Avishek Ganguly – Corporate Trainer, Mentor & a Motivator
For 40-year-old Avishek Ganguly, the entrepreneurship in him had already started surfacing as a college student where he spearheaded a club called Creative Arcs way back in the late ‘90s.
Now in 2018 here he is, as an IIM Trichy pass out and running his own multi-award winning talent acquisition company – Calls Incorporated. But the journey doesn’t end there; in fact, it gave him the foundation to step into a whole new vertical as a Corporate Trainer Mentor & a Motivator.
The Lifestyle Portal had invited Avishek as one of the Keynote Speakers for our first Entrepreneur Meetup on 11th August in Mumbai. Even today, all the participants fondly remember him for his talk on ‘Challenges faced by startups for talent acquisition’.
Sharing with you our conversation with Avishek, the Founder of Calls Incorporated and his 17-year-old journey that has witnessed failures and personal challenges only to bring out the best in him as a motivational speaker, mentor and a corporate trainer. Read about his incredible journey right here.
How did it all begin?
It was at the height of his recruitment career that a certain incident left a profound impact on Avishek. He recalls, “I frequented a café in South Calcutta with my friends. Being a stickler for time, I would usually be the first one to arrive. Since I love to talk a lot, I would start chit-chatting with the staff and over a period of time we became ‘usual suspects’. In fact, the staff became so familiar with my evening coffee with my friends at the café, they gradually started approaching me for an advice or two.”
He continues, “One day one of the stewards at the café mentioned that the Americano that I had just ordered was on him. I was taken aback. An emotionally grateful steward explained how a little bit of my advice helped him in a very difficult phase of his life and that he will never forget it.”
Avishek admits that he had never realized that he could have made such a positive impact on someone’s life. The best part being, this left a positive impact on Avishek too which made him rediscover himself as a mentor, motivator and a trainer.
When we forget to invest in ourselves
He further adds, “In my 18-year-career, I have seen people investing so much of their time and money on building a significant academic and professional portfolio for themselves but not much on soft skills.”
He strongly believes that even if an individual invests 1% of their total investment in their academic and professional career in themselves, the return on investment in life would be 100%.
He further adds, “But sadly, we take soft skills, mentoring and counselling for granted and very often we only invest in them as reactive mechanisms, not proactive overtures. In today’s highly competitive environment, this is counter-productive.”
Investment & growth
Avishek was already a seasoned player in the field. Being from a recruitment background, and connecting with the clients right from CEO to entry levels, proved to be beneficial to him when he decided to branch out into a new arena of training and mentoring.
One of the major investments that he considers is his sound knowledge and experience in the recruitment space that spanned across various industries such as BPOs, hospitality, pharma, banks and more. His journey of having worked with freshers at the entry level has proved to be extremely beneficial for him as he could instantly connect with his audience.
He recalls, “In hindsight, I realize, if only I had a mentor or someone to guide me when I was starting out in my career, I would have understood what my return on investments would be for a certain career path and how to cut my losses and exit at the right time.”
Challenges faced
2005 was a glorious start for Avishek as an entrepreneur. For four years he did well until the recession when companies stopped hiring and his business hit rock bottom. “This was the time I realized that I wish I had the foresight to be able to preempt and be proactive. I also realized that I did not have a Plan B and my business almost shut down,” shares Avishek.
But that didn’t stop Avishek from propelling ahead against the tide. In 2014 he applied and got through an Executive Program at IIM Trichy and by 2016, armed with an IIM degree, Avishek was back in the game with renewed force and energy. Today he is hired by several MNCs across the country for their ‘talent acquisition strategies’ and his positive energy and enthusiasm is totally infectious.
USPs – What makes Avishek Ganguly’s Corporate Trainings, Mentorship & as a Motivational Speaker unique?
He further adds, “Where we differentiate ourselves from others is here – I come from a talent acquisition background – I have conducted over ONE LAC INTERVIEWS in my career – and it is this relevant industry experience that I carry into my training programs.”
In fact, his workshops are not about feel good training snippets – they are real and practical and straight from the gut. They are highly customized and curated as per client specifics.
“I have come to believe from my years of training experience that people will come back to you if you can call a spade a spade and if you manage to add value to their professional careers, and that’s what I strive to do,” smiles Avishek.
Another element that makes his work unique is his personal journey of seeing failure in the rawest forms and bouncing back. His strong positive influence from his mother Debjani Ganguly, who never gave up on him and who urged him to get back into the game also played a pivotal role in his life.
Avishek strongly believes, “I am not here to give gyan. I firmly believe that every individual is capable and has their own mechanism to deal with things, counter stress and overcome challenges. My workshops promise of only relevant information and tips that will help my participants overcome their challenges through their own way. I usually have no script, my workshops are customized and totally audience driven.”
Services & workshops offered by Avishek
Calls Incorporated offers training programs for both individuals and institutions. “We prefer working with academic institutions and niche organizations and start-ups. Frankly speaking, my experience tells me this audience is the keenest of learners and a joy to work with,” adds Avishek.
Avishek’s training modules include workshops on Stress Management, Etiquette, Motivation, Goal Setting, Body Language and the ‘Art of Networking’. Additionally, they render their services as Talent Acquisition Specialists helping startups with end-to-end talent acquisition and Human Resource related strategic solutions and consultations.
As a corporate trainer, speaker and motivator, Avishek focuses primarily on:
- Training – Interview skills & soft skills
- Mentoring – startups from a recruitment strategy perspective
- Motivator – Holding motivational talks and talks on stress management and positive living.
Major clients & top brands
“For training – individual candidates as well as academic institutions – I am presently working with Terna College of Engineering, MGM’s College of Engineering & Technology, Oriental College of Commerce and Management in Mumbai, Bharat Technology and EIILM in Kolkata and Karim City College in Jamshedpur,” adds Avishek.
Future plans
“We want to increase the length and width of our training portfolio – I want Calls Incorporated to be a center of excellence imparting training in myriad soft skills related subjects as well as being a torchbearer and a market leader in the field of career counselling, individual counselling, mentoring, consulting and social counselling by bringing together a team of dedicated, diverse and differentiated trainers, coaches and social counsellors on board to service a pan India audience,” says Avishek.
The response so far…
Avishek signs off, “It has been an enriching journey; it has had its share of glory and pitfalls. But through the thick and thin of it all, we have grown organically into a brand in its own niche and space with an array of loyal clients and customers.”
You can get in touch with Avishek Ganguly, here.
Get listed & collaborate with us:
Write to us at contact@tanyamunshi.com to get listed, featured & collaborate with The Lifestyle Portal.
