With 18 years of rich leadership and HR experience, Lopamudra Ghose, CHRO, Cosmos Maya has a successful record of handling the entire gamut of HR functions across a broad spectrum of industries including Digital Media, Film & Entertainment, Media Production, IT, and Insurance, among others; while working closely with Investors, MDs and CXOs of companies for various HR processes and initiatives at both national as well as international levels. Having partnered with key executives across businesses to drive employee engagement, morale, and performance experiencing both significant external and internal organizational change, she has established and implemented short and long-term corporate human capital plans, which include maintaining and improving employee relations, talent acquisition, and development, succession planning, workforce planning, compensation and benefits, and performance management. Her experiences have taught her to be collaborative, impactful, and empathetic in her approach as well as in the challenges. Lopamudra enjoys working with young and vibrant teams and has always felt pride in the brands that she has been associated with. Let's hear it from her.

Throw some light on your prior industry experience spread across all gamut of HR functions.

I have been fortunate to have been exposed to almost all aspects of HR right from the start of my professional journey. Starting my career as a recruiter in an IT MNC, I moved on to working with one of India's largest private insurers, followed by an ongoing stint with the media industry. My areas of expertise include driving various Talent Management, Employee Engagement, and HR Operational Effectiveness projects. Over the years, under HR functions, I have handled HR operations, Talent Management, Compensation & Benefits, Learning & Development, and Digital Transformation.

What are the various responsibilities that you shoulder as the CHRO to help the company achieve its future roadmaps?

While Cosmos Maya moves to phase II of its growth, my role here is to work closely with others in the leadership team to help create a future-ready dynamic organization through the implementation of next-level systems and to create a performance-driven culture that promotes productivity and a more engaged workforce. The HR team, in conjunction with other functions, has worked on interventions to lead the organization's growth and productivity narrative. The company produces high-quality animation work and this is possible only through our extremely talented team of artists and supervisors. We have always had stringent checks at the time of hiring to ensure that our quality of work never suffers. Our focus, therefore, will continue to be seeking out such talent in the existing market. With changing technologies, upskilling artists on new software will be an area of focus for HR shortly. Within the HR team, my mandate has been to upgrade the team with best-in-class HR practices which included team re-structuring, implementation of HRMS, performance goals and KPIs, in-depth analytics, and more meaningful employee engagement initiatives.

"My goal is to partner with businesses to help create future-ready dynamic organizations"

Tell us about the most critical challenges you face as an HR leader. What steps do you take to overcome the roadblocks?

While the talent pool for animation in India continues to grow, there seems to be a dearth of high-quality experience. Attracting the right talent involves not only the right tools and social media but also word-of-mouth. It, therefore, becomes critical to have a genuine people-first approach within the organization. This is an industry with high attrition. Retention is key. So, all our HR initiatives are geared towards retaining the best of our talent. Be it through HR focus groups, one-on-one meetings, or through exit interviews, the objective is to address issues in real-time.

How do you foresee the evolution of the Indian HR landscape? In your opinion which industry trends will have the most impact?

HR in India will continue to evolve to become vital to the success of a business. The need for specialized roles within HR will only grow, to meet the ever-rising expectation of the function from identifying the right talent, and creating an engaged workforce to managing employee well-being and being able to generate and sustain interest in the organization in the potential candidates of the future. Moreover, with the global recession on the rise and layoffs being declared by tech giants, we will start to see a huge dip in the trust placed by employees and potential talent in companies. It is for companies now to rebuild this sense of trust to retain employees as well as attract new talent. I also see a changing trend in work-life balance and change in the work model. One important area that I would like to see grow in corporate India is the increase in hiring of differently abled workforce. As HR, we don't seem to have enough conversation and movement around this.

What would your advice be to young women who aspire to become business leaders in the future?

My advice for them would be to not give up at any cost, to be respectful and compassionate to all, and most importantly, to be patient. They must be willing to take on new challenges and deliver success. If they choose a career in HR, both the company and employees will rely on them; honesty and transparency are critical skills that will help them build this trust on both sides.

Lopamudra Ghose, CHRO, Cosmos Maya

Having a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and an MBA in HR, Lopamudra has successful experiences in setting up and auditing HR functions not only within India but also in other countries.