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Honoring Traditions & Celebrating Progress
December 22, 2023
By Rupal Sankalia
All things considered, I hope this article finds you all in good health and looking forward to 2024. I reconnect here after three years of orchestrating a relocation to a new state, managing various client projects, and overseeing the closure of my parents’ estate in India. These experiences, while demanding, have profoundly honed my skills in project management, strategic thinking, multitasking, and adaptability. We are now squarely in the holiday season, and there is much to reflect upon of the year gone by. I am feeling inspired by the diverse tapestry of life’s triumphs and challenges, and the nuanced complexity of all types of traditions and transitions.
Time to rest and recharge
During the holiday season, family traditions offer a sense of continuity and stability, providing a comforting anchor in the midst of a busy season. I look forward to my favorite holiday dishes lovingly prepared by my aunties or the raucous family debate for this year’s holiday movie screening. These rituals foster a strong sense of belonging and connection creating cherished memories that bind family members together across generations. Moreover, traditions serve as a powerful tool for building and reinforcing family identity, instilling shared values and creating a unique cultural legacy for future generations. Embracing these time-honored practices can also reduce stress by offering a predictable and joyful framework, promoting a sense of togetherness and celebration during the festive season.
For me, this holiday season brings closure to an intricate, long-standing responsibility: the administrative closure of my parents’ estate. Personally, it has been in equal parts solemn and a relief, and all together poignant when finalized. Closing estates also means the ending or passing of certain family traditions, and learning what is important to hold on to while moving forward.
As a person of Indian origin living in the U.S. and a compliance professional, the process of closing my family's estate in India demanded a multifaceted approach: (i) navigating legal, regulatory, administrative and cultural aspects, (ii) maintaining meticulous documentation, and (iii) coordinating and communicating effectively across borders, at all hours and in several languages. Over the many years of effort, I have seen bureaucratic processes in India embrace modernization in greater leaps. Measured and noticeable change Perhaps the pandemic hastened the process but Indian financial and banking systems and procedures have been changing and shifting quickly to keep up with the demands of customers and business through the uncertainty of a global health crisis. After working with Indian financial institutions for over 20 years, I experienced the roll-out of secure online communications making the traditional, mostly paper-intensive process obsolete. Entrenched bureaucracy was simplified, and procedures were streamlined. Institutional requirements that would take multiple visits, and several rounds of documentation verification, were pared down but had not compromised on scrutiny or information security. As I inquired about these significant improvements, I learned that a focus on a culture of compliance and increasing Indian regulatory oversight and reporting had driven these changes, coordinated with and supported by the implementation of digital solutions. When traditions allow for improvements, the impact can be widely felt and can change the course of future generations.
In recent years, compliance officers had been positioned central to the process of modernization and holding the line of regulatory compliance. It was noticeable. For the first time, I found compliance officers listed on websites of financial institutions and their contact information was easily available to the public. They were responsive and held the standard for customer service. I felt the increased level of compliance awareness had helped to create professional efficiency and confidence.
As an ethics and compliance professional, I am grateful for my counterparts in India. This year, the compliance officers in India made it possible for me to close a complex and emotionally challenging endeavor. They are instilling change and making strides that help Indians locally, and abroad, including non-resident Indians (NRIs) and the legacy, global Indian diaspora. Ethics, compliance and governance is not just for the benefit for the organization. Indian companies are evolving to embrace the benefits of digitization combined with compliance and governance. These changes build trust with customers, and helps society progress for the benefit of all - at the individual level. Onwards to a better year ahead! As I enjoy the holiday traditions this year, I will celebrate progress and improvements that have brought me the closing of a demanding chapter. Now, I can turn to 2024 and look forward to the future with greater focus and renewed clarity. I am enthusiastic about the prospect of applying these lessons learned to elevate the quality of my business partnerships and contribute to our collective success.
How are you envisioning 2024 and beyond? How is your organization willing to modernize a few 'traditions' and build for the future? Is it time to rewrite some corporate standards for continuity and improved stability? Let me help you.
Rupalia, Inc. is a minority, woman-owned business providing advisory and consulting services in the Ethics, Compliance and Governance industry. To learn more and partner together, visit Rupalia.com.
Happy Holidays to you and yours! Wishing you the best in 2024!
#ethics #compliance #ethicsandcompliance #governance #policy #procedures #nri #nris #nrithings #indiandiaspora #indiansoverseas #indiansinusa #policiesandprocedures #policyanalysis #trainingcourses #traininganddevelopment #codeofethics #codeofconduct #toneatthetop #leadership #operationalriskmanagement #operationalrisk #integrity #ethicsmatter #integritymatters #diversity #inclusion #dei #culture #bias #genderequity #genderinequality #genderequality #genderbias #racialequity # #implicitbias #socialchange #innovation #transformation #strategy #strategyandtransformation #management #managementraining #changemanagement #corporateculture #reputationmanagement #reputationrisk #reputationmatters #regulatoryrequirements #regulatoryreporting #regulatorycompliance #newstandards #planningforthefuture #comebackstronger #futureofwork #nextnormal
For me, this holiday season brings closure to an intricate, long-standing responsibility: the administrative closure of my parents’ estate. Personally, it has been in equal parts solemn and a relief, and all together poignant when finalized. Closing estates also means the ending or passing of certain family traditions, and learning what is important to hold on to while moving forward.
As a person of Indian origin living in the U.S. and a compliance professional, the process of closing my family's estate in India demanded a multifaceted approach: (i) navigating legal, regulatory, administrative and cultural aspects, (ii) maintaining meticulous documentation, and (iii) coordinating and communicating effectively across borders, at all hours and in several languages. Over the many years of effort, I have seen bureaucratic processes in India embrace modernization in greater leaps. Measured and noticeable change Perhaps the pandemic hastened the process but Indian financial and banking systems and procedures have been changing and shifting quickly to keep up with the demands of customers and business through the uncertainty of a global health crisis. After working with Indian financial institutions for over 20 years, I experienced the roll-out of secure online communications making the traditional, mostly paper-intensive process obsolete. Entrenched bureaucracy was simplified, and procedures were streamlined. Institutional requirements that would take multiple visits, and several rounds of documentation verification, were pared down but had not compromised on scrutiny or information security. As I inquired about these significant improvements, I learned that a focus on a culture of compliance and increasing Indian regulatory oversight and reporting had driven these changes, coordinated with and supported by the implementation of digital solutions. When traditions allow for improvements, the impact can be widely felt and can change the course of future generations.
In recent years, compliance officers had been positioned central to the process of modernization and holding the line of regulatory compliance. It was noticeable. For the first time, I found compliance officers listed on websites of financial institutions and their contact information was easily available to the public. They were responsive and held the standard for customer service. I felt the increased level of compliance awareness had helped to create professional efficiency and confidence.
As an ethics and compliance professional, I am grateful for my counterparts in India. This year, the compliance officers in India made it possible for me to close a complex and emotionally challenging endeavor. They are instilling change and making strides that help Indians locally, and abroad, including non-resident Indians (NRIs) and the legacy, global Indian diaspora. Ethics, compliance and governance is not just for the benefit for the organization. Indian companies are evolving to embrace the benefits of digitization combined with compliance and governance. These changes build trust with customers, and helps society progress for the benefit of all - at the individual level. Onwards to a better year ahead! As I enjoy the holiday traditions this year, I will celebrate progress and improvements that have brought me the closing of a demanding chapter. Now, I can turn to 2024 and look forward to the future with greater focus and renewed clarity. I am enthusiastic about the prospect of applying these lessons learned to elevate the quality of my business partnerships and contribute to our collective success.
How are you envisioning 2024 and beyond? How is your organization willing to modernize a few 'traditions' and build for the future? Is it time to rewrite some corporate standards for continuity and improved stability? Let me help you.
Rupalia, Inc. is a minority, woman-owned business providing advisory and consulting services in the Ethics, Compliance and Governance industry. To learn more and partner together, visit Rupalia.com.
Happy Holidays to you and yours! Wishing you the best in 2024!
#ethics #compliance #ethicsandcompliance #governance #policy #procedures #nri #nris #nrithings #indiandiaspora #indiansoverseas #indiansinusa #policiesandprocedures #policyanalysis #trainingcourses #traininganddevelopment #codeofethics #codeofconduct #toneatthetop #leadership #operationalriskmanagement #operationalrisk #integrity #ethicsmatter #integritymatters #diversity #inclusion #dei #culture #bias #genderequity #genderinequality #genderequality #genderbias #racialequity # #implicitbias #socialchange #innovation #transformation #strategy #strategyandtransformation #management #managementraining #changemanagement #corporateculture #reputationmanagement #reputationrisk #reputationmatters #regulatoryrequirements #regulatoryreporting #regulatorycompliance #newstandards #planningforthefuture #comebackstronger #futureofwork #nextnormal