PASSION AND PERSEVERANCE IN ACTION

Last week, I had the chance to have a one-on-one conversation with Anna Dolgikh, corporate superwoman who's shaking things up at BAT's regional HR department. As we began to talk, I captured Anna, the accomplished professional in the corporate world, Anna the person, and most importantly, a mother with a warm personality and candid opinions.

Have you been to Bangladesh before? How do you feel about the country and its people?

This is my first time in Bangladesh and I have received a very warm reception. The people are friendly and the atmosphere always buzzing with activity. I see a massive presence of youth everywhere I go, and I believe their contribution will be vital in taking the country forward. I went on market visits here, and I was awed at how full of life the young people are. They're hanging out, playing music and just having a good time. It's wonderful to see such a fun, playful presence of the youth and surely this generation will play a huge role in the country's bright future.

We have heard about the illustrious career that you have led across the past two decades. Can you please share how your journey has been so far?

Before joining BAT, I started my career in 1996 as an HR Specialist in NASA. I also worked in Boeing and RRC and then BAT Russia as a HR Business Partner in 2000. The reason I wanted to work for BAT is because I knew that this company would give me an opportunity to have an international career. Over the last 17 years that I have been a part of this organisation, I acquired valuable experiences in all aspects of HR, starting from business partnering to talent, organisational engagement, effectiveness and reward. I had the opportunity of serving in key leadership roles, as the HR Director of Central Asia, Malaysia, Korea and now Asia Pacific and the Middle East, which I started earlier this year. Overall, it's been a very rewarding experience, enabling me to strengthen my leadership skills and interact with a diverse and talented group of people across every stage.

For many organisations, gender diversity is an issue. How do you ensure it in BAT?

It has been a BAT global agenda for the last 5 years. We have been following up and working hard across all the markets to make this successful. We want to ensure representation is evident at all levels of the organisation. I think the progress that Bangladesh has made is exceptional. We have more than doubled our female recruitment across the past 5 years, and with time, more women are making a difference in this organisation with their leadership contribution in the frontlines of our critical commercial functions, in the field and in the factory shop floor. Currently 28% of our leadership team and more than 13% of our trade marketing team are comprised of female, an industry record that we intend to keep pushing higher every year. With instances like Rumana Rahman and Mubina Asaf playing a critical role in the BAT Bangladesh leadership team, we are confident that as a multiple award-winning employer, we will continue to make our female colleagues feel that it is a place where they can thrive and pioneer the expansion of female corporate leadership in the country.

We have a talent review process that looks in to all the dimensions of our talent agenda. We have been ensuring that the key enablers are in place; for example, we make it easier for our female colleagues to receive flexible working hours, day care facilities and other crucial support which are necessary for simultaneously addressing professional and personal requirements. We have another stream focusing on training; and those key qualities that would help them to progress.

We are applying more of coaching and mentoring from seniors by creating networks. We have a network here in Bangladesh and we are about to launch the regional network where female colleagues would have a platform to share their experiences; like the discussion I had the other day for BAT Bangladesh here. I shared my story – both career and the critical personal decisions I had to make.

It is commonly perceived that for a woman it is difficult to climb up the corporate ladder; did you face any challenge?

It is about how you can move from thinking I cannot do it to how do I do it? My strategy was to work hard and reach as high as I could, as fast as possible. I got married in 2002 during my service with BAT. It is vital that your partner understands and appreciates your career aspirations and you should continue to have regular conversations with him to find a way to cooperate and compromise at both ends to make it work.

In most part of my career I had to be cautious about my family; I have two children. When I moved to Korea, my son was about 2 years old. However, I made sure to create some space for myself. I used to do yoga late at night. In the weekends, or when they were asleep, I utilised those few hours for myself.

BAT Bangladesh is known for grooming talents. How are Bangladeshi talents performing in the global arena?

Currently over 50 Bangladeshi managers are holding various leadership roles in critical markets like Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea etc. We can proudly say that they are following the footsteps of their predecessors who left a trail of success working in various functions. The BATB team has left an impressive mark with their resilience, passion and hard work, all of which contributed immensely to the continued success of this organisation. In its entirety, BAT has been a talent development institution, which has been at the forefront of developing leaders who continue to serve BAT and even other organisations within the country and beyond.

Recently Battle of Minds 2018 was taken to a global level; tell us more about it.

I had the opportunity to see their presentations - great ideas! With the phenomenal success of Battle of Minds, this year it was decided to implement Battle of Minds as a global talent platform across its 3 regions, and give an opportunity for regional champions to fly to our London headquarters for the global finale, as well as an exciting tour of our innovation hub. This year, participants were presented the challenge of initiating a sustainable, industry transforming start-up concept in the field of their choice, from education, health, transportation and footwear. In Bangladesh we had a record breaking amount of participants. Over 3300 participants registered across 42 universities, before finally arriving at our champion team from the Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka. Bangladesh also just won the regional round of Asia Pacific and Middle East, and will now be representing the region coming June in London!

A huge amount of Bangladesh's population are the youth, what would be your advice for them?

I would advise them to put their heart and mind into their career. Don't give up and be bold to come up with ideas, and also be bold to ensure that you make your idea work. Remember that you can learn from anything and everything. This is such an exciting time for Bangladesh, the country's youth are talented and energetic, and so now's the time you put that talent and energy to work and bring all your ideas to life.

Being responsible for such a large region, how do you unwind?

I have a few passions. I used to play piano during my childhood, and I've recently taken it up again. I am taking piano classes and learning to perform jazz and blues along with classical. My daughter plays piano too; while my son plays saxophone like my husband. Someday, we can have a band! I am passionate about photography, for it's such a perfect form of self-expression. In the weekend, I sometime go to a boot camp with a group of around 30 people. It generates high energy and despite its gruelling nature, it's super fun.