Ritu Grover helps corporate employees get a better work–life balance
With a substantial experience in the area of administrative outsourcing solutions, Ritu Grover started ‘The Global Help Desk’ 18 years ago to provide programmes and lifestyle management solutions to corporate houses. Translating her idea into reality, she built this empire and now she successfully provides services to more than 400 top multinationals and companies across India.
Ritu has many awards as an entrepreneur in her kitty including an appreciation award by CNBC and AMEX in 2009, Valued Partner Award by Wipro in 2008 and 2009.
A graduate in arts and an accomplished interior designer, Ritu’s father was an Army man and Ritu travelled the length and breadth of the country with him. “I was exposed to many cultures and can therefore adapt to any environment easily,” says Ritu.
She calls her parents her driving force and her biggest pillars of support. “From my father, I inherited a strong value system, discipline, punctuality and dedication. My mother was my best friend, she gave me the mantra of ‘never look back in life’ and I have stuck to that over my long years of entrepreneurship,” says Ritu.
Ritu the entrepreneur, starts up
It was shortly after the birth of her daughter in 1998 that Ritu decided to diversify from her demanding interior designing profession to concierge services. Leaving the interior sites very late in the night, she used to notice that a large number of corporate employees were still at their desks desperately trying to meet deadlines and going through graveyard shifts. That was when she realised that the need of the day was an efficient assistant/genie services which could make lives simpler and get a work–life balance for the corporate employees.
Thus, started a long journey and she went on to form The Global Helpdesk – now an established firm known for its expertise in facility management with operations across India.
Ritu’s mantra of success
Ritu says the only key to success is consistency and hard work. “Problems and roadblocks will always surface but most of these are within our control. What is important is to have a positive approach and lead from the front,” she says adding that it is crucial to have excellent communication skills and it always pays to be punctual.
As a woman entrepreneur, Ritu always had the dilemma of getting the work and family balance right. “The guilt of not being able to balance well is a feeling we have to live with. To create the perfect balance is the most critical part of our journey,” she says. Ritu feels the inability to freely network with colleagues and clients over free-flowing drinks and late night dinners is a deterrent for women.
Ritu says her biggest achievement is the fact that she has been able to retain her clients for the last 18 years.
With successful operations over the last several years, The Global Helpdesk provides facility management services to corporate houses at all the tier 1 cities across India. The expansion plan of the company is to establish operations in tier 2 corporate and industrial hubs. Also on the cards is establishing international operations at Dubai, Sydney, and South Africa.
Incidents which left a long-lasting impression
Recollecting an incident, Ritu says that one of her clients wanted to gift a very rare Siamese breed of pup to his wife on her birthday and they facilitated him by getting it from China.
“It has been as bizarre as arranging a particular blood group in the middle of the night to even sourcing a very rare wine from Spain,” says Ritu.