Vantage Influencers Podcast

When we talk about rewards at work, the conversation often goes back to familiar territory, pay bands, annual hikes, and benefits packages. But the reality is, the way people work today looks nothing like the systems these rewards were originally designed for. Work has become more fluid. Expectations have shifted. Which brings us to a question that's hard to ignore: Is the traditional rewards model dead or is it just struggling to keep up? To help us unpack this, we're joined by Sahiba Vadhera, Director – Total Rewards, APAC at JLL. With her hands-on experience shaping reward strategies across the region, she brings a grounded perspective on what needs to evolve in how organisations think about rewards.

In this episode of the Vantage HR Influencers Podcast, Sarah Eryan, Human Resources Director for the Middle East and Africa, at Fragomen, shares practical insights on how emerging HR leaders can influence organizational culture without relying on formal authority or senior titles. The conversation explores how building credibility, fostering trust, and leading with intent enable HR professionals to shape culture, strengthen engagement, and drive meaningful change from within.

When we talk about high-performing teams, the conversation often jumps straight to results, numbers, outcomes, and wins. But what usually gets missed is how teams actually arrive there. So, instead of starting with performance itself, it feels more useful to unpack what enables performance in the first place and why it often breaks down even when intentions are good. To help us understand this, we've with us Rajat Bhatia- Senior Vice President & Head- People & Culture at Fareportal. Rajat has been deeply involved in shaping people and culture journeys across fast-growing organizations.

In this episode of the Vantage HR Influencers Podcast, Aline Khoury, HR Senior Business Partner for the Middle East and Africa at AVEVA, shares practical insights on how personal growth in leaders can drive meaningful organizational transformation. The conversation explores how self-awareness, continuous development, and purpose-driven leadership enable leaders to influence culture, strengthen engagement, and guide teams through change with confidence.

In this episode of the Vantage HR Influencers Podcast, Ganesh Iyer, Global Head of Learning and Development at IBS Software, shares practical insights on personalizing learning at scale using assessments, adaptive pathways, and impact metrics. The conversation explores how organizations can move beyond one-size-fits-all training to deliver targeted development, track learning effectiveness, and demonstrate measurable business impact across large, diverse workforces.

We all know that companies are setting ambitious commitments and sharing detailed reports, but increasingly the conversation is shifting to a deeper question, "how much of ESG is actually reflected in the everyday culture of the workplace?" Because ultimately, the real impact of ESG isn't just in policies or disclosures, but in how leaders make decisions and how employees experience the organization every day. To explore this further, we're delighted to welcome Megha Goel, CHRO at Godrej Properties Limited. Host of this Episode: Megha Goel

When we talk about work today, we often focus on performance, productivity, and outcomes. But somewhere along the way, the human side of work, how people feel, how seen they are, can quietly slip into the background. And although, recognition is often mentioned as a solution, but it's not always clear whether it's actually making work more human or just more structured. That's why we wanted to start this conversation by unpacking what "humanizing the workplace through recognition" really means. And to help us with that we've Binnni Rai, Chief HR Office at Omnipresent Robot Tech. Host of this Episode: Sanjeevani Saikia

In this episode of the Vantage HR Influencers Podcast, Josh Cardoz, Chief Creative and Learning Officer at Sponge, shares practical insights on how HR leaders can address the emotional fatigue often experienced by today's workforce, often described as Generation Numb. The conversation explores how organizations can rethink learning, leadership, and workplace support systems to help employees regain energy, purpose, and resilience, ultimately enabling teams to perform sustainably in high-pressure and constantly evolving work environments.

DEI conversations in the MENA region are often shaped by a wide mix of local realities, organizational priorities, and global influences. And because the region is so diverse, inclusion can mean very different things depending on the context. So before jumping into solutions or best practices, it's useful to first pause and explore how inclusion is actually understood and experienced within MENA workplaces today. So to help us unpack this from a grounded, regional perspective, we'll be joined by Jihan ElSaghir. Jihan works as a Regional HR Partner for Pharma across the MENA region, where she's closely involved with people strategy, leadership, and inclusion across diverse markets. Host of this Episode: Sanjeevani Saikia

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the individual speakers, shared for knowledge-sharing purposes, and do not necessarily reflect the official views of their respective organizations or the Vantage Influencers Podcast. Lately, it feels like HR is being asked to do more than ever, move faster, think bigger, and still stay deeply human. And somewhere in the middle of all that, we keep using this phrase: high-impact HR. But do we all mean the same thing when we say it? That's something I would like to unpack in this episode. And to help us understand it in-depth, we're joined by Ratnanjali Arora, Associate Director, HRBP at PwC India. She brings a very grounded, hands-on understanding of what it actually takes to create an impact on HR today.

In this episode of the Vantage HR Influencers Podcast, Ujjal Sengupta, Deputy General Manager, Human Resources at Jio, shares practical insights on how gamified learning can drive productivity and performance across large, complex workforces. The conversation explores how organizations can leverage game mechanics, behavioral design, and data-driven feedback systems to increase participation in learning initiatives, accelerate skill development, and create a culture of continuous improvement at scale.

Leadership conversations often feel a bit binary. We're usually told leaders are either introverts or extroverts. But in real workplaces, most leaders sit somewhere in between, constantly adjusting how they show up based on the situation and the people in front of them. That's the space we're exploring today, ambivert leadership, and what it looks like when that balance is used intentionally. And to talk through this with me, I'm joined by Srividya Venkataramanan, Vice President – HR at FSS. Host of this Episode: Sanjeevani Saikia