Author: Sonali Chowdhury | HRKatha

The year was 1999 and the company was Coca Cola. A fresh pass-out from XLRI Jamshedpur bagged her first professional role – to independently manage HR at a small plant in Kanpur. She was the youngest member in the plant, and the only woman in the team of 150 men twice her age. This is how Anusha Suryanarayan, CHRO, Philips Lighting India began her professional journey. It was a great and challenging start to her career indeed. She gained a bagful of experiences in the one year that she spent at the plant. The assignment exposed her to the functioning…

Continuous learning and knowledge sharing can go a long way in empowering employees even while driving organisational goals. Fujitsu Consulting India, a global delivery centre for Japanese firm, Fujitsu Group, has focussed on its learning and development initiatives to stay relevant in the business. With an employee base of more than 4,400 across five cities, the organisation has ensured that the learning curve of its workforce keeps moving up as the employees adapt and implement new technologies. The Company fosters a culture of learning to ensure long-term employability as employees are eager to learn and experiment with new technology. The…

It’s a growing trend now. While for years, brands have used ad films to influence the consumers, they are now using this vehicle to lure potential employees. The automobile company Volvo Eicher has launched a film, which boasts of its multicultural setup and how it stands tall for its values. The film has employees sharing their experiences and their passion for the brand. It shows how employees from different cultures and backgrounds, enjoy the freedom to perform and excel at work at Volvo Eicher. The message that it wishes to convey is how it has strived to create a multicultural…

After spending more than eight years at Monginis Foods, Swapa Rege has started a new chapter in her professional career by joining HappyLocate, as CHRO. In her last role as the corporate head-human resource at Monginis Foods, Rege was focused on creating an atmosphere where employees were engaged and productive. “It was clear that building employee relationships and interacting with co-workers are essential to engagement.” In order to achieve that goal, Rege introduced various interventions, such as surveys, ‘voice of employees’ programmes, L&D initiatives, formation of management executive committee and more. She had joined Monginis Foods in 2010, driving the…

With the Supreme Court verdict pronouncing the same fundamental rights to the LGBT community as other citizens of the country, it is definitely a moment of victory for the lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders in India. The Supreme Court scrapped the controversial Section 377 paving the way for far-reaching changes in the Indian society and its corporate world. “The verdict is incredible in terms of the language, which is powerful and the Supreme Court judges in their wisdom have laid the ground for radical changes to happen in the country in the future,” says Parmesh Shahani, head, Godrej India Culture…

As the dynamics of the workplace have changed with the evolution of technology, the change in generations has also impacted the organisational fabric. Organisations today comprise three distinct generations with different mindsets, aspirations and ethos. Generation X consists of those born between 1961 and 1980, while generation Y consists of millennials, that is, those born between1981 and 1995. The youngest is the Gen Z comprising people born between 1996-2010. In India, millennials account for nearly half of the working age population, whereas Gen Z has just made its entry. Why the conflict? The start-up ecosystem in India got a boost…

The purpose is to create a win-win situation for communities in which they operate and also address the problem of attrition in the business.

HR cannot afford to remain aloof in an organisation nor can it toe the line when it comes to maintaining professional boundaries.

‘Frequency’ is aimed to foster employee engagement, while sharing internal developments and new processes within the firm.

Deodutta Kurane, group president and CHRO, YES BANK, has faced all sorts of challenges during his career. He started off in the manufacturing sector, and then shifted to the banking, financial services and insurance sector (BFSI) with liberalisation. Today, this HR leader is managing a new-age bank with an altogether different set of challenges, with digitisation impacting the business the most. In an interview with Sonali Chowdhury of HRKatha, Kurane shares the effect of digitisation in banking and the way forward.