Arun Vishwanath – A Brief Profile

Work Experience:

• Present: Head – Training, with Raymond Retail, part of the Raymond group, whose
turnover exceeds Rs. 2500 Crores. The readymade garment brands from the Raymond
stable include: Manzoni, Park Avenue, Colour Plus, Parx, Zapp and Notting Hill. There
are over 500 “The Raymond Shops” Pan-India and some abroad. Responsible for
conceptualising, designing and implementation of the Learning, Training and Employee
Development initiatives at Raymond Retail.

• Previous: Corporate Head of Training and Development with RKHS, which is a joint
venture with Compass group of UK and a market leader in outsourced Food Service
Management contracts, Integrated Facilities Management and Vending Solutions. More
than 18,000 staff work with RKHS. Was responsible for Pan-India Training and
Development activities; the Training team had 21 members spread across the country and
the “Centre for Learning and Development” was at Mumbai. Was a Part of the
“Leadership & Growth” team, which consisted of Senior Management from the
company.

• Worked as “Hotel Services Trainer” with P&O Princess Cruises for 6 years from 1999 to
2005. This assignment involved travelling on board P&O and Princess Cruises ships
based in US and UK to conduct training sessions on board the cruise ships, as well as, the
Training Centre in Mumbai. The responsibilities also included training staff in the
Philippines.

• Worked as Asst. Training Manager in the wonderful city of Pune with Holiday Inn Pune
for 2 years from 1998 to 1999.

• Started career as a “Management Trainee” with Holiday Inn Krishna at Hyderabad in

1993 on being selected from the Campus. Worked as a Lobby Manager and Restaurant
Manager in the 4½ year tenure with the hotel.

Education:

• M.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Madras in 2004

• PG Diploma in HR and Personnel Management from Symbiosis Centre for Distance

Learning – 2001

• B.Com from Osmania University – 1996.

• Diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Technology from IHM Hyderabad in 1993.

Personal:

• Married to a lovely lady Vinita in 2002, who works as a lecturer, teaching Zoology at a
college in Thane and has a 3-year old son named Arvind.

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Others:

• Founder and Moderator of “Trainers Forum”, the largest Trainers community in India,
which has an online membership of over 6000 Trainers, Educators and HR professionals
from various industries and verticals.

• Founder President – The Bombay Toastmasters, which is a part of the Toastmasters

International, and helps members to polish their Leadership & Public Speaking Skills.

• Member – ISTD (Indian Society for Training & Development).

• Member – NHRD (National Human Resource Development Network).

• Member – HR Committee – RAI (Retailers Association of India).