From transitions to transformations: The critical role of CHROs in steering organisational change

The CHRO Vantage Series dives deep into how HR leaders across India navigate change management initiatives, and captures their expert insights

Livemint
Updated26 Sep 2024, 11:36 AM IST
Mint spoke to HR Leaders from trailblazing companies across India to gain expert insights on their winning formula for successfully driving change management.
Mint spoke to HR Leaders from trailblazing companies across India to gain expert insights on their winning formula for successfully driving change management.

What was once an occasional period of organisational restructuring has become a continuous flux, increasing the stakes around change management. More than ever, CHROs (Chief Human Resource Officers) must expertly align human capital strategies with enterprise-wide and digital transformation demands.

Inevitably, transformation must be embedded into the company’s culture; as workforce dynamics evolve, technological disruptions become commonplace, and market competitiveness remains at an all-time high.

As part of the CHRO Vantage Series, brought to you by Mint in partnership with Deloitte, we spoke to HR Leaders from trailblazing companies across India to get expert insights on their winning formula to successfully drive change management.

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

Be Limitless to Deliver Business Impact

At Bharti Airtel, too, a large-scale organisation, transformation is a joint effort executed across levels. CHROs undoubtedly have a critical role to play, as they ensure culture changes alongside business priorities, especially in an evolving industry landscape.

The people function is key to the success of organisational change, which is why it must be in sync with the larger business objectives. When employees and customers are both at the core of any business strategy, organisations are successful in creating an empowering and transformative culture.

“At Airtel, where technology keeps on changing at a fast pace, it’s important to ensure that we build a culture of learning and curiosity, to empower a workforce adept at navigating change. Our leaders lead with the right examples to reinforce the idea of ownership, impact and inclusive growth. We take pride on our motto of #BeLimitless and that's what we truly stand for as an organisation. An organisation where people take ownership, create impact and chart their careers in a truly limitless way," says Amrita Padda, Chief People Officer, Bharti Airtel.

 

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Employees Decide and Own their Culture

According to Deloitte's 2023 Global Human Capital Trends report, companies that co-create change initiatives with their employees are 1.8 times more likely to have high engagement and 2 times more likely to foster innovation​.

This is evident in the case of Tata Motors, where employees played a significant role in the mammoth organisational change endeavour back in 2019-2020, which involved a shift towards four new cultural pillars: being bold, owning it, solving together, and being empathetic.

Although helmed by internal leaders and an external expert that brought in global perspectives, this transformation was broken down into simplified, agile and data-driven processes as well as targeted learning interventions. Moving beyond hierarchies, this cultural change was led by individuals across levels, teams and roles.

Sitaram Kandi, CHRO, Tata Motors shares, “For the past four years, we have consistently aligned our HR and business processes with our core cultural pillars, ensuring they permeate every aspect of our operations—from recruitment and training to performance appraisals. Our annual Culture Survey allows us to track progress transparently. Managers not only share their team's results but also engage in Culture action planning, addressing both high and low-scoring areas to drive continuous improvement and employee engagement across the organisation.”

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Focus on Engagement and Workforce Training

For DBS Bank India, which created a unified culture centred around their core values and customer service, a key challenge they highlighted was reconciling cultural differences and ensuring the workforce is adequately engaged and trained. To address this, the organisation implemented initiatives to enhance managerial and leadership capabilities, ensuring leaders could adapt to and drive change along with establishing checks and controls to sustain it.

Moreover, the larger change management strategy was split across three levels -top with a centralised Business Solution House, middle with Integration Champions, and front-line with Culture Champions.

“To set the tone from the top, we engaged senior management in a six-month immersive programme, bringing together integration leaders in task forces aimed at breaking down silos, empowering front-line employees, and enhancing communication. We also introduced Integration Champions at the middle management level, who took part in workshops centred on self-awareness, agility, emotional intelligence, and fostering a collaborative 'We' mindset. At the front lines, a network of culture champions drove innovation, promoted a culture of appreciation, clarified roles, and aligned efforts around risk management within the bank," explains Kishore Poduri, Managing Director and Country Head – Human Resources, DBS Bank India.

Win with Evolutionary M &A Strategies

Transformations led by CHROs can be internal as well as external, the latter falling in the realm of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Research by Deloitte highlights that workforce-centred challenges often pose significant risks in M&A transactions. TVS Supply Chain

Solutions emerge as an expert in navigating this terrain, with the company successfully acquiring and integrating more than 20 organisations across various internal markets.

Each acquisition had presented unique challenges for the organisation, such as cultural alignment, establishment of clear communication channels, and the seamless integration of people, processes, technology, and policies. For founder-led organisations, it was critical to handle the process with particular care to retain key talent and top customers.

“The company's M&A strategy has been evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Prioritising leadership and cultural alignment first, followed by careful integration of people and processes, ensured smooth transitions. Constant engagement, a blend of financial and non- financial incentives, and an empathetic approach facilitated successful integration with minimal disruption to business operations. This thoughtful approach was instrumental in paving the way for a successful IPO in 2023,” says Balaji Ethirajan, Global CHRO, TVS Supply Chain Solutions.

People-First Approach to Digital Transformation

As many as 56% of organisations affirm that their HR transformation efforts are in sync with their broader digital transformation strategies, according to the Deloitte's 2021 Global Human Capital Trends report.

The numbers are only expected to rise since then. When Tech Mahindra accelerated their digital transformation efforts and integrated AI and automation into various functions, the aim was to strike a balance between leveraging tech capabilities and ensuring a human-first approach grounded in transparency and communication.

This included open forums with leaders for addressing concerns, continuous upskilling programmes, and creating new roles that leveraged AI and automation. The workforce had to be empowered as technology evolved.

Richard Lobo, Chief People Officer, Tech Mahindra also shares examples of how HR technology facilitated their change management initiatives, “Through our UaaS (Upskilling- as-a-Service) platform, employees receive personalised upskilling opportunities tailored to their career goals and the organisation’s evolving needs. Our Integrated Command Centre, powered by AI and cloud technologies, continuously monitors employee well-being. AI- powered chatbots and virtual assistants have also streamlined our HR operations, enabling faster response times to queries and providing a seamless support experience for our employees. This alignment of technology with a human-first approach has ensured that our transformation is both efficient and inclusive.”

 

Also Read | AI alert: Market traders should resist falling in love with their machines

Champion Resilience To Risk

Navigating the uncertainties that come with any change management initiative is far from easy. Risk is part of the game, whether it’s an internally-driven cultural transformation or digital transformation in response to external factors.

What’s critical for CHROs is to have a clear action plan for successful change management by taking into account present and potential hurdles. This also calls for fostering leadership at all levels, not just at the top. Deloitte’s transformative leadership model centres around leading self, leading others and leading the organisation by aligning strategies with long-term goals. These three capabilities are key to building resilience and fostering innovation.

As the wave of disruptions continue, be it in workplace models or workforce priorities, CHROs will play a crucial role to ensure organisations are better positioned to manage change, increase agility, and scale effectively during transformation initiatives.

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First Published:26 Sep 2024, 11:36 AM IST
Business NewsIndustryHuman ResourceFrom transitions to transformations: The critical role of CHROs in steering organisational change

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