Preemita Singh, President & CHRO at Havells India, is a seasoned professional with a proven track record in managing people and driving business objectives. With extensive experience leading HR functions in both local and global contexts, she excels in handling diverse stakeholders. Her leadership style is marked by a results-driven approach, bringing about significant achievements in HR transformation, talent management, leadership development, and leveraging HR technology. Preemita’s strategic vision underscores the crucial role of human resource management in unlocking a company’s full potential. Recognized for her contributions, she has received numerous accolades and stands as a leading voice in HR, showcasing her impactful insights and commitment to advancing the field.
Q1. In your view, what defines a great workplace, and how does that belief guide your HR priorities at Havells?
A great workplace is one where people feel trusted, valued, and empowered to contribute meaningfully. At Havells, we believe that high performance and positive employee experience go hand in hand. People perform at their best when they feel a sense of ownership, have opportunities to grow, and are supported by leaders who lead with empathy and accountability. This belief shapes our people’s agenda priorities, from leadership development and capability building to fostering an environment where diverse perspectives are encouraged and innovation can thrive. We consciously invest in creating these everyday experiences through structured onboarding, manager capability building, internal career opportunities and leadership development. Whenever we introduce new priorities or ways of working, we are equally committed to enabling our people through structured learning and leadership interventions. As the nature of work continues to evolve, employees increasingly seek purpose, flexibility, and opportunities for continuous growth. Our focus is on creating a workplace that enables individuals to build future-ready skills and one that makes people feel involved, inspired and able to make a meaningful impact.
Q2. What are some of the people challenges of the FMCG sector and how does Havells differentiate itself as an employer of choice in the segment?
The consumer durables sector continues to evolve rapidly with changing customer expectations, new channels and increasing competition for talent. Attracting and retaining talent that can thrive in an environment shaped by rapid technological change, evolving consumer expectations and increasing channel complexity remains a key focus area. Employees today expect faster growth, meaningful work and continuous learning alongside competitive rewards.
At Havells, we differentiate ourselves by combining a strong legacy with a culture of innovation, continuous learning and purposeful growth. We invest in structured leadership journeys, technical capability building and career development rather than relying only on external hiring. Our entrepreneurial culture, customer centricity, professional management and commitment to developing people create an environment where employees can build meaningful careers while contributing to sustained business growth.
We are intentional about employee centrality and are committed to keep our workplace, vibrant, inclusive and purposeful for our teams.
Q3. How do leadership qualities at Havells shape the workplace culture and employee experience?
Workplace culture is rooted in leadership behaviour. Teams identify an organization by its leaders. Good culture cannot be inscribed on a wall. It is revealed in choices and actions. At Havells, our leaders are role models for the teams guided by Havells’ values in the way they deal with their teams and conduct business. Authenticity, empathy, accountability, and adaptability are key to how we like to conduct our business. At Havells, trusting, open, and empowered leaders create engaged, collaborative, and resilient teams. Our leaders create psychological safety in which employees feel free to share and build on their ideas. We are open to mistakes and failing as long as actions and intentions are strongly anchored in overall enterprise success rooted in our values. With a strong culture, we are able to attract exceptional talent, remain adaptable to change, and continue to innovate. Our strong culture fosters long-term health for the Organisation, teams and business as a whole.
Q4. With over 25+ years of experience across Indian and global markets, what is your approach to strengthen Havells’ legacy and future readiness?
In my experience it is crucial to understand the context of the organization, its journey, the life stage and make sense of the ecosystem it operates in. For success, there has to be a balance drawn between continuity and change. The legacy gives an organization stability, anchors trust of stakeholders and forms a stable foundation for the organization’s culture. And, for the organization to be ready for the future, there ought to be readiness to flex, innovate and embrace new trends and possibilities, in the context of customers and employees alike. At Havells, we have a significant legacy and goodwill. I am entrusted with conserving the culture, ensuring that the values of the organization continue to guide us and also equipping our people with future skills. We focus on curiosity, learning, and leadership, as they help the organization and the people to manage change effectively. My role at Havells is to make thoughtful investments in people, leadership and capabilities that prepare Havells for the future. Being ready for the future means that Havells is able to change and manage disruption while being consistent with its values.
Q5. Havells has a rich legacy and deeply rooted values. How do you safeguard those traditions while evolving the culture to meet contemporary workplace expectations?
An organization’s strongest foundation comes from the values that endure through time. The legacy that we have built at Havells is part of our identity, part of our purpose, and part of our future growth. The balance that we must uphold is to keep our legacy while adapting the experience of our employees to the external environment. The external environment is characterized by a continuously developing workforce. Today’s workforce seeks purposeful work, opportunities to learn and develop, and a sense of belonging. We have deployed several initiatives where leaders recognize strong contributions, nurture career paths and mentor teams to harness their potential. Recognition today celebrates not only business outcomes but also the behaviors that reflect the Havells way of working. We believe openness, transparency and trust create an environment where people can perform, grow and build long-term careers.
Q6. In today’s professional scenario, how does Havells cultivate collaboration across generations?
A multi-generational workforce is a tremendous strength when organisations create the right environment for collaboration. Younger employees often bring fresh perspectives, digital fluency and new ways of thinking, while experienced colleagues contribute institutional wisdom, customer understanding and practical judgement. At Havells, we encourage cross-functional projects, mentoring relationships and collaborative problem-solving so that learning flows in both directions. We believe collaboration flourishes when people are united by purpose, mutual respect and a willingness to learn from one another. Leaders play an important role in creating inclusive environments where every voice is valued and diverse perspectives lead to stronger business outcomes.
Q7. How is Havells using technology-enabled HR practices to simplify workflows and create a more seamless employee journey?
Technology is transforming the way organizations engage, develop and support their people. At Havells, we see technology not merely as a means to automate processes, but as a strategic enabler that helps us make better decisions, create more meaningful employee experiences and strengthen business outcomes. We leverage analytics, automation and workforce insights to move towards strategic workforce planning, enabling HR to partner with the business in optimizing organization structures and building capabilities required for future growth. Technology also empowers employees to architect their own career journeys through greater visibility into learning opportunities, development pathways and internal mobility. Equally important is the role of data in enhancing fairness, openness and trust. Data-driven decision making brings greater consistency to hiring, performance, development and succession while reinforcing a meritocratic culture. Beyond the employee experience, technology has strengthened our employer brand by enabling more responsive engagement with talent communities and expanding our social media presence
through authentic employee stories, leadership perspectives, innovation and learning journeys. AI is helping us to intelligent decision-making by enabling more personalized learning, faster access to information and better workforce insights.
Q8. How can organisations create a culture of continuous learning that is adaptive, future-ready and deeply embedded into the DNA of work?
Continuous learning is a business imperative rather than a developmental aspiration. At Havells, we take a journey-based approach to learning where development is aligned to career stages and integrated closely with talent management, succession planning and career progression. Our design principle is that learning becomes most effective when it is continuous, practical and closely connected to real work experiences. We increasingly believe in hiring for learning agility, curiosity and potential, recognizing that while technical skills evolve rapidly, the willingness to learn endures. Leaders play an equally important role in building a learning culture. We consciously recognise leaders who invest in developing their teams and consistently grow future leaders from within the organisation. When people development becomes a measure of leadership effectiveness, learning naturally becomes embedded into everyday work, creating a workforce that is resilient, adaptable and future ready.
Q9. At Havells, how do you ensure that inclusion is not just a stated policy but a lived reality across plants, offices and field teams?
Inclusion becomes meaningful when it is experienced consistently in everyday interactions.
At Havells, where employees work across plants, corporate offices, R&D centres and field teams, inclusion has to transcend geography and role. We believe inclusion is closely linked to trust, respect and the ability for every individual to contribute authentically. Creating such an environment requires leaders to foster open dialogue, encourage diverse perspectives and ensure that people feel valued regardless of where they work or the role they perform. Psychological safety is central to this philosophy. We invest in helping leaders and managers lead with empathy, curiosity and fairness so that people feel comfortable sharing ideas, asking questions and challenging assumptions constructively. When employees feel heard and respected, collaboration improves, innovation flourishes and better decisions follow. Building an inclusive culture is a continuous journey that requires commitment at every level of the organization.
Q10. Over the years, Havells has been certified as a Great Place to Work and featured among the Best Workplaces. How has the organisation leveraged these accolades?
External recognitions such as Great Place to Work are encouraging because they reflect the voice of our employees. We view these recognitions as crucial milestones. The greatest value lies in the
insights we get, helping us understand where we are doing well and where we can further strengthen the employee experience. The recognitions reinforce our employer brand and enhance our credibility with prospective talent, while also creating pride among our existing employees. They affirm our commitment to building a high-trust, high-performance culture, but they also motivate us to keep listening, learning and improving.
