Nurturing Talent and providing them the right conducive environment is the job of a good HR Professional. That is what Neha Singh excels at. She has an uncanny ability to understand individual employees’ motivations, is a keen observer of human behavior and can handle complex issues with flair. People come to her to get the comfort that things aren’t all broke. She tirelessly helps them get on the right track, empowers them in a very detached manner without getting too involved and yet giving them the comfort of being there.
This untiring focus on core values fosters a strong company culture, aligns employee behaviour, and ultimately drives sustainable success. “My focus is always on creating a culture where talent thrives and individuals feel valued,” says Neha Singh, the HR Business Partner at Kalpataru Limited.
Ensuring a People-First Approach
She comes as a breath of fresh air, selfless and in pursuit of excellence. Her calling is HR and it comes across in a very natural and authentic manner. With over a decade of experience, she has carved a niche for herself by seamlessly blending strategic human resource management with a people-first approach. Her resolute passion for empowering individuals and fostering organizational success is evident in her impactful work across learning and development, talent management, and employee engagement.
As the Head of Learning and Development, Neha has spearheaded transformative programs that enhance skills, inspire growth, and elevate team performance. Beyond her corporate achievements, Neha contributes to the HR community as a guest lecturer, sharing real-world insights and inspiring the next generation of leaders. Her dedication, vision, and ability to drive meaningful change position her as a trusted and influential leader in the field.
A Journey of Education and Experience
Neha’s professional journey is a testament to her commitment to learning, growth, and excellence. With a strong academic foundation and a wealth of experience, she has steadily built her career as a distinguished HR leader.
Her educational milestones reflect a deep-seated passion for understanding and enhancing organizational dynamics. Neha completed her Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM) from the prestigious Welingkar Institute. This was complemented by her Bachelor’s Degree in Management from PTVA’s Sathaye College. To further refine her expertise, she pursued an Executive MBA in Human Resources Development from SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), equipping her with the strategic and operational acumen needed to excel in HR leadership roles.
Neha’s career journey began at Nilkamal Limited, where she served in Sales. Over two years, she honed her skills in client engagement and sales operations, gaining invaluable insights into customer behaviour and business strategies.
In 2015, she joined Kalpataru Limited, embarking on a remarkable journey of over nine years. As an integral part of the HR team, she has excelled in Training and Development, HR Business Partnering, and other crucial HR functions. Her contributions have not only strengthened the company’s people-centric initiatives but also played a pivotal role in aligning HR strategies with organizational goals.
A Flair for Creating a Fun-Filled Workplace
Reflecting on her career, Neha shares, “Education and experience have been my guiding lights. They have enabled me to understand both the theoretical and practical aspects of driving success through people.” Her journey serves as an inspiring example of how continuous learning and diverse experiences can lay the foundation for impactful leadership.
Regarding her motivation, Neha says that the job of providing human resources for a business and developing those resources to meet the challenges is purposeful and satisfying, and she was attracted to this function. “I also discovered on the way that I have a flair for the HR role and enjoy performing it. It doesn’t feel like work – it’s fun and impactful both – so I got into it.”
A real estate giant, at Kalpataru Limited, Neha says they believe in providing good quality work to her people – “There is no better motivator than the work itself. And if people are engaged in worthy pursuits, then they deliver their best. No one has to prod them. There is no need for extrinsic motivation because then people are internally motivated and driven.” That’s the philosophy they follow at Kalpataru, and it has yielded fruitful results.
Providing a Conducive Environment
In a continuously evolving era, Kalpataru stands for building good quality homes for its customers. According to Neha, the entire Real Estate sector is currently undergoing formalization and consolidation. The market shares of leading known players in the industry are growing, and Kalpataru is uniquely placed to leverage its inherent strengths, she states.
Shedding light on her approach to leadership and team building within the organization, Neha says that it is to provide the best framework and let people have a lot of freedom within that framework. “Most of our work is targeted towards providing a conducive environment where people are psychologically safe and willing to contribute their best without inhibition.” Being in HR provides her with an opportunity to enable such a conducive work culture, and it’s very fulfilling to do so and see the results.
Tackling Disruptions
The essence of future HR transformation lies in innovation, disruptions, and enhancing the end-user experience. Especially, says Neha, disruptions are a given to the Business – “You don’t need to invite them.” A lot has happened to the industry, which calls for coping strategies and process changes. In real estate, if one recounts, it started with demonetization, followed by the NBFC crisis, the RERA (the Real Estate Regulator), and then COVID-19. Disruptions are endless, and each one brings its own challenges, and every time, the organization has to evolve. Sometimes it’s process level change, sometimes change in mindsets, sometimes adoption of refined/redefined practices.
Tech-Integrated Seamless Experience
Digitalization and technological advancements are crucial aspects of the modern HR ecosystem. Neha shares that the HR function at Kalpataru has been completely digitized. “We were on Oracle earlier and shifted to SuccessFactors.” The Cloud Based Application helps keep all employees connected to the company at all times and acts as a medium for information dissemination. In addition to this core Human Resource Information System (HRMS), they also use specialized applications for Attendance, Leave, Payroll, Outdoor Duties, Digital Signing of Documents and a Document Management System for storage. All these applications are integrated with the core SuccessFactors system to provide a single sign-on and seamless experience to the employees.
An Empowered Team
Neha is an ardent believer in workforce empowerment. She also believes that learning and growth are two very important pillars of Employee Engagement. “We place much emphasis on embedding these into the Employee journey with Kalpataru.” The two have to go hand in hand – growth cannot happen if learning isn’t happening. “We also ensure that the Knowing-Doing Gap gets eliminated or at least reduced by ensuring application of what is learnt on the job.” In fact, the learning isn’t complete if not applied to the work. With this application, the skills of individuals increase. Growth follows.
A pipeline of internal talent is encouraged to develop in each function, which can then grow into available opportunities. Valuing internal talent is the starting point of empowerment. Neha adds, “We believe that allowing people to reach their capabilities and then stretching those capabilities to make them grow is the basis of a human-centric organization. This is how we foster a culture of growth at Kalpataru.”
Triumphing Over Troubles
It is with an empowered workforce that Kalpataru triumphed over every challenge, says Neha. “The industry, particularly our company, went through 4-5 challenging years when cash flows were stressed and work wasn’t happening at the desired pace.” HR had a very tough job of keeping the spirits high, managing the motivation levels of employees and providing them hope that things would turn around. It was difficult for people to believe in the resilience of the company at that time because things were extremely bad. However, the plans played out, and the company rebounded strongly. “The credibility of HR became much better, and we’re now in a position to leverage the situation for the growth phase of the company.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped industries globally. Also, continuously escalating geopolitical scenarios add to the unpredictability of the situation. Yet, Neha says, “The difficult times taught a lot to us collectively. We learnt how to come together and face adversity. It was an amazing experience where the core employees of the company stuck to it despite having far better opportunities outside. The resolve of the organization to come out shining from the crisis has become even stronger. And the resilience that has been built-in would help us tide through any crisis as long as we don’t forget what we learned from the past.”
A Transformed Tomorrow
Finally, Neha shares one transformative project which is undertaken by Kalpataru. It is the Grand Central Park at its Parkcity Project in Thane. It’s a unique project that is unrivalled in India (Hyde Park in London or Central Park in New York would be a better comparison). The 22-acre park has been dedicated to the public and run by Kalpataru on behalf of the Municipal Corporation to maintain the standards that a facility of this kind deserves, concludes Neha.
