In conversation with Vikrant Bhatnagar, Head of Human Resources, Hike Messenger. Vikrant shares his perspective on the current talent, the importance of culture and the ways organizations and leaders need to adapt themselves to make way for the talent of the future.
Vikrant comes from a multi ethnic background in India with parents hailing from the north and south of the country. He grew up in a diverse environment as his father was in the army which led him to travel across India. He is an avid squash player and also has interests in long distance cycling and motor biking. Major part of Vikrant’s working life has been outside of India across many countries. Being inclusive of the variety of cultures comes naturally to him. Says he – “I love being out there, meeting people, learning new things and unlearning what’s irrelevant to the context.”
Over his 18-year career, Vikrant has worked across domains giving him a good perspective into the overall organization; he has had stints across operations, brand, marketing and strategy consulting. On his reasons for choosing HR as a career, Vikrant says, “At the beginning, HR found me, but over the years I realized the massive impact people have on businesses, societies and economies and that’s how I embraced HR”.
On the talent today….
He describes the current talent workforce in India as autonomous and driven. According to him, the Indian workforce is potentially the youngest globally which is a big economic advantage for the country.
Says he – “ Today’s workforce has access to unprecedented opportunities, an environment that celebrates risk taking and access to a global employer market place. Employees today seek out to create an impact and fail fast, and are willing to experiment a lot more.”
On the culture today …
Today’s work culture, especially in new age industries, promotes freedom of choice and expression. Employees want to and can manage themselves with broad guidelines. This open canvas is a big driving force that creates a culture of ‘autonomy and ownership’. In new age organizations, failure is a virtue as long as people are failing fast. More and more companies will have to adopt this model if they want to keep the engine of innovation chugging.
Says he – “People want a high degree of autonomy; they ‘want’ to be independent from day-1. They are willing to own a lot, which includes their failures and successes. We respect that at Hike.”
On Organizational Structures…
More and more organizations will be flatter than ever. The tentpole of the organization structure should be built around communication, i.e making communication easy and clear in a complex matrix environment where multiple functions solve problems together – “At Hike, we have a very flat matrix structure and communication is key. We are structured like a football team. Basically a bunch of people from different functions come together and form squads that solve particular pieces of the puzzle. Once the problem is solved, the squad disintegrates and squad members join other squads. To remove ambiguity, over communication is often better than under communication.”
On older working generations in new age industries… Challenges of the workforce of today…
With an average age of 25-26 in new age industries, the mix of old and new is critical. There is always a huge sense of urgency and need for creative freedom; but know that mentorship, direction and focus are also important. Attaining a good balance is key.
He adds “there is learning and unlearning required for both audiences – new and old – to collaborate well. Challenges arise when communication and feedback loops break down.”
Diversity at Hike…
Diversity is very important to us as there are close to 70 million Indians who use Hike. Given the vast diversity in India, Hike sees a need to have a good mix of people not only from different geographies, but across generations and age groups too. We ensure that a diverse population is represented at the right level at Hike. We ensure we have good gender diversity ratio too. Our offices are built such that people can interact fluidly.
Says Vikrant – “At Hike, we have a culture code that defines everything we do – the way we build products, hire people, manage performance, grow people and communicate with each other. The code helps us overcome the challenge of diverse perspectives because when you walk into Hike, everyone tries to align to the Hike Code. This brings everyone on the same page and simplifies expectations.”
| In today’s digitized communicative world, expressions are an integral part of how people communicate with one another. We strive to be inclusive in our solutions to represent the diverse user base in India in terms of generation, gender etc. |
Vikrant closes by saying,“HR as a function is now more a partner to business that delivers results through talent. Irrespective of the scenario today or tomorrow, the role of HR practitioners would be to create a level playing field where employees get the best by being closely aligned to business results and the buinsess gets the most of the talent. It’s got to be a win-win.”
