Focused on Sustainable Community Building

The recent disruption has accelerated the digitisation and technological development of the companies and specifically of HR as a function. Explaining about adapting and embracing the change Shruti Mishra, Lead- People and organisation partner (Retail, India), PUMA Sports said, “Technology in HR has evolved over the time, leading to the quantification of HR metrics, rather than a subjective discussion is worth mentioning”.

Structuring and making the process more systematic has always been her point of focus. Process reengineering, restructuring & optimizing the Retail HR cost, streamlining people engagement & development programs along with the introduction of channels for socially sustainable recruitments are some of the initiatives undertaken by her at PUMA. This has boosted the company’s internal metrics of performance, attracted some of the best talents across the industry & deepened our footprints in the consumers' minds.

While the pandemic has cost thousands of jobs but it also added the responsibilities and duties to the leaders and majorly the HR Leaders. The recent disruption has also made leaders take big decisions swiftly in favour of uncertain times; adding more on the same lines Mishra opened up about her experience and said, “It did not take a pandemic to stretch my role to a decision-maker, it was from the day I joined the organization. At PUMA, we hire people who can take ‘calculated risk, demonstrate confidence & passion towards their duty/role and have a positive mindset’. We give them a level playing field (opportunity) and autonomy to chart their careers and place out trust that they will work towards the best interest of PUMA. This makes everyone here a key stakeholder and decision-maker from Day one.”

Doing different gives different results, introducing social recruitments through collaborations with NGOs across the country to provide a livelihood to the marginalized sections of the society has been one of the initiatives that I take immense pride in. Leading employer branding initiatives by engaging with campuses apart from the conventional touchpoints of placements and promoting a culture of continuous learning has been some areas where I went beyond my call of duty.

HR is the important function of any company at the core. Talking more about the importance of HR functions Mishra shared that ‘People & processes are the building block’ for any economic transactions. At any organisation, HR forms a pivotal role as it establishes the processes, leads the change management & enables employees to adapt to the changes/process.

Looking ahead, talking about the development and changes in HR, she mentioned her focus area is to develop a robust technical infrastructure within the HR function, enabling it with relevant data that brings sharper insights in context to existing processes & people.