Est. 2006

Chief Human Resources Officer · India · Global perspective

September 2026 edition

Rohan Iyer

Building the leadership, culture and capability to thrive.

Leading article

Building the leadership, culture and capability to thrive.

I build the leadership, organisation and people capabilities that allow strategy to become sustained performance. My work spans succession, organisation design and culture change, with a focus on making people decisions both thoughtful and operationally practical.

The CHRO's role is to bring a clear view of human and organisational capacity into the enterprise agenda. That includes asking whether the leadership model supports the strategy, whether the organisation can absorb the change being proposed and whether its systems reward the behaviours it says it values.

I favour evidence, candid dialogue and careful execution. I want leaders to share ownership of their people decisions and employees to experience clarity between the organisation's commitments and its everyday practices.

Continued on the profile page →

From the desk of Rohan

People strategy must explain how the organisation will build the capability its ambitions require. I connect succession, organisation design and everyday leadership practice, with attention to fairness, privacy and the experience of employees.

— Rohan Iyer

In this edition

Dispatches from practice

Case 01

Leadership succession

Succession discussions relied too heavily on individual nominations. I worked with the board and executive team to define the capabilities required by future roles, assess readiness in context and agree meaningful development experiences. The process made succession a continuing leadership responsibility and connected talent decisions with the direction of the business.

Case 02

Culture transformation

A major change programme needed different behaviours across functions. We translated the desired culture into practical leadership expectations, reviewed the systems that reinforced existing behaviour and created opportunities for teams to discuss difficult trade-offs. The work connected the culture ambition with management practices people could recognise in their daily experience.

Case 03

Workforce strategy

The business strategy was evolving faster than its workforce planning. I brought operating leaders and people teams together to examine capability demand, role design and options for building or accessing expertise. We created a more explicit connection between the strategy, the organisation model and the investments required in people.

The full record of leadership work →

Appointments

Calder LogisticsIndependent Director · 2022 — Present

The Skills Forward FoundationTrustee · 2018 — Present

Honours

CHRO of the YearThe People Leaders Awards · 2024

Best Workplace TransformationThe Boardroom Review · 2022

As reported in

The People Leaders Journal“Building a succession bench the board can trust” · 2025

The Boardroom Review“What remuneration committees miss about culture” · 2024

The Leadership Ledger podcast“Episode 117 — Culture on the night shift” · 2023

The record

Chief Human Resources OfficerAldermoor Group · 2020 — Present

Vice President, Talent & OrganisationFairhaven Holdings · 2016 — 2020

Global Head of TalentMeridian Consolidated · 2012 — 2017

HR Business Partner, OperationsCalder Logistics · 2006 — 2012

Letters to the editor

“Our succession conversations became evidence-based and calm. That is a gift to any board.”
Margaret Osei, Chair, Calder Logistics
“A people leader the whole executive team trusted with its hardest decisions.”
Thomas Reyes, Chief Executive, Meridian Consolidated

An invitation

Correspondence welcome.

Rohan welcomes conversations with boards, chairs, search advisers and editors.

Open to
  • Board appointments
  • Advisory roles
  • Speaking invitations

office@rohaniyer.example