I lead the people function at Praneri Managed Services in Lucknow. Our colleagues support workplace technology and enterprise service desks, from a failed device at a customer's office to a planned migration involving many locations. We employ 3,100 people across service centres and client sites. The work is technical, but the conditions in which it is done depend on ordinary management decisions: who is promoted, who is available after hours, whose earlier service is recognised and what evidence opens a door to employment.
I came into technology through personnel work in textiles and employee relations in business support. Those experiences made me attentive to the gap between the formal record and the arrangement people actually live with. At Praneri I first led regional HR, then people operations, before becoming CHRO in July 2022. Forty-four colleagues report through five heads. My remit includes ₹8.6 crore in annual function expense; it does not give me authority over the company's entire wage bill or the operating commitments made by client teams.
My recent decisions have required managers to be more explicit about what they ask of people. We separated technical progression from readiness to manage others. We funded additional cover in a service-desk pilot instead of relying on informal calls to staff who had finished their shifts. During an acquisition, we retained agreed service and leave records rather than make employees begin again administratively. In selected hiring, we tested job-relevant capability without using a degree as the initial exclusion. Each choice had a cost, and none removed the need for judgement in individual cases.
Thirty-six proposed promotions, three different decisions
A 2024 review found twenty-two candidates ready for people-management responsibilities, eight better suited to a technical-specialist path and six needing further preparation. Specialist progression carried comparable pay opportunity. The six deferred candidates retained their existing roles; this was not a workforce reduction.
After-hours cover became a funded operating requirement
A twelve-month pilot across a 240-person support population added eighteen posts at ₹1.44 crore annual employment cost. Unscheduled off-duty call-ins fell from 186 to 71 across comparable six-month recording windows. The measure concerns call-ins, not every interruption or a claim that fatigue was eliminated.
Acquired employees kept an account of their earlier service
For 420 employees joining through an acquisition, the transaction plan preserved agreed service dates and leave balances. ₹76 lakh in assessed accrued-leave obligations was recognised in the negotiated plan. It was an assumed cost, not an HR saving or a universal legal formula.
Current focus
I am reviewing how the management and specialist pathways work after the first year. The question is whether managers are accepting responsibility for feedback, work allocation and escalation, while specialists can progress without acquiring a team merely to justify their grade. We are also checking whether employee queries after acquisitions are resolved from dependable records rather than recollection.
Conversations I welcome
I would discuss one first external board appointment at an established service business, subject to employer clearance and conflict assessment. My provisional commitment is twenty days a year. I am interested in a people or nomination-and-remuneration committee contribution where appropriate, while learning the responsibilities of collective oversight before considering a chair role.
Beyond the page
The record behind the perspective.
Formation
Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource ManagementTamshori HR College · 2000
Working with Zoya since she became CHRO in 2022, I have seen her turn a general concern about people into a decision we can examine. She identifies the responsibility, the cost and the person who will answer for implementation.
Javed TershaniCEO, Praneri Managed Services; executive colleague since 2022The full record ↗
Contact
I would discuss one first external board appointment at an established service business, subject to employer clearance and conflict assessment. My provisional commitment is twenty days a year. I am interested in a people or nomination-and-remuneration committee contribution where appropriate, while learning the responsibilities of collective oversight before considering a chair role.
