Nurturing a new corporate business culture

Being successful in any business has a lot more to do with how happy and productive your employees are rather than any business plans or strategies, explains Centena Group's chairman and managing director Sanjay Raghunath

Centena Group, a UAE based multinational conglomerate has been successful in creating such a unique workplace for its employees, thanks to its various policies and strict adherence to the company's core principles that are deeply imbibed in the work culture.

Sanjay Raghunath, chairman and managing director of the Centena Group, has been at the forefront of implementing these changes and driving the company towards greater diversification. Raghunath was instrumental in spearheading the formation of Centena Group. He has overseen the expansion of the group into various divisions that have gone on to create value with a focus on technological innovation and cuttingedge solutions.

Under his leadership, the group has expanded its operations into diverse sectors varying from life and analytical sciences, process automation, biometric and identification solutions to activity based educational learning systems. Speaking about the company's growth so far, he says: “Our growth can be directly attributed to the focus we have been giving to our human capital development over the years. We believe happy and proud employees make successful companies.” Raghunath introduced employee stock options way back in 2005, making Centena Group one of the first companies in the region to allow employees to be part shareholders.

Every year, part of the company’s budget is set aside to implement programmes that aim to create a cheerful atmosphere among its employees and promote a transparent work culture. Starting from a unique reward programme called ‘Shout Out’, where employees reward each other, to organising special work/leisure days, employees and their family members are treated to a wide array of companysponsored initiatives.

As a result, Centena Group has today evolved into a major emerging business entity diversifying into different domains and delivering world class, innovative technology-based solutions to improve the quality of life in the communities it serves.

“Going forward, the speed at which we will adapt to change and meet the expectations of our customers will determine our success,” Ragunath says. Centena today has 22 offices spread across the GCC, UK, India, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

Speaking about further expansion, he indicates that the growth plan for the coming years will focus on adding value and meeting customer expectations through local manufacturing and geographically expanding the business into Saudi Arabia, India and South East Asia.

“We have aligned ourselves with the vision of our leaders in this region, in building brighter futures for our youngsters and stronger communities through innovative education. Protecting people, data and assets is the need of any society and our businesses are focussed on facilitating this for both government and private organisations,” he says.

“Our focus on innovation and bringing the latest technological solutions to the customers and communities we serve, will stand us in good stead.”