Groupon Employee Spotlight:
Nandhini Kandasamy

With over nine years at Groupon, Nandhini has played a key role in shaping the Customer Service team’s success. As an Area Manager, she ensures seamless operations, quality service, and a strong people-first culture. Passionate about leadership and continuous learning, she believes that resilience, integrity, and adaptability are the keys to thriving in a fast-paced environment. Beyond her role, Nandhini embraces adventure—whether it’s exploring new destinations, mastering automation to drive efficiency, or unleashing her creativity through painting and rangoli art. Her motto? “Trust none but data and proof”—a mindset that fuels her problem-solving approach and commitment to excellence at Groupon

In the words of her manager, Sangeeth Paul : "Nandhini has been an integral part of the team, demonstrating unwavering dedication and a strong commitment to excellence. Her ability to navigate challenges with a solutions-driven approach has significantly contributed to the team's success. Through her leadership and collaborative spirit, she has played a key role in enhancing operational efficiency and fostering a positive work environment at Groupon."

Tell us a little about yourself and your current role at Groupon. What excites you most about what you do?

I’m a proud Chennaite and am happily married. I am looking forward to embracing life and making up for the experiences I’ve missed over the years. I am broad-minded yet a little conventional inside. I am one of the Area Managers in the crux of Groupon the CS team. A typical day of my life in Groupon starts with a daily connect with my Team Leads and ends with a one to one connect with one of my Team leaders. I handle the daily production, assuring quality service to both internal and external customers. Of course, there will be the daily stuff like, feedback sessions, escalations, etc.,
What excites me most about my work, apart from the chance to guide and support my team while maintaining a high level of service, is the people-oriented approach that has been cascaded from top to bottom. The main focus despite customer first, is the people that do the day-to-day stuff. We encourage people to work flexibly and thereby increasing production and quality,  all while staying true to values like integrity, resilience, and authenticity. 

Can you walk us through your career journey? What led you to Groupon, and how has it shaped your professional growth?

As all Engineers do in Chennai, I started to work in Ajuba as a stop shop but later continued to build a career in Customer Service. Merit Software Services, was one of my foundational ventures where I started to manage people for the first time. Groupon was not an intended move initially, but it served as the best chisel that carved all my managing abilities out. While I write this, I am dismayed to a great extent that it has been more than 9 years since my day 1 at Groupon. There is no stopping at all. I am in full throttle to move ahead to achieve great heights and grow along with the organisation. The bottom line is  - ‘There are plenty of opportunities in Groupon, it is about how you grab it with both hands’. 

What do you believe are the key ingredients for both individuals and teams to thrive and achieve outstanding performance in an ever-evolving company like Groupon?

To me, success is measured as the distance traveled and not a destination. The key ingredients for a best-concocted recipe of success are resilience, consistency, integrity, responsibility, shrewdness, and ability to grasp and learn from mistakes. 

Team is, quite different unlike individuals, where we have all the talent available, but most of us fail to know the right mix. To me, a team can be successful only everyone inside has the same path of travel. The means and deeds of individuals will and should differ, but each of them should guide and guard each other whilst also not compromising on rules and integrity.

High performance often requires balance. How do you manage to stay at your best while ensuring a healthy work-life balance?

Planned day off at least once every 2 months with a minimum of 2 consecutive days paired with a week off - travel to places with minimal cyber activity, rejuvenate, and come back - start fresh. Make sure not to work on weekends unless it is very urgent.

As a Customer Service Area Manager, what are the biggest challenges you face in managing your team, and how do you ensure that service quality remains at the highest level?

The process and the CS Team are very dynamic and tactical as we all know. To me, the core challenge is empirical process control. In an ever-changing environment, the key measures that I ensure are transparency in data, information, and even mistakes. It is easy to handle a known problem but tough or nearly impossible if blindfolded from it and know it from the other side as an escalation. The one thing that I make sure is to be on top of this as always as I possibly can. 

As Groupon continues to transform, how do you adjust your approach to ensure you're contributing to the company's long-term growth and success?

The future is definitely approaching towards more of AI and RPA. The first step is about continuously learning about recent technology advancements. I will start to enroll myself in courses to strengthen my knowledge. Anybody can grow only along with the organization, my every next innovative step will be more towards revenue increase, small RPAs and automation wherever possible.

What’s one life lesson you’ve learned that has had a major impact on your professional journey and how you approach challenges at work?  

Trust none but data and proof - This motto has saved me in multiple instances in my professional journey and will continue to save.

When you're not working, what’s a hobby or activity you’re passionate about that helps you recharge?

Traveling to places with my husband where there is much less human intervention. Here are some of the places I visited which I love the most:  Munnar, Vagamon, Kotagiri, Coonoor, Kookal

What’s something about you that might surprise people who only know you in a professional setting?

Paintings that I do on glass, canvas, mugs, etc, and rangoli art* :)

*Rangoli is a traditional Indian art form where intricate patterns are created on the floor using colored powders, rice, or flower petals, often as a symbol of good luck and prosperity.

If you could swap lives with any fictional character for a day, who would you choose and why?

Lara Croft - she is intuitive, unrelenting, and very adventurous. She ventures into ancient, hazardous places and ruins around the world.

What's the most adventurous thing you've ever done, and would you do it again?

Ziplining.

If you could host a dinner with any historical figure, who would you invite and what would be the one question you’d want to ask them?

As a working woman from the state of Tamilnadu (India) - it would be E.V. Ramasamy (Periyar) to talk through his revolutionary thoughts and deeds in person. That one question would be “What made you stand for the suppressed women?”  

If you could instantly master any skill or talent, what would it be and why?

If I could instantly master any skill, baking would be a great choice! I’d love to perfect the art of making all sorts of delicious treats - especially Brownies. Baking is a mix of creativity and science, and the idea of transforming simple ingredients into something magical that people can enjoy is appealing.

What's the most embarrassing song on your playlist that you secretly love?

Amaidhiyo amaidhi from Shin-Chan.