Is the HR really the evil creature that Scott Adams has made us believe? How do HR functions work at OYO? To get an answer to these and other questions, the editorial team at OYO pestered the Associate Vice President of Human Resources, Ila Sharma, to give us some HR tit bits.

HR, are you Catbert? Should I be scared of even interviewing you?

Do you still work here? (Evil smile)

How is HR Business Partnering function different at start-ups and especially at OYO?

Start-ups manage to conquer the impossible because they are in touch with the realities of today and possibilities of tomorrow. The most important thing to learn in a setup like this is that you don’t get the best out of people with a carrot and stick approach. You do so by gaining their respect through leading by example, getting them used to winning and convincing them that their capability is much more than their current level of performance. People Leadership is all about juicing out that additional 5% of performance that your workforce didn’t know they had.

Your mantras for successful HR business partnering and HR functioning?

1. Listen and watch twice as much as you talk – absorb everything.
2. Build trust and create purposeful communication.
3. Turn insights into action – Be an excellent executor.
4. Great interpersonal relations – spend more time working with non-HR staff; spend less time working alone.
5. Understand internal business operations to decode your stakeholder expectations and build the culture.
6. Be a change agent for the business – create and implement solutions.
7. Engage others; Focus on improving employee experience and your engagement scores would increase automatically.
8. Simplify – Simplify – Simplify – but in the right direction.
9. Encourage management to have more talent conversations to keep up with the change – both formal and informal.
10. Don’t stop at first answers – go beyond the obvious; stay curious and agile.

Your message for prospective employees?

At OYO, you see things in a way that is completely different from any other company. You’re in the scene, not just a number, and the sense of presence is overwhelming. Close your eyes, take a leap of faith and experience what it’s like to dive into the adventures at OYO – one great experience at a time.

Favorite OYO moment?

There have been many, but most recently, I had a lot of fun during the shooting of Women’s Day video. The idea was to create an impact through the employee messages and promote women success at workplace. Also, I felt really satisfied and super happy when we achieved one-million check-ins. I look forward to celebrating many more happy moments here.

 

Ila works as AVP-HR at OYO. She has been in the industry for 12 years and has previously worked at organizations like Cvent, UHG, Baxter, IBM & Escorts Finance. In her free time, Ila loves traveling, running and reading.