Are You In The List 2016 winner: Abhishek Budhraja

Abhishek describes himself as an inquisitive learner, a happy worker & a passionate sportsperson. With over 2 years of experience in the HR field, he has previously worked with P&G India in various roles including Supply Chain HR (Engineering) and Sales HR (South & West India). He is an avid sportsperson, and loves to debate.
Abhishek Budhraja – Associate Director, HR (Talent Management, OD &OE), Snapdeal
One thing you will:
Start in HR: Mandate data (quantitative/qualitative) as the cornerstone of every decision, every recommendation
Continue in HR: The healthy balance of the heart & the mind
Stop in HR: The diffused equity around what the function has to offer to an organisation
As an emerging HR leader, one thing which brings great pride to you:
To be able to design systems and processes which can hold their own with the leadership & eventually with the population.
Biggest flaw in the way organizations operate today, and how do you plan to fix that:
I don’t think organisations are (as) deliberate about “what” they want the smell of the place to be & hence most efforts don’t add up.
There needs to be enough debate around the “what”, followed by the “how”.
What makes the difference while you are in HR in a corporate set up:
In P&G, they teach a model called PIE, to all new hires, wherein the company tells you that to succeed in the world (P&G) you need Performance (first & foremost), Image & Exposure, all at once. The same applies to all jobs in most companies.
In 5 years, you see yourself as:
Still learning the tricks of the trade, possibly in a larger role
The Are You In The List Journey:
This has been an immensely rewarding and enriching process for me, teaching so many things along the way. Wish I had done it sooner.
FIRE SHOT QUESTIONS:
- As an emerging HR leader, what keeps you up at night: To be able to accurately catch the pulse of the organisation (Or teams/functions/ groups) every single time.
- Today’s HR in one line: Miles to go before anyone sleeps
- Your inspiration to be an HR professional: Been lucky to have had amazing managers who have always inspired (Both at P&G and Snapdeal)
- Qualities which differentiate you from other participants: No idea, see a lot of folks around who inspire me
- A stranger’s first impression of yours would be: Inquisitive talker
- Who or What are your biggest strengths: Family & Friends, Self-awareness may be my biggest strength
- One weakness you can do without: Doing too many things, all at once
- If we have to automate you and ask you to keep one human quality, what should that be: Ability to think
- Your Favourite book: Freedom at midnight, Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins
- Your Hobby: Sports (playing, sweating, following, debating, everything)
- One word that describes an HR professional: Chanakya
For the entire list of Are You in The List Awards 2016, please click here.
Here are the profiles of other winners (not based on ranking):
Here’s the list of India’s 15 future HR leaders:
- ANKITA PODDAR, HR Business Partner, Amazon
- APOORVA PRADHAN, Assistant Manager, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd
- MEGHA GUPTA, HR Business Partner, Sapient Corporation Ltd
- RAVI BAJPAI, Practice Lead Talent Acquisition, Infosys
- SALIL RAHEJA, Deputy General Manager, Essar Steel India Ltd
- SHAVETA ARYA, Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition, PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd.
- SHREYAS HARIDAS, HR Business Partner, Star India Pvt Ltd.
- SIDDHARTH BHASIN, HRBP, G&A Business, APAC Region, Google
- SOUMYA MALKANI, Deputy Manager – Organisation Development, Tata AIG General Insurance Company
- ADITYA ADYAR, Chief People Officer, Faasos
- NIYATI GOEL, Regional Rewards, AMEA (Asia Middle East & Africa), Mondelez International
- APEKSHA JAIN, Senior HR Business Partner, PepsiCo
- RAJESHWARI RAMACHANDRAN, HCM Consultant
- SNIGDHA SINGH CHAUDHURI, Sr. Manager, HRBP for Sales team, Cipla