Only you can truly build and shape your organisation’s culture. To Sitaram Kandi, CHRO of Tata Motors, every leader must take ownership of the shared values that make a company special. With that foundation, it becomes possible to drive business direction, to engage and keep talent, to make your people future-ready.

In this episode, Sitaram joins host Cheshta Dora, Head of Research & Community at People Matters, to share the approach that has kept the culture and values of Tata Motors so strong over the years that people come and stay just for it.

Key Takeaways

• Business owns the teams, and business must drive the culture; HR is the facilitator helping the action plan to happen.

• Ask yourself: How can we do more for our people, more for society, more to give back to society? That brings a fresh burst of energy to every conversation.

• Engaging people is about giving them the opportunity and the foundation to better themselves in multiple different ways, so that they in turn can better the business.

• Challenge your high performers, give them the opportunity to compete, and appreciate their efforts; that is the best way to keep them with you.

• Make your niche capabilities broad-based, spread them to as many people as possible, in order to be future-ready.

• Organisations must remain agile with their policies and systems, constantly revisiting and reviving them to ensure that they meet the expectations and aspirations of each new generation.

• Keep structure, process, and people part of every discussion, so that your talent needs are pre-emptively met as part of every initiative.

What is a company’s culture really about? For Anna Ho, CHRO of Vena Group, it is the one overarching thing that connects all the important aspects of the organisation: values and purpose, business performance and results, strategy and advancement, people and heart. Culture is the glue that unites everyone, and shaping it so that it can shape the organisation is HR’s life work.

In this episode, Anna joins host Cheshta Dora, Head of Research & Community at People Matters, to converse about how culture can be created and supported.

Key Takeaways

• HR’s work is about building a sense of belonging and engagement, using culture to unite people with a shared purpose and propel everyone forward together in the same direction.

• An organisation’s core purpose draws people who believe in it, and the interactions those people have around that purpose is the foundation of culture.

• Building culture involves empowering people to recognise and be recognised, to celebrate others and in turn be celebrated for what they’ve achieved.

• Culture is not a one time achievement: it lives and constantly evolves, and what matters at any point in time is the next step.

• When HR leaders play a role in shaping the business agenda, they have a platform to connect purpose with results, results with strategy, and strategy with heart.

• Respect, empathy, and inclusion are the key elements that allow people to build an organisation together.

• With the support of the executive team, HR is no longer fighting for a seat at the table but actively helping to shape the agenda.

What does it take to become an inspiring leader? For Niren Srivastava, CHRO at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, it’s less about titles and more about traits. In fact, being inspirational is hierarchy agnostic. If you support people and create a safe space for them, then you’re an inspiring leader. In this episode, Niren joins host Cheshta Dora, Head of Research & Community at People Matters.

Key Takeaways

• Inspiring leadership is hierarchy-agnostic – anyone, from a CEO to a frontline manager or even an Uber driver, can be a source of inspiration.
• Talent follows inspiration – people join organisations not just for money, but to work with leaders who empower, appreciate, and uplift.
• Culture is not proximity – in distributed and hybrid workplaces, belonging stems from authenticity, purpose, and empathy, not physical presence.
• Culture documents matter – these serve as a playbook for how performance should be driven respectfully and meaningfully.
• Respect in exits matters as much as entries – employees will remember not just how they were welcomed, but how they were let go.
• Empathy ≠ leniency – leaders must be firm on performance but soft on people; the “how” matters as much as the “what”.
• Great workplaces feel like home – employees stay when work relationships go beyond transactional, evolving into meaningful bonds.