Our Philosophy
About Element78 Team
Meet Our Founders
Manik Damle
Managing Partner
Valued for her key strength of “Connectedness” Manik Damle is the co-founder of Element 78. She is an Engineer, a Certified ICF coach (RCS) certified OD Practitioner (ISABS). Manik has facilitated change for groups and individuals across socio-economic sectors and is known for delivering complex concepts through creative methods, simple anecdotes and exercises. At Element78, she nurtures the training design and consulting team.
Rahul Chaudhari
Managing Partner
With 3-decades of experience in consulting, industrial sales and trainer development, Rahul is recognised for his ability to drive tangible talent transformation. He specialises in Leadership development and transforming Sales teams to be more effective. A facilitator who is remembered as affectionate and approachable, Rahul believes in continuous self development. Further to his Engineering (VJTI) and MBA (SPJIMR), he has completed several courses like Organisation Development (ISABS), Storytelling, MDP in Management Consulting (IIMB) and Design Thinking (DTA, Amsterdam).
Meet the Team
Varun Lokre
Known for his calm composure and adaptability, Varun has completed his B.A is Psychology from Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce. After this he went on to pursue his first masters in MSc Psychology from IIPR and a second masters in MBA Human Resources Management and Services from Amity University. As a part of the Element78 Team he develops training material, conducts research on programs and client needs, coordinates with clients and associate consultants and provides sales support.
Shruti Manurkar
Approachable, self-motivated and a problem solver, Shruti is a graduate in B.A. Liberal Arts with a specialization in Psychology and Business from Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts. She also has a MSc. in Business Psychology from University of Leeds and is a certified Occupational Test User (Level 1) through the British Psychological Society. At Element78, she develops training material, conducts research on programs and client needs, and coordinates with clients and associate consultants, and provides sales support.
Our Story
Since 2010, We have maintained a singular focus to create results through talent development initiatives.
Identifying the offering as ‘behavioral training’ and understanding industry needs with a specific focus on Indian SMEs. We operated out of cafes and rented space.
Working to a business plan and adding names to the client list. We found success with large organizations and international clients as well, participating in some large scale/ long term roll-outs. Professional friends pitched in as co-trainers or consultants, and we moved into a home-style office with a support team.
With a growing base of clients and better understanding of strength areas, distilled and standardized our training offerings through open programs and calendar programs. We created the Element 78 sales, design and delivery processes for behavioral training. Meanwhile, the team pursued academic certifications and self development to strengthen the OD offerings, moving towards more maturity and focus.
We strengthened our digital presence, and focussed on sales and operations thus making a significant jump in revenues, team size and client base. We articulated our vision ‘Touching lives, changing stories’ by being a boutique team with a personal touch. We clarified our organizational values by analyzing our assignments, successes and failures. By the end of 2019, it had been a phenomenal journey, with a wide variety of projects across cultures and industries.
We made plans to grow and move into a new office and expand our team and offerings, senior professionals joined us. Covid struck and we had to re-look at our resources. We revamped our team and abilities to deliver virtually. While revenues dropped significantly, we continued to touch more lives, especially of client teams that trusted and needed us during this critical phase.
Springing back with gratitude, we designed a lovely new office which a diverse and passionate team would like to work in. Having identified our strength areas for OD interventions and leadership/management training, we decided to explore training areas at the bottom of the workforce pyramid as well. The years to come will see us spend time in proactive initiatives like documenting our interventions and investment in talent and technology.