Our Youngest & Oldest NAKAMA

The UNIVA CAPITAL Group is committed to “people-focused management,” and above all, people are our most valuable assets. We have more than 500 NAKAMA from 22 countries and regions working in 14 countries and regions around the world. Our management philosophy of respecting individuality regardless of nationality, education, age, or gender has fostered the diversity of UNIVA CAPITAL.

At last year’s group employee meeting, the ages of the youngest and oldest NAKAMA were disclosed. At that time, the youngest was 19, and the oldest was 78. This prompted some questions, such as “What kind of person are they?” and “What kind of work do they do?” Therefore, in this feature, we will introduce you to our youngest, now 20, and oldest at 72 (since the 78-year-old retired) NAKAMA. Let’s take a look together and find out who they are!

Youngest Employee in UNIVA CAPITAL Group and Rising Star

It should be no surprise that Varun Bhalerao is Naturally Plus Singapore’s youngest Full Stack Developer. From an early age, he understood technology’s power to change the world. It was simply a matter of finding the right place to put his ideas to work.

In 2018, as Varun was finishing his O levels in high school in India, he knew he was ready to get serious about studying technology. To pursue his dreams, he moved to Singapore where he double majored in System Development and Business Technology believing this powerful combination could help him bring his ideas to life. During his busy studies, he also found time to freelance in tech and develop an app prototype for an Indian company during an internship.

After graduating in May 2021, Varun spotted the job description for a position at Naturally Plus Singapore. He immediately knew it was a perfect match for his skills and experience. Even though the position was first advertised as on-site, the company felt comfortable with Varun working remotely. Between his personality, earnestness, and excellent resume, the organization knew it was a brilliant match.

Today, Varun lives and works in the city of Pune in western India, an important technological, industrial, and educational hub that lets him be near family while keeping his finger on the pulse of technology. When not writing code and communicating with the Singapore office, he enjoys reading, trekking, and exploring the modern yet ancient city he now calls home.

Working at Naturally Plus Singapore and The Future

Initially, Varun’s job description seemed quite simple. He would be responsible for developing the Naturally Plus Singapore app using Flutter, an open-UI software development kit for creating cross-platform applications, and Firebase, a set of application hosting services.

After a great deal of effort to get the app up and running, Varun’s previous experience taught him that releasing it would require even more effort and creativity as the company and its customers actually started using it. Once the feedback came flooding in, he had to work quickly and efficiently to analyze the responses and make the appropriate changes, a process that repeated as he strove to meet the needs of Naturally Plus Singapore.

Since then, working from a time zone 2.5 hours away from Singapore, Varun’s responsibilities have expanded beyond app design. He works closely with his colleagues to understand what they need to work more efficiently, experiments with the resulting improvements, and coordinates with customer support staff for in-app promotions. When asked if he was satisfied with the app so far, Varun said it’s about 4 out of 5 in terms of satisfaction. The next step he envisions taking is to improve and expand the app to connect to the company’s existing system and provide more functionality to meet Naturally Plus Singapore’s growing needs. It’s a challenge he’s eager to meet.

Varun enjoys his work and feels not only that it provides very valuable experience as a mobile app developer, but he also feels respected as a professional because his opinions and ideas are valued and directly influence decisions and the app development. It is this kind of environment, one where growth is encouraged, that Varun values and is grateful for.

As he looks forward to 2023, Varun is eager to learn even more and further expand his technical and business knowledge and experience to help Naturally Plus Singapore. While the future is unknown, it’s clear there is a bright and wonderful tomorrow ahead for him and Naturally Plus Singapore.

The Oldest of the Group at 72: The Secret to Good Health is Curiosity!

Next, we would like to introduce Koichi Tanaka, Executive Director of UNIVA Mutual Aid.

Before retiring to work in insurance-related consulting, Tanaka-san worked in the domestic and foreign life insurance industry for 35 years. Joining UNIVA CAPTIAL Group in September 2017, he has been with us for more than five years. His work includes “underwriting,” which is the examination when underwriting mutual aid contracts, as well as risk management for mutual aid payments, negotiations with regulatory authorities, development and planning of new products, and product briefings.

Currently, UNIVA Mutual Aid has approximately 8,000 subscriptions, and Tanaka-san and his team’s main responsibility is to help them when something unexpected happens. Therefore, he and his team feel a real sense of fulfillment when they are able to promptly complete mutual aid payments and are thanked by their subscribers.

For his health, Tanaka-san says he tries to keep physically active by going to the gym twice a week for aerobics and weightlifting. As the most senior member of our group, we’re impressed by his positive attitude: “If you don’t move your body, it will only decline.” A well-balanced diet is also extremely important. He’s lucky to be able to leave the cooking to his wife and happily reports, “Thanks to my wife, I can stay healthy.”

Tanaka-san has always been interested in trying new things and naturally takes action rather than sitting still. Currently, he enjoys golf and plays about twice a month. He also goes skiing and scuba diving occasionally. He says that his children tell him to stop skiing because they’re afraid he’ll get injured. However, he still wants to see and enjoy the snow, so he secretly goes skiing without telling them! (Hopefully, they won’t see this company newsletter?)

Professionally, in 2023, Tanaka-san hopes to develop new products and put them on the market early in the year. You can hear the enthusiasm in his voice, “If we don’t come up with something new, we’ll get stuck in a rut.” Personally, he wants to improve his physical strength as a safeguard against COVID-19 and influenza.

Four Pieces of Advice for His Young NAKAMA

At UNIVA, the average employee age is the late 30s. Here are four things Tanaka-san wants to share with those coming after him:

1. Don’t put off what interests you; try it right away.
2. Always pay attention to your surroundings, and try to understand what those around you are thinking and what they want to do.
3. Keep your work and personal time separate, and don’t bring your work worries home with you.
4. Value communication.

In particular, the fourth piece of advice is something we should keep in mind on a daily basis. Nowadays, people greet each other less often than before; however, it is still important to reach out to people by yourself. Both the person saying hello and the person being greeted will be uplifted, and actively engaging with people you don’t know will lead to your own personal growth.

As UNIVA continues to grow and develop, we are sure that Varun and Tanaka-san will continue to be an asset to the organization.