Talk about taking a look back! Ganesh Jeetram is our Administration Manager who tells us all about the formative years as the first ever employee of EFS India
Ganesh is EFS India’s first and oldest employee hailing from Almora, a famous hill station in the mountain state of Uttarakhand in India.
Like many people, Ganesh grew up with a dream to move to a big city and have a successful career. With that aim, he moved to New Delhi and began his professional journey in the travel and hotel sector, and subsequently got a job in the customer management department at an internationally known chain.
In 2007, while in service for the hotel, Ganesh had an encounter with an English gentleman who was staying at the hotel. During their meetings, the gentleman recommended the Dalkia group and its entry into India.
Impressed by Ganesh’s work, he offered him a chance to join Dalkia India’s start-up operations. Though hesitant initially, as Dalkia was an unknown entity in India, Ganesh decided to take a leap of faith and join Dalkia India as its first employee, working as a Personal Assistant.
2007 to 2008 was tough. He recalls that the team had to start from scratch, in a one-room office. They faced a lot of struggles and encountered a great deal of difficulty when trying to acquire a registration license.
Once sorted, a major milestone came into play. It was the signing of the first Pan India contract with Motorola and the Company was asked to provide FM services for multiple locations.
Slowly, but ever so surely, the business grew. Many of the company’s contracts were based in and out of Chennai, which resulted in a shift of many senior management officials. Coordinating between Delhi and Chennai was challenging.
Then around 2012, news broke that Dalkia was exiting the FM business in India and that it was going to be acquired by a foreign firm.
Of course, there was initially a great deal of anxiety and employee morale was down as there were rumours that many people would be replaced, or perhaps the company would be shut down.
That was the time when members of EFS management visited the office and met Ganesh and the rest of the team in India. Shortly afterwards, Dalkia India was acquired and renamed as EFS India. This was a major milestone, however, what followed wasn’t easy.
It was a huge transition for the team to shift to new management and it was a long process of relocating core management back to New Delhi.
The company also faced loss of senior, more experienced management during the handover, so transitioning and managing existing contracts was also very difficult, on top of everything else.
There was another change in management in 2013 and EFS India also reshaped its strategy, as guided by the CEO and COO. At this point, EFS India’s management recognized Ganesh’s efforts and work and promoted him to managing the Admin Department’s function for the north region.
Needless to say, there were a lot of ups and downs. He says it was a rewarding and fulfilling journey filled with fond memories, memorable milestones, learning opportunities, and experiences that have helped him grow as a person, both personally and professionally.
According to Ganesh, every job is a chance to learn and he is always happy to support the company and work with colleagues to ensure the success and future development.
He believes that his job has also taught him the importance of maintaining a healthy balance between home and work and Ganesh is blessed with a very loving and understanding family with a caring wife and three children.
He feels proud to work with EFS as it makes everyone feel like they are part of a family.
He notes. “Events such as the Family Mela help our families appreciate the work that we do and the support that EFS provides us.” Ganesh has always believed that sincerity, interest, and hard work are never unrewarded, and continues to be dedicated and supportive in order to help EFS India achieve our Mission 2017 and contribute to the success of the EFS Group.
Hopefully, this journey will also help him achieve significant career milestones and help Ganesh realize his long-term ambition. By the way, things are headed, we think that will happen sooner rather than later.