As Women’s History Month comes to a close, we are excited to shine the spotlight on an Itron leader who spearheads recruitment of industry-leading talent in the Asia-Pacific region and plays a significant role in the advancement of Itron’s global inclusion and diversity (I&D) efforts. This week, we had the pleasure of catching up with the manager of talent acquisition in APAC, Suranjana Mazumder!

Make sure to check out our previous conversations with trailblazing women at Itron including Nichola Kendall, Maureen Mol and Amanda Dixon. Read on for a glimpse into Suranjana’s passion for her work and the insights she’s gleaned over the years.

Q: What is your role at Itron?

A: I lead APAC Talent Acquisition which includes managing a team of skilled recruiters and talent acquisition coordinators for our hiring initiatives and programs across the APAC region. As an ardent advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), my present role allows me to implement and drive our I&D initiatives across APAC. 

Q: What does your average workday look like? 

A: I typically start my day by prioritizing my to-do list for the day; facilitating my team meeting; attending stakeholder meetings where we discuss updates, suggestions, information regarding current role market mapping; interviewing and reviewing resumes; planning and strategizing for open roles; and finding solutions for our most niche and difficult open roles. I collaborate with the stakeholders mostly in different time zones across the globe by ad hoc meetings. I also collaborate with other departments and supporting teams to make sure our pre and post onboarding candidates have a positive experience. 

Q: How has your role enabled you to advocate for I&D at Itron? 

A: My current role helps me emphasize Itron’s global I&D initiatives because recruiting is one of the core and initial steps toward creating workplace diversity, which reduces employee turnover, promotes higher innovation and creativity and provides a variety of benefits for planning and executing a business strategy.  

We are able to implement an I&D strategy, which defines all the goals, accountabilities, action items and success measures for attracting, engaging, assessing and recruiting diverse talent to drive business success. Our recruiting process is open to a wider audience of candidates with different kinds of experience who can bring fresh ideas to the table. By creating a diverse workforce, our teams are pushed to think outside their comfort zones and challenge new thoughts and ideas. 

Q: How have you grown and evolved as a professional since beginning your career?  

A: I believe that once a recruiter, always a recruiter. We are the host and the facilitators of the right talent for the company. Throughout my experience as a recruiter and in the arena of talent acquisition, I have developed my relationship-building skills. I've found that an important part of attracting talent is to establish trust and meaningful connections. I am often a candidate's first impression of the company, so I need to make sure that our interactions are positive. It’s very important to have the right mix of interpersonal, technical and marketing skills to succeed in attracting and retaining new talent.

Q: What advice would you give other women who want to pursue a career in talent acquisition? 

A: “Embrace what you don’t know, especially in the beginning, because what you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everybody else.” – Sara Blakely

Women’s History Month has come to an end, but our appreciation at Itron continues. Thank you for following along with our blog series focused on spotlighting the strong, talented women of Itron who are driving innovation, inspiring their peers and creating a more resourceful world.