Today, organisations are confronting a reality where skills expire faster than they are acquired, and traditional education systems alone can no longer prepare the workforce for constant disruption. The question for leaders is no longer whether to invest in learning — but how to build lifelong learning at scale.

In this episode of People Matters Unplugged, Cheshta Dora is joined by Shana Kruse, VP – HR, Starbucks Asia Pacific. Leading people strategy across one of the most dynamic regions in the world, Shana is embedding learning into the very fabric of the Starbucks Partner Promise — from frontline baristas to regional leaders. Together, they explore what it takes to democratise access to education, design micro and cohort-based learning experiences, and create cultures of belonging that fuel continuous growth. This conversation unpacks how organisations can move beyond episodic training to build scalable, purpose-driven learning ecosystems that prepare people, and communities, for the future.

Today, organisations are grappling with intertwined challenges across talent, business and societal wellbeing. For Priyank Parakh, Director–HR at Haleon India, health, safety and wellbeing are no longer compliance mandates — they are leadership and performance priorities that shape culture, productivity and long-term resilience.

In this episode of People Matters Unplugged, Priyank joins Cheshta Dora to discuss how organisations can embed wellbeing into everyday systems — from flexible work and caregiver support to capability building across sales, supply chain and corporate teams — and what it takes to move from policy intent to cultural impact.

Hiring and retaining talent today goes far beyond merely paying them a salary to do work. For Dr. Guruvayurappan PV, CHRO of Omega Healthcare, it is a commitment employers make: to ensure that people are equipped not only for their roles, but also to advance in their careers at the organisation.

In this second episode of Season 4 of People Matters Unplugged, Dr. Guru tells us about the work that he and his team have done to bridge the employability gap and ensure that talent in his organisation has the opportunity for lifelong learning.

What do you do if AI can perform parts of your job better and more consistently than you yourself can? For Larissa Murmann, Digital CHRO of Unilever International, the answer was clear: use it to augment her and her team's productivity.

In this first episode of Season 4 of People Matters Unplugged, Larissa shares her journey with AI and her thoughts about how to use it responsibly and thoughtfully.

A leader’s most powerful tool is their ability to communicate with the organisation. For Seema Nair, CHRO of Flipkart, this means ensuring that people know the culture, the ethos, the successes, the failures. It’s about finding your voice as a leader and using it to advocate for yourself and your team. In this episode, Seema joins host Cheshta Dora, Head of Research & Community at People Matters, in a dialogue about the power of communication and transparency.

Key Takeaways

• Advocate courageously for yourself and your teams, even if everyone else thinks differently.

• It’s HR’s job to communicate who and what the company is: what the culture is, what kinds of skill sets you’re looking for, and what ethos you want to continue building within the organisation.

• Communicate your successes and failures from all across the organisation, so that people know what worked and what didn’t.

• Over-communicate: people understand different things in very different ways, so be ready to use different means, different modes, different methods, or different languages, whichever works.

• You can establish consistency across the board, or you can let the system evolve in the way it needs to - there’s no one correct way to make a decision.

• People managers are the fulcrum that connects multiple different parts of the organisation, and leaders must continue to inspire, motivate, guide, and provide clarity to them.

• Empower your HR partner teams to customise people solutions based on what their businesses need.

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.