Shownotes:

5 years post COVID I continue to ask the question – Do organisations need to have a business purpose? And what does having a business purpose mean in practice?

For the 136th episode of The 🐘 in the Room podcast I spoke with Shikhar Aggarwal, the Joint Managing Director of BLS International one of the world’s largest global service delivery company (visa, passport, consular, and citizen services).

Themes covered in the episode include 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

-      What it means to be a purpose driven business providing citizen services and facilitating mobility

-      Insights on global cultural integration for a listed Indian entity (the only one in the industry) with 60,000 employees and a footprint across 70 countries

-      Lessons from the pandemic: agility, empathy and building trust

-      Evolving challenges in the industry including geo-political crises, cybersecurity and inclusivity in service delivery

-      Commitment to Sustainability & ESG reporting: The aspiration to set global benchmarks in citizen services

-      Role models in the industry and beyond #TCS #L&T #Wipro #Azim Premji

To learn more head to the podcast, link in comments 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

#BLSInternational #CitizenServices #GlobalMobility #ShikharAgarwal #Leadership #Sustainability #ESG #Innovation #PurposeDrivenBusiness

 Episode Transcript:

Sudha: Good afternoon, Shikhar, thank you for being a guest on The Elephant in The Room podcast today.

Shikhar: Thank you so much for inviting me.

Sudha: Brilliant. So let's start with a quick introduction to who you are and what you do..

Shikhar: My name is Shikhar Aggarwal. I'm the joint Managing Director of BLS International. I started in Delhi; I'm a chartered accountant. I worked in a couple of companies before joining BLS International in 2014. So it's been an 11-year wonderful journey. And here we are, listed company with presence in 70 plus countries today.

Sudha: Awesome. Since I'm from a comms background, and Bhavya is also I'd like to hear your elevator pitch for BLS International. What is your mission and vision for the company? It's quite a huge business.

Shikhar: At BLS International, we are a trusted global tech enabled service provider to governments worldwide, committed to simplifying access to essential citizen services. We are operating in 70 plus countries and have processed more than 360 million applications till date. Our mission is to be the world's most trusted and efficient partner for government to citizen services. Also, our mission is to be the largest Indian company in global service delivery. There have been a lot of IT companies out of India, global IT companies, but I feel that a global service delivery company out of India, we are probably the primary one and we want to be the largest one.

Our vision is to touch the lives of a billion people across the globe by delivering citizen services that are seamless, secure and powered by innovation. We aspire to be the global benchmark for inclusive technology driven service delivery that empowers individuals, supports governments, and creates lasting societal value.

Sudha: Very interesting. So in the last couple of years, purpose has become a buzz word. So how important is it for you as you move on this journey to becoming, one of the largest or a global company which is much admired. How important is it for you that BLS International should have a business purpose?

Shikhar: See when someone applies for a visa, it is to unite with a family or needs an identity service to start a new chapter in life. It is much more than just paperwork. It is deeply personal. That's the space we operate in and that's why for us, purpose isn't a trend. It is a responsibility. At BLS, we don't see ourselves just as a service provider.

We see ourselves as an enabler of mobility, connection, and dignity. Our purpose is woven into every application processed, every identity verified, and every life made easier through our technology and presence. It guides us how we innovate, how we collaborate with governments and how we stay human centered in an increasingly digital world.

Beyond enabling access, we're also building livelihoods, empowering over 100,000 individuals, not just with jobs, but with tools, training and opportunities to become successful entrepreneurs in their own right. We are proud to foster a growing ecosystem of people who don't just work with us they are like business partners, they have learned how to run a business. They're making money with us. While others may talk about purpose as a brand statement, for us, it is the reason that we show up every day.

Sudha: Very interesting and it segues into my next question about culture.  As a global business, with the footprint across, many countries, how do you go about creating one culture, getting employees or as you say, your business partners across the world to reflect your values.

Shikhar: When you are operating in a global environment, you know we are operating in 70 plus countries across borders, time zones, cultures, building one cohesive culture isn't about uniformity, it's about unity. For us, culture is the thread that connects thousands of employees around a shared purpose and core set of values, passion, customer orientation, entrepreneurship, result orientation, integrity and respect and being process driven.

We have built the cultures with intent through strong training programs, open communication and digital platforms that bridge distances. We keep everyone aligned, no matter where they are, and while we are united by values, we never lose sight of local strengths. Our teams are empowered to bring their unique perspectives while staying anchored in common framework of service excellence.

That's how we create a culture that's global in spirit but grounded in the realities of the people we serve and the people who serve with us.

Sudha: So that's about culture. And do you travel a lot to these countries to actually see what the culture, what the integration is like?

Shikhar: Definitely me my senior team, we want to be on the ground. We don't want to operate a company from our head office or our office. If you have a touch and feel of the ground, the different cultures, values of the people, then you understand where your company is really at.

Not only cultures and values, you also understand delivery, business opportunities, capabilities. So it is a must.

Sudha: That's the best way to learn.

So Shikhar it's been like five years since the pandemic and, that was such a moment in time, moment in history where, everyone was impacted global travel and tourism of course was heavily, heavily impacted. We couldn't travel, I was stuck here in the UK, couldn't go to India. What were the learnings for people in your business? Particularly around, adaptability, agility, and also to be able to continue to serve customers and clients, who were stuck in crisis.

Shikhar: I think for us, since we are a company that gives visas, definitely pandemic had hit us the hardest, but it has been a learning curve. Pandemic for us was more than a crisis, it became a real time test for our resilience, and for us it brought three powerful lessons to the forefront.

First, agility became non-negotiable, practically overnight, we reimagined how we work. Digitizing operations enabling remote support and ensuring business continuity in the face of unprecedented disruption. We also learned how to operate business at a lower cost, and we are still taking some of those learnings till today.

Secondly, we learnt empathy isn't just a value, it's a strategy, while we kept services running, we made sure that our people were protected.  We prioritized safety, flexibility, and wellbeing for our frontline staff as well as the customers we serve.  And third, the trust made all the difference. Our long-lasting partnership with governments gave us the credibility and collaboration needed to co-create solutions that balanced public safety with service continuity.

These lessons didn't just get us through crisis. They have reshaped how we operate today: faster, more human and more connected than ever. If you see our growth after COVID, if you see our profitability growth, If you see our margins growth, if you follow our financials, everything is at a different trajectory.

And there were very few employees that we actually let go of, we deferred salaries, we reduced salaries, we brought it back after COVID. Most of our offices we were maintaining.  I think five years down the