CHROs to Play a Decisive Role in Business Growth

Rahul Bagale, Group HR Head, Force Motors Ltd., in an interaction with Industry Outlook, shares his insights on the developing role of CHRO in the automotive industry, wherein he talks about employee reskilling and upskilling, the flow of information within an organization, and more.

The global automotive industry and its supply chain are going through a time of great change. Businesses need to be agile, aware of fast-moving trends, and ready to make significant shifts in their operational and people practices to keep up with the sector’s evolution. In this regard, how is the role of CHRO professionals developing today?

The role of CHRO is constantly evolving and taking a big leap in terms of business development. Extending its reach from traditional HR activities, CHRO now takes part in critical operations, eventually assuming the role of the organization’s business driver.  

In a developing business environment, CHROs are also required to rethink the communication process with employees for understanding the pain points and delivering an enriched employee experience. Moreover, with technological intervention influencing business operations, CHRO plays his/her part to capture the right data, which helps mitigate the challenges of the employees and optimize productivity.

For example, in the case of attrition analysis, getting assess to the right data is essential for meticulously scrutinizing the situation and identifying the root cause. 

In the changing market dynamics, CHRO needs to introduce clear processes and development pathways that enable the reskilling and upskilling of the workforce. This plays a major role in retaining the employees and boosting their long-term employability and earning potential. How is the industry working to attain the same?

Industry 4.0 has revolutionized the global business process. With multiple cutting-edge technologies like IoT, AI, and MI, altering the course of business operations, organizations are required to keep an agile mentality to maintain competence and relevance in the market.

The role of CHRO is decisive in transforming and upgrading the skills and knowledge of the workforce, keeping them parallel with novel technologies. It is imperative for CHROs to keep a long-term perspective in sight and understand the organization’s operations, domain, and projects.

These requirements will work as a yardstick to determine the course of action for rescaling and upskilling the employees.

For instance, when Force MTU entered the domain of manufacturing railway engines for European countries, it brought new challenges concerning environmental and emission norms. In order to mitigate the situation and gain a deep understanding of the requirements, Force dispatched its training engineers to Germany for understanding the requirements and gaining product knowledge, particularly about the building and calibration of the rail engine.  

Due to the communication gap in the automobile industry, the strategies of the top leadership don't get properly communicated. How can an effective flow of information and communication be instituted among the employees?

Today, there are different channels, that can be leveraged to conduct purpose-driven communication between the organization and employees. The Townhall model, being the most preferred of all, gives an opportunity for all employees to understand the vision of the management. However, in recent years different technology-leveraged communication solutions have filled the existing gap, letting organizations communicate with their employees. We can also note the rise of cutting-edge mobile applications that help the organization understand employee mood.

No doubt, there are different ways and mediums of performing effective communication between the organization and employees. However, to mitigate the challenge of communication gap, organizations would require to conduct increased branding.

For example, if a company wants to enter a new domain or acquire a new product, it should try to involve the right stakeholders in advance and create a focus group, to understand the opinion of the key personnel. This will help the company to understand the stance of its employees, which will aid in taking fruitful decisions throughout the entire process.

Organizations are required to blend different patterns of communication models and systems to enrich the communication system and reach a state where every suggestion of the employees is properly heard and addressed.

How do you see the automotive industry evolving in the near future? How significant will the role of CHROs be in the days ahead?

India is recording accelerating growth in the automotive industry. As a matter of fact, presently India is the fifth largest two-wheeler manufacturer, and sixth largest truck manufacturer, and the passenger car industry of India is also taking a robust shape.

CHRO has an important role to play in this phase of the industry. Today, it is imperative for CHROs to maintain an agile stance to fulfill the developing needs of the organization. While zeroing down on the right talent for the company, CHRO will also have to play his/her part in influencing the business leaders about the right talent and strategies required to be mapped for developing the talent.

Moving forward, CHRO should also focus on the high-potential people of the company, who can influence and bring positive vibes and involvement within the organization. It is essential to develop the individual development plan (IDP) of the influential people and help them develop their own skills, and boost their morale.

To conclude, CHROs will play decisive role in determining growth and development of the automotive industry of India, by strengthening the bridge between the organization and its internal stakeholders.