At what point in your life did you decide to take up HR as your career? What were the guiding / motivating factors?

During my academic year, I had a subject on Human Resources and that’s when I thought of making a career in this field.

HR is one practice that touches human lives directly. Do you think employers and specially HR Professional can play role in reducing stress levels of employees through various employee engagement initiatives?

An HR plays a very important role in maintaining the work life balance of the employees. Hence it becomes equally very important to have well defined KRAs which is linked to individual and organisational goals. 
The stress level can be reduced by conducting one on one meetings, skip level meetings & stand-up meetings where employees are vocal about their work, their managers, HR policies, admin related things and so on. Such initiative helps to bring in open culture, transparency and resolving the issues/concerns amicably. 
Another way to control the stress level is by conducting several employee engagement activities like celebrations during festivals, Rewards & Recognition awards, Health Checkup camps, Fitness camps, Childrens Day, Annual Day, Periodic Contests, Soft Skills training, Doctor-On-Call and many more which I feel curtails down the stress level of employees. We also have flexi working hours, work from home facility as we are concerned with the final output and results from the employees.

What are some of the most important employee engagement initiatives related to Music, Art, Dance or Sports that you have taken in your career?

So during my various stints with different companies, we have arranged for events like Talent Show, Sports, Annual Day etc etc wherein we ask the employees to showcase their hidden talent. It is one of the way to motivate and recognise the talent. Once we had also arranged for Guitar classes for the interested employees. I was being part of team who were instrumental in setting up a gymnasium and recreation centre comprising of Table Tennis, Carrom, Snookers for the employees.

Do you think time and cost for employee engagements are an investment for the organisation and can help in multi-fold returns?

It is indeed very essential especially as we are residing in metro cities where most of us spend time on commuting from home to office and back home. So, these kinds of engagements make the environment lighter and more favourable. Happier & contented resources will always be more productive then the unhappy resources.

Do you feel there is a need even to reach out to the family of employees so that they get better connected to the company? Have you undertaken any such initiative in your past or current organization?

There is a quarterly contest held for the team(s) and obviously the contest is all about achieving the target. So, whoever wins the contest, we don’t felicitate in the office, we send a letter signed by our CEO in the name of winners family members along with a basket of sweets, a trophy or a memento to the employee’s family because this brings out a gesture of pride for parents and the employee as well. This helps the employee to put more efficiency in his/her work.

What is the one change that you would like to bring in HR practice that has potential to boost employees work-life balance?

The more you give freedom to the employees, more productive they will become. If there are some stringent HR policies, then it would be difficult for an employee to survive in such a work environment. The main concern must be drawn towards the desired output and provide them the benefits which will take care of work-life balance.

What are your personal interests in Music, Art, Dance or Sports and how do you continue to pursue it?

I enjoy Music and I listen to all kinds of music. It all depends on my mood swings, I enjoy old Hindi songs and pop music too.  It is not restricted to a single language like in my college days, I used to listen to some south Indian music. I rather enjoy the music than the lyrics.