Ankita Bagchi | Sr. HR Business Partner| Nestle India Ltd.

Ankita is an HR professional with nearly ten years of experience in Talent Management, Capability Building, Employee Wellness, Employee Relations, and Business Partnering.As a professional, she believes her five gallup strengths to be empathy, her orientation towards achievement, adaptability, responsibility and her ability. She was born and brought up in Chandigarh where she pursued Engineering in Information Technology from Punjab University. She completed her post graduation in HRM from MDI Gurgaon in 2012 and started her career with Tata Steel Ltd. in an IR role at Jamshedpur Steel Works. From there, she moved to Nestle where she has worked in diverse roles like Business Partnering for Nestle Nutrition Business and Centre of Expertise role in Talent Management. 

Ankita is also a go-getter, a passionate person who loves to work on challenging assignments which allows her to apply herself creatively. She strongly believes that it is an organization's culture which differentiates a great one from a good one and 'People' is one of the most important pillars that defines the culture. It was her interest in understanding human behavior and how it contributes to the "smell of the place" which pushed her to explore the field of HR. 

Agility, adaptability, empathy

Ankita has experience in diverse generalist and specialist roles across manufacturing and FMCG organizations. Right from handling Employee Relations for blue collar workers in a steel factory to driving the Talent agenda and Organisational Wellness for the region in Nestle, she brought forward a matured, holistic and employee centric outlook to people related challenges at work.It is her agility to learn and to adapt as per the context, coupled with an empathetic self  which differentiates her as an HR professional.

Adapting senior leadership to the new world of work: Key priority

Talent in any organisation is an element that has to be nurtured at all levels. Ankita wants to prioritise finding answers to how seniors leaders can adapt their leadership styles in the current virtual context which demands greater emotional intelligence as well as openness to digital transformation in order to build an organisation of the future. 

The one thing I will change in HR

Ankita believes that it is imperative for organisations to invest in their own capability building. With the workplace of the future already disrupting myths and opening up a world of opportunities to grow businesses, HR professionals will need to up-the-ante like never before to develop foresight as strategic partners.

The one thing I will retain in HR

The need to have ears and eyes on the ground to know the pulse of the organization is a critical HR asset. Ankita affirms that this will allow HR leaders to drive changes in policy, process, and practice based on what the "most important stakeholder: the employees" need. 

A strategic, futuristic leader who grasps current trends and stakeholder needs

According to Ankita, empathetic communication, entrepreneurial mindset, working with ambiguity and leading with trust and transparency are key characteristics of the leaders of the future. 

The year 2020 has 'forced' leaders and entire organizations to onboard themselves on the "fail fast and learn" journey like never before. This has brought to life, now itself what we had imagined to be the future in 2025 or even later. First and foremost, the leadership needs to accept the change that has come about in customer needs and employee needs. Leaders need to evolve their strategic plans based on new trends of AI & technology, purpose and meaning, new talent landscapes along with ethics and transparency.

The leadership journey with People Matters Are You In The List Awards 

“This prestigious and well established Awards provides a platform to budding HR professionals across industries to compete through grilling elimination stages & to showcase the differentiated work that they do. The work that I have been able to put forth professionally,  specifically in the space of employee engagement and wellness last year during the crisis had drawn recognition internally.But this one surely is a feather on my cap and one of my first professional recognitions among equals in the HR fraternity. I feel this Award will further propel my confidence to dream the career that I desire and to continue to stand up for what is right,” shares Ankita. 

Vision for HR’s future growth

The People Strategy of the future would need to be built on the pillars of change & innovation at its core, and must be aimed at personalized employee and customer experience, and developing agile leadership for an employee base as diverse as the end customers we service.