HR Anexi was conceived to be a one-stop-solution for all HR requirements.
Successful business ideas are conceived long before they are actually implemented, and HR Anexi is a classic example of how ideation, planning and careful execution of an idea can make a business successful and sustainable. The human resource consulting organisation was founded in 2007, but its actual journey started much earlier.
Having completed 10 years in the business, Ashish Arora, founder and managing director, HR Anexi, shares that the idea was conceived long back in 1993, when he was working with the Otis Elevator Company in an HR role, and had to liaise with various service providers for different HR processes. “I wondered why one should have to deal with so many vendors; why there can’t be a one-stop solution to all HR processes, right from recruitment to retirement,” he says.
It was then at the age of 26 that Arora decided that by the time he turns 40 he would start his own HR consulting company that caters to the entire gamut of HR requirements. He was also aware that establishing a firm of that kind required multi-disciplinary skills and, vast knowledge and experience in not just HR but finance, sales and business management.
With that in mind, Arora sharpened his axe for the next few years, as he took up a sales responsibility in a tech company in year 2000 to gain exposure in sales and marketing. He then headed the executive education at the Indian School of Business at Hyderabad, which provided him valuable experience in managing P&L. Before founding HR Anexi, Arora started a recruitment consulting company in 2004, which grew into a temporary staffing firm by 2005.
“Until a decade back, SMEs or family-run businesses were mostly closed to the idea of hiring HR expertise to manage their people well. Now, with the second and third generation entrepreneurs taking over those businesses, mentalities are changing. However, these companies, although rapidly growing in revenue are still stuck in the rut of their operational processes as they also face conflicts between the old and the new ways of doing things.”
“In 2007, when I turned 40, I founded HR Anexi after having gained experience in sales, P&L and managing a business, as I had planned years ago,” Arora shares. HR Anexi was conceived to be a one-stop-solution for all HR requirements, because, according to Arora, despite the existence of so many global HR service specialists, there were hardly any service providers who could offer a bouquet of all that comes under the HR domain, ranging from talent acquisition, talent development, performance management, payroll, learning and development and so on.
The company now has two major business units— one caters to family-owned businesses or SMEs offering them end-to-end HR management solutions, and the other provides leadership development services to global businesses.
Until a decade back, SMEs or family-run businesses were mostly closed to the idea of hiring HR expertise to manage their people well. Now, with the second and third generation entrepreneurs taking over those businesses, mentalities are changing. However, “These companies, although rapidly growing in revenue are still stuck in the rut of their operational processes as they also face conflicts between the old and the new ways of doing things,” Arora explains.
Identifying their need for an external partner, that can provide them end-to-end HR support and expertise, HR Anexi came out with holistic HR management offerings for small businesses. Not missing out on large organisations and global conglomerates, HR Anexi also forayed into providing leadership training with a strong focus on learning applicability in the real world.
Identifying a strong need for getting a real-world touch in the academic or training programmes, HR Anexi partnered with the global consulting firm, BlessingWhite. Arora shares that “Our leadership development programmes are based on research and experiences from the real world, such that the learners get access to both theoretical and practical aspects. We have ensured that our full-time trainers have all gained a significant hands-on experience in the areas, which they are training people for.”
The company partners with various HR technology companies for HRIS and analytics, and has also started work on an e-learning portal now, for which it is developing easily consumable in-house content in the form of short videos.
Having sustained the business for a decade now, Arora looks back at the ride through its inception and growth and gives the credit for its success to his formative years. Recalling his school days , he admits that, “Whosoever you are today is deep-rooted in your childhood. It is embedded in the values and experiences you gained from your peers, parents or teachers.”
Arora recalls that during school he was fascinated by the game of table tennis and wanted to join the school group for the sport, but he was always shooed away by the seniors. His father told him that if he wanted to play the game well, he should learn from the best. With strong conviction, he went on to learn from the school table tennis champion. He continued to practise the game with perseverance and gradually even beat the school champion, replacing him as the Number One.
Having shared this anecdote from his early years, Arora beautifully concludes, “Go play against the best. You might lose but your game will keep improving.”
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