Q1. If you had the opportunity to have a conversation with any influential leader, past or present, who would it be and why?
A. My choice would be Narendra Modi.
One of the things that I totally appreciate is- when you are leading the largest democracy of the world and leading a country of 1.4 billion people, he has been able to drive certain massive projects not only for the country but for the world.
I think doing that itself is a big thing and has also brought in a lot of behavioral changes.
In the citizens, be it Swachh Bharat or when we went on a lockdown, there was complete discipline, so and so forth.
So, I would like to have a conversation with him and would like to know how he thinks about the economic policies and the development initiatives that he has thought about and has put the country at the pedestal, his extremely impressive foreign policies and international relations. Creating those policies and spending time in building diplomatic relationships for putting India in the world map has made him a highly influential leader. That’s incredible.
He has also done a fantastic job in digital transformation and technology initiative. I think that is also very forward-looking in the times that we live. There is a lot to learn from him. So, I think probably he will be the one leader I would like to interact with and know more about how to do it, how to think about it and how to make it happen, the execution also.
Q2. How have you evolved as an HR professional in this dynamic field? We’d love to know, what one unconventional HR practice or initiative you have implemented that yielded surprisingly positive results?
A. While there are many, but if I would like to pick a very different and unique thing that we did to the RenewBuy. RenewBuy is the industry tech player, and also has a large sales force.
While many organizations and even the large insurance companies, who are part of our ecosystem, have many rewards for managers. The senior management and all kinds of bonus incentives, L tips, Esops are typically reserved for people at the senior level.
We thought about people who really bring the bacon and there’s a large workforce on who’s potential and performance the entire organization depends. We thought about creating the first-of-its-kind amazing electric program for these frontline salespeople.
I’ve never heard it in any other organization, and we thought it had great potential and we translated their efforts not only on the top line but on the contribution, they actually make to create impact on lot of startups you all work towards contribution to profitability part of it.
So, we kind of married their performance with the contribution and we connected these rewards with the contribution and when we said the more you, you are doing. We will create a program and we will ensure that you retire rich from RenewBuy and there is an amount that keeps getting credited to them as a long-term incentive basis.
The performance and the rewards continue to be earned.
So, there are various stages of the performance. We ensure that every year they are able to earn something, and the corpus gets created for them.
That’s the program that we created for our frontline, and I think that’s from that people want to work for it for more tenure that helps us retain and engage our high-performance workforce they have. We have seen a significant improvement in the performance levels in the past.
Q3. In this rapidly changing world landscape, how can organizations cultivate a culture of engagement that ignites a sense of purpose and empowers the employees to actively contribute to shaping the company’s future?
A. I think engagement is a very deep concept and it needs to be done at multiple levels and needs to be done continuously.
So, to be able to create a culture of engagement, that has to be torn from the top and everybody needs to walk the talk.
It is extremely important that we as leaders are able to define a very compelling vision and the purpose for people because while the monetary aspects every organization can compete and match and exceed.
The larger vision and the purpose which connects lot of people across the level, not just at a particular level and above, but I think it’s across the level.
It’s very important that we highlight how individuals are vital to us in achieving our vision and purpose and then they understand what their role is in the bigger picture and how they’re impacting the company’s future.
So that’s number one when you.
Create vision- it’s very important that while you’re talking, you’re also listening.
Creating open communication is extremely fundamental to building a culture of engagement because the most powerful form of communication is actually listening. So, we need to listen to our people all the time, be it in person or through digital platforms.
It’s important that an organization allows and provides that conducive work environment where employees are freely able to express their ideas and even concerns and suggestions freely without feeling any burden.
They should feel heard and acknowledged.
Another thing that can be done in this area is to empower our employees.
When you trust your employers, when you give them not only responsibility but also authority, then magic happens. It’s very important that you trust your people and give them the opportunity to solve problems, make decisions, and even if they fail.
We should allow those things for them to make those professional judgments and learn from those experiences.
When you start getting into micromanagement and too much then they feel that they’re not being trusted and there is a likelihood they will not deliver the best. But the moment when responsibility and authority is also given, they’re far more engaged at work and engagement with their team members is also heightened.
Engagement for me is also about investing in employees’ own professional journey through learnings and interventions. So, it’s not always what we want from employees. But, to achieve this goal, I think the organization is also responsible to invest in their people and with a genuine interest. It’s not about if I do this, what will I get in return.
I think when you invest in people, they’re like plants, the more you take care of them, the more they will pay for fruit and glass for us and ultimately going to help the organization.
The only important aspect of creating a culture of engagement is also we should work tirelessly to remove silo thinking. And we need to encourage collaboration and teamwork. Lot of times I’ve seen great high performing teams, but beyond the point they’re not able to scale it.
Beyond the point they’re not able to deliver as many results because there is a disengagement at an overall organsation level. So, cross functional collaborations are extremely important for people to feel connected to the organization and deliver optimum results.
To create an engaging environment or a culture, it is extremely important that ideas are shared, people are encouraged to contribute to their decision-making, and different walks of people should come together- More diversity, more inclusion.
It’s just multifold the overall impact in the engagement. And we leaders have a very important responsibility to lead by example. s. So, whatever we say, we actually embody those things. So those values, those behavior need to be demonstrated by us. That’s extremely important.
And ultimately, whatever we do for creating engagement or enhancing engagement or creating a culture of engagement, I think it’s important that we continuously measure and seek feedback and work towards improvement. I think whatever gets man measured gets managed.
So, there should be a continuous feedback mechanism to keep listening to the people, what their feelings are, what are the impacts of the initiatives that we are taking and continuously work on improving those things.
I think these are some of the things that can be done because it’s a cultural aspect. It’s not one thing that once you do it stick, and it will stay forever. It’s all about being committed to it, ensuring there is consistency and also ensuring that it’s being adapted well in the organization.
So once there is momentum, there is consistency. That’s when culture gets built.
And in every process, in every communication, when you emphasize all these things, that’s when it kind of sets like a strong foundation. And whenever even new people come in, they can quickly adapt to the organisation’s culture.
Q4. As organizations navigate VUCA world, VUCA essentially stands for volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. What visionary strategies can HR leaders employ to anticipate future talent and with the strategic vision of the organization?
A. I was recently reading a report by DDR that says that one of the highest priorities for companies around the world is to attract and retain talent.
I would definitely second that in this VUCA world, as HR leaders we have to be always proactive and always be forward thinking we should be agile, and we should be anticipating the future needs.
Being the worker’s world, it’s extremely important that we develop strategic workforce planning because the needs of the business, the micro and the macro environment change very fast.
In the last three years, it has been a massive change in the economic environment within the country, outside the country. So, how do we plan our workforce, which is future ready, which means the business objective and also at the same time it is which the size is at the optimum level, which delivers the result for the organization and doesn’t burden it also.
VUCA world also requires us to have a lot of insights and insights come from data. I think data helps us make better decisions. So as HR, we should embrace data-driven decision making.
We should leverage data analytics. We should look at the latest trends and what’s happening in the market. What are the new skills that will be required? What can be used for the organization? I think looking at and anticipating the data is extremely important.
Once you have people, you must nurture your pipeline because you will not always find the talent in time. So, identifying high potential people, ensuring that they are continuously nurtured and made ready for the future.
Proactively identifying high pods and developing them to groom them for leadership, future leadership rules, I think it’s extremely important as another strategy, initiative again another one could be having more agile strategies towards the talent.
When I say that, it means that we should not get fixated by only a type of person to be hired or to be working again, giving examples and learning from the past ow organizations and even the workforce has evolved. It is all about full-time employees only from the office.
So, all that has changed. Now we have so many gig workers, we have freelancers, we have remote working and all of that. Organization needs to be agile to embrace all these talents and leverage them for the good of the organization.
Another thing that I feel for meeting the challenges of uncertainty it is also about creating and fostering a culture of innovation within the organization and as HR leaders, I think we have to enable the organization where innovation is harbor, and we need to ensure that there are systems and processes available where cross-function teams can come.
There can be some maybe incubators programs or which allow teams to collaborate, experiment and generate new ideas. There are some other things that we have been doing at RenewBuy also and that that is something I think it’s extremely important for us to manage the different challenges that are in the environment, keeping in mind the different economic situations we go through.
So, these are some of the things that I think as HR leaders or HR professionals we can do to manage the uncertainties.
Q5. How can HR heads and CHROs strike a balance between how much they leverage these technologies and how to be able to preserve the human touch and employee experience so that there is a blend of empathy within the organization?
A. I think technology is our best friend these days. We should definitely embrace it and use it for our advantage. But I always say that while a lot of AI can come, even to drive AI humans will be required.
So, the value of human or human capital beings is never diminished by inventing or furthering new advancements in the area of technology. They are only going to help us and support us.
Specifically talking about the HR automation, I feel as HR heads or people offices we should use it to our advantage where the technology takes the mundane job and the time and effort of HR professionals or people, professionals in the people’s department so that their core strength of people connect.
The empathy that you spoke about can be totally leveraged. It’s important that the human connection remains, people don’t like to talk only to the machine. They want human interface; they want human connection and that can only come through people and not through machines.
Machines can handle. They can do all the Q&A, FAQs, all of that and they can help solve issues quickly. But when they are, they want to be heard. When they want to express themselves, they need someone in flesh and blood to do that. That’s where the role of HR will continue to be extremely important because no matter so much automation and technology advancement is happening, people are not actually meeting as often as they would like to.
There is natural need for humans to be we are called as social animals. There is a reason why we are called we need social connections and that can happen only to another person. So, I think we should leave rich HR technology to ensure that the HR professionals are using their time with the core strength of human understanding, empathy and solving issues.
Technology should take away all the hard work and make it smoother organization, for the people.
Q6. Is there a book that has really had a lasting impact on your leadership journey and has influenced your perspective on the role of the HR function in organizations?
A. I’m actually a needed reader and I like to read only nonfictional books and there are many books which have made an impact on me, but one of the most impactful and actually it is also not recent, but yeah, in the recent past that I have read. It is Grit by Angela Duckworth.
And it’s amazing to learn about, you say this person has so much grit and actually it is all about the qualities in the mindset needed to cultivate passion, perseverance and achievement. And this is something that can be developed.
It’s not something you’re born with and it’s something that you can build it. So that’s an interesting book. It talks about the importance of practice, effort, and resilience. It also talks about your growth mindset. So, some of these things we always adore professionals or that said the tennis player or some Michael Phillips of the swing champion or Usain Bolt.
But what we do not showcase so much is how much hard work, how much practice that each person has devoted and has read this.
I was reading about Michael Phillips, and he said for so many years he was just swimming day in and day out without taking a break. He was swimming on Christmas, he was swimming on his birthday on New Years and there was number break at all. And that’s what grit is. It is not something that one day you’ll just have it and you’ll be successful.
It’s a combination of passion and perseverance once you’re focusing on your long-term goal. It is all about the sustenance of that focused effort that is required.
This book also taught me about how it just goes beyond just talent and intelligence. It’s not only about how many marks you’ve got as a as a student or how intelligent your IQ score. It goes beyond because it is all about ultimately, how resilient you are, how much practice you are putting in and effort in practice is the most crucial thing for skill development.
It has influenced me in my role also where sometimes you feel do I know this, maybe not. But at the same time do I have the passion, and do I have the commitment to learn?
So, it fuels the growth mindset, and it tells that you can embrace challenge and you can persist through setbacks and see failures as your opportunities for growth. I think that’s something which is incredible and that I have also imbibed in my own journey.
Not every day is a great day, not every milestone. What it looks from the outside is, is any has been an easy one. It has involved a lot of hard work, a lot of perseverance and a lot of passion.
I think this is one book which has remained close to my heart, and I have really learned from it, and I tried to invite things from it.
Closing Note
Sulbha Rai’s invaluable insights and illuminating perspective on the strategic mindset of CHROs has been a pleasure to have, and her expertise and vision will serve as an inspiration to a lot of people out there including the ones who are trying to build their career or just starting off in the HR function.
We want to express our heartfelt appreciation to each one of you.
Thank you for reading and embarking on this journey with us as we uncover the secrets behind shaping modern workplaces.