“The key to India’s success is its diversity. Our diversity is the core that makes us so unique. In this land, we find a mix of states and regions, religions, languages, cultures, lifestyles and much more. We are so different and yet so similar and united,” said President Ram Nath Kovind, as he was sworn in as the 14th President of India.The President added, “We have achieved a lot as a nation, but the effort to do more, to do better and to do faster is relentless.” Asserting that nations are not built by governments alone, he said, “Each citizen of India is a nation builder. The armed forces that protect our borders and keep us safe are nation builders. Police and paramilitary forces that fight terrorism and crime are nation builders. Women who despite responsibilities at home,work and raise children to be ideal citizens are nation builders.”“We have completed 70 years of our Independence. We are also well into the second decade of the 21st century, a century that so many of us intuitively believe will be an Indian century, guided and shaped by India and its accomplishments. We need to build an India that is an economic leader as well as a moral exemplar. For us, those two touchstones can never be separate. They are and must forever be linked,” he stated.Recalling his early days, the President said, I grew up in a mud house, in a small village. My journey has been a long one, and yet this journey is hardly mine alone. It is so telling of our nation and our society also. For all its problems, it follows that basic mantra given to us in the Preamble to the Constitution of ensuring Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity and I will always continue to follow this basic mantra.”
Vinod Shetty, who was the Vice President, HR and Global Sales Training (India, Middle East & Africa) at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, has joined Sanofi as the Director-Business HR. In his new role, Shetty will be heading the HR function for the pharma and consumer healthcare business. He has been with Glenmark Pharmaceuticals for four years, spearheading the HR and sales training function for India, the Middle East and North Africa. Shetty has done some path-breaking work in capability development, including setting up of a learning academy, GCAT, which is a two-year long continuous learning platform. A management graduate in HR with a Law degree in criminal and labour law from the University of Mumbai, he also holds a PG diploma in training and development from the Indian Society for Training & Development (ISTD), Delhi. Shetty started his career in HR with Tata Donnelley in 1997, and then moved on to Pfizer India in 2004, as the group lead-HR. He joined Glenmark Pharmaceuticals in 2013, after having spent over eight years at Pfizer.
V Raja, Philips India MD, who had taken charge in the year 2015, has put in his papers, citing personal reasons. The company saw the exit of several senior executives recently, this being the most recent one. Some of the other exits at senior level have been of Amit Tiwari, Director-Marketing, Chetan Joshi, Director-Consumer Care and Supply Quality, Ajay Bagga, Director- Finance, Ajit Kumar, Head-HR and Jayanti Singh of the air purifier business. Daniel Mazon, who is from Latin America, will now take charge of the India operations. As head of the healthcare business in Latin America, Mazon turned around the business there. Mazon’s appointment is a sharp departure from the usual practice of placing Indians in top positions. There has been speculation that the move comes after Philips India’s growth declined in the past two years. Daniel Mazon comes to India as part of a global talent management process. It is important to note that more Indian executives have moved into global roles than expats moving to India.
Aditya Adyar and Parneet Soni have been named as Head-HR for Piramal Group’s realty arm, and General Manager-Total Rewards for the group, respectively. Talking about the move, Vikram Bector, group Chief Human Resources Officer, Piramal Enterprises said, “Soni and Adyar will boost the team at a time when our businesses are experiencing growth. We have always believed in providing leadership opportunities to young talent. It is a great time to join the team.”
Adyar, who did his MBA in Human Resource Management from Symbiosis Institute of Management (SIBM) in Pune, has moved in from the food delivery company Fasoos, where he was the Chief People Officer. Prior to Fasoos, Adyar worked as Senior Manager-HR with ICICI Bank, where he was also HR generalist and learning and development specialist.
“I am looking forward to setting up progressive HR practices and building a world-class team that will help realise the vision of the organisation. A team that would help Piramal Realty stay ahead of the curve and usher the organisation to the next level,” said Adyar.
Meanwhile, Soni has moved in from Bharti Axa Life Insurance, where she was head of compensation benefits, also from the HR operations. Incidentally both are alumni of Symbiosis, Pune. Soni started her career with IBM as HR partner for eight years before she moved to Jardine Lloyd Thompson. “Piramal Group is on a very interesting journey of transformation and I am constantly amazed by the quality of talent and the passion of the team,” said Soni.
Cheryl H Johnson, who has two decades of experience in HR, has been appointed Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) of Caterpillar Inc. She will also be part of the company’s executive office. Cheryl has served in various leadership positions. With Textron, she worked for two decades rising to the position of executive Vice President-HR. She was responsible for Textron’s corporate communications, corporate real estate, community affairs and aviation department. She has worked in a range of functions including HR, marketing and sales in companies such as IBM, Rockford and Sundstrand Corporation. She has an MBA from Northern Illinois University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in operations management. “In today’s highly competitive global marketplace, we have to attract and retain the best talent in order to better serve our customers. Cheryl is a proven executive leader, with a strong track record. She is joining Caterpillar as a member of our executive office. I’m confident that Cheryl’s contributions will be significant as we work to profitably grow our company,” said Caterpillar CEO, Jim Umpleby.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, has appointed David Todd as its new Senior Director, New Hotels-IMEA. David previously worked for IHG both at the corporate office and at the company’s hotels in the Middle East. Prior to rejoining IHG, he served as Vice President, Operations-MEA at Millennium Hotels & Resorts. Based in Dubai, David will streamline and accelerate IHG’s new hotel opening process, acting as a centre of excellence for the IMEA region. He will collaborate with various functions across corporate offices in Dubai and Delhi as well as build on existing and new relationships with owners and business partners to achieve successful hotel openings across the region. “David, in his new role at IHG, brings an array of managerial and commercial skillsets, as well as a nuanced understanding of our business, both at a corporate and operational level. As we are accelerating our growth in IMEA and increasing the number of hotels we open each year, it is important for us to build a New Hotels team and structure that facilitates immediate ramp up of our newly opened hotels and drive quick yet sustainable results for our owners. David is a valuable addition to the IHG family, and will provide expert leadership in driving our ambitious new hotels strategy in the region,” said Pascal Gauvin, COO, IMEA, of IHG. Commenting on the hiring, Shantha De Silva, Head of South West Asia, IHG, said, “We are very excited to welcome David to the team. India is a priority growth market for IHG, with over 30 hotels in our pipeline due to open in the next three to five years.” David will serve as a senior member of IHG’s New Hotels leadership team, which aims to build and embed an end-to-end Best in Class sustainable framework in AMEA. The New Hotels team is designed to allow IHG to maintain solid relationships with owners through the design and construction phase while concurrently setting up the property for operational excellence and commercial success with IHG’s tools and processes. IHG currently operates 30 hotels across four brands in South West Asia: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, with over 30 in the development pipeline and due to open over the next three to five years.
Ajit Joshi has been hired by Urban Ladder as its President and COO. The former Chief Executive and Managing Director of Croma, Joshi is the second senior executive to be appointed by the online furniture store Urban Ladder Home Decor Solutions Pvt. Ltd., in the past two months. Earlier this year the company appointed Jaipal Singal, who had earlier worked with Arvind Fashion Brands Ltd and Mahindra Retail Ltd, as Chief Financial Officer. Ashish Goel, co-founder and Chief Executive at Urban Ladder in a release stated, “As we prepare for the next phase of growth, it is important to strengthen the leadership team with rich experience and subject expertise. Ajit’s addition to the team is a crucial step in scaling up our retail and growth strategy and win on offline distribution. Ajit’s vast retail experience will be an invaluable asset to us and will help us build a distinctive buying experience across channels.” In recent times, there has been an exodus of sorts as the company has seen several senior-level exits, including Rushabh Sanghavi, Vice President of Category and Sourcing, and Nikhil Ramprakash, Vice President of Sales and Online Marketing calling it quits. Urban Ladder has made an incredible foray into retail with the first flagship experience centre in Bengaluru. In the past five years, they have carved a niche in the furniture space with innovative design and exceptional customer experience.
Shanmugh Natarajan has been appointed as the Managing Director (MD) for Adobe Systems in India. Natarajan, who was formerly the Executive Director, will continue to lead Adobe operations in India, in addition to his ongoing responsibility as Vice President (Engineering and Digital Media) at Adobe. Commenting on the move, Donna Morris, Executive Vice President, Customer and Employee Experience stated, “Natarajan provides leadership across our teams in India, which contribute to the strength of our employment brand and advancing Adobe’s position as a sought-after place to work. With an employee base that represents virtually every Adobe function, India continues to be a vital component of our growth.” Natarajan will continue to lead R&D and operations for Adobe India while Kulmeet Bawa, MD, South Asia will continue to lead Adobe’s field operations. Natarajan joined Adobe in 2008 and has been instrumental in leading the product development of award-winning products like Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash and Lightroom. A graduate in Electronics and Communications from College of Engineering, Guindy in Tamil Nadu, Natarajan holds a Masters in Computer Engineering from the University of Texas in the US.
Three top brass of Cipla’s HR leadership team have called it quits with the company. Ashwani Dahiya, Global Chief Talent Officer and Head of HR (Corporate), Poonam Munshi, Head of Talent Acquisition COE and Employer Branding and Neetu Wadhawan, Head HR-International Business. For Dahiya, it is less than a year since he joined the company. He was heading HR for all corporate functions and centres of excellence for talent acquisition, talent management, performance and reward, leadership, learning and development, organisation effectiveness and employee engagement after his two-year stint with Reliance Industries as the Senior Vice President and Group Head. He has also worked with American Express and General Mills in the past. Dahiya is a management graduate from XLRI, Jamshedpur. Munshi has been with the company for the past four years. She was HR Leader-West India and National Head-Talent Acquisition and Planning. A management graduate from Symbiosis, Pune, Munshi started her career with Citibank NA. She was also associated with Korn Ferry International, Absolute Research and Training Solutions, and Facets Executive Search & African Advisory. Wadhawan, a graduate from Lady Sri Ram College for Women, had worked with Cadila Pharmaceuticals for about four years before joining Cadila Healthcare as Vice President HR. She joined Cipla in 2014.
Shoe manufacturer Bata will open additional 100 stores to make its presence felt across the country and promote the brand. These stores will be in malls and high-street locations this year and each will be spread over 2,500- 4,000 square feet. It is also going to expand into smaller markets with around 30 franchisee-owned outlets.This will cost the company’s coffers over RS. 2-2.5 crores, including the stock. Besides, there are plans to renovate the existing stores. Rajeev Gopalakrishnan, Managing Director, Bata India said the company has started 30 franchise store operations last year which proved to be successful, whereby it has already been expanded to 50 outlets. There are currently 1,300 company-owned stores. The company is also planning to open online shopping kiosks in its major retail stores, with tie-ups with some payments banks and also increase the presence of its product offerings through partner websites. Bata sold around 6.3 lakh pairs of shoes online last year across India. This includes its own brand site and partner websites such as Amazon, Myntra, Jabong and Flipkart.
By Joe Williams
