In a world that is constantly changing, preparing for an uncertain future is essential. Human resources (HR) departments play a vital role in ensuring that organizations can cope with the pace of change. However, designing effective systems and processes to keep up with the ever-evolving landscape is not an easy task.
On March 3rd, a group of leading CHROs came together for an exclusive evening hosted with inFeedo - a people analytics and employee experiences platform. They talked about how important it is for companies to be agile in managing their people, especially in an ever-changing business landscape. The discussion revolved around the theme "Hyper-focusing on EX: Agile People Management in a Dynamic Macro-Economy", moderated by Sumit Mitra, Group HR, and Corporate Services, Godrej Industries Ltd and Tanmaya Jain, Founder & CEO, inFeedo, at The Lalit, Mumbai.
Here are a few highlights from the discussion:
As the business world continues to evolve at a rapid pace, HR and business leaders are increasingly questioning the effectiveness of traditional HR methods. With the playbook for work constantly changing, organizations are facing significant roadblocks when it comes to scaling up their operations.
- Designing agile teams: The leaders noted that designing teams that can adapt to frequent changes has become a top priority, with a focus on promoting organizational resilience and agility. However, one of the biggest challenges facing organizations today is establishing a culture that is in tune with change.
In this context, HR departments must explore the implications of these changes and highlight key strategies that HR and business leaders can use to foster a culture of agility and resilience within their organisations.
- Building diverse teams: As the demographics of workers change, reflecting the evolving mindset of customers, companies must also be able to adapt to these shifts in order to remain competitive.
Several leaders noted that there is no single formula for ensuring that specific initiatives will work, as there are numerous variables to consider. With the growing emphasis on diversity, providing employees with a range of choices has become increasingly important.
- Aligning employee goals with career path: Experts noted that as career paths continue to undergo significant transformations, and employees become more entrepreneurial, it has become essential to shift away from a strictly policy-based approach.
- Empowering managers: Another key area of focus is developing exceptional managers who truly understand the needs of their employees. By identifying the challenges that employees face in their personal and professional lives, manager effectiveness programs can empower them to perform better.
- Leading with a data-driven approach: To keep pace with the constantly changing business environment, HR leaders must consider the data points that will be most helpful in guiding their decisions. HR leaders need to gather input from a range of sources, including one-to-one meetings and town hall discussions, and validate the data they receive. This approach ensures that HR strategies are based on comprehensive and accurate insights. Interestingly, some companies have even gone so far as to track employee emojis as input.
- Prioritizing action: Simply gathering data is not enough. HR leaders must prioritize action and involve employees in the process. Rather than trying to tackle all issues at once, companies should focus on what is most important. As Tanmaya noted, "survey fatigue" is not the problem, but rather the lack of action in response to employee feedback. There are several other methods for tracking employee experience, including employee sentiment analysis, wellness dashboards, and analyzing triggers for positive or negative experiences.
In attendance at the roundtable discussion were distinguished HR leaders, including Sumit Mitra, Head- Group HR & Corporate Services of Godrej Industries Ltd. and Associate Companies, Vishwanath Joshi, CPO of Hexaware Technologies Ltd.; Raamann Ahuja, Group Chief Human Resources Officer of PDS Ltd.; Loly Vadassery, CHRO of Datamatics Business Solutions Ltd; Jolvin Rodrigues, Global HR Head/Co-Founder of LearningMate; Ramakrishna Vyamajala, CHRO of Home First Finance Company; Pekhna Suri, Vice President - HR of Virtusa Consulting Services Pvt. Ltd; Padmaja Bhagat, Director-Human Resources of CMS Info Systems; Aslam Ansari, CHRO of Blue Jet Healthcare Ltd; Mukul Oberoi, Head HR of Viacom18 Media Private Ltd.; Gaurav Shukla, Director- Human Resources South ASIA & ASEAN of Ferring Pharmaceuticals; Biplob Banerjee, CHRO of USV Private Ltd.; Babita Basak, Head HR of Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd; Rajesh Jain, Chief Human Resource Officer of Welspun Enterprises Ltd.; and Roma Bindroo, CHRO of Zepto.