Creating opportunities for everyone to shine equally

When Bala graduated from college in India in 2001, her first job was at a major software company. It was only later that she visited England for an on-site project. She and her husband fell in love with the country and they applied for work visas to stick around a little longer. When the visa came through, she applied for a job at a global consultancy firm, her first in the UK. Years later, after having a baby and taking a voluntary break from work, she was looking to restart her career. Along came a contract assignment with Shell that started a new leg in her journey.

During her first project as a contractor, personal issues forced her to take a three-week-long break during her very first month. As it turns out, that was also the time she first saw an incentive to stick with Shell.

“My manager didn’t mind when I told him I’d need to take some time off,” Bala says. “He told me to take care of my personal life and that Shell would be waiting for me when I choose to return. That care created an emotional bond with the company for me.” Since then, she says, she’s seen time and again how both contractors and employees are treated the same at Shell. So when she was offered a permanent role post-COVID, she leapt at the opportunity.

For her first Shell project, Bala worked with a third-party company to install Shell Fuelsave devices in customer vehicles. Five years later, she returned to a different role migrating over 30,000 customers to the 2.0 version of the initiative. Though it’s been a bit of a challenge, she admits, it’s now settled into a more comfortable troubleshooting rhythm.

“It’s very fulfilling. Each market is different with different experiences. For instance, there was a recent emergency requirement that we decommission our online platform in Russia, because of the war in Ukraine. So we had to come together as a team one evening to pull this off as quickly as possible.”

Bala says that she originally had her misgivings about whether an energy company would have the same room for growth she’d expect at large technology firms. But even when she first joined, she says, she found Shell’s IT department to be well established. And though the work has been both challenging and varied she still says her favourite part of the job is the people. “It’s the people that make the company what it is,” she beams.

The change of pace from working at a technology services company has been enormous for her. “My two kids grew up while I was working at Shell, I don’t think I could’ve done it anywhere else,” she says. She’s seen how Shell has maintained a certain level of flexibility by focusing on getting things done rather than just locking up their time. “Even before COVID, I was more of a home worker, so Shell allowed me to go into the office twice a week.”

That freedom to take time for herself and her family has pushed Bala to explore new avenues in her personal life. She’s always been a fan of yoga and meditation, so she recently completed her training as a yoga teacher. Aside from that, she says she also ensures her family’s participation in the various events the local Indian community hosts in the area. “We miss home, so we get together and celebrate all our festivals. The kids don’t get the same exposure to India as we did, so we try to make up for it.”

When pushed to consider what her next move is, Bala reminisces on her start as a database developer to her new role as a data engineer. She’s clear that data is the common factor that has drawn her interest across jobs. So it stands to reason, she shrugs, that it’s something she should pursue, perhaps in her dream role as a data analyst on Azure technologies. The location, however, could always change. “My husband and I only plan one year at a time,” Bala says. “Now that my kids are older we’re sticking to where we are in Hatfield. Maybe when they finish schooling we’ll move back to India, where our roots are.”

She’s quick to point out, however, that Shell will likely be where she pursues the rest of her career.

Her post-retirement plans, however, are a lot more radical. “Post retirement, I want to buy an electric autorickshaw and just work as an auto driver in Bangalore. I expect to be financially stable of course, but that wouldn’t be for the money. I just want to drive people around, meet new faces, talk to them and hear new stories. I can’t think of anything that would make my retirement sweeter.”