Exclusive Interview with Krishna Prasad, Senior Director, Human Resources, Skillsoft

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Krishna Prasad (KP) is the Senior Director of HR & Operations, Skillsoft India & APAC. He comes with two decades of diverse professional experience in the human resources function across IT/ITES industries. In his role as the Senior Director, KP is responsible for the entire gamut of human resources including talent acquisition, compensation & benefits, employee experience, training & development, workplace diversity, rewards & recognition, and much more.

 
In an exclusive interview with HR.com, Krishna shares his HR journey, his challenges and learnings, and his take on how workplace culture is evolving, among others.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: What has your HR journey been like and what influenced you the most to have a positive impact on your career?

Krishna: My passion has always been around “People”, and I feel obliged that I was able to make a career out of it. By virtue of my Master’s degree in Human Resources, I have always been intrigued by human behavior and psychology. With the learnings and experiences working for different IT & ITeS companies, I was able to contribute to the growth of organizations, but most importantly, created a positive difference in many people’s careers and their future aspirations.

 

Q: What were your challenges during the early days of your career? What are those today?

Krishna: In the early stages of my career, it was more about learning and implementing. During this period, I struggled with time management, handling concurrent projects, and understanding people dynamics. In today’s fast-paced environment, where results are expected as early as “yesterday”, my challenges are multi-skilling and stakeholder management.

Q: How do you see workplace culture evolving over the years?

Krishna: Workplace culture is ever-changing. From being business-driven a decade ago, it has evolved into a people-driven environment. ‘People first, business next’ is the mantra that organizations need to follow. With employee-centricity becoming more important than ever before, we are going to see the focus shift from a time-based business outcome to a result-based business outcome. This will impact everything from how we measure productivity to the way we view employee growth. 
 
Post the Covid-19 pandemic, we are already seeing an uptick in workplaces offering flexibility in terms of work hours. This trend will continue to flourish and fixed office hours will become a thing of the past. 

Similarly, we will be moving from sporadic employee engagement activities to end-to-end employee experience that includes every aspect of an employee’s journey with us. Finally, we will be seeing a departure from classroom training as we embrace on-the-job learning that makes for more hands-on and active skill development. 

Q: Can you share the top three learnings from the challenges you faced?

Krishna: The three principles I have developed through the years are: 
 

1. Change is constant and one should always be prepared — You either “change” or be ready to “get changed”
2. Pulse check – Businesses do not run on their own, they need people, so it is very important to check the pulse of employees periodically and take necessary measures 
3. Being in the game – If one needs to survive in this cut-throat competitive world, one needs to constantly innovate and plan. We may have best of the company and people, but if we are not following the next big wave, we are out of the game.

Q: Where do you draw inspiration from? What do you have to say to those who are still struggling to find a place in the boardroom?

Krishna: In today’s digital era, inspiration is all around you, all the time. Books, podcasts, audio books, TED talks, and many more. There is no magic formula for success, but basic principles, such as attention to detail, performing thorough homework on task, working on your professional resume and getting the necessary “power skills” to get you through the door.

Q: Where do you draw the line when it comes to work-life balance?

Krishna: In this connected world, a notification (either personal or work) attracts your attention and there is no going back and changing this. However, what matters is the clarity/preferences in your mind so that one does not overshadow the other part.

Q: What fundamental change(s) (in terms of culture) have you brought into your company?

Krishna: There are some key changes that we are enabling within the organization to ensure a smooth employee experience. Encapsulated some of these ahead: 
 

• “YOU” are In-charge — Enabling employees with all the learning aids for their success (both professional and personal)
• One Size “Doesn’t” Fit All — Personalization of benefits based on employee needs 
• Engagement to Experience — Doing away with standard calendarization of fixed employee events; steered an employee experience committee to enhance the employee experience by customizing the events to suit all types of employees
• Overall Well-being — Physical and mental well-being is the core of employee matters in this day and age. We have introduced an employee assistance program (EAP) for employees to reach out to counselors in different areas of expertise 

Q: What are some major changes you see affecting HR within the next few years?

Krishna: The workplace and its requirements are changing rapidly, and so are an HR leader's responsibilities. I believe that functions like skilling and upskilling, talent retention and development, and digitization will change the HR space in the times to come. Leading the talent strategy, HR leaders will have a seat at the table and make significant contributions to business transformation as employee-centricity takes center stage. 
 

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