P&G gets Indian as chief human resource officer

With this, Purushothaman becomes the fourth Indian after Shailesh Jejurikar (COO), Sundar Raman (CEO, Fabric & Home Care), and Kirti Singh (Chief Analytics & Insights Officer) to join the global leadership of the company in recent years. P&G already had one Indian CHRO– Moheet Nagrath– who served between 2008 and 2012.

Purushothaman will take over the role from Tracey Grabowski, who is retiring from the company. To be sure, the American consumer goods multi-national sells a range of household brands such as Pantene, Tide, Whisper, Gillette, Vicks, Head & Shoulders and Ariel in India.

Currently, he is serving as the Senior Vice President of Global Total Rewards, Global Employee & Labour Relations, and Corporate Services. Born in Chennai, Purushothaman earned his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science & Engineering from the University of Madras and a Master’s degree in Human Resources from the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) in Jamshedpur. Purushothaman has over three decades of diverse experience as an HR professional across various areas of expertise and a wide range of categories and markets with P&G.

Purushothaman started his career with P&G in India in 1992 as a management trainee in the human resources department. He went on to work across multiple countries, including Thailand, Singapore, Russia, and the United States. He then moved to Russia, where he assumed his responsibilities as the HR Director of Eastern Europe. In 2010, he was promoted and appointed Vice President, Human Resources for North America. In 2015 he took on the role of Senior Vice President of HR for Global Beauty. Purushothaman is responsible for developing and leading P&G’s people and organization strategy.

This includes attracting and developing diverse talent and building a culture that drives innovation and productivity to support P&G’s business strategy and people across over 70 countries, the company said in a statement announcing his appointment.

India has been a talent factory for P&G worldwide and one of the largest exporters of top talent to P&G globally. The company has more than 300 Indian expats in roles across the globe.

Last year, Procter & Gamble appointed Shailesh Jejurikar as the global COO of the company, the first Indian to hold the position. It had also elevated Sundar Raman as the Global CEO of the company’s Fabric and Home Care division. Earlier this year Madhusudan Gopalan, erstwhile chief executive officer of its India operations moved to a global role within P&G as senior vice president—grooming and oral care, P&G, Japan and Korea.

“In three decades with the Company, I have learned from the diversity of our people and the uniqueness each brings. At P&G, we are leveraging the talent of our people as a competitive advantage by delivering a truly superior employee experience. We do this by attracting great people for a career, giving them early and increasing responsibilities, inspiring managers to be coaches, and including everyone. Our focus on employee development is the biggest differentiator for P&G,” said Bala Purushothaman, Global Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO), P&G.