell us about the Operations team. What is it like working with them every day?
I take complete pride in saying that the India Ops team is very closely knit and the three of us greatly support each other. We’re all very different, with our own unique skill sets, which I think strengthens our team. I also work closely with Sarah, who is the People Ops Manager of the U.S. team. I consider her one of the best mentors I’ve ever had. My work relationship and rapport with her has always been great. She has taught me that active support systems in the workplace are pivotal for fostering team bonding!
How long have you been with phData? What past experiences have prepared you for your job at phData?
I’ve been at phData for over two years now. Before joining phData, I worked in different human resources areas like corporate communications and employee engagement. My experience with the corporate level of communication helped me better adapt to the nature of employee communication within phData. My past experience with employee engagement paved the way for me to think differently and bigger, and plan better activities for the team here. With phData, my experience has been filled with immense learning opportunities. I feel like I’m growing in so many ways as our team continues to expand.
How have you seen the company change in that time?
It was not long ago that we were sitting in a small room accommodating just 10 of us. It’s overwhelming to reminisce about how those days are gone, how much we’ve grown, and where we are now. With all of the changes that have taken place, I’ve been reflecting on how phData has never lost focus on maintaining its culture and core values, especially psychological safety. So many other organizations tend to lose touch with their values during significant growth periods, but phData has held on to its core values and used them to guide our organization during these crazy times.
What do you most enjoy about your role at phData?
I enjoy collaborating! Most aspects of my role involve collaborating with different team members. Through collaboration, I believe we can create an environment where employees feel valued for their unique skills and ideas as well as their input.
You have been instrumental in helping the Bangalore team move into new offices over the past two years! What was that process like?
Our first move from the 91 Springboard coworking space to Workafella, one of the coolest coworking spaces in Bangalore city, was a huge transition. It took several days, but it was a challenge I really enjoyed working on. I never thought I could manage that and ensure a smooth and hassle-free transition for our team, but I did it! The whole relocation planning process taught me to simplify, focus on what’s most important, and maintain a checklist!
What is the most exciting thing you’re working on and how do you see it positively impacting our team?
I’ve been working on so many exciting things! One thing that stands out to me is creating and releasing a new employee handbook. The process took almost a year and has a huge collaborative effort between many different colleagues and teams, which made it all the more fun and challenging. As we mature as an organization, with the above in place, we’re increasingly making an effort to ensure that we provide a safe and healthy work environment for all of our employees by better defining working conditions, culture, and contributions.
You've planned a lot of fun activities and events for our team in the past. Which event was your favorite?
There are many that stood as my favorites/best experience/fun-filled but the one that stands out the most was the annual team outing to Play Arena in November 2018. This was our first annual team outing ever, which took place during Mike and Mac’s visit to the India office. I also really enjoyed the go-karting outing with the team last year!
What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
When I’m not working, I love to watch movies. I’m a huge movie buff and I can watch several of them in a row without hitting pause. Movies are my stress busters and take me to a different realm altogether. Most days, I have dedicated hours to reading. What I read depends a lot on my mood, but my favorite is a soulful poem. When I’m not watching movies or reading books, you can find me doodling with some music on.
