Page 30 - IBT August 2021 Issue

Corporate Industry
By Marjiya Baktyer Ahmed
The Prolific
Globetrotter
Golam Safwat Choudhury, Head of Brand & Strategy of BAT Bangladesh talks about
his incredible career, how a new generation of professionals can work the grind and
the trajectory the multinational company is on.
Tell us about your journey with
BAT?
I joined BAT Bangladesh as a
Territory Officer in 2002 right after I
graduated, being posted in Rangpur.
This was my first job after
completing my Bachelor of Business
Administration from IBA, Dhaka
University. Since then, it’s been 19
years and it feels as if all of it has
passed in the blink of an eye.
I would say my career has been fairly
balanced between different functions
of marketing (in BAT we call them
Trade Marketing, Brands and SPI)
and different layers of control (End
market, Area-level multi market role
and Regional strategic unit). In these
19 years, apart from Bangladesh, I
have worked in Malaysia, South
Korea, and Pakistan in South Asia
Area Capacity and then in Hong Kong
in a Regional Capacity covering the
Asia Pacific and Middle East Region. high-performance culture where there is fair judgement of
I returned to Bangladesh in Q1, 2019
to join BATB leadership team and
now, I’m preparing to start another
leg of the journey in a new country
very soon.
28
August 2021
high-performance culture made getting into
the game psychologically stimulating and it
became easier to keep going.
How did you, or many others like you
in BAT, end up having international
careers while your education is fully in
Bangladesh?
BAT is as widely spread across the world
with large scale operations in over 180
countries. As you climb up the ladder in
BAT, after a point, the talent pool becomes
global. Job appointments are posted on a
common platform so a vacancy in the UK
would be viewed by applicants around the
globe. That’s the general principle. After a
while, you get used to knowing that your
competitor is not in Bangladesh, but sitting
in other countries, and you are all
competing for a common prize. As you
become a senior manager, it truly becomes a
global game. You can’t be tied to one place.
If you’re good enough, you’ll be sought
after.
This requires quite a few perspectives on the
part of the employer company. It means once
you are in - your talent, your quality, your
When the general trend is to switch jobs or even to motivation, your passion – these things
switch industries; why have you stuck to a single matter. Your educational background, skin,
employer for 19 years? race, gender, religion doesn’t matter – your
When I started working, I thought I’ll spend four to five years work does. The global-regional leadership
in a corporate job and then possibly switch somewhere or teams at BAT are comprised of globally
build something of my own. This was my initial objective. diverse individuals from a wide variety of
Along the way, I even thought about moving abroad, seeking nationalities and backgrounds. This is true
immigration but none of these ideas materialized into fruition. for our Global Management Board, Global
There are three main factors that influenced this. Functional Leadership, and Regional
The first one was effective line management. Prior to joining Leadership etc. This is really stimulating,
BAT Bangladesh, I had an impression that bosses exist only to and I believe that given good platforms
catch you doing something wrong. However, at BAT, I was Bangladeshi talents can really push the
taught that if you make a mistake the first person to go to is boundaries and that’s why you see so many
your boss because his future is also tied to your success. At of us going for a global career.
BAT, I have seen bosses planning their subordinates’ success In your experience, how do
and that creates an affinity and builds a friendship which Bangladeshis fare against
lasts for a lifetime. This surely eased some of the nerves and international talent in a foreign
lifted off pressure. set-up?
Secondly, I was always offered a carrot at the right time. This Bangladeshis are doing very well, in fact
meant that switching, leaving, and migrating would come at a Bangladeshis are doing much better than a
high opportunity cost as I knew that at every turn there was a lot of people’s expectations. Starting from
coveted yet achievable reward. managing complex factories to taking up
The third and most vital reason was the presence of a regional engineering projects; from leading
some of the HR work streams globally to
people’s talent. Fortunately, I joined a company where shaping our transformation strategy in
employees were judged on their work and not on affinity, global functional capacity and even leading
orientation, ethnicity, gender or any other bias. This is difficult some of our top brands globally as Brand
to achieve especially when you work in a multicultural setup Directors – you see Bangladeshis managing
where people from various backgrounds work. But, a a wide portfolio of senior management
projects all across the world. This is a true testament of how
BAT Bangladesh develops human capital, fit to compete at an
international level.
When you provide Bangladeshis a clear-cut mandate with a
clear set of rules and a fair chance to compete, our talents put
their hearts into it. Let me give a general example: In
Bangladesh, you see chaos on the streets, but in foreign
countries, Bangladeshis are some of the most disciplined, well
behaved and committed citizens. Similarly in corporate
settings abroad, I have seen Bangladeshis demonstrate a clear
edge in commitment and drive. It also takes far less effort or
reward to motivate Bangladeshi talent, and that is why we are
so sought.
What are some of the factors/development areas to
watch out for young professionals who are planning to
make a mark someday in the corporate sector abroad
or in the local scenario?
The game in the country and the game abroad might be
slightly different. Let me try to answer my take on a career in
a foreign land first. Bangladeshis don’t struggle in the early to
mid-management levels because that’s where your own
commitment, dedication, hard work and discipline comes into
play. Bangladeshis are inherently committed, motivated and
they like to take ownership. A lot of people thrive in a foreign
context after joining a corporate set up overseas and rise
through the ranks in early and mid-management levels.
The improvement area is when you transition from mid
management to leadership positions. That’s where
Bangladeshi folks have a bit of catching up to do. I would
highlight a few things – the main change that happens is
when you are in a leadership position, whether you are a good
employee, good manager or whether you are good at your job
doesn’t really matter because you have managers you need to
manage who in turn, have employees they have to manage;
it’s a big team to look after. How you work or are individually
really goes out the window. You need to be able to bring the
best out of people in your own team. Often,
Bangladeshis may not be mentally prepared
to take on the challenges and responsibilities
that come with leadership positions.
We as a nation are not very extroverted. We
don’t reach out, do public speaking, deal with
uncomfortable issues, talk openly about
vulnerabilities, address conflicts – these are
some of the things we tend to face during
senior leadership levels. I would say, things
like effective communication, networking,
getting yourself heard, taking a stance would
help you thrive in a leadership position. You
have to be willing to take risks and this is
where Bangladeshis have to let go of their
tendency of playing safe or trying to hold
onto a job too tightly.
In the local scenario, if you ask jobseekers,
they’ll tell you there aren’t enough jobs and
on the other hand if you ask leaders across
industries, they’ll tell you there are not
enough good employees. It’s not that there
aren’t enough jobs, it’s also that there aren’t
enough capable managers. Job seekers need
to invest 5-7 years learning a trade instead of
harboring a tendency for immediate
gratification without putting in the time,
effort, and development.
My advice is not just for job seekers, it is for
people early into their career – do not trade
your job for something possibly slightly better
today. Evaluate your job from a learning and
development perspective. If it does not offer
you something to grow into in five years,
that’s not a venture worth sticking to even if
it pays well. Even if something is not up to the
building you up as a professional in a certain se
and invest your five years. It’s not as if your y
lost in a grind, it is perhaps the best form of i
can put in to secure the rest of your future.
How do you see the future of tobacco with the gro
health-concerns and stringent regulations against
tobacco?
Tobacco companies have to figure out how to trans
business away from tobacco and into stimulants. T
options already available and according to scient
medical studies, these products are substantially
harm-reduced, and we are communicating this in di
countries following permission from government au
Products like vapes and oral pouches satisfy nico
but also cause significantly less harm. We are th
offering our consumers in Bangladesh with harm-re
options if regulations permit.
The BAT down the line will be nothing like the on
today. Eventually, our offers will range from bot
nicotine-based and non-nicotine stimulants. That
BAT recognizes and it’s a road to survival for us
How has BAT faced COVID challenges and what has
been your success mantra?
BAT Bangladesh has been around for 110 years in B
We have seen World Wars, the Liberation War, regi
changed, catastrophic natural disasters to achiev
middle-income status. All this while, we have bee
development partners to the government, and we ar
actively contributing to its agenda of achieving
Sustainable Development Goals. The reason we have
this long is that we don’t do business for a shor
instead we create partnerships with our suppliers
and retailers, and look out for everyone associat
When the pandemic struck, we went back to our bas
playbook which is to take care of everyone in the
We promised that not a single job will be lost un
business is affected significantly, and we have b
keep our word.
BAT Bangladesh doesn’t only look out for its 1,50
it extends the care to our 35,000+ farmers, 16,00
force and over 800,000 retailers. If we survive,
employment will survive. If we take care of them,
will get stronger and we will continue to reap th
in the next decade. We engaged with the governmen
explained that farmers’ families need to survive
buying tobacco. We gave special allowances to our
and sent care packages regularly while we reache
retailers whose livelihoods were getting affected
pandemic is an opportunity to prove that your par
matter to you, and that you are committed to reac
The whole objective is if you want to go far and
business, you cannot just grow yourself alone, ev
around you needs to grow too.