The world is stepping forward in bridging the gap between gender biases in organizations. Millennial women are chasing their dreams, proving a sudden upsurge in women's entrepreneurship. Business is no more a new deal to them, not just in conventional sectors like handicrafts, food, and fashion, but in many other sectors as well. Even with all this progress, a woman establishing herself in a recognizable position is not easy. They are undertaking multifarious risks, addressing challenges, and tackling barriers to launch themselves as businesswomen. Among the handful of women who have taken that courageous effort to actualize their expertise and start their own enterprise, Sonal Singh deserves huge recognition.

Under the able headship of Sonal Singh (Founder & Director), Rian Placements is well-positioned as a professionally managed leading manpower consultancy operating in end-toend recruitment solutions designed to meet customer needs throughout the recruitment cycle, across various industries. While picking the best candidates for the clients, Rian has evolved as an ecosystem for women. While appreciating this essence of ‘women behind the success of women’, Women Entrepreneur India engages in an insightful conversation with Sonal.

What are some important features of your brainchild?

Rian Placements has always been a women-centric consultancy, and we intend to remain the same. We have always given our employees the flexibility to manage their working schedules based on their family's needs. Post covid, we have completely adapted to the work-from-home model but even before that, we practiced flexi-working via work from home or hybrid work models. No pay cuts for menstrual leave; flexible working hours for those with young infants at home, etc are some practices that we have followed from the inception. Companies tend to penalize employees for taking an off for such things. But for us, Rian has been more like a familyoriented concern that’s grown organically over the last decade and half.

Take us through your early experiences of your journey.

I am an MBA postgraduate from Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management Delhi. Subsequently, did my management training with the Delhi stock exchange. Later, I shifted to Indore after getting married. Unfortunately, the city did not many opportunities at that point for finance professionals. They didn't have a stock exchange and there were only a few broking firms. Also, the finance field was dominated by men.

"The spirit of rian is embodied by the dedicated and tireless pursuit of excellence by our fantastic team of consultants who aim to meet client expectations"

So,I started my career after marriage with a tutorial company as a personality development program in charge. That was followed by the launch of my own training centre focused on communication skills, personality enhancement, pre-MBA preparation, spoken English classes and more. After about two years, we moved to Bombay and I took a sabbatical for about three years for my two daughters while still doing some freelance work in HR Assessment. In 2007, I founded Rian Placements as its sole employee. My husband’s work demanded travelling for almost 21-22 days a month, and I wanted to do something from home; not compromising on the upbringing of our kids. Rian has have grown manifold since then, giving opportunities to several homemakers and aspiring women.

Tell us about the underlying idea behind the venture and some of its most unique features.

Rian works with a vision to “forge mutually rewarding relationships in order to meet expectations”. We are different from recruitment consultants because we do not work for a very large bracket of clients or indulge in general recruitment. Our focus is largely on exclusive mandates which aid us to serve our clients with a lesser turn-around time, competent talent, etc. We headhunt. Exclusivity is something that we stress upon unconditionally. We believe in providing customized industry-specific manpower solutions to corporate houses. Our consultants are trained to build strong partnerships with companies in India, across industries. We firmly believe that our service quality and delivery are enhanced by investment in deep and transparent relationships with our esteemed clients, built on mutuality of interest and benefit.

What is the different expertise upheld by your company?

We are Head Hunters. Unlike others, we do not just work to match a candidate to a job with a client. We work towards mapping the market for a client while maintaining extensive records of candidates, market opportunities, and competition, all available on a dashboard. All our recruitment is based on research, facts and data. Complimentary to all the candidates who approach us, we extend our services for Resume drafting, Career Counselling, Interview Preparations, etc.

Rian Placements in a short period has carved out a niche for itself and is known for placing dynamic and result-oriented individuals in multiple industries such as FMCG, consumer durables, consumer electronics, retail, fintech, start-ups, manufacturing etc. to name a few. We do not deal in IT placements. To date, we have placed people at junior, mid-management and senior management levels across India.

Being a placement consultancy our work revolves around addressing the needs of our corporate clients by seeking out and recruiting the right individual for them. It is also our continuous endeavour to approach new corporate houses, businesses to expand our footprint.

What has been your mantra for success?

As an entrepreneur, my mantra has been giving due respect to my team. I would not be anybody without my team. They and they alone are to be credited for the success that Rian has seen. Some of my team have been with me for the past 10-12 years and that’s one of my greatest achievements. During covid, despite the business loss and salary cuts, they chose to stay with me because we work as a family. As a recruiter, my mantra is ‘Quality’. We put umpteen efforts into choosing 1 right resume and follow stringent 3 to 4 rounds of interviews before deciding on one. We believe more in quality rather than quantity. Although it is a lengthier process, it has worked out really well for us because the closing rate for a position is higher, at the end of the day. As an individual, my mantra is - work hard but don’t be too hard on yourself! There are so many mitigating factors and external influences that affect women, but it's all about being compassionate, understanding others' needs, and helping each other grow.

Sonal Singh, Founder & Director, Rian

A compassionate leader, a mompreneur helping several women gain financial stability while not neglecting their homes. Her leadership style focuses on building relationships and maintaining trust, and her business strategy revolves around quality rather than quantity.