Dr Gita Bajaj’s relationship with printing and packaging began in 1993, when she and her husband, Ranesh, established a business together. She later returned to VINSAK and serves as Director of VINSAK India, Secure Print UAE and Rotatek Spain. Her career also encompasses work as an editor, researcher and professor, alongside corporate leadership responsibilities.
For Gita, printed packaging combines commercial relevance with engineering, innovation and creativity. She describes it as the bridge between a product and its customer or consumer, supported by work intended to make packaging durable, attractive, safe, secure and sustainable.
Usha Benjamin (UB): How has working in a traditionally male-dominated machinery sector shaped your approach to leadership?
Dr. Gita Bajaj (GB): My approach is centred on people, supported by systems and processes that make an organisation fair and transparent. It is also important to foster a resource-rich mindset, in which people feel they have room to do the things they want to do. I discussed these principles while teaching organisational turnarounds, human behaviour, human resources and communication, and continue to raise them within the organisation and on industry platforms.
Male-dominated companies and industries can be more aggressive and strongly driven by numbers and business outcomes. A people-, process- and systems-led approach requires leaders to pause, listen, empower others and spend time establishing or following processes. That is not always easy. However, like-minded people in the company and industry have collaborated to advance change. When colleagues experience the results, they generally become more willing to support it.
UB: Which experiences have most influenced the leader you are today?
GB: My work at Hindustan Times as an editor, at NIEPA as a researcher, at MDI Gurgaon and other business schools as a professor, and now at VINSAK allowed me to learn from scholars and practitioners. I learnt that great organisations are built brick by brick. Strong professionals are passionate, focused and relentless. They work hard and do not compromise their values, regardless of the cost. That takes courage and a willingness to accept risk, qualities I encourage.
Teaching and writing business cases was particularly influential. I taught case writing to PhD scholars at MDI Gurgaon and IIM Sambalpur. Alongside scholars and colleagues, I published and reviewed cases covering strategy, marketing, communication, finance, information management and supply chain.
Almost 15 years of this work reinforced that corporate challenges do not exist in silos. Leaders need an understanding of business strategy and organisational functions. People management and communication directly affect commercial and financial performance. Human-resources managers who do not understand business and numbers risk becoming disconnected from commercial reality.
Equally, line managers who overlook the human aspects of team management cannot inspire their teams. Although I lead human resources and business transformation, I remain involved in strategic, technological and financial decisions. That helps my team understand business realities and other leaders contribute to building the organisation.
UB: What should companies do to strengthen women’s pathways into decision-making roles?
GB: Disparities do not necessarily arise because people consciously favour men. Perceptual biases and societal expectations often operate subconsciously. Companies need to build awareness of these biases. Including women in decision-making positions, listening to differing perspectives and allowing different management styles can widen organisational perspective and improve results.
Increasing the number of women employees can help women express their views confidently. I do not support quotas, but companies should extend recruitment to women’s talent pools, include women on selection panels and insist on data-based decisions. These steps can reduce perceptual bias and make talent acquisition more inclusive. Women participating in board-level strategic decisions can give other women confidence in their prospects for career progression. Senior women can mentor junior colleagues, while forums focused on public speaking, assertiveness, decision-making and networking can help women progress. Companies also need safe channels through which women can report injustice, abuse or oversight, followed by prompt action.
Policies should encourage men to participate fully in family and household responsibilities as sons, husbands and fathers. This can contribute to a more equitable society in which women receive greater support to pursue both professional and personal goals.
UB: What capabilities will future-ready packaging organisations require as automation and digitalisation advance?
GB: Artificial intelligence and other digital technologies are here to stay. Organisations must first ensure employees are prepared to adopt them and use them to improve efficiency. At the same time, AI can make incorrect recommendations and produce incomplete, biased or fabricated information. Companies must develop employees’ judgement so they question automated outputs and make prudent decisions.
Senior management and human-resources teams must also consider how decisions affect people’s lives. Recruiting large talent pools and subsequently making extensive redundancies because technology can perform their work damages employer reputation, as well as the lives and confidence of affected employees. Companies should recruit prudently and invest in upskilling or reskilling their people.
UB: What defines an A-team, and how can leaders develop one?
GB: A-team members are passionate about a shared objective, focused and relentless in pursuing it. They are confident in their capabilities and trust their leaders and colleagues, giving them the courage to undertake work that others may find daunting. Their leaders devote considerable effort to finding the right people and creating the culture in which they can perform. They set an example, deliver results and inspire others.
They mentor team members, provide opportunities to flourish and accept responsibility when something goes wrong. Experimentation and mistakes are acceptable, although repeating the same mistakes is not.
UB: Where can AI create meaningful opportunities for printing and packaging businesses?
GB: AI can improve operational efficiency and help organisations use knowledge that is currently dispersed. Across customer service, supply chains, sales and employee support, it can gather information as work happens and help services operate more seamlessly.
It also has the potential to improve machine performance. Instead of identifying and correcting errors after they occur, systems could forecast them and provide real-time feedforward information to prevent faults or performance gaps. These are end goals, however.
Achieving them depends on clean, reliable data and a detailed understanding of the factors that influence each process. OEMs, converters and research organisations are working on these areas, and their practical impact should become clearer as solutions develop.
UB: What change would you most like the next generation of women to experience?
GB: More women now work in design and prepress, packaging, and brand owners’ sustainability divisions than in earlier years. I would like to see more join OEMs, converters, and engineering and research organisations. Women are present in human resources, administration, operations and finance, but greater participation is needed in sales, marketing and service.
Women should also pursue strategic roles. There are women chief executives and board directors, but their numbers remain limited. The next step is stronger representation in senior and strategic positions, with women directly shaping decisions and delivering business results.
