Malavika Sahoo | Senior Manager | Flipkart

Data driven as well as empathetic, Malavika strongly believes in the power of influence to make exciting things happen. She is passionate about challenging problems and the uncertainty that come with them.

Detail oriented & pragmatic, she loves taking up problems that are complex and have to be solved at scale.

“Deep understanding of business has helped me both identify barriers to the organization success as well as build people strategy that can help achieve the company objectives,” says Malavika Sahoo, Senior Manager, Flipkart.

She adds that she is flexible and adaptive that has helped me thrive in an extremely dynamic environment. She believes that it is extremely important that there is purpose that is driving her and even more important that she is socially responsible and gives back to society – be it in terms of knowledge, experience or time.

Talent is what differentiates a good company from great

What made Malavika enter the field of HR is her belief that talent or people is what differentiates a good company from great and also the extent of its success. She took up human resources to help organizations achieve that success and be a part of carving out that journey by hiring, engaging and retaining great talent.

She has made a conscious attempt to develop deep business acumen in order to take better people decisions and design the right people priorities for the organization. Another unique attribute is audacity - both in taking up the most difficult problems as well as challenging the status-quo.

Key talent priority: Diversity and Inclusion

Malavika believes that the biggest talent priority today is Diversity & Inclusion and we are far from solving that problem.

Let’s read how Malavika plans to take her passion to create value forward and does her vision for HR’s growth in the future entail.

The one thing I will change in HR

I would like us as HR to be as agile in adaptive to changes in technology and digitization as the business functions are. If we are able to apply and use technology in our processes, I feel there is a lot of paradigm shift that we will be able to make in the org success.

The one thing I will retain in HR

Our focus on talent is something I would like to retain. To continue to build people practices and take decisions from a talent management perspective helps in an efficient and engaged workforce.

Vision for HR's future growth

Malavika has a two-fold vision  or HR:

• Expanding Focus: From just thinking about employee performance and engagement we need to start focusing on a balanced employee experience 
• Greater Agility: We are already seeing new trends and technologies shaping the future world of work, and we need to start putting these into practice now. The future may not be wholly predictable, but by assessing the current challenges and looking at the emerging trends, we can make sure that our businesses and employees are prepared and ready to seize what the future world of work holds