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Mandar Arankalle, PHRi, has spent his HR career building functions from the ground up across industries, from IT to real estate. In this HRCI Champion feature, he shares the principles that have stayed consistent, a talent initiative that reshaped retention, and why listening to employees remains the most important skill an HR leader can have.
Looking back on your career, how did you approach building an HR function from the ground up at organizations where it barely existed, and how did that shape your path to your current role?
I worked at startups and product-based organizations earlier in my career, where the HR function was minimal, and I had to build it myself.
I started by having conversations with HR colleagues to understand how the function worked in their organizations, and I spoke with employees directly to get their feedback on existing HR processes.
I wanted to hire the right people for the organization, so I initiated an HRMS and ATS as part of the HR process, which helped me in maintaining the employee database.
I also set up the learning and development function by identifying training needs and mapping competencies and skills required for each role, in collaboration with business leaders. As a certified trainer, I conducted training for over 2,000 employees across India, covering behavioral and soft skills, HR processes, and domain competency. I also partnered with an external training vendor on leadership training for the organization's leaders.
This work helped me define systems for performance management, career architecture, and people and culture initiatives.
Compliance was something I made sure was built into every HR function in the company, from hiring to retirement, in line with Indian laws.
You earned your PHRi certification while building a career across several industries. How has that global perspective influenced the way you approach HR strategy and leadership, and has the certification changed how others view your expertise?
My PHRi certification has helped me apply what I've learned in the HR function, particularly in the IT and product-based companies I worked for earlier in my career.
In terms of HR strategy, I worked on a skill-based compensation program by studying job functions across each domain, including Operations, Quality, Accounts, IT, and SAP. This made employees happier and created strong involvement in contributing to the organization's business goals.
I also executed HR policies and an HR manual for US- and UK-based employees on the IT side, designing HR processes across global locations. This helped me define the HR function more broadly and build the compliance processes required under US law for those global teams.
This kind of strategic work, performance management, employee engagement, people and culture, and skill and competency development, has been a constant across the organizations I've partnered with over the years, and it's been rewarding to have that work recognized by the CEOs and business heads I've worked alongside.
Today, I mentor and coach several HR professionals, and I guide my own HR team in learning new processes, systems, and digitalization tools.
You've built HR capabilities across BPO, manufacturing, startups, automotive, IT consulting, and now real estate. Which HR principles remain constant regardless of industry, and which have required you to completely rethink your approach?
Employee engagement has been the one constant across every industry I've worked in. What's had to change, sometimes completely, is performance management, learning and development, compensation and benefits, and employee welfare, each shaped by the specific goals of the business I was in at the time.
Working across so many sectors pushed me to rethink and rebuild these processes repeatedly. My biggest contributions have come through HR transformation, including digitalization, succession planning, competency-building through learning and development, employee satisfaction surveys, and earning Great Place to Work certification for a company I supported.
You're currently leading HR in India's real estate sector. What are the most pressing talent challenges today, and how have you addressed them?
The biggest challenge is finding the right people for specific roles within the real estate and infrastructure business. Retention and performance measurement remain ongoing questions, especially for employees in business development, sales, and procurement, who often move across projects over time.
Addressing this has meant working directly with functional leaders to map hiring needs, required skills, and budget six months out, using multiple channels to close roles within our target timelines. It's also meant building performance management processes that give managers a structured way to run goal-setting, reviews, and feedback conversations, and designing HR policies specific to real estate operations, from biometric attendance to new software rollouts.
We've invested in employer branding to attract the right talent, alongside engagement efforts including recognition programs, festival events, leadership connects, and quarterly townhalls, which has helped retain our top performers.
Change management has been a consistent thread throughout your career. Can you share a transformation initiative that challenged you the most, and what made it successful?
One of the most challenging initiatives I was part of was building a talent pool framework. It started with making the business case to senior leaders, showing why this was a critical need for the organization. There was pushback from several operations managers early on, which we worked through using data analysis of employee skills and real-world scenarios.
Once approved, the framework we designed used a 9-box grid, plotting employees on performance versus potential across our Pune operations and support functions. Every functional head had to rate their team and estimate how long it would take them to reach the next level. This ran from the CEO's direct reports down through every business unit.
We also built out manager capability: every manager had to identify a successor for their role and commit to developing their own skills for higher responsibility.
We paired the framework with cross-functional training, such as SAP consultants learning S/4HANA, and domain-specific sessions led in partnership with company clients. We also ran a compensation benchmarking exercise that corrected salaries and titles for critical domain experts who'd been underleveled.
This helped attrition drop from 27% to 19% year-over-year, with a renewed focus on hiring the right talent. We also launched a buddy program pairing new hires with a point of contact for their first weeks, which fed directly into succession planning. Combined with a hybrid work schedule, it created a culture where employees felt real ownership over their work.
Throughout your career, you've focused on employee engagement, people and culture, career architecture, and HR digitalization. What's one lesson you've learned about aligning HR strategy with the broader goals of the business?
Every HR leader needs to understand the language of the business: the strategy, the goals, and where the company is headed, not just HR's own priorities.
From there, HR can work with department heads to plan workforce needs and create real upskilling opportunities. Growth has to be visible: career paths, succession planning, involving high performers in cross-functional projects, and giving employees direct access to leadership through regular "leader connects."
As you look back on your career so far, what experience has shaped your philosophy as an HR leader more than any other?
More than anything, I've learned the value of truly listening to employees. Too often, people's opinions go unheard, and that's when attrition creeps in.
At one organization, I saw this play out directly: employees were dealing with issues around attendance systems, communication gaps, and a lack of awareness of HR processes, which left many questioning whether they were in the right place. Around 5% of employees left during that period, largely because there was no one listening to their concerns early on.
Change management has been a thread throughout my career. I've made it a priority everywhere I've worked, and it's what turns a company into something employees feel genuinely invested in. Every employee deserves to be recognized, motivated, and shown a real path forward, and that's what drives satisfaction and ultimately builds a company's reputation as a place where top talent wants to work.
You're active in the HRCI ENGAGE community. What keeps you engaged, and what kinds of conversations on the platform have resonated with you most?
I believe strongly in learning and exchanging knowledge, and in understanding other HR professionals' perspectives within the field. HRCI ENGAGE has given me a platform to contribute and exchange information, and I'm glad that HR professionals engage with my posts and share their views.
HRCI ENGAGE has also helped me connect with HR professionals across global and regional locations. It's been valuable to hear their perspectives through webinars, sessions, and posts on the platform. Discussions on code of conduct, stress management, and learning and development have been especially effective.
HR in India is evolving rapidly. What changes do you think will have the biggest impact over the next five years, and where do you see the profession heading?
AI and digitalization will be the biggest forces shaping every industry, and HR professionals need to keep pace with that shift in their own skill sets. But AI is a tool, not a substitute for the human element in HR. It can't replace the interactions, discussions, and connections that are core to the job.
I expect manual processes to disappear as digitalization accelerates, which may mean some roles shrink while others require employees to pivot their skills. I also see HR becoming more streamlined through chatbots, HR helpdesks, and mobile-first tools replacing laptop-based systems.
Mandar Arankalle, PHRi, is a strategic HR leader with progressive experience across HR operations, talent acquisition, change management, HR transformation, and people and culture, with a strong track record of driving organizational success through people-first leadership and capability building. His expertise spans recruitment strategy, compensation design, and succession planning, with a focus on building cultures of collaboration and continuous employee development.