Amazon India announces “A Day At Amazon”; an initiative to nurture future leaders
In its first, Amazon India announced ‘ADayAtAmazon’, an initiative where two selected B-school students got a chance to shadow Akhil Saxena, Vice President, Customer Fulfilment Operations, APAC, MENA & LATAM and WW Customer Service, Amazon, for an entire workday and interacted with other senior Amazon India Operations leaders. The initiative enabled the students to get a first-hand experience of Amazon’s innovative and inclusive workplace culture by being part of different business meetings and visits to an Amazon fulfilment centre.
To select the students, Amazon ran a 5-day online competition across B-schools in India wherein students had to create a one-minute video sharing their views on leadership and what they would like to learn at Amazon. The campaign received over 1,300 entries across India’s leading B-schools students and some inspiring content. Following a detailed selection process, Riya Mehta from IIM Bangalore and Gokul V S from SPJIMR Mumbai, were shortlisted for the opportunity to get an inside view of Amazon’s unique workplace culture. The tailored program was designed to provide the students an opportunity to experience Amazon’s unique Day 1 culture, the science of perfection and art of empathetic leadership.
Sharing her experience Riya Mehta, IIM Bangalore, said “Winning #ADayAtAmazon was like a dream come true. Although we know that Amazon is one of the largest Ecommerce company in the world, I didn’t really know what all to expect from this unique opportunity. These 2 days have been pleasantly surprising. We started with a visit to the Fulfilment center and then got an opportunity to shadow Akhil Saxena, Vice President, Customer Fulfilment Operations, APAC, MENA & LATAM and WW Customer Service, Amazon and met other Amazon India and Global Operations leaders. It’s inspiring to watch these leaders in action and learn from them. From this day at Amazon, I am taking many leadership traits with me which will help me become a more empathetic leader in future. Great fun and immense learnings.”
Gokul V S from SPJIMR (Mumbai), shares, “For a person who is immersed in the Amazon experience, getting the opportunity to know how its backend works through the ADayAtAmazon program came with a lot of expectations and excitement. Spending a whole day in the fulfilment centre along with some of the coolest people in the company exceeded those expectations. The experience reached another level when we spent time with Akhil Saxena and other operations leaders throughout the day in different business meetings. This experience was insightful, inspiring and thought provoking which I will cherish for a lifetime!”
At Amazon, employees are guided by sixteen leadership principles. These principles help them relentlessly pursue Amazon’s mission of being the Earth’s most customer-centric company, best employer, and safest place to work. While people have always been at the core of Amazon’s leadership principles, equal emphasis is placed on empathy, responsibility, and inclusion. Amazon continues to offer upskilling and training opportunities to our nation’s youth through various initiatives, helping them to learn and develop skills setting them up for success.