A Village Boy's Odessey To Human Resource Expert

Mohan Raj Ojha describes himself as a true ‘people’s person’, with a skill to connect with others, recognise their potential, and inspire them to achieve more. Over time, he has established himself as a trusted mentor and public influencer. He has been serving as the President of the Management Association of Nepal (MAN) since 2023. He is now recognised as a prominent figure in the field of human resources management within the core corporate sector. Ojha is actively involved in advocating for skilling, upskilling, and reskilling of human resources in Nepal. Born in a remote village in Doti district, Mohan overcame the mountains of difficulties to reach where he is today.

Ojha studied up to grade three at Talara where he grew up, helping families by herding cattle and collecting fodder. Then he started crossing a river in a boat to reach Baitadi, where a school ran classes up to fifth grade. With family support, Ojha then moved to Dhangadhi for further study. His father was a Pandit, who wanted his children to study hard. After finishing high school at Trinagar Secondary School in Dhangadhi, he enrolled in Kailali Campus. However, with the dream to explore better opportunities in the capital city, he headed to Kathmandu.  Coming to Kathmandu was not much difficult, but challenges lay in managing the cost of living and studying side by side. As he had a knack to establish good relationships with people, he said that he made the best use of it. “I made a deal with my friends. I managed all the household chores, including cleaning, washing dishes, and cooking food, and in return they provided me food and a place to live,” he shared. Mohan enrolled in Nepal Commerce Campus to pursue his Bachelor's degree. Staying with friends in a rented room, he did everything he could to continue with his studies. He started working as a newspaper hawker to afford tuition fees. “I used to walk around for two hours every morning before going to the college and earned around Rs. 1,300 per month from flogging the newspapers.”

Ups and downs

He was the youngest of five siblings. His brothers and sisters used to work in government offices. But he didn’t prefer the government job. He knew it wasn't really his cup of tea. Then an idea dawned on him—he can excel in cultivating public relations. So, he decided to join a private company. Mohan’s career began to take shape after joining the Khetan Group as an office assistant. Working at the company for 15 years, he finished his university degree and had also started a family. “The experience of working from assistant to managerial level made me realise I must do something on my own,” he recalled. It was not that easy for him to switch to a new venture after quitting the job. Ojha had gone through a lot of ups and downs. He learnt so much from all those failures. It is like each setback made him stronger and showed him where he really belonged in his career. He tried his luck at being an entrepreneur — opened up a grocery store in Baneshwor — but that did not work. Then he set up a shoe showroom, but it also flopped. He took those experiences and made sure not to repeat the same mistakes again. Ojha then received an offer from Chaudhary Group to work as a corporate manager. His career took a U-turn after working at the Chaudhary Group for four and a half years. “I gained significant learning exposure there. I focused on the employment and human resources development sectors. I started exploring how foreign human resource (HR) technology could be brought to Nepal.” 

So he took the plunge and joined the human resource field, where he really climbed the ladder. In his 20 years of career, he realised that both job seekers and employers need a facilitator. So, he decided to leave his job at Chaudhary Group for good and established his own company, Growth Seller Pvt. Ltd. in 2008. His company acts as a facilitator for both job seekers and employers. Growth Seller has been actively recruiting freshmen and enhancing their skills to meet the demands of various companies. The company also provides services to private enterprises as per their needs. It conducts various training and motivational programmes aimed at boosting the skills of employees working in corporate sector, with a focus on human resource development. It also organises three major annual events, including HR Meet, Sales Summit, and an award distribution ceremony to honour individuals and institutions that have made significant contributions to society. “These events aim to recognise and encourage those who have positively impacted the community but may not have received the recognition they deserve,” said Ojha.

Achievements

Ojha is the founder of three companies: Growth Sellers, Corporate Club Pvt. Ltd., and Growth Leadership Pvt. Ltd. He is now voluntarily engaged in MAN, where he serves as President; the Federation of Outsourcing and Staffing Institutions Nepal as a President; the Human Resources Society Nepal as a Past President; and the Rotary Club of Kathmandu Metro as a Rotarian. His influence has extended to the international stage as a Council Member of the Asian Association of Management Organisations since 2017. When Ojha started working in the field of HR management, very few colleges ran the courses on it. Thanks to his continuous advocacy, around 20 colleges offer HR courses in Master in Business Administration. “Earlier, there were few HR professionals who were hired by a handful of companies. But now virtually all corporate houses, private offices, and even government offices have their own HR departments,” he said. His organisation has so far organized more than 8,500 trainings and development programmes, benefitting more than 42,000 people. Through his company, more than 500 organisations have received full-fledged HR management services. The company has also provided job placement to more than 18,000 people through different channels.

Talking about the future plan of his company, Ojha said, “I have a plan to convert my company into a public entity. For this, I am mulling to incorporate various stakeholders in a collaborative manner. I am in a campaign to choose stakeholders to run the company as a public firm.” If everything goes according to plan, he intends to launch an IPO within next five years. At 53, Ojha is expecting to retire so as to inspire others by sharing his experiences with the potential aspirants. He wants to encourage young people and job seekers to find opportunities within their communities and countries. “If someone seeks guidelines on how to run a business or pursue a career, I want to offer them advice free of cost,” he says. Ojha is also advocating on issues related to labour laws and social security for the benefit of employees. In addition to MAN’s signature programmes, he wants to initiate some new endeavours. He is planning to expand MAN from the current three provinces - to all seven provinces. “MAN functions as a think tank. It has a membership of over 300 PhD holders and more than 5,000 members. Since it operates apolitically, it draws expertise from various sectors which can significantly contribute to Nepal’s public and private sectors,” he states.

(The author is a journalist at  The Rising Nepal.)