Aparna is a versatile and seasoned HR leader with over two decades of experience in helping Fortune 500 companies and startups across various growth stages. Having worked with organizations such as BPCL, Standard Chartered Bank, Reliance Capital, and MSD Pharmaceuticals, she brings to the table diverse experience from industries such as pharmaceutical, FMCG, financial services, and oil & gas.
In a recent conversation with the Women Entrepreneurs Review Magazine, Aparna talks about today’s competitive business landscape drawing from her experience as an HR leader focusing on navigating change management efficiently. She also sheds light on creative communication or engagement tactics, as an HR leader. Here are choice excerpts from the conversation.
Innovation is a key driver of growth in today's competitive business landscape. In your opinion how can leaders foster a culture of innovation within the HR function and across the organization?
Innovation is an essential business imperative and a key company value, crucial for ongoing success and differentiation in a crowded marketplace. The importance of innovation varies by industry; for example, industries like IT or product-driven sectors demand higher levels of innovation compared to others. However, innovation remains vital for survival in today's disruptive times. HR leaders can foster innovation by deeply understanding the business and the role innovation plays in achieving business goals. By understanding how the business functions and the significance of innovation, HR teams can offer creative solutions for business growth. For instance, in a sales-driven organization, HR team members could engage in fieldwork with salespeople to understand their challenges. This hands-on experience provides insights into both the human and business aspects, allowing HR to develop innovative solutions. An example is introducing a "hydration allowance" to support sales staff working in high temperatures, a practical response to the challenges posed by global warming.
Furthermore, HR leaders should encourage their teams to be innovative in both their routine and strategic work. This encouragement should encompass both incremental and exponential innovations, fostering a culture of creativity and continuous improvement within the organization. Consider how you can accelerate processes and implement small changes in daily HR business partnering through technology to enhance employee connections. These are the kinds of improvements to focus on.
Additionally, driving innovation throughout the company requires a programmatic approach led by HR with support from top management, aligned with business goals. This approach can include focused information sessions, training programs, and assessments related to the type of innovation the company seeks to foster. These initiatives ensure that innovation permeates the organization, highlighting HR's crucial role in emphasizing the importance of innovation in today's competitive business landscape.
Change management is often a critical aspect of driving successful transformations. Can you elaborate on the best approach to change management and how it has effectively led employees through complex organizational changes?
I would like to begin with a backdrop that may seem contrary to your question. Change is a complex process, and as human beings, we are wired to follow routines. For example, we have specific routes for our daily commute to work or school. If someone asks us to take a different route or method, our initial reaction is often resistance, even if the change could potentially be beneficial. This resistance to change is extrapolated at an organizational level, whether the change is small or significant. However, change is inevitable, and we must embrace it to survive. Regarding which approach would be successful, there are many change management frameworks and tools available. The choice of framework depends on the specific business context, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Some of the well-known frameworks include the seven-step Kotter change management process and William Bridges' model etc. In my experience, using a combination of frameworks can be effective.
For example, at MSD Pharma, where I worked previously, we used multiple frameworks during the merger with Schering-Plough and Organon. This merger was a significant change for everyone involved. We deployed William Bridges' three-stage change process to prepare people emotionally for the change. This involved organization-wide training to address the emotional stages of change: denial, resistance, and acceptance. Based on this training, we developed an elaborate organizational development and change management plan that incorporated various ideas aligned with the framework. This amalgamation of several frameworks and ideas helped us navigate the complex process of organizational change. Eventually, they reach the acceptance stage, where the change becomes part of their organizational culture. Through training programs, we identified key pain points such as high attrition in frontline jobs, the need to grow revenue for the newly launched entity, leadership development, and the necessity of building a succession pipeline. Additionally, we needed to develop first-time managers. Using these insights, we created a plan centered around four pillars: reducing attrition, growing revenue, developing leaders, and training first-time managers. For each pillar, we outlined initiatives, set timelines, allocated resources, and identified key individuals to lead the efforts. This plan was then tracked and monitored.
In summary, effective change management begins with understanding the business goals and the context for change. HR plays a crucial role in balancing business objectives with the needs of the people. Collecting data on the change process helps refine the approach. Securing a business sponsor, typically a top leader, ensures credibility and shared responsibility. A team-based approach, involving key stakeholders and an implementation team, is essential. This structured yet flexible approach, often involving multiple frameworks, has proven successful in my experience. Large-scale global changes are even more complex, but the approach I've outlined has proven effective in managing both the practical and emotional aspects of change. Change can lead to various challenges, including fear, hopelessness, and despair, especially when it involves downsizing or rightsizing. To address these issues, it's crucial to have the right mechanisms and solutions in place, such as employee counseling, outplacement services, and fair severance packages. These measures, both monetary and non-monetary, help manage the difficult aspects of change and support employees through the transition.
As an HR leader, how do you ensure that employees are actively engaged and receptive to change initiatives? Can you describe a creative communication or engagement tactic you have used to inspire employees and build excitement around organizational transformations?
In one of my previous organizations, Raymond Consumer Care, we had to launch the organization and prepare a three-year plan co-created with the CEO and Board. We aimed to make it a frontline-friendly organization and become the best new-age FMCG company, driven by pillars like people, profits, processes, and digital. We created an engaging version of the strategic plan that was easy for everyone to understand, including frontline workers. We trained our HR team and people managers, who then traveled across the country to share the plan through byte-sized information sessions, followed by fun quizzes and awards. We also held virtual quizzes for remote employees. This approach created excitement around the change and was a grand success. We achieved our targets, and employee engagement increased significantly, as shown by our engagement surveys. Attrition rates also dropped.
Another effective approach I've used involves preparing an engagement calendar based on learning and fun. This calendar includes various activities, both serious and fun, with rewards integrated into the design. The HR team or people managers roll out the initiatives, with communication and public recognition of achievements. This creates excitement and high energy around any change initiative. This approach has consistently worked well.
With the increasing focus on employee development and upskilling, what innovative approaches have you taken to nurture a learning culture within organizations you have worked with?
It is really important to nurture and create a learning organization or culture. Someone once told me that if you don't learn yourself, someone will teach you how to learn, and that teaching might not be very pleasant. I remember that point. To explain my approach to nurturing a culture of learning within companies, one commonly used method is the 70-20-10 model. According to this model, 70% of learning happens on the job, 20% through relationships like mentoring and coaching, and 10% through formal learning such as classroom training or online courses. Of course, the percentages may vary, but this approach has been consistently used for several years. The process begins by identifying the learning needs of both the individual and the organization. We do this through various methods, such as learning surveys, strategy meetings where we brainstorm on business goals and future capabilities needed, and informal chats with business leaders and employees. Based on these data sources, we identify the learning needs.
Additionally, we conduct individual development discussions, which can be either mandated for all employees or focused on high-potential individuals or high performers. This helps us identify learning needs and implement a learning action plan based on the 70-20-10 model.
For instance, to elevate a high-performing sales manager, we might start by assessing him through a psychometric test. This assessment, along with managerial input and other observations, reveals that while he excels in performance and team management, he could improve his strategic thinking and analytical skills. We document these findings and identify one or two key development areas to focus on at a time. We then assign learning actions using the 70-20-10 format: 70% Learning on the Job: Assign a strategic initiative or project to enhance his strategic thinking; 20% Mentorship: His boss or a senior leader in the organization could mentor him through focused sessions; and 10% Formal Education: Enroll him in a relevant program, such as a Udemy course or a company-provided training.
Over time, with sincere effort, these development activities can lead to significant improvement. It’s important to embed this approach into the organization’s systems and processes to foster a learning culture. This involves incorporating development goals into performance goals; mandating managers to discuss and ensure the implementation of development actions; and measuring outcomes, such as promotions and participation in programs. HR acts as a facilitator by creating frameworks, providing tools, and offering resources, while people managers are trained to lead and support their teams’ development. This structured approach helps cultivate a sustainable learning culture within the organization. About innovative approaches, I'd like to emphasize that long, intensive programs are becoming less relevant in today's age of on-the-go learning. Our innovative methods include byte-sized learning: Utilizing mobile apps for short, impactful learning sessions; discussion forums: creating platforms where groups can discuss specific topics; and blended learning: combining online and offline methods, including both long and short-duration programs. This mixed approach ensures a versatile and engaging learning experience, fostering a robust learning culture within the organization.
Diversity and inclusion are becoming increasingly important in today's workplace. How can HR leaders ensure that HR practices and policies foster an inclusive environment where diversity is valued and celebrated?
The need for diversity and inclusion must stem from the business vision and requirements; it cannot be a standalone HR or CSR activity. For it to be effective, it must be linked to business objectives. For example, at MSD, where I had the privilege of initiating a gender-focused diversity movement, I discussed the rationale for this initiative with the business leader. We identified three key reasons for focusing on gender diversity. First, as a company in the healthcare sector, specifically involved in women's health and gynecological products, it was essential to have gender-focused diversity. Second, since many of our existing customers, including doctors, were women, having female representatives to interact with these doctors made sense. Third, we recognized that more than 50% of medical college students are women, who will be our future customers, as doctors are considered customers in the pharmaceutical industry. This realization reinforced our belief that having women in our workforce, including in senior positions, was crucial. We established that our diversity and inclusion efforts needed to be driven by the needs of business. Once we had a strong rationale, we created a comprehensive roadmap for our diversity and inclusion strategy, which included defining objectives such as the percentage of women to hire and the types of roles they would fill. We also focused on creating a supportive ecosystem through appropriate practices and policies and ensuring the effective implementation of these practices to support retention and development.
This approach was applied not only at MSD but also at my subsequent company, Raymond Conglomerate. My work extended beyond gender diversity to include other forms of diversity, such as creating inclusive environments for differently-abled individuals and developing strategies for Millennials worldwide. In my experience, diversity is about creating a structure, while inclusion is a feeling that must be nurtured through consistent management vision, policies, and practices. This feeling of inclusion is essential, whether one is working in the office, the field, or from home. Building a strong sense of inclusion lays the foundation for a successful and sustainable diversity strategy that the organization can actively implement and live by daily.
In your vast experience as a CHRO, what unique strategies have you implemented to align HR initiatives with the overall business strategy and drive transformational change?
At Raymond Consumer Care (now part of Godrej Consumer Care) we developed an HR transformation plan aligned with the business strategy. Our focus was on people-centricity and process improvement through digital means. For people-centricity, we concentrated on development, culture, and process improvement. We set clear objectives for each pillar, defined initiatives, and established metrics and tracking mechanisms reviewed bi-monthly by top management and the board. Over 14-15 months, this approach reduced attrition exponentially improved engagement scores from the lower quartile to top-tier levels according to an external survey, and enhanced our employer value proposition. As a result, we attracted relevant talent and also registered the highest growth in five years, demonstrating the effectiveness of our HR transformation plan in driving business growth.
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