We have just completed the first quarter of the financial year 2019-20 and also stepped into the second quarter of this year with high hopes from the industry. The first quarter of the fiscal year 2019-20 witnessed some significant HR movements in this domain, and industry leaders from top to mid-level shifted their companies, some got elevated, and few of them got kicked up. In this piece, we highlight some of the significant movements which took place from April 2019 to June 2019.
April
- Madan Nagaldinne - Madan Nagaldinne joined Blink Health, the pharmacy app that makes prescription drugs available for everyone at a less expensive rate, as their Chief People Officer. Nagaldinne is known for successfully scaling up companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Compass. At Blink, he will be in-charge of appealing to top-tier talent, build an inspiring work culture and ensure that the company motivates the most innovative talent in the sector.
- Padmaja Alaganandan - PwC India announced the appointment of Padmaja Alaganandan as the firm’s new Chief People Officer -CPO. Padmaja takes over the role from Jagjit Singh who is moving on after a successful stint. Padmaja has been associated with PwC for over eight years and has worn multiple hats during the stint. Prior to her current appointment, Padmaja was the Technology sector lead for PwC’s Advisory Line of Service.
- Manu Wadhwa - Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has appointed Manu Wadhwa as Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) for the network. In her last assignment, Manu was associated with Coca-Cola, as the Head of Human Resources - India and South West Asia.
- Dr. Raju Mistry - Cipla has named Dr. Raju Mistry as President and Global Chief People Officer (GCPO) of Cipla. In her role at Cipla, Raju will oversee Human Resources, and Administration and Facilities Management. She will be a member of the Management Council of Cipla, and will report to Umang Vohra, Managing Director & Global Chief Executive Officer.
May-
- Shilpa Vaid- The Chief Human Resource Officer of fashion lifestyle brand Arvind Lifestyle stepped down after 3.5 years. Confirming the development to People Matters, she said that she had a great stint at Arvind and she is proud to have been part of the exciting phase of the Company’s journey leading up to the recent listing on the stock exchange.
- Ruchika Pal - Former Mercer leader joins Apollo Tyres as Group Head Corporate HR. Ruchika Pal who left Mercer last year in March has now joined Apollo Tyres, one of the leading tyre manufacturers in the world. Pal was part of Mercer for more than a decade and in her last role she was India Practice Leader, Global Mobility and TRS Product and Bangladesh IS Leader.
- Shaily Rampal- Shaily Rampal who was working with HCL India as Global Lead - Performance & Career COE, Enterprise HR has moved to a global role in HCL America. After working with HCL India for more than thirteen years, she has been elevated as Global HR Lead- Digital & Analytics Practice, HCL America.
- Paras Kaushik- HR veteran Paras Kaushik has been appointed as Head of Group Human Resources by Samvardhan Motherson Group (SMG). In his new role, he would be closely working with Vice-Chairman Laksh Vaaman Sehgal on the Group HR Agenda.
- Kavita Dasan - ABP News Network has appointed Kavita Dasan as its new HR Head. Prior to ABP, Dasan was working with DHFL as Vice-President, Human Resources. At DHFL, Dasan was responsible for the design, delivery, and execution of core HR programs and practices for workforce base of 10,000 plus spread across the country.
- Preeti Bose - Lupin Pharmaceuticals has named ex-Cipla executive Preeti Bose as the global head of talent management and leadership development. Prior to this, Preeti was working in another pharma company Cipla, as the global head of their leadership academy.
- Sonam Bakshi - Affle (India) Limited announced the appointment of Major Sonam Bakshi as the Chief Human Resource Officer to strengthen its management team. She will lead all aspects of human resources at Affle including talent acquisition & management, organizational development and effectiveness, learning and development, compensation and benefits, diversity, inclusion, and performance management.
- Lara Hernandez - Global Hospitality Company Hilton has announced the appointment of Lara Hernandez as senior vice president, human resources in Asia Pacific. Hernandez will be responsible for overseeing culture and talent development at Hilton from Hilton’s Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore.
- Siddarth Tyagi - Unicorn start-up OYO rooms have roped in Siddarth Tyagi as their new Director. He will be leading the Talent Acquisition for International markets. Before joining the hospitality chain, he was working with Publicis Sapient as Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition; he worked with the company for five years.
June-
- Gurucharan Singh Gandhi - Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail has named Gurucharan Singh Gandhi as the new HR Head for Lifestyle Brands. His appointment is effective from June.
Prior to this, Gurucharan was heading Learning and Development for the Aditya Birla Capital group for about three years. Before that, he held the position of Vice President-Learning and Development for Birla Sun Life insurance. - Sreekanth Arimanithaya - EY Global Delivery Services (GDS) has roped in Sreekanth Arimanithaya as the Global Talent Leader. Sreekanth will be responsible to drive a complete re-imagination of their Talent Function and how it partners with the business. He will be working closely with the GDS leadership team and the Global Talent organization.
- Joyita Poddar - Home design and renovation platform Livspace has appointed Joyita Poddar as its Chief Human Resources Officer. Joyita brings to the company over two decades of experience in human resources having worked at leading corporations like Sabre Corporation, eBay Inc., Star India Pvt Ltd, Piramal Enterprises and Saint Gobain.
- Sindu Aven - Home Town, which runs under the parent company of Future Group has elevated Sindu Aven as the new CHRO. In her new role in Home Town, she would be to leading the Human Resources and Administration functions and to enable the 3P continuum (People-Performance-Profitability). She will be reporting to the Managing Director, Viraj Ddwania.
- Sanjay Sinha - Sanjay Sinha has been appointed as the new Chief Human Resources Officer of Fortis Healthcare Ltd. Based in Gurgaon, Sinha will be in charge of leading the HR function for the hospitals’ giant at a group level.
- Anushree Singh - Dutch multinational, AkzoNobel has appointed Anushree Singh as Head of HR, India Sub-continent. Singh will report to Marieke Bos-van den Berg, Human Resources Director South Asia, and will be working closely with Rajiv Rajgopal, Managing Director of AkzoNobel India.
- Felicia Mayo- Former VP Human Resources and Head Diversity at Tesla moved on from the Palo Alto-based electric carmaker within 2 years of joining the organization. Felicia joined Tesla in 2017 after a 9-year stint at Juniper Networks as VP - Global Talent Acquisition and Diversity.
Note: We have tried to include all the essential movements among the senior HR leaders. If we have missed anyone, please let us know and we would be happy to add it to our list.