HR-Traversing beyond business

A seasoned HR professional with over 15 years of experience, Piyush Ghosal has a flair for understanding business and adopting modern methodologies whilst preserving the human aspect of HR. He is currently serving as the Head of HR, Pratiti Technologies. A keen business story shower, Piyush uses his acumen to inspire and motivate others. He has recently penned down his first book ‘Stop Telling Start Showing’, which talks about how to use personal experiences and events to craft inspiring stories and show them to transform others. In conversation with Piyush

Corporate Citizen: Give our readers a brief background of yourself.

Piyush Ghosal: I was born and brought up in a small town called Dhanbad, Jharkhand. The seeds of reaching new heights of success in the career were sown by my father who was employed with the Indian School of Mines (now IIT ISM), and my mother who was a government school teacher. So, it was obvious that my elder brother and I follow the same path. My brother is currently settled in the US.

Growing up, I was good if not the best in my studies and had a special liking for English literature. I used to love reading storybooks by Rabindranath Tagore, Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and classic English stories of Sherlock Holmes and Tom Sawyer. Inspired by my father, I used to participate in various recitation and debate contests in school from an early age. Soon, I got into public speaking, a skill that helped me a lot to grow in my professional life. I feel that my urge to fly beyond boundaries had pushed me to reach new heights of success.

CC: Tell us about your corporate journey so far. Were you always inclined towards making it big in the field of HR?

I started my career with recruitment and later moved on to other roles such as HR business partner, Learning and Development specialist, compensation and benefits, and business solutions manager. I was fortunate to get an opportunity to work in the various facets of HR and different geographies like Europe, Singapore and Malaysia over the past 15 years. In my present role, I head the HR department for an IT product development company in Pune. My inclination towards HR started while I was preparing for my MBA entrance. What fascinated me was the ability of HR professionals to traverse beyond business. HR interventions not only can affect the business positively but also connect with the larger society and ecosystem in which we all operate.

CC: Almost a year ago, we were taken aback by the outbreak of Covid-19. Within no time, it brought up a series of transformations, and one of them was remote working. What do you think has been the most challenging part of that shift for those in supervisory roles?

Remote work has increased challenges for managers, especially first time managers. When you start to lead, you prefer managing your team face to face, but owing to the lockdown rules, you suddenly find yourself managing a team remotely. And more so, with no time to prepare, you end up been questioned on your team’s productivity. Honestly, this was not only challenging but also scary, especially, in the Indian corporate working context, where work from home is still not very popular and people are used to the office environment, to suddenly asked to manage a team working remotely will throw any manager off guard.

One of the means of engaging with the team members is to create an environment of regular communication. Working from home sometimes creates a sense of loneliness and isolation among the team members, especially for someone who is used to the office environment. Frequent communication and connect not only helps to remove this isolation but also helps to keep the team connected.

"The ability to quickly adapt and become relevant to the ever changing environment is the biggest mantra to survive, let alone succeed in today’s world"

CC: What are some of the takeaways from the pandemic and lockdown for the HR industry?

As the severity of the pandemic picked up in early 2020, businesses across the world experienced severe disruption in terms of productivity and employee’s well being. Hence, it becomes imperative for HR leaders to revisit these issues with a focus to help the business succeed. Looking at the past year, the key takeaways for HR would be:

The mental well being of employees is of utmost importance.

Reskilling and upskilling the present talent pool to bridge the talent gap created by the pandemic.

Relook at the present organisational structure, people practices and policies and be open to change.

Drive organisation level transformation to align with the new way of working.

With this, there are a few HR strategies that will be redefined post-Covid. HR will have a few challenges coming out of the new norm. To tackle issues like redefining policies that will address all types of employment full time, part time and even remote working will be a task. Tracking employee productivity for employees remotely working will also be on the top agenda of HR. Overall, HR will be required to support the business by coming up with innovative ways to engage with the employees, to keep their spirits high, thereby helping the business achieve higher productivity.

CC: The lockdown was indeed tough on all. What are your learnings from this uncertain time?

Everything is bound to change, and one must be prepared for this. The ability to quickly adapt and become relevant to the ever changing environment is the biggest mantra to survive, let alone succeed in today’s world. Another learning is to never ignore one’s health, everything else is meaningless before a healthy body and a sound mind.

CC: Covid 19 also gave birth to some new trends. As per you, what are some of the pandemic trends that will stick around?

Although we are overcoming this pandemic at a faster rate, practices like remote working is going to stay around for some more time. Owing to this, there will be a shift in focus from efficiency to flexibility. Unlike before, flexibility and the ability to adapt or change as per the situation will take precedence over efficiency. Considering the remote work culture and possibility of future infection outbreaks, organisations, while hiring, will give special weightage to the ability to adjust as per the work situation.

CC: Nowadays, reskilling has become a big topic. There is a desire to tap into and uncover skills that people may not even realise they have. What advice do you have for HR folks looking to help people find new pathways forward right now?

During the pandemic, organisations worldwide struggled to retain or hire a workforce that is resilient and ready to work in the crisis. As a result, some roles became redundant and the demand for new roles emerged. And to cater to this, HR will have to reskill the existing workforce and increase the skill level of the present workforce with a single focus to help the business succeed. One of the ways to do this is to train the existing workforce cross functionally. Experience of working cross functionally will enable them to wear multiple hats during crises and help the organisation sail through difficult times.

"The purpose behind writing my book is to answer this question how a story is to be delivered to create maximum impact. The answer to this is found in the concept of story showing"

CC: A recent survey reveals that 32 per cent of organisations are replacing full time employees with contract workers intending to save costs. So, what is your take on the gig economy?

Although the gig economy of short term contracts or employing freelancers was prevalent in the pre-Covid era also, this pandemic saw an increase in the number of gig workers ready to deliver from home. Since the Covid-19 outbreak, gig employment is gaining popularity both among the blue collared and white collared workers. However, in the Indian context, it will be interesting to see the growth of gig employment in the absence of specific legislation such as minimum wages, hours of work, social security benefits, etc. as compared to long term employees.

CC: It is quite evident that these days organisations have shifted their focus from efficiency to resilience. Recruiters will be looking at an array of the job applicant’s dexterity. What is your advice to the young crops who are hoping to enter the word of HR?

As you rightly mentioned, resilience has gained more traction than efficiency for organisations and HR is no exception to this. With the current disruption in the corporate world, HR will have a crucial role to play in transforming the organisational processes and policies to align with the ever changing and dynamic work conditions. Young HR aspirants will not only have to show resilience to become a part of this change but also lead the change. Apart from having good communication and interpersonal skills, they must be digitally literate and understand the basics of business to align the HR interventions in line with the business objectives.

CC: Tell us about your inclination towards writing and about your book ‘Stop Telling and Start Showing’.

I have been a member of Toastmasters Club for the past few years and have been participating in various speech contests representing my club and sometimes my division. As a part of the Toastmasters programme, I used to always write my speech and present it before an audience. During the lockdown, I thought why not pen down my experiences and learnings of being a speaker in the form of a book.

My book ‘Stop Telling and Start Showing’ challenges the traditional method of storytelling and introduces the concept of storyshowing that opens a new gateway of “showing” stories to share our message. The book talks about the art of using personal experience and learnings to craft inspiring stories and how to use them to connect with your audience and prompt them for action.

CC: Are Story Showers the next best trend?

Philip Pullman, a renowned author had said, “After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world”. We all know that the power of a story is indisputable, it can inspire and influence. And yet, some stories fail to make the desired impact. Often the problem is not the story but how it is told. The purpose behind writing my book is to answer this question how a story is to be delivered to create maximum impact. The answer to this is found in the concept of story showing.

Look around, the world is changing rapidly in all aspects in governments, in economies, in consumer behaviour. We are living in a period where change is seen in every aspect including personal life. To sustain this change and stand out from the crowd, you need to express yourself in a way that not only influences others but also calls them for action. The art of story showing helps you to connect emotionally with your audience and delivers your idea by showing them who you are and what are your values. For business, it means more customers, for leaders, it means more loyal followers and for managers, it means more engaged teams.