Rumana Rahman: A Leader, an Inspiration
Rumana Rahman has recently marked her place in the history of the corporate world by becoming the first Bangladeshi to be appointed as the Asia Pacific and Middle East (APME) Regional Head of Talent, Culture and Inclusion of British American Tobacco Group (BAT). Not only has she worked tirelessly to reach a position unimaginable for many, but Rumana's story also bears witness to how she has pushed herself to bring her best version every step of the way. She is based in Hong Kong and now talking to The Daily Star while visiting Dhaka.
After completing her BBA from IBA, Rumana joined BAT Bangladesh as a management trainee in 2001. From then to now, as the Regional Head of Talent, Culture and Inclusion, her responsibilities have grown, and her journey has been subjected to countless obstacles. When asked how she managed it all, Rumana replied, "I believe in certain things, like your hard work, commitment and passion remain unchanged even when you switch from one role to another. What has really changed over the years is the influence I had on leadership by becoming an enabler to the commercial side through HR interventions."
Having had regional and global exposure in terms of talent development, we asked for her input on how Bangladeshi talent compared to that of other countries.
She said that if one looks into the leadership team at BAT group, there are currently two Bangladeshis occupying leading positions in the APME region, which itself speaks volumes. She also spoke about how having Bangladeshis playing vital roles in various teams of BAT across the globe feels rather rewarding. "Beyond BAT, I see huge potential. Bangladeshi human capital comes off as resilient, intelligent, hardworking and extremely passionate," she added.
We then proceeded to discuss what further work Bangladesh can do on human capital development to ensure a robust talent pipeline, where Rumana stressed on the role of mid-level management. Since it is the mid-level where the decision-making, risk-taking and creativity expands, a focused structured development as well as investment in leadership skills will eventually help local talent take up bigger roles on a global scale.
The dynamics of the corporate world are changing continuously, and HR is expected to match its pace. There is also a growing tendency to promote diversity and inclusion agenda across the world. Among them what trends can be adapted by Bangladesh regarding women to ensure gender equality in decision-making positions?
"To me it's not a case of percentage, but the idea that organization demography should represent the profile of its consumers and society. I believe women bring different perspectives to leadership and significantly improve the emotional intelligence of an organization which is crucial for it to develop sustainably," said Rumana Rahman. According to her, Bangladesh is way ahead of many South Asian countries in terms of female inclusion, with the country being led by a female and 80% of the workforce of the leading RMG sector being women.
Rumana says, "There is work to be done in terms of women inclusion in the corporate and entrepreneurial sector, but even that has improved a lot over the last decade. It is not only about including women in an organization's structure, but also catering to needs that maybe unique to the gender; only then can we expect an improvement in the qualitative parameters of an organization".
While discussing women's inclusion in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Rumana talked about BAT Bangladesh's unique programme, "Supernova," a mentoring platform for aspiring females in STEM which aims at paving a path for them to corporate. Mentored by the Operations Leadership team, Supernova embeds confidence and provides encouragement to help women grow in leadership roles.
The ongoing pandemic has weighed heavy on our mental health. When asked about the importance of employee wellbeing, this leader smiled explaining how this could be a blessing in disguise. She emphasized on how these difficult times let us see the true value of mental health. "In Bangladesh, I see mental awareness facilities now where they can reach out and feel safe to express themselves. In my view, organizations allowing their employees to avail this opportunity are progressive."
Further adding from her experience she said, "The biggest thing to me as a leader is recognizing that a team member maybe feeling down and understanding that they bring not only their work but also their emotions into the organization. By acknowledging this we can build better and fulfilled employees."
Before concluding our discussion with this frontrunner, we asked her valuable suggestions for young professionals entering the workforce, to which she replied - "I think youngsters now have more resources, technology and more role models to look up to. What they can add to the mix is consistency as well as patience because success does not come overnight."
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