After six years with Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL), Animesh Kumar has resigned as chief people officer. He announced his departure from ZEEL to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), and is gearing to pursue interests beyond the organisation. When he joined ZEE in 2018, he was tasked with transforming Zee into a dynamic workplace that could attract the best talent and enable innovative people practices. This was his first association with a media firm.
Kumar had moved to ZEEL from the Future Group—where he was chief people and transformation officer for a very short stint of only five months.
Prior to the Future Group, Kumar was head of IDFC Bank’s human resources division since 2009. He moved out of IDFC after NS Rajan joined as the CHRO and CMO. For a few months after that, he was on a sabbatical.
Backed by over 25 years of experience, a large part of his career has been spent with the leading banks of the country.
After passing out of XLRI in 1993, Kumar started his career with Marico. He worked with the FMCG company as HR manager for more than five years. His next destination was Thomas Cook, where he spent two years as HR manager.
In 2001, Kumar moved to the banking industry, when he joined Standard Chartered Bank as head of performance and rewards, and was with the bank for around three and a half years.
In May 2004, he joined Yes Bank as country head-HR, for a short stint of nine months. In April 2005, he began his association with ABN Amro Bank as VP-HR. Four years into this role, Kumar switched to IDFC Bank as group head-HR. There, he rose up the ranks to become head of HR and brand. He was also the CEO of IDFC Foundation.
Future Group was Kumar’s non-banking stint after 17 years. There, he successfully led transformations, future of work, future of retailing and design of a tech-augmented workplace.
Animesh Kumar also holds bachelor’s degree in economics from the Shri Ram College of Commerce.
