'Motivate Employees to Give Their Best'

Starting her career in 1990 as HRD officer with L&T, and gaining rich experience along the way, including as Head of Human Resources at National Stock Exchange of India, Chandra Bhattacharjee has steadily and progressively climbed up the ladder, including during her stint in the Aditya Birla Group. Now, as the CHRO of the group's flagship company Grasim Industries, producing chemicals, cement, insulators and other products for domestic and overseas consumption, she has a great macro and micro understanding of the manpower and talent needs of an organisation, and sheds light on some key issues, in a succinct manner:

What are the key areas that you intend to focus on for your organisation to run effectively and efficiently?

Succession planning is one of the key areas of focus. I believe that succession planning will drive talent development and help retain employees. It will improve employee engagement and managerial effectiveness.

What drives you?

* The joy in making a positive difference to the lives of our employees * The opportunity to bring change in mindsets and behaviours

* The satisfaction when you see talent being developed

What are the strategies and techniques that you believe in to solve employees' problems and achieve an organisation's goal?

Empathy and active listening are the key. The ability to understand the context of the employee is very important, and so is being solution-oriented and having a can-do attitude.

As a people person, what are the goals you strive to achieve in an organisation apart from management goals?

Employee engagement is the key to achieving organisational goals. Ensuring that employees are motivated to give their best everyday is both a challenge and an opportunity.

(The interview appeared in the June issue of BW People publication)