Women have been fighting for their place at the corporate table for a while. Although achieving equality may be a slow process, there has been a steady increase in the number of women employees across industries. Many pioneering and successful women have left an indelible mark in corporate history over the years.
This is hugely encouraging to women aspiring to enter the workforce.
Women have shown they can handle their professional responsibilities with ease. Thus, many companies are supporting and advancing their women employees and are seeing tangible business results.
This diversity and inclusion in the workplace are key to innovation and creativity.
Inspiring Women in the Field of HR
Women have shown they can handle their professional responsibilities with ease. Thus, many companies are supporting and advancing their women employees and are seeing tangible business results. Click To TweetThere are many women who work behind the scenes, playing a key role in developing, strengthening, and changing the culture of the companies they work for, as well as reinforcing the values of these companies.
These are the women in HR who truly are forces to reckon with.
1. Nikita Zutshi
Nikita is the Vice President of Human Resources at MakeMyTrip. With 16 years of HR experience, she currently leads the organisational effectiveness agenda at MMT.
Nikita embodies the characteristics every leader should have. She is an individual who enables excellence in her teams by empowering them to be the best they can be.
Some highlights of her illustrious career include winning:
- TA Pai & Economic Time Young HR Leader 2020,
- Business World 40 under 40 Club of Achievers 2020, and
- Jombay 100 under 40, 2019.
2. Geetanjali Wheeler
Geetanjali Wheeler is the Vice President of Learning and Development (India), at the Macquarie Group.
She has 16 years of experience in conceptualising, designing, and implementing training for companies in a wide range of verticals.
She has held both national and global roles, which has given her valuable skills and has led her to be the dynamic, result-oriented L&D professional that she is today.
Geetanjali was also the winner of the coveted Top 101 T&D Leader 2020 award.
3. Nimisha Rana Pathak
Nimisha Rana Pathak is an HR professional with nearly 15 years of diverse experience across HR functions. She is currently the Director-Human Resources at Alvarez & Marsal.
She has also held HR positions in large Indian and multinational organisations like Tech Mahindra and Accenture.
She has a wealth of experience that enables her to develop robust and practical HR solutions.
4. Harini Sreenivasan
Harini Sreenivasan is an Affiliate Partner – People & Culture, Semcostyle India LLP.
Harini has a whopping 24 years of experience in bringing out and leveraging people’s potential for business excellence.
She is a positive soul who engages well with people. Her knowledge in design thinking, neuroscience, and human behaviour has helped her establish herself as a business transformation evangelist and an influencer in both industry and academia.
5. Rakhi Deshpande
Rakhi Deshpande is currently the Director- Talent Acquisition at Xoriant.
Her 16 years of rich TA & HR experience makes her a seasoned talent acquisition leader with an impressive track record of growing organisations and teams across geographies.
Her remarkable career includes stints at IBM, Acrotend, and Scaale, in different capacities, within talent and HR.
6. Meenakshree Nanda
Meenakshree Nanda is currently the Hub Capability & Talent Lead at Vodafone Idea Ltd.
She has handled diversified roles across geographies, leading to a learning curve that has evolved her with every successful stint.
Meenakshree is a certified Facilitator and Instructional Designer and a high-spirited individual with a passion for impacting employee satisfaction through practical human resource approaches and policies.
7. Gauri Das
Gauri Das is VP & Head – HR at India Factoring and Finance Solutions
She is a speaker, a mentor, and empowers individuals and organisations to build the right culture and be a better version of themselves.
She has 14 years of experience in crafting effective HR strategies for both start-ups and well-established organisations. She is passionate about women empowerment and leads a Lean In Circle called Leaders Lifting Leaders.
Some of the many highlights of Gauri’s career are:
- HR 100 under 40
- Top HR Mind (India)
- TAPAI and Economic Times Young HR Leader – top 70
- WICA Luminary – Growth
- The LinkedIn person the year 2020
- CEO recognition – EOQ.
8. Poonam Choudhury
Poonam Choudhury is currently the Talent Acquisition Leader for GE Gas & Power.
She is a versatile leader who has extensive experience in both client and CXO search environments and in varied verticals. Her experience comes from working with heavy-weights like Dupont, Microsoft, and HDFC life.
Her focus has always been to pick the right person for the job and empower them to flourish. She is a passionate professional who has a holistic understanding of the HR field and is extremely action and results-driven.
9. Sonia Sahgal
Sonia Sahgal is the University Recruiting Leader for Microsoft India.
By being part of the HR industry for over two decades, Sonia has worked with some prominent corporates and inspirational leaders.
Her passion and determination to work outside her comfort zone have helped her scale difficult peaks in spite of returning to work after a break. The challenges she faced re-starting her career have made her stronger, more efficient and the all-rounded HR professional she is today.
She believes in helping her team battle with the same strength and enables them to learn, develop, and be the best they can be. She is a visionary and an excellent manager who has made her mark by leading, training, and enhancing the professional and personal skills of every one of her team members.
10. Raksha Agarwal
Raksha Agarwal is the Head of Talent Acquisition with SAP. She is a seasoned HR professional leader with an impressive 18+ years of experience in local as well as global talent acquisition.
She has led and managed high-performing teams across multiple geographies.
Her revitalising personality and ability to handle multiple responsibilities have contributed to her success.
Raksha has been meticulous about learning the art and science behind talent acquisition. It is no wonder that she is recognized and respected for being an influential voice in the HR fraternity.
Women in HR will continue to make their mark
Whether by discovering groundbreaking new HR strategies, eliminating traditional biases against women in the work-force, improving employee engagement, or getting more women into the work-force or upper management, these HR leaders are making a difference every day.
They are women who have made their mark, becoming prominent voices in the industry and inspiring many women.
