Saba Adil, who has joined Avanse Financial Services as chief people officer (CPO), is looking forward to her stint with the startup in its growth phase. She says, “It’s exciting to join organisations in their growth phase. The fun of building, as well as the energy and positivity are all pervasive and contagious! It’s also the opportunity to make an impact, see your initiatives fructify as the organisation moves to more mature levels! The sense of ownership and the pride of having built something is very fulfilling and therefore, will keep me excited and energised! I do look forward to learning and making a positive impact on the business, customers and people at Avanse.”
Established in 2013, Avanse Financial Services is a new-age, education-focused non-banking financial company (NBFC), which provides seamless and affordable loan financing to every Indian student.
In her new role, Adil will be responsible for setting up new-age practices. She will lead HR, CSR and administration and also work to align people to realise the vision and mission of the organisation.
Speaking on her new role, Adil comments, “As Avanse takes on its next phase of growth, it is imperative to continue its journey of building the right culture, acquire different capabilities and an eco-system that will make people, and therefore, the organisation, successful and future fit. I think it has the right fundamentals in place, with a clear leadership direction and buy-in of creating a scalable and sustainable people practice. Therefore, my focus areas will be to partner with leadership and align and engage people to deliver strategic objectives through the right culture, leadership development, customer focus and robust talent practices.”
In her previous role as COO and CPO at Aegon Life Insurance, she was responsible for driving the strategic goals and operating plans of the company.
Having been part of Aegon since its inception in 2007, Adil was a founding member, and has spent more than 12 years at the Company. Since the time she joined, she played an important role in creating a powerful culture, aligning the organisation to company values, building a strong employee value proposition, building its capability for a future-fit organisation and creating personalised employee experiences.
Prior to Aegon she managed HR at Mahanagar Gas (MGL) and British Gas JV. She holds a bachelor’s degree in science and a master’s in HRM from Aligarh Muslim University.