After a long and successful tenure of over six years, Sameer Wadhawan, SVP & head-HR, Samsung Electronics is all set to bid adieu to the company. Thanking his leadership team in a social-media post, Wadhawan announced that he will retire from the services of the company tomorrow, 30 April. He joined the company in 2018.
In his corporate career of 37 years, Wadhawan worked with many renowned companies such as Coca-Cola, Nokia, Cadence Design Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Duracell and Ranbaxy. He had the opportunity to work across multiple industries and with global teams. These strong inclusive cultures and experiences, in turn, shaped his personality, values and beliefs.
He started his career with Hewlett-Packard as its GM-HR, in the year 1997. As the HR business partner for two vital business units in India, namely Printer & Imaging and Personal Systems, he managed a workforce of over 400 employees.
His primary focus was to ensure seamless HR services delivery to these units through collaboration with the HR central services team and functional experts. Acting as a consultant and facilitator, he also provided strategic and operational guidance to business leaders and managers, enabling them to navigate various challenges effectively.
After five years, in the year 2002, he moved to Cadence Design Systems as its director-HR, for the India region. In the year 2008, he moved to Nokia as its head-HR – services, for India/Global entities. In this capacity, Wadhawan’s key focus was on HR transformation to support business and change management to support business transformation.
In 2010, Wadhawan joined Coca Cola as its VP-HR & services, India & South West Asia. In this role, he led HR and services team for Coca Cola units in India and South West Asia, while also being a senior strategic business partner in the region. In the year 2017, he was elevated to the role of vice president-franchise capability building and business transformation for Coca-Cola India and South West Asia
Wadhawan passed out of XLRI in 1987. He has managed all aspects of HR — employee relations, recruitment and selection, talent development, as well as compensation and benefits — and that too, across industries including IT, telecom, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.
“I am filled with immense gratitude for this very enriching and rewarding journey. As I take some time off to plan my next steps, I wish each one of you all the very best,” he says in his post