Milind Kulkarni has recently joined as Chief People Officer at e-Zest. Below is the transcript of the discussion we had with him on this occasion
Tell us about your early life and career?
As a Senior HR Professional with 4 decades of experience in various professionally managed organizations like WIPRO, Reliance, Essar etc. I have been engaged in the HR function for long now. However I started my career way back in the year 1975 after pursuing education in Human Resources. Initially also being armed with a degree in Law, I naturally headed into the then known Personnel Management function spending most of my time with Labor unions, having to deal with hundreds of negotiations, facing and resolving union fights, strikes etc. It was only after 1990 that I started experiencing the changing face of HR management. After the boom in the IT industry in the year 2000 and the BPO industry, the HR industry had by then completely changed the way it functioned. From Personnel Management, it was now all about Talent management, Leadership management and Training. The IT industry has always been the most labor intensive industry with most focus on people’s force. Hence it is a challenge that the need for special HR initiatives, policies etc. are required and implemented.
Why HR as a career choice?
I have always wanted to make a difference to people’s lives through my work, through my profession. Choosing human resource as my profession was my chance to help people and organizations and I did exactly that. I was always attracted to this noble profession where it is about making life at work enjoyable and also make people want to come to their work place and deliver their best. But this can only happen when the company policies are aligned with not just the latest trends in the market but also there exists the human touch, the care and the concern for the betterment of the work force. I have always believed in the philosophy that happy people perform better. So it is only imperative that as a human resource manager I come up with innovative and flexible policies that work in the best interests of the people of any organization I’m connected with.
What are the factors that made you choose e-Zest over other companies?
I was associated with e-Zest during the year 2002 to 2004 as HR Consultant, when this organization was at a very nascent stage, in Pune. At that time of my association with e-Zest, I had the opportunity to see and experience the company’s values and vision closely. I also happened to contribute in laying some foundation stones of the company’s HR Policies and Practices at that time. I developed an emotional attachment with this company due to my association during the early years of e-Zest. I was always amazed at its simple and basic approach towards the wellbeing of all stake holders.
Thereafter I moved on to gain experience in various other industries and after a stint of 9 years I returned to Pune and was then invited by this organization to take the mantle as the Chief People Officer. It was an obvious choice for me given my previous attachment with this organization.
As e-Zest becomes more global, what sort of HR imperatives do you think you have to cope with?
With its unique business model and young and vibrant team leaders, it is no doubt that this organization has a very bright future. It has much inherent strengths that need to be leveraged to ensure that it will rise to its rightful position on the business horizon soon. However to sustain its growth, and with the huge global leap that the company has recently taken, my main focus will be to make some major contribution towards re-engineering some sound HR policies and practices that will support and enhance the human resource management from the global business objectives of e-Zest. To name the top 5 priorities for the organization they are as follows:
- Talent Management – Talent Acquisition, Talent Engagement, Talent Development
- PMS – Channelizing talent energy towards business objectives
- Developing a right channel and route steering future Leadership
- System of Assessment and Development of Competencies
- Promoting the culture of OLIVZ
What according to you are some of the biggest challenges faced by the industries today as regards recruitment and people management?
The world of HR has changed drastically and the age old personnel management has now shifted to human resources and now being looked upon as a function that emphasizes recruitment strategies. Today the market has evolved and is evolving at a much faster pace, with jobseekers and also clients becoming more and more aware of the latest developments. This brings in more expectations as regards sophisticated and updated HR policies.
In addition to the above, the other major challenge the industry faces today is that of finding high caliber talent and retaining or engaging the existing talent. With a major shift in the market trends more frequently, it is indeed a crucial thing to invest continuously in HR and implement best practices.
What are the challenges in having to deal with diversity and cultural differences in any organization?
I always look at diversity and cultural variation (I would not call it as differences) as intriguing but very interesting aspect of an organization. In fact in a country like India it stands out as a merit as different people from different walks of life bring with them distinct experiences, advantages that add to the overall excitement in the work culture. However there are a few challenges that these variations pose and one needs to handle them maturely and act like a visionary aligning them with the core culture of the organization.
It starts with the very basic challenge of recognizing these differences. HR as a function has a huge responsibility and the inclination should be towards appreciating, celebrating these differences, rather than judging the worth of any individual as per the diversity. Any cultural difference or varying ethnicity should in fact be looked upon as an opportunity that could be beneficial to the business in many ways. So if one handles issues sensitively and avoids being judgmental, the challenges look more like opportunities that can be fostered for the betterment of the organization.
