Leaders

Handling the ever-increasing workforce can be an uphill battle for any organization. HR function plays a vital role in business success and bringing efficiency in organization’s workforce. The areas in which HR maintains strength can enhance an employee's experience throughout their career journey and in turn help shape up the business. Rajeswari who is frequently called as Raji, serves as Head of People and Talent at ThemePro Technologies, a company that offers the next-generation cloud-based SaaS platform, a comprehensive technology suite for SME lending, supply chain finance and home finance. Raji’s human resource team takes charge of the organization's employees, creating a productive atmosphere where people feel appreciated and motivated to give their best work while building their own career path. Having transitioned from sales and operations background to a HR, Raji has been driving to build a harmonious employee-first work environment.

Raji engages with us for a one-on-one interaction with the Women Entrepreneur Magazine.

Take us through your early educational journey and the prior industry experience you bring to the table. How does your diverse experience help you in your current role?

I did my schooling at AMM Matriculation, Chennai where I was imbued with the values of equality, belief, and the sense to question everything. I completed graduation in Corporate Secretaryship from Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College of Women, Chennai, and a PGD from Indira Gandhi University. I don't have a fancy degree from a top university, but my college years gave me the freedom of knowledge and taught me to become an independent woman. I come from a humble middle-class family and had to start working soon after my graduation. I took a front desk job and there I discovered I had a flair for interpersonal communication and soon landed a job in a services company, working for UK b2b clients. Post that, I worked in banking industry and learnt that it did not fulfill me for long term. One thing led to another, and I found a role as a headhunting consultant with Antal International that suited my aspirations and helped building my foundation in HR.

Later I worked as a HR business Partner with Intellect Design Arena for most of my HR life which was a massive learning for me. Being born & raised in Chennai, I was able to understand the local ethos combined with my varied work profiles gave me exposure to multi-cultural dimension. Be it any role, I think we all sell something, it can be values, thoughts, ideas or opinions. My experience in these diverse domains have given me the learnings I needed during the time and has built the person that I am today. I'm fortunate to have been given the space and opportunity to learn and grow throughout my career. For which I’m grateful who took a chance on me and trusted at times even when I had zero experience in certain subjects related to HR.

What are your primary focus areas as the Head of People & Talent at ThemePro Technologies? Tell us about the different responsibilities you shoulder in your current role.

My focus is to enhance the working experience for my people and empower them in their roles. I'm working towards building a strong people focused organization by developing skills and capabilities for my teams, a robust task force and elevating the processes. I head both Talent Acquisition and HR Business Partner for ThemePro, which has been a high learning curve. It is important for me that the HR function is an enabler, and every HR personnel should understand their businesses, have people centricity, be empathetic and be sensitive to employees' confidentiality.

What are some of the most pressing challenges you encounter in your current role? How do you successfully mitigate these challenges?

For a growing organization like ours, being people focused at all times, plays an important role when the business tries to keep up with the changing times and new age technologies. One must keep learning as the lessons never stop, and my current role has thrown many curveballs at me, which keeps me on my toes searching for alternatives, being proactive and adaptable to changes. Understanding what works and what doesn't and talking to people in person, helps me better understand the organization's pulse.

How do you foresee the Indian Human Resource landscape evolving? What trends do you see developing in the industry in the near future?

The last few years have altered the perception of HR and expanded roles for a HR. Given the changing times, HR personnel must widen their horizons and dive into various dimensions of business as their role becomes integral in business and no longer functions in a silo. Now that the Covid situation has become more controlled, it will become essential to balance business and employees' needs. With bringing the people and business closer and maintaining a healthy work environment while remaining cost-conscious, every HR personnel has their own work cut out for them. Business should remember that employees comes first and they should feel that they are taken care of, by creating sense of value or belongingness.

“There are two kinds of People, those who work Hard and those who work Smart. Smart work takes Break, but hard work Doesn't. What we do represents us, Not our excuses”

Drawing from your experience as a business leader, what would your advice be to young women and girls who aspire to become business leaders and entrepreneurs in the future?

I do aspire to become a business leader someday and I’m enjoying my journey towards that. I believe that there is learning in everything you do, and the day you feel you are not learning is when you have to introspect. My two cents to all the young girls and women would be to remain fearless, work hard and follow your heart.

Rajeswari Uthirapathy, Head Of People And Talent, Themepro Technologies

Raji has over 16 years of mulicultural experience in HR, employee development, performance management, talent hiring and client relations. She expertises in HR operations, business partnering and performance management.

Quick Facts:

A business leader you admire: Padmini Sharathkumar, CHRO of Intellect Design Arena. She has been a great source of inspiration for me as a human being and as a leader.