Vibhooti Gupta | Talent Manager, Asia | Lenovo

HR is all about the people. Vibhooti Gupta, who heads talent management APAC at Lenovo, has truly walked the talk when it comes to following a people-first approach to HR throughout her career. A stereotypical curious cat, Gupta thrives on challenges that help hone her problem-solving abilities and explore new ideas. 

By understanding the specific needs and challenges of different functions, she facilitated the implementation of people-centric solutions that boosted performance, collaboration and employee engagement, leading to tangible business advancements. 

Focusing on harnessing the power of technology and data, she implemented new systems such as the social rewards platform and Yammer to enhance work engagement. Gupta also focused on cultural change initiatives, including introducing a forward-looking dress code policy that mirrored the company’s product branding. 

When it comes to L&D, Gupta played a pivotal role in designing, implementing, and facilitating training programs that focused on aligning employee knowledge and capabilities with the organisation's transformative vision. The focus on constantly upskilling the workforce resulted in them getting familiar with cutting-edge technologies such as AI and machine learning. Further, the introduction of gamification in learning has helped create a culture of continuous learning. 

She has also been working on designing skill-based talent initiatives to support the career aspirations of employees and helping business improve internal fill rates

Discovering HR and People Management

During her time as a software consultant, Gupta witnessed significant organisational changes due to an acquisition. While the acquisition had both positive and negative impact on the company's style of working, the transition period sparked her interest in people management. 

Battling the Challenges to Create Impact

Gupta, who completed her MBA from SIBM Pune, believes that the following are the biggest challenges facing HR today:

• Talent readiness for agile environments: Today, it is essential for organisations to not just retain employees, but also identify the skills that accelerate business success, invest in reskilling and upskilling and integrate this approach into everyday workflows. We are moving towards having skill assessments as a necessary input to training and talent management – which helps track strengths, gaps and progress at an individual, team, and organisation level.
  
  

• Data-driven HR practices: While many organisations invest in data-driven practices, there are untapped opportunities to help businesses take people decisions proactively, rather than just reactively. Gupta has been actively working towards linking learning to performance that helps identify readiness for next roles, and implementing metrics for robust succession planning.

• Personalisation of employee experiences: To be future-ready, HR programs should account for individual skill sets, career goals, work preferences, and personal circumstances, and this is both a challenge in implementing large scale change management initiatives towards personalisation, but a great opportunity. Gupta has focused on creating personalised learning journeys by leveraging AI, resulting in enhanced engagement, knowledge retention, and optimal resource utilisation.

• Grooming future leaders: Succession planning is a key focus area for business leaders, and HR must deploy initiatives to identify and equip future leaders for promotional opportunities. Apart from regular high potential development programs, Gupta also implemented entry level talent pipeline programs that yielded tangible benefits. 

Highlights from Are You In The List Award

"Participating in the People Matters Are You In The List Award powered by Aon was a fulfilling and rewarding experience. The well-designed assessment process covered various aspects, including personality, HR concepts, and a business mindset, reflecting real-world situations and promoting a business-first approach, managing ambiguity, and resilience,” she said, adding that interaction with industry CHROs and CEOs as part of the jury was the highlight. 

Vision for HR

Gupta’s vision for 2024 is for HR to become an enabler for business. She also hopes more and more HR leaders leverage data analytics and technology to help personalise employee experiences across the employee lifecycle, which can help create a thriving and inclusive workplace. 

To know what each of the winners have to say about HR, follow the #AreYouInTheList.