Jagrut's 2020 Hero is Kaushik Vakil, Sr. Vice President, Aditya Birla Group

My 2020 Hero is Mr. Kaushik Vakil (Sr. Vice President –Head Copper Vertical, Unit-Birla Copper, Hindalco Industries Limited, Aditya Birla Group)



# Challenges - There was unprecedented & sudden halt of plant operations when covid-19 struck in March-2020. To run plants with 20% resources, his never say die approach & quick decision making, helped in restructuring & running at least one plant by combining teams of various plants.


# When 1st Covid case got identified in July-19, the preparedness, planning & vision of senior leadership (which he was part of) helped in tackling by way of contact tracing, isolation, quarantine, sanitization etc.


# We found him leading from front with great commitment when employees were afraid to join back in the plant due to having covid cases, by risking his own health, meeting people regularly at work spot, encouraging them to join back.


# He seamlessly managed several challenges like handling >1000 people in planned shutdown of Cu-1 without any covid case by planning & systems orientation.



# Personal Life commitment & Sacrifice (Work –Life balance)


He is a family bonded person, however in crisis we found him sacrificing his personal life, as he couldn’t visit his family for months (though they were only 120 km away) as he was busy resolving plant issues, He maintains his fitness & health by walking, reading & music, finds time even in his very busy schedule.