Sunil Ranjhan, CHRO, Dixon Technologies India, speaks to the India Employer Forum about traditional hiring practices to today’s dynamic talent landscape, leadership development programs, AI and automation, reskilling and upskilling, and more.
Moderated by Balasubramanian A, SVP & Business Head, TeamLease Services Ltd.
When asked about the changes he has seen in the world of work over the past three decades, from traditional hiring practices to today’s fast-evolving talent landscape, Sunil Ranjhan said, “The fundamentals remain the same. Organizations still want the best of talent. They would want to retain the best of the people, and they would like to reward the best of their high-potential people or those people who are contributing to the business. So that was true maybe 40 years back, that is true today, and that’s going to be the basic gospel for even the coming decades till the time business is there. So while the fundamentals remain the same, the things that have changed, according to me, there are basically three shifts that have happened. The first is the employees’ expectations. Earlier, say 40 years back, when I came, people were looking for stable jobs, government jobs, PSU jobs. My parents used to say there are only three kinds of jobs. Either it is in rail, or Sarkar, which means government, or tar, tar means post. So that was the concept that my parents gave to me. But today, as people are looking at jobs, probably, this pecking order has changed. More than stable jobs, people are looking for jobs that will give them a meaningful role. So that is one change that I see happening. People are now more open to roles where they are able to express themselves, where they’re able to bring in whatever is of interest to them, where they see themselves growing and living their whole life in those jobs. So that is one shift which has happened.”
He went on to say, ”The second shift which organizations are seeing is in terms of the technology surrounding how we are hiring, or how we are retaining, or how we are recognizing the talent. So, from the good old days of putting ads in papers, today the talent pool is being brought to us not only from the newspapers, but social media; you’re also relying on job portals, you’re relying more on word of mouth, more on referrals. So today, the whole ecosystem of how talent gets to know about a job has totally changed. Earlier, the lead time, for example, from deciding to hire till the time you start getting people interested in jobs would be say 15-20 days, to a month. But today that happens in a few days. I put an ad today, and then I started filtering. So the total speed of onboarding has had a radical change, and for the better. So that is the technology integration in the HR processes. Be it for hiring, be it for shortlisting, or be it for matching the job profiles with the job requirements. So you have technology doing it for you. So that part has been taken care of.”
Watch the full Samvaad: In Conversation with Sunil Ranjhan, CHRO, Dixon Technologies India
About Sunil Ranjhan
Sunil Ranjhan is currently working as CHRO at Dixon Technologies India Ltd (Since 2024 onwards). He holds a Master of Management Studies (MMS) from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, along with a two-year Post Graduate Diploma in HRD from the National Productivity Council, New Delhi. He is also a certified Level 3 Japanese Language professional (JLPT) and a trained Total Quality Management (TQM) Trainer from HM, Japan. He is a seasoned HR professional having a diversified and rich experience of more than 38 years. He has been in HR leadership roles in Manufacturing, Service and Consulting Industry at Plant, Region and Corporate level roles in leading MNCs in India and Asia Pacific Region. Besides India, he has worked in expat roles in Japan, Thailand and Middle East for more than 10 years.
He’s an avid writer and the author of the best-selling book “No Right Answers”. His articles and interviews have been extensively published in the leading journals and business magazines. Case studies from his book were widely used in management and corporate education in India and abroad. Multilingual and fluent in 5 languages, including Japanese, he has been a visiting faculty in many leading Management Institutes (IIM Raipur). He also serves as an Academic Advisor for Chandigarh University, Corporate Mentor for Sparsh Global Business School. His areas of specialization include Japanese management, cross-cultural management, international HR, HR analytics, sales HRM, and OD. You can connect with Sunil 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.
