Joe Bastian: Manifesting The Art Of Finding The Finest Of Human Potential
Joe Bastian
MD
K.J. Bastian, Joe's late father,founded Zigma with the noble goal of providing highly skilled and quality Indian engineers and talented personnel to organizations all over the world. Joe, who is an accomplished leader and information technology professional with over 30 years of experience in leading capacities with multinational corporations in India and overseas, today is furthering his father's vision.
In an exclusive interaction with CEO Insights, Joe enlightens us about the motivation behind the establishment of the company and how they are helping individuals by offering international recruitment services.
Tell us about the inception ideology of Zigma Manpower Consultants and how has your journey been at Zigma so far.
I joined this company two years ago it was formed in 1999 by my father, late K. J. Bastian, and he had been in charge of all corporate operations for the previous 20 years. After retiring as GM of a large Public Sector in India, at the age of 64, he founded Zigma with the noble goal of providing enterprises throughout the world with highly skilled and quality Indian engineers and professional personnel. This effort has proven to be a huge benefit for thousands of Indians, allowing them to pursue possibilities overseas and providing financial security to thousands of families. And when he passed away two years ago, at the age of 84, I resigned from my corporate IT role abroad and returned to India to take-over the company as Chairman & MD.
What were the initial challenges at
Zigma Manpower & Computer Consultants that taught you some crucial lessons of Recruitment functions?
Worldwide recruitment is not the same as carrying recruitment services within India, due to which we maintain a high level of professionalism and transparency with our clients and candidates. Government of India has many regulations in place for international recruitment. We have a lot of accountability in certain adverse situations because the employees who are recruited abroad, if he is mistreated or deprived of their contractual obligations, we have to ensure that these are sorted-out with the employer and even face situations our candidates are safely returned to India, sometimes even at our own cost. My late father was a Graduate Mechanical Engineer from Madras University (1959) with long years of expertise as manager & leader in a public sector and MNCs. He taught me the value of sincerity and integrity. His same philosophy and ethics that we follow at Zigma. When we post job openings for other countries, individuals flock to us knowing that we will only perform the best job for them. As a result, they're really satisfied and no one has ever complained in the last 20 years. This is something that we will continue, I would say that our business model will remain, and we will not modify it since it is one of the values that has kept us growing for the past 20 years.
How do you help the company in carrying out the vision, and what makes your organization stand out in the industry? What is your USP?
Today, we operate predominantly in Middle Eastern countries and are a well-known and respected recruitment firm with thousands of pleased engineers and managers across all industrial sectors. The Government of India has licensed us to recruit overseas. Further more, we operate and are resourceful in seeking individuals across India, and we are paid by clients for staff recruitment. We have our Directors and Staff with experience in each of the business verticals, and most importantly, Zigma was built by industry specialists with 30-40 years of experience in Petrochemical, Engineering, Information Technology and Human Resources. Our main differentiating factor is our Promoters. 100 percent of them are with minimum 30 years of work experiences in very senior positions
Worldwide recruitment is not the same as carrying recruitment services within India, due to which we maintain a high level of professionalism and transparency with our clients and candidates. Government of India has many regulations in place for international recruitment. We have a lot of accountability in certain adverse situations because the employees who are recruited abroad, if he is mistreated or deprived of their contractual obligations, we have to ensure that these are sorted-out with the employer and even face situations our candidates are safely returned to India, sometimes even at our own cost. My late father was a Graduate Mechanical Engineer from Madras University (1959) with long years of expertise as manager & leader in a public sector and MNCs. He taught me the value of sincerity and integrity. His same philosophy and ethics that we follow at Zigma. When we post job openings for other countries, individuals flock to us knowing that we will only perform the best job for them. As a result, they're really satisfied and no one has ever complained in the last 20 years. This is something that we will continue, I would say that our business model will remain, and we will not modify it since it is one of the values that has kept us growing for the past 20 years.
The recruitment operations are difficult; our staff goes through a lengthy process of communicating with candidates every day, as it is critical to choose the best individuals
How do you help the company in carrying out the vision, and what makes your organization stand out in the industry? What is your USP?
Today, we operate predominantly in Middle Eastern countries and are a well-known and respected recruitment firm with thousands of pleased engineers and managers across all industrial sectors. The Government of India has licensed us to recruit overseas. Further more, we operate and are resourceful in seeking individuals across India, and we are paid by clients for staff recruitment. We have our Directors and Staff with experience in each of the business verticals, and most importantly, Zigma was built by industry specialists with 30-40 years of experience in Petrochemical, Engineering, Information Technology and Human Resources. Our main differentiating factor is our Promoters. 100 percent of them are with minimum 30 years of work experiences in very senior positions
with multiple industries in India and abroad. The kind of expertise and professionalism they bring to the table is something that helps us to differentiate from the rest.
Tell us about the expertise and experience of your team at Zigma. Also, throw some light on your recruitment process.
We have a modest team that has been able to develop because, as you can see, we have been able to work successfully during the lock downs, even though we had to operate from home at times. The recruitment operations are difficult our staff goes through a lengthy process of communicating with candidates every day, as it is critical to choose the best individuals. Shortlisting candidates based on our interactions and research, with most interviews taking place via telephonic discussion or online video call these days, and then obviously the paperwork which requires a lot of work. Offering excellent service to our customers is more essential to us than making a profit.
I completed my postgraduate studies at BMS College of Engineering in Bangalore, and this is where I sharpened my skills on people management, leadership skills and organizing skills too. I started my career in Mumbai as a Software Engineer in late 80s with an MNC in SEEPZ. By year 2000, I got the opportunity to hold the P&L responsibility and head the India and Middle East operations for a CMMI Level-5 company and this was my first milestone raising to corporate level Leading a multifaceted team of Engineers, Business Development, Finance and HR functions and competing with MNCs for large projects. That was 21 years back. Though ups & downs were faced, I'd say it's been a relatively smooth ride so far for me. Before taking-up as MD of Zigma, I was Galfar Engineering in Qatar, a large Engineering & Contracting MNC and reporting to its CEO. I was given the CIO award in Qatar in 2018 for my work on Digital Transformation.
Taking Zigma forward, I have great plans ahead. I am exploring all options for inducting new leaders into our business and investment ideas to branch out across India and beyond.
Joe Bastian, MD, Zigma Manpower Computer Consultants
Joe is an accomplished Leader and Information Technology Professional with 30+ years of expertise with MNCs in India and abroad in leadership roles. He holds rich experience in working with Retail, Engineering & Contracting, Logistics, Manufacturing, Management Consulting, Healthcare and Technology verticals throughout his professional journey.
Quick Facts
Location:Cochin, Kerala
Tell us about the expertise and experience of your team at Zigma. Also, throw some light on your recruitment process.
We have a modest team that has been able to develop because, as you can see, we have been able to work successfully during the lock downs, even though we had to operate from home at times. The recruitment operations are difficult our staff goes through a lengthy process of communicating with candidates every day, as it is critical to choose the best individuals. Shortlisting candidates based on our interactions and research, with most interviews taking place via telephonic discussion or online video call these days, and then obviously the paperwork which requires a lot of work. Offering excellent service to our customers is more essential to us than making a profit.
I completed my postgraduate studies at BMS College of Engineering in Bangalore, and this is where I sharpened my skills on people management, leadership skills and organizing skills too. I started my career in Mumbai as a Software Engineer in late 80s with an MNC in SEEPZ. By year 2000, I got the opportunity to hold the P&L responsibility and head the India and Middle East operations for a CMMI Level-5 company and this was my first milestone raising to corporate level Leading a multifaceted team of Engineers, Business Development, Finance and HR functions and competing with MNCs for large projects. That was 21 years back. Though ups & downs were faced, I'd say it's been a relatively smooth ride so far for me. Before taking-up as MD of Zigma, I was Galfar Engineering in Qatar, a large Engineering & Contracting MNC and reporting to its CEO. I was given the CIO award in Qatar in 2018 for my work on Digital Transformation.
Taking Zigma forward, I have great plans ahead. I am exploring all options for inducting new leaders into our business and investment ideas to branch out across India and beyond.
Joe Bastian, MD, Zigma Manpower Computer Consultants
Joe is an accomplished Leader and Information Technology Professional with 30+ years of expertise with MNCs in India and abroad in leadership roles. He holds rich experience in working with Retail, Engineering & Contracting, Logistics, Manufacturing, Management Consulting, Healthcare and Technology verticals throughout his professional journey.
Quick Facts
Location:Cochin, Kerala