Chief Operating Officer, Pioneer Travels
Crafting a future for talents, glory for recruiters
Lakshmi has in her hands the tasks of the HR firm’s operations, client base expansion and consolidation of the long-serving overseas organisations. She is also exploring opportunities in the booming home market and contemplates the deployment of Pioneer’s knowledge and cutting-edge HR consulting system.
Pioneer Travels is an exciting workplace with challenges and opportunities for Lakshmi, its young Chief Operating Officer (COO). The company has a longstanding reputation and a loyal client base built over three decades, which she has inherited now. At the same time, she has taken up the challenge of expanding the company’s profile to establish it as a preferred HR consulting firm in new geographies. “My vision is to expand Pioneer Travels into broader international markets and strengthen our presence in the rapidly growing home market,” she states. Given India’s rapid economic growth and booming industrial activities, it sees numerous opportunities in the home market.
Pioneer Travels is a leading human resource consulting firm for overseas companies, now with a similar plan for domestic companies, as Lakshmi has mentioned. The company has proven expertise in recruiting high-quality manpower and delivering HR consultancy services; hitherto, it has largely provided foreign firms and employment assistance. It provides end-to-end manpower outsourcing services and international manpower placement services for companies with a wide-ranging business profile. Lakshmi is confident that in India’s rapidly changing economic landscape, there are opportunities for experienced firms like Pioneer.
Manpower consultancy is a knowledge industry, where the consultant is required to understand the changing needs of companies with diverse business models and interests. In the same industry, each company’s short-term and long-term needs and workplaces are different. That calls for a better understanding of skill sets for the right placements. This will create a win-win situation for the recruiter and the recruited. Experts at Pioneer understand the complexity of all the industries, from airlines to the marine segment it has been serving. Hundreds of leading business names based in the GCC countries, East Asia and West Africa trust the Mumbai-based Pioneer Travels. Their constant engagement with the Indian talent-hunting firm indicates their comfort with Pioneer.
Pioneer is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company with a track record of serving many large companies for a long time. An extensive database of candidates serves industries such as marine, oil and gas, construction, engineering and heavy equipment, power, healthcare, hospitality, logistics, automobile, banking and finance, media and advertising, airlines, etc. These industries get fine-quality and varied staffing solutions from companies that follow professional systems and processes. “We always endeavour to recruit the best professionals who develop successful businesses for our clients,” says C V Vijayan, Chief Executive Officer of the company. By constantly developing and optimising HR recruitment solutions, Pioneer helps clients manage not only their costs and productivity but also outsource the recruitment service.
Pioneer Travels has been in the business of talent recruitment for foreign companies for over three decades. A father-inspired daughter, Lakshmi, has inherited an admirable entrepreneurship and a firm that has on its list leading names from East Asia to West Africa and the GCC region. Pioneer’s priority has always been to recruit the highest quality human resources rather than to simply expand the list of recruiters, says Lakshmi. Pioneer maintains a cordial relationship with several large companies across different industries in the region, she adds. “Our long-term relationship with clients and strong database of candidates are some of our major strengths,” she says. The quality of service, the reputation for ethical recruitment and the name as a competent HR consultant make Pioneer the first choice of all recruiters in the region.
Pioneer has a vast database of talent across various business sectors and is equipped with all the modern systems to evaluate candidates’ dossiers and select the best fit for specific job requirements. When clients submit their requirements, the Pioneer team gets into action, reviews thousands of dossiers and invites fresh applications through newspaper advertisements.
Maintaining the quality of service and credibility of the institution is a challenging job that Lakshmi is aware of. When she faces a challenge, she remembers her father’s advice: “Learn to face challenges, take risks, accept failures and learn from them. That has been the way he succeeded,” she points out. She also remembers having faced many challenging tasks and completing them successfully. During her internship, she had to work on a project that was shut down during the pandemic period by recruiting 400 candidates in 2 months, too soon after COVID-19. “That was my first memorable experience of dealing with a major task in my profession,” she recalls.
Her father has been her inspiration. “I am still learning a lot from him, from the basics of how to treat the employees and maintain international client relations,” she says. Honesty in one’s personal life and a high degree of integrity in professional life are a culture one learns from home. “My father has taught me this good lesson,” she adds. Her father, C V Vijayan, a veteran in the talent recruitment service, has a reputation, brand image and credibility for integrity.
Retaining all the good legacies and keeping the position at a high level in a competitive industry for three decades is a challenge. A consultant needs to understand the generational change and adapt to the generational changes within the clients, too. “But we have a system of dealing with companies, which are good places to work and prospective candidates who are filtered for talent quality and character. We have constantly updated our system and operations. This strength and experience help us meet our major challenge in keeping our position above our peers,” she says.
The new generation better understands tech-driven systems and processes. When Lakshmi brings the capability of the new generation to integrate with the solidly built HR firm, Pioneer’s sustained brand equity in talent filtering tells the story – a firm that keeps itself ahead of time is always young and energetic. Pioneer is always a pioneer.
Pioneer Travels helps ambitious individuals achieve their career aspirations. Lakshmi, the Chief Operating Officer, oversees business development and operations at this prominent HR consulting firm, founded three decades ago by C V Vijayan, the current CEO.
