Whenever you think “I wish someone would just sort this HR mess out...”

... that’s us.

We help founder-led and scaling companies fix the HR stuff that’s holding them back without the fluff, jargon, or generic playbooks.

From org design to comp strategy, from career architecture to culture repair, we bring structure, clarity, and action to your people decisions.

⚡ Fractional CHRO support
⚡ Compensation & pay band design
⚡ Career paths & job leveling
⚡ Culture diagnostics & interventions
⚡ Hiring scorecards, onboarding flows, exit hygiene
⚡ Custom HR policies (without sounding like a factory manual)

Let’s make work work, for you and your people.

Founder

Medium

Whether it is a passion project for you to see yourselves in print (or well, published virtually), or an ambition to attract the right kind of clients through leading content, I can help.

With one published book, 3 completed ghostwritten books, and numerous blogs and articles across industries, I can provide you with content help.

Some aspects that I can support you on:
👉🏼 Help you articulate the needs of your audience and their buying triggers
👉🏼 Structure your rough notes into a coherent outline
👉🏼Work with you to generate creative ideas 
👉🏼Do the heavy lifting in terms of research and writing

Of course, if you need to align to a particular theme, I can also work with you to create a content calendar. 

Some of the industries/functions I cater to:
- Consulting
- HR & Leadership
- Tech
- Fintech
- SaaS

Writer/Ghostwriter

CompTeam

People Strategist

Among the Top 2% Organizational Design & Effectiveness consultants on Upwork worldwide, I have established a reputation for high quality and innovative solutions. Some of the key projects worked on include:
- Redesigning the organization structure for a  large healthcare multinational to make it more result-oriented and agile in responding to market needs
- Enabling organizational transformation for a large electricity distribution company in Africa, focusing on organization structure redesign, manpower planning, competency assessment, succession planning and cost optimization 
- Articulating the strategy map and KPIs for staff working with children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) in the UK
- Evaluating the organizational infrastructure of a nonprofit working with marginalized communities in the US, and providing them with recommendations for change (evaluation parameters included vision & mission, programmatic strategy, organizational structure, organizational capacity, HR policies and processes, strategic communications - both internal and external)
- Creating high-impact, interactive training on 'Essentials of Management' for a hospitality sector client in Europe
- Designing a short-term incentive (STI) plan for a technology organization in the US
- Writing a point-of-view article with an innovative approach to talent management for a consulting firm in the US
- Enabling change management for a non-governmental organization in the US facing low employee morale due to layoffs
- Enabling a recruitment firm in Australia to select and present the best candidates from a large sample to their client
- Creating an inclusion & diversity strategy for a consulting firm based in Switzerland

HR Transformation, OD & Culture Consultant

#10000books

This year, I decided to add a bit more purpose to life. Being fond of reading, I love to share books with people. But, there are challenges:

- so many books, one doesn't even know what to pick
- not enough bookstores all around
- books can be expensive so sharing them makes sense

To resolve this, I pledged to take on the goal of giving away 10,000 books during my lifetime. (If I live to be 70, that means about a book a day)

I may not be able to do this alone, but together we can certainly transform the reading experience.

How you can help:
- claim the books I post about
- donate them forward (if you want to)
- support my periodic giveaways and fundraisers
- share your thoughts about books you loved

Chief Bookworm

BOD Consulting

- Building out the portfolio of solutions around leadership effectiveness and development
- Creating transformational organizations that leverage Employee Experience and Culture to lead into the future
- Transforming the process of recruiting future leaders and people for critical roles
- Handling aspects of the internal people strategy to propel BOD into the future

Senior Partner and Practice Leader, Culture Transformation

NO STATUS QUO, INC.

Talent Experience Lead

Management Development Institute, Gurgaon

Helping turn backbenchers into frontbenchers in the quest to strengthen consulting skills

Guest Faculty Member (Consulting Skills) 

Deloitte India

Associate Director, Organizational Transformation

Accenture

- Design and program management of engagement survey across the organisation
- Custom engagement action planning by entity and sub-entity to address engagement needs
- Creation of artifacts for a culture of recognition and engagement
- Launch of 16-week calendar for 'Truly Human' - Accenture's flagship program aimed at a 4-dimensional model of body, heart, mind, and soul
- Redesign of behavioural competencies required by HR professionals across levels, and measurable criteria across all phases of the employee lifecycle
- Leading Inclusion & Diversity Initiatives
- Program managing the internal HR transformation journey
- Certified facilitator for internal training programs

Talent Strategy and People Programs Lead - India Business Consulting

Hello, if you're reading this, you probably know that I help founders and CEOs achieve bigger business results through better people decisions.

Better organization structures. Inclusive cultures. Processes that work. Policies that enable. Pay that inspires. I partner with clients to solve people challenges with clarity, heart, and a bit of boldness.

Over the past 20ish years, I’ve had the privilege of working with leaders across the world in corporate boardrooms (yes, I wore the suit, carried the bag, and sipped the soy cappuccino), and now through my company, doing work that truly lights me up.

In 2020, I traded full-time employment for full-time curiosity and started my solo consulting journey. I began with org design and leadership development, but my path soon widened in the most unexpected ways, like working on gender, culture, and inclusion.

Since then, my work has taken me deeper into culture transformation, employee engagement, policy/process design, and end-to-end HR transformation. I work with clients across industries including nonprofits and social impact organizations and I love experimenting beyond the usual playbook to create real, measurable impact.

A few things I bring to the table:

- Culture and engagement strategy

- Leadership development and coaching

- Competency frameworks and performance management

- People process and policy design

- HR transformation (without the jargon)

- Storytelling that sticks—through writing, facilitation, and copywriting

Outside of consulting, I’m also a speaker and aspiring author, currently working on my second book and a few ghostwriting projects. And when I’m not obsessing over org charts or team dynamics, I’m either rescuing animals, giving away books (211 out of 10,000 so far), or enjoying the world’s most important job, that of being a dad to my incredible daughter.

If you believe people are the heart of your organization, and want to make that more than a tagline, let’s chat over a real or virtual coffee.

Reach me at sumit@thinkhrplus.com

Before you ask, yes I do oppose animal slaughter on Eid and Thanksgiving and all kinds of animal cruelty on all other days of the year as well.

So, can we please spare community animals and birds the agony of loud fireworks? Last I checked, Diwali was supposed to be an ancient Indian festival of lights and not loud sounds made by products invented by the Chinese around 1100 years ago.

Sumit Singla (he/him/they)

I help leaders make better people decisions and get bigger business results. People & Culture Consultant | Part-time HR Head | On a mission to give away 10,000 books (211/10,000 done)

Somewhere right now, someone’s pretending to be fine on a work call while they're holding back tears of grief.

Someone else is staring at their screen, trying to focus on work while they worry about unpaid bills. 

A manager holding a daily meeting with their team for a pep talk is probably wondering if it’s okay to admit they’re tired.

And an exhausted intern has probably spent all night designing posters and games for a World Mental Health day activity. 

We talk about mental health as if it is something that inhabits therapy couches or Sunday brunch conversations not something that is relevant at work. 

But a lot of our waking hours are spent just holding it all together. 

So perhaps, World Mental Health Day isn't (or shouldn't be) about putting up a polished AI-generated image along with soulless, meaningless text that shows how committed you are to mental health, while people are literally dying of overwork. (It kinda sounds like McDonald's talking about eating low-cholesterol food)

It doesn't require massive investments or spends and begin with a small pause, a gentle check-in. 

"How are you doing?" can be a conversation starter in a meeting (as long as you're keenly interested in how really is the person doing).

Don't make mental health a campaign, build it into your culture. Make it come with psychological safety. Help people feel safe while saying, "I can't do this."

All you gotta do is make work a little kinder. Not just today, but on every ordinary day as well.

(And I'm no expert but if you want expert guidance, head over to MyndStories - they can probably guide you better)

Yesterday, I attended a book event where I heard an invitee say, "You need to work on your following if you want to make it big."

A lot of people nodded. I scratched my head. 

I hear the same thing in consulting too. 

“You need to post more.”
“You need to build your personal brand.”
“You need to go viral.”

Except, the truth is that followers don't build trust, substance (not THAT kind of substance) does. 

In both writing and consulting, the craft needs silence. The invisible hours spent reading, thinking, revising, reflecting, and solving make the visible hours credible (and erm... billable).

I’ve seen consultants with thousands of followers and no follow-through. And I’ve also seen those with no logo, limited social presence who can walk into a room and shift the way a founder thinks about their business forever. (I like to believe that I bring the best of both worlds, but I leave it to you to decide whether that's true or delulu)

A following might get you noticed once. But depth gets you invited back.

So whether you’re writing or consulting, don’t chase the crowd.

Chase clarity. The following will follow.

P.S. Shortly afterwards, we left to chase some dosai and ice-cream and found time to marvel over a signed copy of Adichie's new book and some limited edition covers. Do that, instead.

Is it just me or are the same folks talking about World Mental Health Day making random comments about a seemingly rude 10yo on a game show?

Here are some thoughts:
- 'Reality' shows are typically scripted and far from reality.
- A child in an unfamiliar atmosphere, eith lots of adults watching may behave in very different ways than usual.
- Children on shows are coached - to maximise entertainment value, not on what is seemingly right.

Instead of asking about the child's rudeness, maybe it's better to ask why we are holding a child to higher standards than the adults watching him.

P.S. If you are serious about mental health, start with being empathetic and not performative.

Normally, one would imagine that a health insurance company would want its customers to be healthy and well.

After all, what better than raking in the premiums without having to pay out?

But clearly, Care Insurance has a different idea altogether.

My mom, a 68yo, bought a policy. The company reached out to her for early renewal, offering a discount. 

It made sense, so she opted for it. And as senior citizens wary of online transactions are wont to do, she deposited a cheque for the mentioned amount. 

The good folks at Care promptly encashed the cheque, but didn't apply it to her policy. As a result, multiple emails and calls asking for renewal went on. Of course, no one was interested in listening to the problem - that the payment has already been made.

Emails - no result, beyond asking for proof of payment, which has been submitted multiple times over.

Phone calls - their senior citizen line is one of the worst fails of customer service (even AI could do a better job than the humans staffing this line)

Finally, we went over to their office. 40 minutes of waiting and it was only when I began making a video about the dismal experience that the guy looking into our case magically appeared.

Two of these folks (named Mehar Das and Dev) promised us a response the same day over email but of course, it's been 4 days since then and there is no update. 

Meanwhile, there's a senior citizen with 5 days left in her current policy wondering what she has done wrong and what will happen to her coverage (and her already paid money).

Anuj Gulati, Manish Dodeja Ashutosh Shrotriya - is this the experience you're going for? KUDOS!

Is it funny or is it FUNNY that a Big 4 firm is having to return a client's money because they generated a report using AI (and manufactured facts that don't actually exist)?

At Rajiv Chowk, I found most people taking the stairs instead of the escalator. 

Each step mentions the incremental number of calories you burn by taking it.

It made me wonder if simple initiatives like this serve as nudges for behavioral change.

I found my own feet determinedly moving towards the stairs instead of the escalator.

But that was probably because the escalator was out of order...

#behavioralChange #nudge #psychology #humanBehavior

There's that typical 'uncle' at a wedding - loud, obnoxious, completely out-of-place, but unwilling to leave. 

Some words in your job descriptions are probably like that.

Rockstar / Ninja / Guru / Wizard or the worst 'Maven' - Unless you're actually hiring an unwashed guy wearing ripped jeans or a secret assassin who hunts in the night or a predatory, lecherous old man, please don't use any of these. 

Dynamic / Self-starter / Go-getter - What this means is that you have no onboarding process and no clarity on the what/how. GOOD LUCK with hiring!

Hit the ground running - Wow, so you intend to push people out of a moving car on Day 1? Sounds lovely. 

Wear many hats - Ah, so you want me to do 5 jobs for one single salary? Brilliant, but why not say it in as many words?

Fast-paced environment - That's just a nicer way of saying you burn people out faster than a matchstick. 

Digital native - Why, why, why? How does it matter whether the person is a digital native or a digital migrant as long as they can pick up your tech stack quickly? Stop the ageism, please. 

Cultural fit - Argh, I hate this as an HR person. It simply means conformity - everyone here looks, talks, and thinks the same.

Competitive salary - Competitive, with what? Bro, the pakoda stall guy near my house earns INR 1.5 lakhs a month.

Other duties as assigned - This means you're likely to be doing various chores far away from your regular job. 

If you want people to take your job descriptions seriously:

- write in normal English.

- explain what the job does and how one can succeed in it

- include the pay budget

Let the ninjas do something else. 🥷

Okay, your turn: What’s the worst phrase you’ve seen in a job description?

Some mornings, words arrive a bit like old friends - unannounced, but welcome. They pour themselves into unruly sentences before I can ruin them with thought.

On others, they hide behind walls of noise, like a timid cat awaiting the onset of dusk before stepping out. They flit away at the slightest of noise like the hum of the fridge, the metallic ping of the inbox, and the violent whispers of self-doubt.

"Who are you to write anything at all?"

"How dare you imagine you would be able to get us to do your bidding?"

The pages know of my bargain with language. I tell enough of the truth that it hurts, but not enough to expose the wound. I bleed, but decorously, tidying up the spills so that they look like raindrops, not spatter. 

Writing is probably more cartography, than catharsis. I map what I can't fix. I name what I can't touch. I invoke what I can't have. 

Each word is a stitch, an attempt to cobble the world into a modicum of coherence, preventing it all from unravelling. Futile, but necessary. Some days I wish I could stop and let moments pass without drafting epitaphs for them. 

But I know it wouldn't last, I wouldn't last.

So I return, to the same blank page, the same cursor blinking at me with its unwavering gaze, with the now familiar ritual of doubt and devotion. 

Writing is the house I keep leaving, only to find that every road leads back to its door.

Swag bags to new joiners are fairly common. Sipper, notebook, tote bag, pen - you know the drill.

To differentiate, someone in China decided that each new joiner should receive a kitten. (I discovered Krish Hanumanthu talking about it this morning).

As a culture consultant and an animal rescuer, it set me thinking. What would the kitten think?

They say I’m part of the welcome package, a comforting purr for new joiners, and a sign of the warmth that we provide here. 

The first time was... exciting, but since then I’ve stopped keeping track of how many names I’ve had. Each one said with the same kind of hope. Each one fading when the cardboard box (inevitably) appears again.

When someone leaves, they hand me back gently, guilt seeping through their fingers onto my pristine fur. Sometimes they hold me close and whisper sorry. Mostly, they don’t.

I watch them walk away, their scent softening and then melting into nothingness. Before I can process their departure, I’m introduced to someone new.

A stranger’s desk. A new voice saying “Hi there, little one.” I curl into their lap and pretend I haven’t done this before.

I’m supposed to make people feel at home. But has anyone wondered if I have one? 

Their 'tradition' is mine too - just that I think of it as learning the language of loss on repeat. Love, the way my mama taught me before I was snatched away, was like the warmth of a sandpapery tongue taking out the tangles from my fur. I don't understand the kind of love they profess here, which needs a letterhead. 

Sometimes, at night, when the office goes dark, I walk between the desks that used to be familiar, sniffing the ghosts of people who once belonged here. Their laughter still clings to the cushions. Their absence smells like the inside of a cold mug that someone forgot to pour coffee into. 

I’ve learned something they haven’t. Belonging can’t be forced. So, I've stopped already. If you ever meet me, purring on your first day, eyes full of trust I didn’t choose, remember: I’ve been here before.

And I’m still waiting for a place that doesn’t hand me over when the contract ends.

P.S. Nugget was a store-bought kitten, who was procured in exchange for his 'defective' sibling. However, when his 'family' realised he had a fungal infection, they wanted to get rid of him and basically handed him off to the first available person (aka me).

4 months of medication, weekly anti-fungal baths, and stringent sanitization protocols mean that he is healthy and soon due to celebrate his second adoptaversary with us soon.

Who are your policies designed for - the 5% or the 95%?

Imagine this - one employee takes medical leave. You figure out that it was because of a cricket game and the reason given was fake.

Great, so you make a doctor's precription mandatory even if someone has a cold and fever.

One employee fakes an expense bill. So, you make it mandatory to scan every expense, even if it is for INR 50 (a little more than half a dollar). And suddenly, people are wasting time and money submitting bills that shouldn't even need a receipt.

Unfortunately, that's how it works. Policies are written for the 95% who show up, do the work, and go home tired.

They aren't written for the 5% who might just screw up (intentionally or unintentionally).

As a result, what you get is:

1. Layers of bureaucracy where even a simple ballpoint pen may need 2-3 levels of approval. 

2. Employees who feel like suspects at every interaction.

3. A culture that proclaims, "WE DON'T TRUST YOU."

The funny part? The 5% still get away with it.

The 95% pay the price.

Consider flipping the logic and starting with trust first. 

Deal with exceptions when they happen and stop treating everyone like criminals for the sins of a few.

Hit me up if you want to reshape culture with the right policies.

#culture #policies #HR #EmployeeExperience #WorkforceExperience

Primates = monkeys = copycats

I grew up in a small town in Himachal, with lots of monkeys (and cats and dogs) around. Stories of them copying human behaviour were pervasive, along with tall tales of a giant red-eyed monkey 'king' that preyed on hapless kids who stayed out playing cricket too late.

One of the few windows to the outside world (back when home internet, OTTs, dish TV, and smartphones didn't exist) was a tiny little magazine called Readers' Digest. (It may have been Reader's Digest, but that's a moot point).

I still remember stories of a daring helicopter pilot who flew recon missions into Chernobyl, people coming together to help each other during a massive earthquake in San Francisco, and most of all - a diminutive, silver-haired woman talking about chimpanzees.

The highlight of the story for me was learning that a chimpanzee could use tools (long before Caesar from Planet of the Apes came into the picture) and that a human could dedicate her entire life working to save animals. 

It just feels like a world more devoid of compassion and love without someone who made such a huge difference.

Perhaps, Jane Goodall's legacy is best summarised by the quote, "What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."

On that note, what's the difference you're setting out to make?

On Diwali, we talk about light and darkness as if one cancels out the other.

The thing about light is that it doesn't erase darkness, it only helps us see it. 

Light casts shadows.

Shadows show us what has been overlooked (if we choose to see, that is)

- the lingering loneliness behind someone's smile

- someone's fatigue powering our festivities

- the street dog flinching at every burst of sound, wondering where the quiet went

This Diwali, soften the shadows for someone with some small acts of kindness.

Check in with a colleague.

Smile at a security guard or delivery person and thank them for their service. Tip them.

Thank a stranger for their kindness. 

Be grateful for friends and family and for everyone who makes your world brighter. 

On that note, I don't think I can be more grateful for Smitha and Swati for sending me a 'pick-me-up' package when I needed it most. 

Thank you, Team MyndStories for keeping me in your thoughts. 

I promise to keep sharing the light.

Together, our lights are warmer. Together, our shadows fade.

About a decade ago, I was on an Amtrak train from Chicago to Champaign, eating breakfast alone in the pantry car.

A sweet elderly couple walked by, smiled, and asked if they could join me. Of course, I said yes.

We chatted briefly about the weather and other things one discusses with strangers before THAT question, "Where are you from?”

“India,” I said.

They nodded, and the lady asked, "No, I mean… where do you live in the U.S.?”

“I don’t,” I smiled. “I’ve been here two days. Just travelling to see my brother.”

The man looked surprised. “Wow, but your English is so good!”

And before I could stop myself, I said, “So is yours.”

There was silence for a brief second. The lady got it before the man did, a soft flicker of realization. She reached out and touched my arm lightly, "I’m so sorry. That came out wrong.”

I shrugged, “It’s okay. Happens more than one would imagine.”

And it does.

But here’s what I’ve learned since:

1. Not all bias is born of hate. Some of it is muscle memory - clumsy and inherited. 
2. Language isn’t proof of intellect or belonging. Sometimes it’s just… what we were taught to think in.
3. Humour works. “So is yours” wasn’t anger, it was just me being me. Sometimes, that's all people need to see things better. You can correct someone without cruelty. A moment of discomfort can still be a moment of grace.

I’ve thought about that train ride often and how easy it is to forget that every accent carries a story, not a stereotype.

But then maybe that's what travel does. Show us new places and help us disembark old assumptions we've brought along.

Taplio

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