In this episode of Redefining HR, I’m thrilled to sit down with Piyush Mehta, Genpact’s chief human resources officer. Piyush and I discuss how he views HR evolution and innovation at scale. We also walk through the complexities of navigating and transforming the HR and people functions in an organization with more than 115,000 employees around the globe.

Genpact is a global professional services firm that makes business transformation real. Piyush, based in India, has been with Genpact for the last 20-plus years and held the position of CHRO over the previous 15 years.

Piyush has spent his entire career in the HR space, working with various big-name companies like PepsiCo and Unilever. Piyush has experienced multiple changes in the HR space, and I enjoyed getting his perspective on the evolution and innovation of HR.

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Not Everything Has Changed During the HR Evolution

The HR space has changed in the 20-plus years that Piyush has worked in the field. The evolution was accelerating even before COVID-19 but has changed dramatically over the last few years. However, much has remained the same.

Piyush believes that the fundamental functions of human resources are the one thing that hasn’t changed in the last few decades. “The reason for my function to exist and for me to exist is to make sure that the company’s talent requirements are met in every possible way and in the best possible way,” he says. 

The overall context of the HR space and role has not changed over the years. It’s still about implementing and ensuring that talent systems are used effectively and fairly. But, in the grand scheme, Piyush explains that HR has changed significantly. 

“The broader ecosystem has been through multiple changes, and therefore that’s created a different set of requirements from what may have worked 15 years back or ten years back or even three years back,” he says. “But it is important to understand that the fundamental reason for us to exist has not changed.”

HR Now vs. Back Then

Since the beginning, HR functions were created to meet the needs of the people, stemming from their fundamental reasoning. However, one of the most significant changes in HR is how functions now satisfy professionals’ new needs and requirements in today’s workforce.

The evolution of technology—specifically HR technology—contributes to these new needs. Thanks to new and innovative technology, HR professionals ensure that all talent requirements are met. Like other fields, the pandemic escalated the adoption of new HR technology in tenfold ways, leading more HR professionals to implement tech into their processes. Piyush thinks that “it has increased the pace of adoption of technology.”

Technology isn’t the only driver for change in the HR space; it’s also about the evolution of various HR processes. Piyush believes it is more of “an enabler, but the process is equally important.” Technology has enabled HR to build and implement robust strategies, measure engagement and build pipelines in response to inflation and geopolitical issues that have developed in the last few months. 

“A bunch of those things, I think, have created some fairly meaningful implications for how the function acts and behaves,” Piyush explains. So, when HR leaders express the function at scale, it’s essential to acknowledge that innovation and adaptability are vital.

Innovation and Evolution at Scale

Before the pandemic, how professionals in the HR space approached different processes and structures was binary. That is no longer the case. However, with multiple work structures in place, companies are working on framing these structures into their current practices. 

Being at Genpact, which employs tens of thousands of employees globally, Piyush is no stranger to having to implement remote and hybrid work models at scale. He and others in HR agree that hybrid work is the future, but how that looks for every company varies based on several factors. “Based on the nature of work, you could decide whether this is going to be worked from anywhere or it’s going to be work from a particular location,” he says. “The solution that you create for that group may not work for everyone in that team.”

Executing a hybrid work structure involves flexibility and technology. The past few years have shone a light on the priorities important to professionals, so offering flexibility at all levels and being attuned to the needs of individual teams and employees is part of successfully executing this approach. The other part will be leveraging available technology.

HR evolution and innovation have already started, and at this point, they show no signs of stopping.

People in This Episode

• Piyush Mehta: LinkedIn, Twitter, Genpact website