Mumbai: Procter & Gamble recently announced the appointment of Bala Purushothaman as the company's chief human resource officer (CHRO), effective January 1, 2023. Bala will take over the role from Tracey Grabowski, who is retiring from the company after a career spanning over three decades, including more than four years as the global chief human resource officer.
Currently, Purushothaman is serving as the senior vice president of global total rewards, global employee & labour relations, and corporate services. He has over three decades of rich and diverse experience as an HR professional across various areas of expertise and a wide range of categories and markets with P&G.
With this, Purushothaman becomes the fourth Indian after Shailesh Jejurikar (chief operating officer), Sundar Raman (CEO, Fabric & Home Care), and Kirti Singh (chief analytics & insights officer) to join the global leadership of the company in recent years.
Purushothaman started his career with P&G in India in 1992 as a management trainee in the human resources department, following a summer internship in 1991. Over the first decade of his career, he moved across multiple HR roles within P&G across varied markets, including India, Singapore, Thailand, and the USA. He then moved to Russia, where he assumed his responsibilities as the HR director of Eastern Europe. In 2010, Purushothaman was promoted and appointed vice president, Human Resources for North America. Subsequently, in 2015 he took on the role of senior vice president of HR for Global Beauty.
A visionary leader with a depth of experience and passion for diverse people and cultures, 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 70+ countries.
On his elevation, Purushothaman said, "I feel honored and humbled that P&G entrusted me for this critical role. In three decades with the Company, I have learned from the diversity of our people and the uniqueness each brings.”
He added, “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. I can't wait to get started, and I look forward to working with our incredibly talented teams worldwide.”
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.
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 various roles.
