News
HR perspectives by Urvi Aradhya: “Unconscious comfort, not capability, is holding back leadership diversity
In asset-heavy organisations, talent strategies fail not because assets age—but because people systems do. Workforces span corporate offices and construction sites, legacy expertise and digital disruption, seasoned leaders and first-time managers. While physical assets endure for decades, skills, expectations and career aspirations now change in years—sometimes months. Against this backdrop, people strategy can no longer be static or centralised.
Urvi Aradhya, group CHRO at K Raheja Corp, navigates these complexities daily. In conversation, she articulates why the organisation has shifted from role-fit to capability-fit hiring, why strong performers leave when momentum fades rather than for money alone, and why the most persistent barrier to leadership diversity is unconscious comfort—the instinct to back potential that looks familiar.
Capability-fit over role-fit
Are you hiring for skills that exist today or capabilities to learn what doesn’t exist yet? What does future-ready talent mean at K Raheja Corp?
At K Raheja Corp, we recognise that the half-life of skills is shrinking, so our talent acquisition lens has shifted from role-fit to capability-fit. We’ve moved beyond hiring against static job descriptions to identifying talent with learning agility, adaptability and problem-solving ability—because these capabilities stay relevant as technology, business models and customer expectations evolve.
This shift is reinforced by how we design access and talent pipelines. Initiatives focused on women talent and professionals returning after career breaks help widen and strengthen our talent pool, while reinforcing equity and career continuity.
Importantly, this philosophy doesn’t stop at hiring. We embed continuous capability-building through I-Grow, enabling self-directed learning across digital, functional and behavioural skills. Our belief is simple: talent acquisition and talent development are inseparable. Future-ready workforces are built by hiring for potential and investing consistently in growth.
Retention is the new recruitment
Beyond compensation, what are the non-obvious reasons great people leave? What patterns don’t show up in exit interviews?
Strong performers rarely leave for money alone. They leave when momentum fades—when growth plateaus, roles feel ambiguous, feedback disappears, or their impact becomes invisible. In many cases, the decision is made quietly months earlier, when the connection to purpose weakens and work starts to feel transactional.
Source: hrKatha