Witad Awards 2021: Consultant of the year—Nidhi Kalra, EY

Consultant of the year Nidhi Kalra is bringing her expertise and guidance to a new vantage point this year, having joined Ernst & Young (EY) as a director in December, and leaving behind a 10-year run at Deloitte.

Kalra grew up in Calcutta, India, and trained there as an accountant. After completing her MBA in finance, she was approached by IBM and began her career in consulting. “I was really attracted to consulting and the way of working, as well as the problem-solving aspect of the job. Every day is a new day, and you’re solving problems rather than getting stuck in a mundane life,” she says.

As an advisor and confidante, she says it’s crucial to understand her client’s directions. That involves recognizing that some companies and banks don’t need the newest tech solutions to achieve their goals. In other words, “I’m not going to sell a Ferrari to a person who needs a Ford,” she says. 

Throughout her career, Kalra has championed gender and racial inclusivity and has worked to create equal opportunities, but diverse hiring doesn’t just comprise filling quotas. “We have to create equal opportunity, and then let the process take its course. People should get recognition and acknowledgement when they are ready for it—when they deserve it,” she says.

As a mother, she sees the chance for companies to create better working policies to eradicate what she calls “the pinched middle,” where female talent at senior management levels leave the workforce, typically when they would start a family.

“Can ladies have it all? Probably not. That is a reality. But doesn’t mean you should have to give up your career to have a family,” she says.

Kalra, a personal mentor to five underlings, believes mentoring young talent is vital to cultivating the changing face of the workforce.