Mayank Jauhari, Director HR – Global Shared Services & CCO Office at A.P. Moller – Maersk, speaks with India Employer Forum on navigating large-scale HR transformation, integrating acquisitions across geographies, building standardized reward systems, and the evolving role of India as the epicenter of global shared services.
Moderated by: Dhiren Makhija, Senior Vice President – TeamLease Services
As global organizations consolidate operations and scale shared services, India has emerged as a strategic hub for enterprise-wide capabilities. In this context, HR’s role has evolved far beyond centralization—becoming a critical driver of value, culture, and long-term business outcomes. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience across industries, Mayank Jauhari shared how Maersk approaches people strategy at a global scale.
On building depth as an HR professional
Reflecting on his journey as a Mercer-certified compensation and benefits specialist, Mayank emphasized the importance of pairing generalist HR exposure with a strong domain expertise.
“Being a generalist helps you see the system, but carrying a back-pocket skill gives you credibility and impact. For me, rewards became that anchor.”
This specialization enabled him to lead rewards deployment across Asia Pacific—spanning nearly 30 countries and 30,000 employees—before transitioning into global people partnering roles across finance, operations, corporate affairs, and strategy.
On integrating acquisitions at scale
With Maersk operating across 130+ countries and multiple business lines, acquisitions demand a rigorous, people-first approach. Mayank highlighted that rewards and compensation play a critical role right from the due diligence phase.
“Many acquisitions fail not because of strategy, but because people and systems weren’t integrated thoughtfully. That’s where the real risk lies.”
He shared insights from Maersk’s large-scale integration of LF Logistics, where nearly 10,000 employees were absorbed into Maersk systems. Standardized job architecture, external benchmarking partners, regulatory alignment, and technology harmonization formed the backbone of the integration strategy.
On managing culture during M&A
Cultural integration, Mayank noted, is treated as a structured discipline at Maersk—not an afterthought.
“Our organization’s effectiveness team gets involved at the due diligence stage itself. Cultural fit influences which companies we even consider acquiring.”
Through surveys, milestone-based pulse checks, and 30–60–90 day integration dipsticks extending through the first year, Maersk continuously measures alignment. Anchoring everything is the company’s clearly articulated purpose and values, which serve as a common language across legacy and newly integrated teams.
On HR technology transformation
Maersk’s multi-year HR transformation journey was driven not just by platform consolidation, but by the ambition to deliver a consistent employee experience globally.
“We realized our platforms weren’t talking to each other, our processes weren’t standardized, and our organizational structure wasn’t supporting either.”
While Workday became the backbone, Mayank stressed that the real shift was mindset-driven. Resistance to new ways of working—not technology—proved the biggest challenge. The result today is a unified system enabling real-time analytics, automation, and scalable people processes across executive, white-collar, and blue-collar workforces.
On contract staffing and workforce agility
In a business marked by seasonality and global trade cycles, contract staffing plays a critical role in building resilience.
“Contract staffing gives us agility—but it’s constrained by regulation, demand forecasting, and supply-side readiness.”
Mayank pointed to evolving labor codes, workforce planning maturity, and skilling pipelines as key enablers needed to unlock the full potential of contract and gig workforce models—especially in markets like India.
On AI and the future of HR
Rather than viewing AI as a threat, Mayank positioned it as an enabler of better people decisions.
“AI will never replace HR. With AI, HR can outperform itself—making decisions that are faster, fairer, and more scalable.”
Drawing parallels between customer and employee experience, he highlighted the need for HR systems to mirror the simplicity and intuitiveness of consumer technology—using analytics, chat-enabled solutions, and process re-engineering to remove friction from everyday employee interactions.
On India as the global shared services hub
India’s rise as the epicenter of global capability centers, Mayank observed, is driven by language advantage, deep talent pools, and continuous evolution beyond transactional work.
“We started with back offices and call centers. Today, India delivers R&D, analytics, and value engineering at a global level.”
As GCCs expand, the next challenge lies in scaling future-ready talent—anticipating skill obsolescence while investing in early skilling, apprenticeships, and leadership development.
On building next-generation leaders
Mayank identified three non-negotiables for future leaders in global organizations:
- Ability to deal with ambiguity in a volatile, uncertain world
- Authentic, empathetic leadership grounded in availability and trust
Enterprise mindset, connecting functional decisions to broader business and societal impact
Watch the full Samvaad: In Conversation with Mayank Jauhari, Director HR – GSC, CCO Office, A.P. Moller – Maersk
About Mayank Jauhari
Mayank Jauhari is a seasoned HR leader with over two decades of experience spanning compensation & benefits, HR business partnering, large-scale HR transformation, and culture-led performance management. He currently serves as Global Human Resources Director at A.P. Moller – Maersk, where he leads people strategy for global functions including Operations (Maersk GCC), Finance, Corporate Affairs, and Strategy.
A Mercer-certified Compensation & Benefits specialist, Mayank has played a pivotal role in designing and deploying rewards frameworks at scale. During his tenure as Regional Head of Rewards – Asia, he led the harmonisation of compensation and benefits policies across 90+ legal entities in 28 countries, supporting multiple acquisitions and complex M&A integrations. He has also been a core leader in Maersk’s global HR transformation, including migration to Workday and the standardisation of people processes across geographies and workforce segments.
At Maersk’s Global Service Centre (GSC), Mayank has been instrumental in building resilient people systems, strengthening employee relations, and enabling seamless HR integration for new site setups in markets such as Poland and Mexico. His work consistently bridges business outcomes with employee experience, ensuring that people practices scale sustainably in a highly global, regulated environment.
Before joining Maersk, Mayank held senior HR leadership roles at PepsiCo, Novartis, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, and HCL Technologies, gaining cross-sector experience across FMCG, pharmaceuticals, financial services, and technology. This diverse background has shaped his enterprise-wide perspective on talent, rewards, and organizational effectiveness.
An alumnus of Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon, Mayank combines strong analytical grounding with a deep interest in the convergence of HR, technology, and data-driven decision-making. He is particularly passionate about creating high-performance cultures, improving employee experience, and preparing organizations for the future of work through empathetic, purpose-led leadership. You can connect with Mayank here.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this article, including any accompanying data, are the sole responsibility of the author and should not be construed as reflecting the official policy or position of India Employer Forum.
