"Employees need to feel valued in an organisation that recognises their talents and their growth potential."
Dipika Chopra Tweet
Dipika Chopra has over 25 years of experience for with Fortune 100 companies, VC firm, and having founded start-ups across North America, India, and SEA.
Currently, Dipika is the founder & CEO of Reboot Quotient, managing a team of executive coaches who advise their clients on personal development, career guidance, and enable people to thrive in their personal and professional lives.
In partnering with programmes such as Positive Intelligence, Dipika has a firm grasp on the mental resilience that is needed in today’s post-pandemic work culture. She is passionate about guiding individuals in training and strengthening their mental fitness to reach their optimum potential.
Having led and managed several teams through her career, she understands how leadership must be adaptable and inspiring, especially during times of change.
Check out more interviews with entrepreneurs here.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET FEATURED?
All interviews are 100% FREE OF CHARGE
Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to Valiant CEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Dipika Chopra: My name is Dipika Chopra and I am the Founder and CEO of Reboot Quotient, Asia’s first tech platform that makes executive coaching affordable and scalable. I am also the Head of Positive Intelligence for Asia and Middle East. Positive Intelligence is a mental fitness programme designed by New York Times bestselling author Shirzad Chamine. Based on neuroscience, cognitive and positive psychology, and performance science, the program is designed to train and strengthen the three core muscles that build neural pathways to our brain to create lasting new mental strength habits.
Throughout the course of my 25-year career, I have had the privilege to work for Fortune 100 companies, a venture capital firm, and also embarked on my own entrepreneurial journey by founding and leading three successful startups in the marketing, education and consumer Internet space.
My work experience spans North America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, where I am currently based. Through working with both large organisations and startups, I have benefitted from the experience of conceptualising, designing, building, launching, and marketing products and services across different industries and markets.
Who has been the most influential person(s) in your life and how did they impact you? How did that lead to where you are today?
Dipika Chopra: There have been many individuals I have met over the years, both on a personal and professional level, who have impacted my life greatly. Being in the business of professional coaching and training, I have had the chance to interact with many interesting people from different walks of life, all of whom had interesting insights and unique stories to tell.
I would say one of the most interesting people I had the opportunity to speak to was Shirzad Chamine. Besides being a New York Times bestselling author and the founder of the Positive Intelligence mental fitness programme, Shirzad is also a lecturer at Stanford University. I was personally impressed by his passionate approach to life and self-development and found his book on how to boost mental fitness intriguing.
Shirzad and I exchanged views on how to lead happier, healthier, and more productive lives and inspire others to do the same. It was through my conversations with Shirzad that I was introduced to the concept of mental fitness. While mental health has been a widely debated topic over the last few years, mental fitness differs in the sense that it focuses more on maintaining a state of well-being and cultivating awareness of how we think, behave, and feel.
Being mentally fit allows people to handle life’s challenges in a more proactive and positive manner, instead of reacting based on the innate human instinct of a fight or flight response. In both professional and personal settings, this realisation has shaped how I think and react to situations, and I have become more mindful of how my thoughts and actions impact myself and others.
2020 was a challenging year for all of us, particularly for businesses. How did the pandemic impact your business? Please list some of the problems that you faced, and how you handled them.
Dipika Chopra: Since Reboot’s focus is to enable people to thrive personally and professionally, our services became more relevant and urgent during this time.
It is undeniable that the office environment has changed drastically over the last two years. With uncertainties posed by the pandemic and many companies transitioning to a virtual or hybrid working model, we realised that many working professionals started feeling a sense of disconnect and were overwhelmed with what was happening around them. Some organisations and their employees have turned to coaching which has played a crucial role in helping them tide through these difficult times. As a result of this, one of the challenges we faced was recruiting the right talent for our organisation as the pandemic increased the demand for professional coaching services.
The pandemic led to a myriad of cultural side effects, including one that was quite unexpected that is informally known as “The Great Resignation”. Did this widespread trend affect you in any way?
Dipika Chopra: While “The Great Resignation” has not impacted me personally, from a professional perspective, we are starting to witness this trend gaining momentum among the workforce. Many recent studies have shown that employees are increasingly feeling burnout at work, for a myriad of reasons such as poor work-life balance, a feeling of being overworked or feeling inadequate due to skill gaps amid a fast-changing internal and external environment.
From our work with organisations across various industries, we have also noticed that employers are increasingly rethinking their employee retention strategy and trying to promote a more positive work culture to drive employee engagement and build confidence in their senior management teams.
From my experience, I have found that coaching programmes are an effective tool in supporting employees in their personal development, and in providing career guidance. By providing a safe and confidential environment for participants to discuss and share their issues, they can develop new and more productive patterns for managing their emotions and any stressful workplace situations openly and honestly.
There is certainly more awareness about the benefits of coaching programmes that are effective in helping to build more resilience and tenacity among the workforce.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July 2021. How do you feel about this trend? Explain.
Dipika Chopra: It is alarming to see such an unprecedented level of voluntary resignations and it is affecting businesses globally. One might think that this could be a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the pandemic has led to a fundamental change in the relationship between employees and their employers, and the responsibilities and expectations on both parties, in my opinion, it is too simplistic to attribute “The Great Resignation” to the effects of the pandemic alone. I believe the unhappiness from employees stems from deeper issues like grievances about low pay, unrealistic deadlines, and bad bosses bubbled up from subconscious depths to feed the impulse that might have been brewing prior to the pandemic which served as a mere catalyst in the process.
A much more plausible explanation is that many workers have simply reached a breaking point after months and months of high workloads, hiring freezes, and other pressures, causing them to rethink their work and life goals. The majority of the workforce who are quitting their jobs are mid-level professionals who have substantial work experience and are looking out for better opportunities or building their own start-up. They are thus re-evaluating their priorities in life and taking this opportunity to pursue their dreams.
Considering the scale of this trend and its implications, this does not seem like a passing fad that businesses can wait out. Organisations will need to pay heed to the seriousness of the situation and recalibrate their strategies to retain their best employees. Companies that fail to develop innovative ways to keep their employees happy and invest in their wellbeing are going to lose out on talent and ultimately their businesses will suffer.
According to a study by Harvard Business Review, Employees between 30 and 45 years old have had the greatest increase in resignation rates, with an average increase of more than 20% between 2020 and 2021. That can be quite an alarming rate. What advice would you share to increase employee retention?
Dipika Chopra: Employees need to feel valued in an organisation that recognises their talents and their growth potential. An effective way to show them they are a valued asset for the organisation is to invest in their self-development, focusing on their strengths and skills. The workplace is oftentimes an incredibly stressful environment while more focus is placed on hitting business goals rather than mental well-being.
Organisations can no longer afford to put the well-being of the employees on the backburner. Developing a future-ready workplace will need to start from the top and require a mindset shift. As such, I believe developing mental fitness skills in business leaders and their employees is increasingly important in helping them cope with the ever-changing workplace environment and increase job satisfaction and productivity. Coaching programmes such as “Positive Intelligence” can foster mental fitness, and help employees develop lasting habits that enable them to be more focused and confident in the work. Such programmes have been scientifically proven to build mental strength and resilience, giving the employee the tools to respond to any crisis or stressor in both their personal and professional lives in a calm, proactive manner. By looking after their employees’ wellbeing and providing them with tools to manage their stress, employers are showing that they care for them, which helps to foster a culture of trust and build stronger working relationships.
According to a Nature Human behavior study, In 2020, 80% of US workers reported feeling that they have too many things to do and not enough time to do them – a phenomenon known as “time poverty”. What is your take on the work-life balance? Explain.
Dipika Chopra: This phenomenon is not something that is specific to the US. In fact, in 2019, Singapore was ranked the second most overworked city by the Work-Life Balance Index, with a majority of employees surveyed saying they felt the need to work longer hours in order to avoid losing their jobs. This is often because expectations at work, whether perceived or direct, weigh heavily on the employees’ decisions to prioritise their work over their personal life. With such easy access to digital technology, we see the extent of this every day, be it people on their phones constantly checking their emails or on using mobile apps to speak to their colleagues. There is no longer an ‘off’ switch in their lives, even when they clock off for the day.
There is a deep-rooted insecurity in employees that if they are not switched on all the time, they are not being productive enough, and are at risk of losing their job or being reprimanded. Employers need to actively encourage their staff to make time for their personal lives and reassure them that having an equal work-life balance will not be detrimental to their career growth.
While the work-life balance is becoming a more prevalent topic these days, the shift in mindset needs to be more widespread throughout organisations and cultures. Working longer hours without rest can lead to burnout- a problem we are seeing more often today. Building resilient minds and developing mental fitness is important for coping with work stress.
A more recent survey by Joblist asked about 3,000 respondents if they’re actively thinking about leaving their job. That survey found that 73% of 2,099 respondents who answered this question on their employment plans are considering quitting. How are you preparing for the future to counter this potentially persistent problem?
Dipika Chopra: With the pandemic accelerating “The Great Resignation”, many employees are reconsidering the value of their careers and instead choosing to prioritise their emotional well-being. When looking into the prevailing issue of job dissatisfaction, one main factor we found was that individuals now seek meaningful work and to form meaningful relationships in the workplace. An increasing number of workers are now gravitating towards supportive work cultures, given that they view their work as an extension of their personal identity.
In the future, organisations should look at boosting motivation levels and driving employee engagement through strategies that foster intrinsic motivation instead of extrinsic motivation. For example, beyond just offering monetary incentives, organisations will need to look at creating a collaborative work culture where employees feel respected and valued. To ensure employees get access to meaningful work, organisations should consider three factors – how their work makes a positive contribution to society, the degree to which employees find work to be purposeful and lastly, how their work helps them in terms of their personal development.
From my perspective, organisations need to centre their work cultures around their employees’ emotional well-being. Offering employees meaningful work which supports their personal growth is one part of the equation but taking into account their welfare from a holistic perspective is equally important. Organisations need to invest in understanding their employees’ mindset, to build their emotional resilience and increase their job satisfaction. By introducing mental fitness practices in the workplace, organisations can value add to their employees and create a supportive workplace ecosystem.
Thank you for all that, our readers are grateful for your insightful comments! Now, if the Great Resignation isn’t your greatest concern, what is the #1 most pressing challenge you’re trying to solve in your business right now?
Dipika Chopra: The pandemic is far from over and has permanently transformed the way we operate as a business. As a start-up company with a lean and dynamic workforce, the key takeaway for us was learning how to be more adaptable to change as a company.
Navigating unpredictable environments will be the new normal going forward, which means that companies must be agile and respond quickly to changing realities. My number one priority is helping my employees build their emotional resilience to help them adopt a future-ready mindset and navigate potential global crises throughout the course of their career.
Before we finish things off, we do have one last question. If you had $10 Million Dollars to spend in one day, what would you spend it on?
Dipika Chopra: I would use the funds to help people be mentally fit through Positive Intelligence. I believe your mindset is your most valuable asset, and if you get that right all else follows.
Jerome Knyszewski, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Dipika Chopra for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Dipika Chopra or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
Did you enjoy this article? Check out similar stories:
Jocko Willink: From US Navy Seal To Millionaire Coach And Best Selling Author
Jawed Karim: The Story Of Youtube’s Co-Founder And The First Youtuber
Dan Bilzerian: The True Story Of Instagram Playboy Millionaire
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.