SAVITHA SUBRAMANIAN
Human Resource Professional
Chennai,Tamil Nadu
Summary
Results-driven HR professional with 8+ years in HR business partnering, talent acquisition, employee relations, and compliance. Established HR functions in startups and supported teams across multiple regions. Expertise in advising leadership, managing performance processes, and leveraging HR metrics and Workday HCM for informed decision-making. Committed to advancing organizational goals through strategic HR initiatives.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
Work History
HR – People & Operations
PaySquare Consultancy
03.2024 - 05.2026
- HR Business Partnership & Organisational Structure: Partnered with the CEO and business leaders to align workforce plans with growth across India, Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan. Replaced a CEO-centric reporting model with defined team heads and clear reporting lines, and introduced a RACI matrix for cross-functional ownership.
- Employee Engagement & Retention: Ran monthly pulse surveys and tracked engagement scores. Introduced weekly check-ins and monthly all-hands meetings with action owners, deadlines, and escalation paths to end siloed communication between teams. Led employee events, recognition programmes, wellness initiatives and cultural collaboration activities, which contributed to the highest engagement levels in the organisation.
- Talent Acquisition & Onboarding: Delivered 20 cross-border hires across marketing and operations, covering role definition, sourcing, screening, interviews, offers, and onboarding. Tracked time to hire, cost per hire, and source of hire to improve hiring channels.
- Employee Relations & Performance Management: Advised managers and employees on HR policies, grievances and performance concerns. Handled fact-finding, investigations, structured PIPs, warning letters and confidential case documentation, escalating complex matters where needed. Conducted exit interviews and analysed reasons for leaving to inform retention actions. Coordinated appraisal cycles and reviews, keeping evaluation consistency across managers.
- Compensation & Benefits: Supported compensation reviews and adjustments. Managed corporate medical insurance enrolment and vendor coordination, created SOPs for benefits administration, and guided employees on compensation, benefits, and HR processes.
- Employee Engagement & Retention: Ran monthly pulse surveys and tracked engagement scores. Introduced weekly check-ins and monthly all-hands meetings with action owners, deadlines, and escalation paths to enhance cross-team communication. Led employee events, recognition programmes, wellness initiatives, and cultural collaboration activities, achieving the highest engagement levels in the organisation.
- Labour Compliance & HR Governance: Ensured compliance with Indian labour requirements and Australian Fair Work regulations. Monitored developments in Indian labour legislation, including the new Labour Codes and Wage Code, and assessed their impact on HR practices and policies, and worked with internal stakeholders and external advisors on implementation. Supported audits, compliance reviews and statutory documentation, and evaluated 7–8 audit firms to select a partner for the India entity set-up.
- Payroll & Process Improvement: Found recurring payroll delays across India and Australia and introduced Make.com and Slack automation, moving delivery from 2–3 day delays to on-time processing. Coordinated payroll migration discussions with Zoho and worked with finance on salary calculations.
- Payroll & Process Improvement: Identified recurring payroll delays across India and Australia and implemented Make.com and Slack automation, reducing delays from 2–3 days to on-time processing. Coordinated payroll migration discussions with Zoho and collaborated with finance on salary calculations.
- HR Metrics, Reporting & Systems: Tracked headcount, hiring pipeline, time to hire, cost per hire, attrition, payroll timeliness, and engagement scores. Developed workforce dashboards and management reports in Excel and Google Sheets. Assisted with Workday Core HCM configuration, lifecycle business processes, Recruiting, EIB data loads, calculated fields, and security.
- Deployed at Nutpan Pty Ltd, Australia
HR Manager
Rip-It Solutions
04.2022 - 02.2024
- Talent Acquisition: Closed 17 hires in India across sales, support, and technical roles within budget and role-fit requirements. Directed two recruiters, tracked time to hire, offer acceptance rate and source of hire, and engaged part-time freelance sales professionals for the US market.
- Performance Management Framework: Designed and rolled out a structured performance review process for a 50+ employee workforce, built on KRA/KPI-based goals and a 5-point rating scale, with half-yearly reviews and a larger annual appraisal cycle each April. Worked with department heads on consistent, objective ratings and documented increment recommendations.
- Talent Acquisition: Closed 17 hires in India across sales, support, and technical roles within budget and role-fit requirements. Directed two recruiters, tracked time to hire and offer acceptance rate, and engaged part-time freelance sales professionals for the US market to enhance sourcing strategy.
- Employee Relations & Manager Advisory: Advised department heads on performance concerns, guided managers through PIPs, reviewed feedback for objectivity, and handled fact-finding, investigations, disciplinary documentation and sensitive exits. Conducted exit interviews to identify reasons for leaving.
- Employee Relations & Manager Advisory: Advised department heads on performance concerns and guided managers through PIPs while ensuring objectivity in feedback. Handled fact-finding, investigations, disciplinary documentation, and sensitive exits, conducting exit interviews to gather insights on employee turnover.
- Learning & Development: Identified skill gaps with department heads and arranged targeted training, including automation testing and communication skills for new hires from smaller towns, while facilitating a monthly engagement series featuring different technical topics delivered by external trainers.
- Organisational Change & Employee Experience: Managed the move from fully remote to hybrid working, adapting engagement activities and feedback channels to protect collaboration, retention and morale.
- HR Policies, Compliance & Reporting: Established HR policies, employee documentation and compliance processes. Tracked reported attrition, retention, absenteeism and training completion to leadership.
HR Generalist
Incredible Studios
01.2018 - 04.2022
- HR Function Setup (First HR Hire): Developed recruitment, onboarding, and employee lifecycle processes as the first HR hire, establishing the HR function from the ground up.
- Employee relations, engagement & retention: Conducted exit interviews to uncover reasons for employee turnover within 6 months, identifying a problematic working environment. Advocated for relocation from a converted house to a proper office, resulting in attrition reduction from 60% to 23%. Facilitated team engagement activities and improved employee communication.
- Employee Relations, Engagement & Retention: Used exit interviews to identify why employees were leaving within 6 months, and traced the cause to the working environment. Made the case to the four partners for moving from a converted house to a proper office despite budget limits, bringing attrition down from 60% to 23%. Supported team engagement activities and a employee communication.
- HR policies, statutory compliance & payroll: Developed HR policies and compliance guidelines, along with employment documentation and attendance processes. Oversaw statutory filings and payroll inputs, ensuring accurate calculations and timely coordination with third-party providers.
- Training & Development: Delivered communication-skills training and organised technical and onboarding training sessions, coordinating trainers, schedules and attendance.
- Training & development: Delivered communication skills training and organized technical and onboarding sessions, effectively coordinating trainers, schedules, and attendance.
- HR Metrics & Reporting: Tracked leave balances, leave utilization and attendance data, and maintained headcount and employee records to support payroll accuracy and management reporting.
Freelance HR Support / Training Coordination
01.2013 - 01.2018
- Provided independent HR coordination support including recruitment administration, HR documentation, and training coordination across client organisations.
Deputy Team Lead
Redb Information Services
01.2007 - 01.2009
- Coordinated team activities and validated operational data, enhancing communication and process effectiveness in administrative environments.
- Coordinated daily team workflows to maintain service quality and timely task completion.
- Supervised staff performance and provided coaching to strengthen accuracy and accountability.
- Reviewed work output to identify errors and enforce consistent process compliance.
HR Executive
Consult One India
01.2005 - 01.2007
- Coordinated recruitment efforts, maintained employee records, and administered HR documentation.
- Analyzed workforce data to support staffing, retention, and policy decisions.
- Streamlined HR reporting processes using Excel and HRIS databases.
- Interpreted employee trends to identify compliance gaps and process improvements.
Education
PGDBA - Business Administration
Symbiosis
Pune01-2007
B.Com - Bachelor of Commerce
JBAS College, Madras University
01-2005
Skills
- HR Business Partnership: Workforce planning, manager advisory, organizational structure, change management, multi-country stakeholder management
- Employee Relations & Retention: Grievances, investigations, PIPs, disciplinary documentation, exit interviews, attrition analysis, engagement and pulse surveys, recognition and wellness programmes
- Talent & Performance: Talent acquisition, onboarding, KRA/KPI frameworks, appraisal cycles, increment recommendations
- Compensation, Benefits & Payroll: Compensation reviews, medical insurance administration, benefits SOPs, payroll coordination, statutory filings
Accomplishments
- Reduced attrition from 60% to 23% at Incredible Studios by using exit interview insights to make the case for a move to a proper office.
- Built the HR function from scratch as the first HR hire, supporting growth from 0 to 25 employees.
- Moved payroll delivery across India and Australia from recurring 2–3 day delays to on-time processing through Make.com and Slack workflow automation.
- Replaced a CEO-centric reporting model with defined team heads and a RACI matrix for a distributed team, and ran monthly pulse surveys that reached the organisation's highest engagement levels.
Timeline
HR – People & Operations
PaySquare Consultancy
03.2024 - 05.2026
HR Manager
Rip-It Solutions
04.2022 - 02.2024
HR Generalist
Incredible Studios
01.2018 - 04.2022
Freelance HR Support / Training Coordination
01.2013 - 01.2018
Deputy Team Lead
Redb Information Services
01.2007 - 01.2009
HR Executive
Consult One India
01.2005 - 01.2007
B.Com - Bachelor of Commerce
JBAS College, Madras University
PGDBA - Business Administration
Symbiosis