Our latest FAQ details our team in India, from the perspective of MD Vipul Sheth: who they are, their working environment, and why they’re critical to our outsourcing and offshoring offerings.

In 2005 we had five people operating in one of our locations – now our team number is in the hundreds. One of those original five was Rajni, who has been a constant for us and has helped to set the culture and tone of our much-enlarged group – hopefully in my mirror of being honest; decent people wanting to do a good job.

It’s also a place where people must feel safe to make it their own – certainly when you don’t have the big boss watching over things every day.

The office

If any of our client firms had an office like ours then I think they’d be proud to call it their own. It’s spacious and paperless (the exception being HR’s printer – some formal documents HAVE to be printed). It’s contemporary and modern.

We have meeting rooms, smaller breakout spaces and canteens across all our four offices. We want our people to step away from their desks during breaks – we don’t want too much of a production line-style way of working.

Protocols

No mobile phones are allowed in the office for security reasons – that even means guests. Recently the IPL cricket was reaching its crescendo, and people on their break would watch it in the canteen and relay the scores when back at their desk.

There are metal detectors to pass when you arrive, along with lockers for valuables (such as the mobile phone) – for visitors and staff.

Holiday

We have very happy and productive teams, and recently we took our longest-serving members to Dubai (click here to read more).

Even though our team numbers are growing quickly, we have plenty of people to help them settle into our way of working. It’s incredibly calm, and make sure the work’s done. But it’s important to appreciate and represent the social side of things too.

Vipul Sheth is founder and MD of AdvanceTrack

If you’d like to speak to us about your practice, and how it would work with the AdvanceTrack team, please contact us by clicking here.

The AdvanceTrack team in India stepped up during Covid, when it really mattered. And MD Vipul Sheth knew that his longstanding team needed a special reward. This is the story of their life-changing trip abroad.

They say that professional services firms are nothing without their people. It makes sense that, for us at AdvanceTrack, the same saying rings true.

Quite rightly, we spend a lot of time talking about our operational excellence, and focus on processes, security and scalability. But these are underpinned by the technical expertise and work ethic of our people – without whom we wouldn’t be here.

With that in mind, MD Vipul Sheth discussed with our managers in India about a plan to reward and recognise some of our longstanding team members. A five-day trip to Dubai was then organised for 2021.

Covid got in the way of that plan, while Dubai’s global expo during 2022 meant that we had to hold off the holiday until 2023.

“The team never bugged me about whether the trip would actually happen, but there was no way it was going be off the cards,” explains Vipul. “We just had to be patient.”

First-time travel

And so, in April, some 37 of the AdvanceTrack team went on holiday together. And for 32 of these people, it was their first time abroad.

“When it was announced we were all very excited – a great treat,” says AdvanceTrack’s Mohit Soni.

“It wasn’t in our hands so we couldn’t assume anything about it. But it was fun, and no – I didn’t think I would have to work while we were away!”

The itinerary was a full one. There was a desert safari, cruises and city tours, along with free time for them to go shopping.

“They didn’t want me to have them in a conference room,” adds Vipul. “They chose to go to the waterpark instead!”

Team support

Aanal Shah has a young daughter, and was therefore reticent to travel. “But my colleagues said: ‘You must come. Don’t stop yourself.’ Everyone supported me on the holiday with her, and she enjoyed it too.”

“I would say that this is how it is working at AdvanceTrack. All the small things are taken care of for us – we don’t have to ask,” adds Mohit.

Vipul explains that he wanted to do something that “made us stand out as an organisation”.

“Part of that comes down to us giving opportunities that individually they might otherwise not have done,” says Vipul.

“The fact that we were able to offer that life-changing experience is really what it’s all about. It was an important thing to do.”

If you’d like to find out more about our team, how they work, and how we would work with you, please click here.