There are some people who believe that their job is a career. There are others for whom their career is their destination. Rakesh Pandey, the 47-year-old chief executive officer of Kaya Skin Clinic, belongs to the latter category. “I believe that any career is a long journey where different jobs are challenges that one encounters on the way,” he says.

The affable Pandey grew up in Calcutta. His schooling was in Rungta High School and he did his chemical engineering from the Benaras Hindu University. Calcutta, with its list of scientists like J.C. Bose, left an impression on the young Pandey’s mind. He would have followed them willingly. But before he could contemplate a scientific pursuit, he had landed a job with DCM. He was sent to the plant in Kota (Rajasthan) in 1978, as a management trainee.

He spent his initial months on the shopfloor getting his hands dirty and, more importantly, understanding the work culture. “People who work on the shopfloor are often dismissed as lacking in academic skills. But they possess wisdom which is helpful in understanding factory attitudes towards work and management,” says Pandey.

After three years, he moved back to Calcutta and joined British Oxygen in 1980. While on a six-month stint in the UK, he was part of a team that worked on cryogenic projects in South Africa and the Far East. Pandey learnt some valuable lessons there. “The word global was revealed to me in its truest sense working with a multinational and multicultural team,” he claims.

After three years with British Oxygen, Pandey moved to Hindustan Lever in Mumbai in 1985. This was the first time he was working with an FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) company. Yet he was spearheading the setting up of the company’s plants. He could very well have moved up the echelons in the company, but Pandey thought otherwise. He says, “While it is true that one should be learning and contributing to one’s company, and there are benefits to reap but one should not hesitate to move on when one senses stagnation”.

In 1990, Marico came calling and Pandey jumped at the chance.

He joined them as head of operations. “Apart from executing greenfield projects, I was involved in bringing in a new work culture. Unknowingly, I had entered the field of human resources,” says Pandey. He still remembers how he managed to talk to union leaders and reopen one of the company’s plants.

He ushered in a collaborative style of management. Later, he became the head of human resources at Marico.

“According to me, HR is one of the most undervalued components of a business,” says Pandey. “HR is a tool that line managers adopt often. When business is handled through people, it is not right for HR to work in isolation.” He feels that if every department performed HR functions, then the HR department can act as a guide for the other divisions. Among other firsts, Pandey was also responsible for setting up an incubation cell to further new projects with potential.

And that is how the Kaya Skin Care happened. In 2002, Pandey was appointed CEO of Kaya.

The concept of a corporatised beauty clinic has been received well and Pandey is now busy growing this business. So, from engineering to human resources to heading a beauty concept, Pandey has come a long way. If he loves playing squash in his spare time, he is also constantly picking up tips from his customers.

He has often asked his wife to be a mystery customer who gives him inputs on various elements of Kaya.

What makes him so obsessed with Kaya? “When a customer told me that the treatment at Kaya was better than the ones in Los Angeles, it inspired me all the more to get world-class skincare to India.” Move over LA, Kaya wants you for a lunch date.

As told to Aparna Harish in Calcutta