As the workplace reinvents itself, Bhavna Batra, Vice President – People at S&P Global, shares a sharp perspective on how HR must shift from pedigree-driven practices to skills-first ecosystems. She highlights how bold leadership, business acumen, and systemic thinking will define HR’s true value in the next decade.
1. How do you see the role of HR evolving in the next five to ten years?
The evolution is well underway, and I see HR playing a stronger role as the business impact partner. By focusing on the levers that impact business—such as the talent supply chain, the ecosystem culture dynamic, a pull-based learning organization, and people leader capability development—the function will need to pivot the way we perceive and measure impact.
Technology is going to help simplify and streamline processes, but HR needs to sharpen our capacity to think about and appreciate every aspect of the business so that we are able to action strategies that are meaningful. COEs are needed, but I believe the depth of functional domain perspective must be augmented with a deep understanding of business realities, and the function of business partners is more strategic than ever before.
2. What are the most pressing talent challenges you foresee in the next 5–10 years across different sectors?
The focus on skills needs to be driven from the ground up, and we need to pivot from a pedigree lens to a skills lens when looking at talent. This means there is substantial work to be done in revamping systems and processes to be skills-led, and in training leaders, managers, and recruiters to shift their lens when hiring, developing, and growing talent.
The 9-box driven view on talent needs to be contextualised to focus on talent development and investment specifics, and those need to be driven without exception. While organization structures evolve, skill-based marketplaces must be put in place within the organization to ensure talent mobility and maximise the opportunity for people to balance personal aspirations with organizational imperatives—thereby enabling continuous skills acceleration.
3. Your message to HR professionals on the occasion of HR Day
Be bold and break the mold. As the custodians of the enterprise, we need to understand our ecosystem end-to-end and channelise that understanding into growth, agility, and future-readiness impact.
Do not be limited by stereotypes and do not think HR is just about being good with people. HR is about understanding people, financials, operations, strategic direction, legal aspects, and all other nuances—and enabling enterprise growth and resilience.
So, we need to continuously grow, be adaptable and resilient! This is a terrific function and our scope to make a difference is colossal… so let’s make it happen!
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