By the way, Nooyi occurs to be Nair’s mentor. Nair’s appointment just isn’t solely an enormous leg-up for aspiring girls leaders, it’s additionally a serious thrust to the HR operate, to convey CHROs to the forefront of management candidature.
A Chanel assertion stated Alain Wertheimer (the proprietor) will transfer to the function of world government chairman and Nair, 52, will assume the function of world CEO primarily based in London, UK. The brand new partnership “will additional guarantee long-term success as a non-public firm, believing within the freedom of creation, cultivating human potential and appearing to have a optimistic influence on the planet”, it added.
The $10-billion Chanel competes with world luxurious corporations reminiscent of $50-billion LVMH (Louis Vuitton), Hermes, Gucci, L’Oreal, Michael Kors, amongst others.
“I’m humbled and honoured to be appointed the World Chief Government Officer of Chanel, an iconic and admired firm. I’m so impressed by what Chanel stands for. It’s a firm that believes within the freedom of creation, in cultivating human potential and in appearing to have a optimistic influence on the planet,” Nair stated in a put up on LinkedIn.
“I’m grateful for my lengthy profession at Unilever, a spot that has been my residence for 30 years. It has given me so many alternatives to study, develop and contribute to a very purpose-driven organisation. I’ll all the time be a proud advocate of Unilever and its ambition to make sustainable residing commonplace,” she added.
In a press release asserting Nair’s determination to depart the corporate in January 2022, Unilever CEO Alan Jope stated: “Leena has been a pioneer all through her profession at Unilever, however no extra so than in her function as CHRO, the place she has been a driving power on our fairness, range and inclusion agenda, on the transformation of our management improvement, and on our preparedness for the way forward for work. She has performed a crucial function in constructing our purpose-led, future-fit organisation, which is now the employer of selection in over 50 international locations globally. I’m additionally particularly grateful for her management over the past two years, and the way our HR groups have helped Unilever handle by means of the various challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic with nice care, compassion and professionalism.”
Underneath Nair’s management, Unilever moved the needle to achieve a gender-balanced workforce.
Though it’s uncommon to discover a CHRO taking up as CEO, the announcement opens up such avenues for HR leaders, given the speedy shifts happening after the pandemic. Folks administration and thus HR now could be central to organisations. HR leaders, by the character of their operate, would embody a number of the rising traits required in a CEO at present — empathy being the important thing trait that’s gaining traction.
A gold medallist from XLRI Jamshedpur, Nair is a much-celebrated HR chief globally. Just lately, in a put up on LinkedIn, Nair stated: “I all the time inform HR individuals they should stroll with swagger… HR is not a backroom division, it’s an important a part of operating any profitable enterprise. If you wish to assist your individuals, you must perceive how the enterprise works, and you must be seen inside the enterprise.”
Commenting on her appointment, Keki Dadiseth, who was the chairman of Hindustan Unilever when Nair was a rising star, advised TOI: “She was all the time very competent and really bold and, most significantly, did higher with elevated accountability. She richly deserves her success.”
In previous interactions with TOI, Nair had talked about how she proactively went as much as her former managers and leaders like Dadiseth to get steering on her profession. She highlights this high quality as one of many causes behind her success.
Nair, who studied at Holy Cross Convent College in Kolhapur and handed out as an engineer in electronics and telecommunications from Walchand School of Engineering, Sangli, opted to pursue HR, a lot to the dismay of her father (an industrialist from Kolhapur). That was a serious turning level for Nair, who determined to observe her coronary heart. After becoming a member of HUL as a administration trainee in 1992, Nair labored in varied roles in factories, gross sales and the company headquarters in HUL. She caused a number of adjustments and rose by means of the ranks to turn into government director HR. In 2016, she went on to turn into the primary lady in addition to Asian and the youngest-ever CHRO of Unilever and member of the Unilever Management Government, with accountability for the corporate’s 150,000 individuals throughout greater than 100 international locations globally.
Nair’s profession trajectory offers a perspective on why doing what one is keen about is necessary. She typically speaks about her goal being “to ignite the human spark to construct a greater enterprise and a greater world”. This 12 months, Nair additionally figured on Fortune India’s Most Highly effective Girls Checklist.
Nair is breaking a number of stereotypes not simply with respect to gender however management traits as properly. Whereas the world has principally seen and most popular the command and management form of leaders, Nair, alternatively, is vocal about traits reminiscent of humility and empathy. Just lately, she even stated how leaders wouldn’t turn into weak in the event that they revealed their susceptible facet, or by admitting to creating errors.
Nair can be a non-executive member of BT plc, a member of the board of the Leverhulme Belief, and was a non-executive director within the UK’s division of enterprise, power and industrial technique.
Nair is married with two sons, and her pursuits embody studying, operating, and Bollywood dancing.
Supply: Times of India