HUL HR changes guard at the top

There have been some key changes in the top management at Hindustan Unilever (HUL). Anuradha Razdan has been appointed as executive director, human resources. She will be joining HUL’s management committee with effect from 1 June, 2019.

Razdan has had a two-decade long stint with HUL, right from her management trainee days in May, 1999. Prior to her escalation to this new role, she donned the hat of VP-HR, Unilever and was based out of London, UK.

She holds an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur. All through her growing years, she had to change schools and colleges across cities, and also live away from parents with her grandparents. She believes that it was this formative phase of her life that moulded her into an adaptable and inclusive professional, capable of working across global boundaries and inspire followership.

Earlier in an interview with a business daily, she said, “My leadership purpose is to light the ‘spark’ and make a lasting difference to the people and teams I work with. It’s a value instilled in me by my family and reinforced by Unilever, from the time I spent in rural Rajasthan as part of my management trainee days to every subsequent role I have taken up ever since.”

Razdan will be stepping into the shoes of BP Biddappa who has been executive director-HR, HUL, and VP-HR, South Asia at Unilever for more than 6 years. From June 1, he will move to a new role — that of VP-HR, home care, new business models and firm of the future, Unilever. Also, Biddappa will help enable Unilever’s transformation into a future-ready, market-winning organisation over the next decade.

After completing MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur in 1989, Biddappa joined Deloitte as a consultant for a two-year stint. His journey with Unilever started from Orai as a personnel manager in 1992, within the same group he moved multiple cities, both domestic and international, such as Mumbai, Dhaka and Singapore. Serving the group since twenty seven years, Biddappa has an extraordinary and multifaceted experience in the HR domain.

Sanjiv Mehta, chairman and managing director, HUL, welcomed Razdan and said, “Anuradha has played an important role in driving the organisational and cultural transformation of the home care business globally and in shaping Unilever’s employer brand strategy. I would also like to thank Biddappa for his invaluable contributions to HUL in the last six years and wish him all the best for his new global role at Unilever.”