In another surprising move, Tata Group has appointed S Padmanabhan as the new group CHRO. As reported by TOI earlier, Tata Group’s former CHRO NS Rajan had resigned following Mistry’s exit as chairman of Tata Sons. 

Implementing internal communication strategies is a must for an organisation which is undergoing a series of turbulence with the exit of HR head and its chairman. Padmanabhan’s appointment at this point is definitely critical to uphold the global enterprise. This will definitely ease the anxieties among the employees with the ongoing discord in the organization following spat between Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry. 

Padmanabhan, who chairs the Tata Business Excellence Group or TBExG had spearheaded the overall business excellence of the group focusing on quality from the inception. Sources said Padmanabhan would continue to oversee TBExG as well which has a target of enabling at least 25 Tata companies. 

 Tata Group's former CHRO, NS Rajan, who was brought in three years back from EY, had expanded various HR policies within the organization. Under Dr Rajan, the group had announced 27 weeks maternity leave policy, six months paid adoption leave and 15 days paid paternity leave, in addition to other policies around diversity and inclusion. The organization is anticipating some fresh HR polices and initiatives from the new group CHRO following the path carved by Dr Rajan.

Padmanabhan brings with him great experience in the field of HR from the period he serves as HR director in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) along with many responsible roles such as Head of Software Delivery Centre, Country Head of Switzerland, and CEO of its joint venture with Singapore Airline. He has been with the Tata group for over 32 years, after starting his career with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), according to information from Tata Group's website. He was also Executive Director – Operations of Tata Power since 2008 and is responsible for the profitable and sustainable operations of all Tata Power’s thermal and hydro generation plants across India. 

He also brings in a wide array of international experience in project management, customer management and managing a diverse global workforce, and has worked on global assignments for over two decades. He also played a lead role during the TCS IPO and has represented TCS in several external forums.

 Padmanabhan is a Glaxo Marketing Scholar Medalist and a distinguished alumnus from IIM Bangalore.