Ram Kumar Menon

Experience

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  IBM Daksh

  May 2003 - Feb 2004

  Customer Care Officer

  Worked as a part of an inbound customer service team, help customers activate their new mobile phones.>Handled inbound phone activation calls for Sprint customers>Undertook cross-selling of Sprint products to the inbound caller

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  American Express

  Mar 2004 - Apr 2007

  Customer Service Executive

  Worked as a part of American Express Financial Advisors Retirement Services Group; managed 300 clients mostly Fortune 500 companies for servicing for 401(k) and other retirement account queries.>Handled inbound customer calls enquiring about their 401(K) accounts>Undertook cross-selling/ upselling of products>Ensured customer satisfaction and problem resolution on each call, improved client retention rate

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  Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

  May 2007 - Aug 2020

  Played a lead role in planning, executing, monitoring, controlling and closing out projects. I was accountable for the entire project scope, the project team and resources, the project budget and the success or failure of the project.>Responsible for delivering projects, managing clients, streamlining processes, creating standards and templates, and ensuring continuous improvement>Responsible for ensuring successfully delivering projects by acting as a scrum master and agile coach>Responsible for managing Client Services and Delivery Operations>Heading Project Management Office responsible for end-to-end project engagements>Lead client engagement and technical team for design and implementation strategy, privacy and security for data governance and data analysis implementation projects>Responsible for collaborating with internal teams to design, develop and implement digital projects>Planned, managed and tracked multiple projects, coordinating efforts between various functional team members and departments>Responsible for assigning project managers to projects and ensuring agile practices and standards are followed>Defining processes and ensuring that the processes are followed, and key performance indicator are measured and within the desired range or provide corrective actions>Responsible for setting up knowledge management process to enable informed decisions and to improve efficiency by reducing the need to rediscover knowledge through knowledge capture and knowledge sharing>Responsible for driving accelerated change with end-to-end knowledge management capabilities focusing on product and service specific knowledge management process optimization, leading change across the organisation and driving innovation of new capabilities>Fostered sustainable relations with cross-functional stakeholders across geographies, collaborate and liaise with other departments head Show less The ambit of responsibility revolved around manpower planning, recruitments, goal setting exercise for the function, defining team structures, bringing out process efficiencies, optimising costs and managing overall operations and function>Led 3 teams of Account Managers, around ~30 direct and indirect reportees, responsible for the delivery of ~14000 plans a year>Responsible for ~200 million in Assets Under Management>Responsible for creating and implementing strategies to increase operational efficiencies for achieving revenue and profitability targets>Created, reviewed, maintained and audited the SOP’s for Business Continuity Plan for the entire business>Undertook business development initiatives to generate more business from existing and prospective clients, involved discussions with advisors, custom incentive schemes, referrals, bulk discounts etc.>Worked in tandem with the advisors and field leaders based in US. Responsible for building and maintaining relationships, handling issues/escalations and managing business volumes>Conducted one on one and skip sessions on regular basis to understand employee aspirations and concern areas. Worked toward providing solutions and having an engaged workforce. Created and implemented strategies to increase the employee retention>Developed capacity planning framework to forecast future manpower needs based on analysing past attrition trends>Ensured LEAN implementation across the teams reporting to me Show less Team management involved managing workflow and work-in-progress plans for the team, providing mentorship to team members, identifying training gaps, problem solving, productivity and TAT (turnaround time) analysis and implementing corrective measures as required.>Led a team of 15 Account Managers across 5 shifts and 2 locations, responsible for 200+ account and delivery of 5000 financial plans per year>Facilitate a virtual back-office experience for US based advisors, improved the advisor satisfaction level from 92% to 96%>Responsible for ensuring that our deliverables meet the Quality Check criterions for the team members and adherence to overall compliance guidelines>Acted as a Relationship Manager, shouldered responsibilities in building and maintaining relationships with advisors and their branch managers. Was the first point of contact for issues and escalations>Responsible for conducting appraisals, minimizing attrition, keeping the team motivated, running Rewards & Recognition programs to boost productivity/ motivation levels and outlining employees long term development plans within the organization>Collaborate with cross-functional teams like MIS, Quality etc. to support advisors on day-to-day operations>End-to-end implementation of the Process Excellence Project, resulting in a boost of 4% in productivity>Partnered with the HR team on Skill Mapping and designed focused skill development programs Show less Involved understanding client’s existing financial position alongside future capital requirements to provide a customized end-to-end financial solutions package. It included products like stocks, insurance, debt instruments, mutual funds, retirement/ pension funds and analgising their tax impact.>Was account manager for 15+ accounts. Was the first point of contact for all their financial planning needs>Responsible for building and maintaining relationships with advisors and their staff>Responsible for generating more business from existing advisors and get referrals of new advisor from them>Collaborate with cross functionals teams to support advisors in their day-to-day operations Show less

  • Group Leader - Project Management

    Nov 2013 - Aug 2020

  • Group Leader - Regional Head for Advisor Relations

    Mar 2011 - Oct 2013

  • Team Leader - Advisor Relations

    Mar 2009 - Feb 2011

  • Senior Analyst - Financial Planning

    May 2007 - Feb 2009
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  Sapiens

  Feb 2022 - Jan 2025

  Project Manager

  The ambit of responsibilities included participating in pre-sales blue printing process, creating scope of work document, estimating time & effort, preparing commercial proposal, preparing project implementation plan, resource allocation, executing, monitoring, controlling, and closing out projects. I was accountable for the entire project scope, the project team and resources, the project budget and the success or failure of the project.• Responsible for running pre-sales blue printing sessions with prospective clients.• Responsible for creating & finalising Scope of Work (SOW) document. Ensuring all the agreed upon deliverables are documented clearly without any ambiguities and loopholes.• Responsible for preparing the time & effort estimation for the project. • Responsible for preparing the detailed project plan and estimating the resources required for implementation of the project.• Responsible for timely allocation of the required resources and ensuring everyone is clear about the project objectives, individual roles, and individual responsibilities. • Responsible for delivering projects, managing clients, streamlining processes, creating standards and templates, and ensuring continuous improvement. • Responsible for managing Client Services and Delivery Operations.• Responsible for end-to-end project engagements across geographies.• Lead client engagement and technical team for design and implementation strategy, privacy, and security for data governance and data analysis implementation projects.• Responsible for delivering all internal and client projects, managing clients, creating standards and templates, and ensuring continuous improvement.• Planned, managed and tracked multiple projects, coordinating efforts between various functional team members and departments. Show less

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  Care Insurance, Tata AIA, NJ Wealth

  May 2024 - now

  Independent Professional

  Since May 2024, I have been working as an independent professional in the insurance and mutual fund sectors, leveraging my expertise to provide tailored financial solutions to clients. With the requisite certifications in both domains, I am equipped to offer comprehensive advice on risk management, wealth creation, and investment planning. My role involves understanding clients' financial goals, analysing market trends, and recommending suitable products to meet their needs, ensuring a high level of trust and client satisfaction. Show less