From shaping business growth to future readiness: CHRO as the new strategic powerhouse | Mint

Organisations today must continuously adapt to thrive in a fast-changing world. As highlighted in Deloitte’s 2023 Global Human Capital Trends Report, companies are facing increasing disruption, with 87% of executives reporting they experience frequent and unpredictable changes to their businesses.

Confronted with this disruptive market landscape that is increasingly marked by shorter and more volatile growth cycles, it’s no surprise that the role of the CHRO (Chief Human Resources Officer) is being rewritten for the era of continuous change. With an emphasis on both sustained business growth and future-readiness, HR leaders are expected to get the right people in the right roles for the next market cycle and be in-charge of the larger organisational transformation.

To dive deeper into how CHROs are paving the way for their organisations’ success, Mint, in partnership with Deloitte, brings you the CHRO Vantage Series, drawing critical learnings from conversations with the top CHROs across India. In this edition, we unlock four key action steps to thrive in the future of work.

Know your business in and out

People strategies must be an extension of and add value to the business strategy. As a key player in guiding the organisation through dramatic shifts and upheavals, understanding the business you are in is critical to the CHRO’s success. While the CEO is still leading the process of reinventing the business model, organisations have understood that the CHRO’s capabilities are even more fundamental to long-term growth than access to funding.

No longer limited to compliance and employee management, CHROs are recognised as strategic business partners. Today’s CHROs, therefore, have a strong say in the organisations’ business models, growth strategies and how to influence customer experience.

“Raymond is a conglomerate of 3 businesses, and as its CHRO, I’ve been immersing myself across these domains. From ensuring the organisation becomes more customer-centric, improving time to delivery by consolidating supply chains to strategising the production of more affordable products in response to market competition, I’ve been partnering with business heads in these areas. I’m also working with them as well as the Chairman on building a strong leadership pipeline and enabling a high-performance culture to meet business targets. Since Covid-19, I’ve been part of the business front and was even a member of the Strategic Task Force back then running the business to some extent, and gaining a deeper understanding,” says K A Narayan, President-HR, Raymond Ltd.

“Our key business priorities have been driving industry-leading growth and building our presence in emerging technologies, which required a strong talent pipeline and an engaged workforce. To achieve this, we strengthened our employer brand, improved employee engagement, and focused on talent acquisition and skill management. We built a dedicated TA team for emerging technologies and upskilled employees through initiatives like TechVarsity for technical training and Leaderbridge for leadership development. Additionally, we increased fresher intake, supported by a robust training engine, and implemented an AI-based chatbot to gather continuous employee feedback. These efforts have been essential in achieving our strategic goals,” says  Pawan Bhageria, President Global HR, IT, Admin & Education, Tata Technologies

Talent strategy is your growth engine

Strengthening and future-proofing business models calls for robust capability-building exercises. Over 80% of surveyed leaders in Deloitte’s 2024 Human Capital Trends report stated that reskilling and upskilling are central to preparing their organisations for future disruptions.

“Tata Motors has transformed into a learning organisation, focusing on key areas like CESS and Industry 4.0. About 50% of its workforce is already certified in these areas, with a target to reach 100%. Over 15,000 employees are part of the Kaushalya programme, earning diplomas in manufacturing technology, while more experienced operators pursue diplomas in electrical engineering. Additionally, 300 employees are enrolled in MTech programs in EV technology, AI, and ML. The company is also fostering expertise in customer excellence, EV, and ESG, with 600 employees participating in these learning initiatives. On-site ITI-like institutes at Tata Motors’ facilities also support workforce development through specialised training in core technologies like mechatronics,” says Sitaram Kandi, CHRO, Tata Motors.

CHROs undoubtedly must play a critical role in building and strengthening a learning organisation that can adapt to changing skill demands. This also calls for reimagining the hiring model as one that embraces growing productivity, internal mobility, and most importantly, future readiness. More than filling in vacancies, the larger picture should be about championing growth and skills agility.

“One of our priorities is to strengthen agile organisational structures that promote rapid decision-making and empower teams to respond to technological disruptions and market changes. To ensure this, we have championed a continuous learning environment offering opportunities to employees to build on their skills with an internal learning platform as well as a reverse mentoring programme, where GenZs mentor employees on technology capabilities. Simultaneously, we are trying to build a flexible workforce that can quickly adapt to changes, including gig workers, freelancers, and contingent labour, allowing for greater scalability and agility in response to market shifts,” says Sandeep Girotra, CHRO, DCM Shriram.
 

Embracing the AI era

The discussion around capability building and reinforcing agility is incomplete if we don’t stress on how integral it is to build an AI-ready workforce. This feeds directly into both accelerating business growth and ensuring the workforce is all set to hit the ground running when faced with digital disruptions, even in the future.

“At Tech Mahindra, our skilling practices enable TechMighties to be ‘Fit for the Future’ by transforming themselves into the next generation of business-ready associates. Our approach focuses on equipping employees with cutting-edge digital skills in AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. Through structured programmes such as our flagship SMART initiative, we train talent in next-gen technologies, empowering individuals from diverse regions to stay ahead of industry demands. Our AI proficiency framework has enabled over 50,000 employees to develop advanced competencies, while specialised training in AI and GenAI has reached over 15,000 professionals. We also plan to train 100% of our IT talent in AI in FY’25,” says  Richard Lobo, Chief People Officer, Tech Mahindra.

On the other hand, CHROs must also link technological insights and business decisions, by building their own digital acumen. A more robust understanding of technology will become crucial as their role evolves and expands. For instance, moving beyond traditional productivity metrics to assess worker performance in a more human-centred way, or leveraging AI and data analytics to enhance both business and human outcomes. With the rapid evolution of HR technologies, data has become an invaluable currency for CHROs navigating the business world, from marking out potential growth opportunities to managing risk.

Strengthening competitive edge with culture

Even as enablers for business growth, the transformation of the CHRO role boils down to recognizing the workforce’s needs, wants and motivations. Culture-building inevitably will always remain integral to driving performance in the face of accelerated and unexpected change.

Aligning business processes with people strategies to reflect the culture, the larger purpose of the organisation and the pivots it will make is crucial to any transformation process. This is also the space that the CHRO will lead in, having a decisive role to play in how culture is

communicated and percolated across the various levels and domains of the organisation. When this is done by keeping the workforce at the centre and not just the customer, profits will follow as engagement levels will remain high, making way to a high-performance, purpose-led culture.

“As CHRO of Grasim Chemicals, I have aligned talent and business strategy to create a purpose-driven organisation that empowers employees and drives growth. Through engagement and development initiatives, we’ve fostered a culture where employees connect with the company’s mission, leading to higher retention, productivity, and collaboration. We’ve also promoted inclusivity by empowering diverse voices and creating new opportunities in different markets. Specifically for women, we launched an Employee Resource Group, introduced night shifts with full support, and are building women’s hostels at our plants to ensure their safety and well-being,” says Shefali Kohli, CHRO – Chemicals, Filament Yarn & Insulators, Aditya Birla Group.

“At AIL, we prioritise building a strong, agile, and future-ready culture through strategic initiatives like Aayam and Metamorphosis. These programmes focus on empowering employees as leaders fostering integrity, alignment, and high performance. Aayam develops leadership by embedding our core values—Care, Integrity, and Excellence—while Metamorphosis nurtures emerging leaders through belonging, belief, and empowerment. Our culture-driven approach has yielded impressive business metrics, including a highly engaged workforce (70th percentile in Gallup), 75% internal talent fulfilment, low leadership attrition, a strong safety culture, productivity gains, cost optimization, and consistent stakeholder value creation,” says Manoj Sharma, CHRO, Aarti Industries Ltd.

Future of businesses is employee-centric

While the emphasis on customer-centricity is going nowhere, employees are at the heart of building agile, resilient and future-proof business models. This growing awakening is making the role of the CHRO more and more critical to business, and they’re gaining a strong foothold as a strategic powerhouse in the boardrooms.

Every organisation’s growth and success do indeed rest on the knowledge and capabilities of the CHROs, who must keep one eye on the present and one on the future.

And most importantly, align what the organisation and its people need, as they brace themselves for new disruptions and even newer opportunities for success.