Focus less on roles – instead build skills that drive the organisation, providing multiple opportunities to employees to promote horizontal growth

HR professionals have this unique opportunity to build a purpose-driven organisation, a positive contributor to society and the community. HR professionals also have the ability to touch lives – and someone important to me once said ‘as an HR leader you have the power to connect people to their destiny’ – help a person land his/her dream job or hire that bright college graduate who would eventually take over the reins of the company as a CEO and the list can go on.  

“Over the years I had the privilege of working with some very powerful managers and mentors who helped me internalise that though HR is a support function, it doesn’t make us any less important to the business,” states Niyathi Madasu,  Director HR, Premier Energies. It was this perspective right from the start which always motivated her to value the contribution an HR professional brings to the table and continues to contribute to the execution of the organisation’s strategy. 

Having joined Premier Energies, Madasu realised that the organisation was going through an amazing transformation moving from a promoter led traditional set-up into a process-driven matrix set-up. This mission by far was the most exciting tenure for Madasu as this allowed her along with her team to be responsible for driving a culture of performance, trust and feedback. It helped them become more resilient and continued to focus on their vision and mission while creating a positive work environment. “Over the last couple of months my role has been largely concentrated around the process of internal communication – and central part of creating trust more so in these uncertain times. To me, HR has been an enabling function and a custodian of culture without which even the best articulated and debated strategy shall fall flat,” states Madasu.

Covid has fundamentally changed the way we live and work – from our daily commute to how we interact with others to our work environment. Business of course hasn’t been normal but we are on our road to recovery. This pandemic has been a wake-up call and given the unknown of the variables surrounding the outbreak, it is important to review the business continuity plans and as an HR leader it is has been my responsibility to orchestrate this recovery by being a voice of bold decisions and policymaking and lead my organisation to thrive in the ‘new normal'. Some of the key projects undertaken by the HR team are:

1. Focus less on roles – instead build skills that drive the organisation, providing multiple opportunities to employees to promote horizontal growth.
2. Design roles that increase agility – flexible roles that promote cross-functional training
3. Result based performance tracking that is outcome led.
4. Create a culture of trust but harness the power of virtual collaboration.

At Premier Energies, employees believe that these above-mentioned initiatives are stepping stones to unlocking huge efficiencies and productivity while enhancing workers job satisfaction. Every team in the organisation will have a story to tell about the origin of the team, successes, failures and work in general.