“I was so motivated by the power of our vision and driven by the courage of conviction that failure was never an option. We have faced strong headwinds, which would have destroyed several organizations. However, we were determined to move forward regardless. We retained our unwavering sight on our goals, did not allow ourselves to get derailed, and kept climbing higher. We never gave up. In the process, we have built a resilient, versatile, and responsive organization that differentiates itself based on value and experience – for our clients & for our people”.
Founder & Managing Partner
The trajectory of the rise of MGC Global Risk Advisory (‘MGC Global’ or ‘the organization’) is a testament to its commitment to the vision with which it was founded. The inspirational driver for its people has been a sense of purpose that has served as a concrete source of their motivation. Clarity of communication has made their connection between purpose and performance clear & strong. Fast-tracked growth has demonstrated the proof of concept of its unique culture for the team and kept them progressing together. Customization of experiences for each client with a personal touch and a focus on value creation has been rewarded by these clients in terms of the growth and longevity of their relationship with the organization. In a relatively short span of time, MGC Global has become synonymous with risk advisory services.
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History & Purpose of MGC Global
The corporate sector has witnessed significant turbulence over the past few decades, characterized by several unprecedented changes and challenges. These have emanated from a multitude of factors that include geo-political unrest, technological advancements, globalization, changing consumer expectations, disruption, regulatory changes and shifting workforce dynamics. The precariousness of the scenario thus underlined has led to an increased demand for transparency and accountability in the public, private and government sectors.
Against this backdrop, MGC Global was established in 2015 by Monish Gaurav Chatrathto facilitate organizations in unlocking the true value of their business through good governance and strong risk management systems. While the size of the global consulting industry at that time was estimated to be at around US$ 200bn, risk advisory services as a segment was one of the smallest components of the same. However, the founder of MGC Global had the foresight to identify this vertical as the most significant growth driver in the times ahead due to the increasing complexity of business operations and the growing awareness of potential risks associated with them. With offices in New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai and global aspirations, MGC Global opened its doors for business in September of 2015 with the vision to be “the best providers of risk advisory services wherever it operates.”
Fast forward to the present and MGC Global has established itself as a leader in the field of risk advisory services with specialized teams undertaking a comprehensive range of engagements. These include conducting internal audits, developing enterprise-wide risk management frameworks, undertaking control assessments, providing forensic services, enabling data protection& institutionalizing privacy programs, developing cyber risk mitigating frameworks, supporting in human capital risk management assessments, providing IT advisory (includingISO 27001readiness, vendor risk assessments, vCISO services, and VAPT), and of late CSR and ESG advisory services.
With associate arrangements in all major cities in India, MGC Global has built capabilities within a diversified set of services and is catering to the risk advisory requirements of its clients across the country. Over the past 2 years, MGC Global has become the first port of call for reputable CPA and consulting organizations in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Far East Asia to support the seamless delivery of their risk advisory engagements in their jurisdictions and across the globe.
MGC Global fosters knowledge sharing and collaboration through the utilization of platforms provided by way of being a direct and independent member firm of the Atlanta headquartered US$ 5bn Allinial Global (‘AG’). MGC Global’s strong involvement and participation in AG’s ‘Communities of Practice’ encourage an exchange of ideas and best practices with 261 member firms in over 100 countries.The Managing Partner of MGC Global is currently an active position holder on the EMEIA Membership Committee of AG and also a founding leader of its community of practice for internal audits and internal controls.
Values that Guide the Organization
“The true strength of our character has been demonstrated in our relentless pursuit of the desired outcomes and not obstacles. The MGC Global brand experience for our clients entails personal responsibility, accountability, responsiveness, independence, integrity & competence; &all of these come with long-term commitment”, says Ruchi Dadwal, Vice President of Shared Services who has been with MGC Global since its inception and along with the organization, will be celebrating her 8th anniversary this year. Ruchi is an innovative and high-performing professional, an influential communicator and serves as a member of the POSH committees for several of MGC Global’s clients.
The organization places paramount importance on building qualitative and sustainable relationships of trust with its clients, regardless of their individual account size. The impact of this philosophy is best illustrated in the words of one of MGC Global’s clients – “So far, my fateful introduction to you and the MGC Global team has been an immeasurable blessing. I want to keep the engagement going. I want to keep it going until I have blessed MGC Globalequally”.
The focus on meeting and exceeding its clients’ expectations is best measured through the conduct of regular client satisfaction, feedback surveys and testimonials. As stated by Sarthak Taneja, Associate Partner,“My WOW moment for MGC Global is not when a client signs our proposal, rather when we get feedback like this after the work is done”. Sarthak has developed a successful SOC readiness and compliance practice for MGC Global and is a key member of its leadership team.
The culture at MGC Global
MGC Global does not have the traditional or typical hierarchical layers that have accumulated in several of their competing organizations over time. This has enabled the organization to facilitate teamwork, with relatively faster information flows and, consequently, greater flexibility to respond to its client’s requirements. The high level of transparency at MGC Global mitigates risks relating to destructive organizational politics and encourages collaboration. Teamwork is key and operating in silos or politicking is not an option in the organization. This culture percolates from the top, with the Managing Partner and his leadership team walking the talk and ensuring that all team members are equal stakeholders in the organization,who must be given unique opportunities to realize their true potential. Mutual respect, transparency and cohesiveness at the workplace are essential ingredients of its culture and each member of the team is encouraged to develop and hone diversified skill sets, experience, and qualifications. MGC Global’s team is bonded by a common vision, mission, goals, values, principles, beliefs, and expectations. The Managing Partner has an open-door policy where he is accessible to any member that may require his mentoring.
MGC Global’s corporate culture is characterized by a friendly environment that provides security, creates a sense of belongingness and promotes recognition with progress on the basis of merit alone. “My vision for the organization and its people is to make MGC Global the best place to learn &grow,” says Shweta Verma, Director of Human Capital, who works closely and directly with the Managing Partner. Shweta adds that “MGC Global’s brand experience is people-centric and entails respect for individuals, independence, entrepreneurship, teamwork, agile structure, fast growth and individual identity”.She has been working with the leadership team in discovering finer aspects that motivate individuals at MGC Global, while tapping their skills and enhancing their performance & growth.
The leadership team at MGC Global realizes that their conduct has a significant impact on the culture and consequently embodies the values that they would want their teams to inculcate while demonstrating the same through constant reinforcement and clear communication. The hiring process also takes a candidate’s cultural fit into account by conducting behavioral assessments and thorough reference checks.
MGC Global ensures that each member is kept enthused through initiatives such as celebrating occasions (personal birthdays, anniversaries, special occasions and client recognitions) and places special attention on recognizing the efforts of each member of its team on various social media platforms, thereby showcasing their potential to the larger industry. Regular team get-togethers in a relaxed environment (virtual and in person) ensure that each team member is encouraged to discuss his/her thoughts and perspectives freely. MGC Global enhances interaction by engaging its people on a common group chat, having monthly town halls and annual offsites.
Employment versus entrepreneurship
The organization’s Managing Partner had recently, in a town hall promoted the concept of entrepreneurship versus that of an employment model. In accordance with the same, each member is encouraged to take ownership of their tasks with the freedom to build and run verticals in their areas of specialization where they have control over decision-making, strategy, and the intended direction of their actions. Team members are encouraged to provide their inputs and feedback and to bring their innovative ideas to life with the flexibility to set their schedules while working on projects that pertain to their areas of interest.
“I make it a point to engage with my team in a way that they can contribute to the decision-making and problem-solving process. This has enabled inclusivity and ownership, which in turn has facilitated responsiveness to the requirements of our clients”, says Arun Sundar, Associate Partner and Leader of the South India Market, who has been with the organization for nearly 3 years.
Arun’s words have been echoed in the sentiments of one of MGC Global’s clients who has stated, “We had used MGC Global to assist us in our internal control reviews of the ‘Consumer Engagement’ Program. Their team did a good job and came up with some relevant findings. They demonstrated a thorough understanding of the rather complex process and maintained documentation that ensured quality discussions with the stakeholders. They also ensured timely closure of the review, which is again appreciated”.Arun has been instrumental in launching and developing the forensic and SOX practice for MGC Global and has successfully built lasting relationships with various CPA firms in the US that use the organization’s resources for their engagements from time to time.
Training, development & feedback
Training and personal development is a strong area of focus for MGC Global and this aspect has also been given special attention during the appraisal process. The organization encourages members of its team to engage in continuous learning and professional development by providing access to relevant training resources, certifications, and educational opportunities via in-house training, online training programs, e-modules, and workshops while laying emphasis on the importance of staying updated with industry trends and acquiring new skills to adapt to the evolving risk landscape.
The organization regularly solicits feedback from its people by way of a secure feedback mechanism and through regular interactions with its Human Capital Team to measure its progress on the consistent application of its code of business conduct and culture. MGC Global acknowledges the contributions of the team towards the organization’s success by way of awards such as,‘First Amongst Equals’ and ‘Ubharta Sitara’, with the Managing Partner personally writing to the recipients and their families to congratulate them, which fosters a sense of affinity with the organization.
MGC Global has instituted two-way performance reviews, which ensure that members of its team not only receive regular feedback about their performance but are also given the opportunity to provide feedback to their supervisors anonymously if they so choose, thereby ensuring transparency which is the hallmark of a successful organization.
Client engagements
All engagements are led by the best-suited practice leaders in terms of their experience, skill sets, and cultural fitment with the respective clients. Each practice leader is closely engaged in monitoring the progress by virtue of discussing the weekly updates that are sent to all clients on ongoing engagements. According to Surender Sharma, Practice Director, “Each client is unique, as are their requirements and this encourages us to think out of the box in order to individually tailor solutions by way of a need-based approach.” The organization’s delivery model requires the designated teams to obtain a deep understanding of the industry and business models of their clients, in addition to objectives of the engagement, the risk appetite and organizational culture within the client organizations. This aids in providing relevant insights and in developing and implementing effective risk management strategies. Surender has also assumed the responsibility of developing and leading MGC Global’s ESG services and has obtained excellent feedback on the CSR impact & community needs assessments and in the ESG roadmaps that have been developed by MGC Global for its clients.
MGC Global’s outreach
“We understand that satisfying clients and fostering long-term relationships is vital for sustainability, and therefore we believe in providing value by proactively addressing client needs. Moreover, we strive to make a difference with our ongoing thought leadership that summarizes significant industry-wise developments and best practices,” says Mahima Singh, Manager, Shared Services&the AG Champion for the organization. MGC Global’s thought leaderships are meticulously created to retain a lasting impact and are backed by extensive research & expert perspectives. The organization has, over the years, built up a repository of knowledge through its in-house research wing (one example being the ‘MGC Global Business Continuity & Resumption Barometer’). Its bespoke thought leadership alerts that go out to over 6,000 of its contacts (who are mostly CEOs, CXO’s and finance heads) provide thought-provoking analysis of industry developments with best practices relevant to their business.
Mahima’srole as the AG Champion of the organization translates to representing it on a larger platform amidst a global network of member firms. AG believes in the spirit of learning through dialogue and engagement between member firms; hence it gives them the opportunity to remain connected with like-minded professionals via the communities of practices that are virtual groupings formed for the multi-purposes of networking, engaging in discussions, exchanging best practices, tapping business opportunities and collaborating between member firms. Staying connected with experts enables MGC Global’s team members to remain up to date with field-specific best practices and equips them to adapt their strategies and offerings to align with their individual client situations & requirements.
MGC Global places importance on staying informed of the existing as well as upcoming technological tools, trends, and software that are relevant to its services. According to Kirti Kumar Salunke, IT Risk Advisory Leader, “We take informed decisions that provide valuable insights to our clients by leveraging data analytics tools and techniques to analyze large volumes of data and identify patterns, trends, and potential risks. Our team has been carefully trained to explore automation and artificial intelligence technologies to streamline repetitive tasks, improve accuracy, and free up time for higher-value activities.”
MGC Global is in the process of creating a digital platform for risk management solutions that would empower its clients to manage and monitor risks effectively by integrating tools for risk assessment, risk tracking, incident reporting, and compliance management.
Accomplishments
Awarded for service excellence and being a people-centric organization, MGC Global was recognized as among the 10 Most Promising Risk Advisory Services Firms in 2017, as the ‘Company of the Year’ in 2018 &, 2019′ (both in the category of risk advisory services), one of the ‘Top Exceptional Companies to Work For’ in 2020, amongst the ‘Top 25 Customer Centric Companies’ in 2020 and ‘The Consultant of the Year’ in 2021 (in the category of risk advisory services).
Moreover, the Managing Partner has been acknowledged to be one of India’s 50 fastest growing CEOs in 2017, ‘India’s 30 Most Trusted CEOs’ in 2018 and ‘Formidable Leaders of 2022’.
Way ahead
The 21st century is all about sustainability. MGC Global has in pursuit of its goals, demonstrated how a sustainable business model can be built through a sound strategy that focuses on impactful differentiation on the core factors that appeal to its stakeholders, which includes its clients and people.
