Shreya Thomas: 30 U 30 Emerging Talent & Culture Transformation Young Leader By Business Mint

For Shreya Thomas a career in human resources was never going to follow a single predictable route Her academic and professional choices have moved between human resource management luxury brand management digital marketing learning transformation and talent strategy Rather than treating those experiences as separate tracks she has increasingly looked at what connects them people experiences and the environments in which individuals build their careersToday Shreya Thomas works as Assistant Manager ndash Talent Management and DEI at Blue Star Limited within the Group HR Centre of Excellence Her professional focus includes talent management and diversity equity and inclusion initiatives at the group level Her early career has spanned diverse organisations giving her exposure to learning and development talent management recruitment HR analytics workforce planning and performance managementThat breadth has shaped an emerging HR professional interested in a question that is becoming increasingly relevant to organisations how can workplaces be designed not simply to employ people but to help different kinds of people develop contribute and build sustainable careersShaping a Career Around People Strategy and TransformationShreya Thomas deliberately built a diverse career across industries and HR disciplines with each experience adding another lens to how she understands people talent and organisational strategyAt Blue Star Limited her current role brings together two areas that are becoming increasingly connected within modern HR talent and inclusion Working at the Group HR CoE she supports talent management and diversity equity and inclusion initiatives across multiple businessesHer perspective on HR is also influenced by her exposure in different workplace settings In her own account of her journey Shreya describes moving into manufacturing and projectbased work as an opportunity to view workplace issues through a different lens Questions around gender balance workforce strategy returnship opportunities talent development and everyday workplace behaviour have become part of the broader areas she wants to exploreShe believes the strongest HR functions sit at the intersection of business strategy and organisational capability anticipating future talent needs strengthening leadership pipelines and enabling transformation at scale Culture in this context becomes an organisational enabler shaped by the systems behaviours and decisionsAn Academic Foundation Across HR and Brand ManagementShreya Thomass education does not follow a conventional singlediscipline HR path eitherHer academic journey reflects the multidisciplinary perspective she brings to her work She holds a Masters in HRM from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences TISS Mumbai and Manipal University JaipurShe later pursued a PGP in Luxury Brand Management from Istituto Marangoni graduating with distinction an experience that broadened her understanding of brand business and consumerled thinkingShe is also CAPMreg certified by PMIreg complementing her HR background with a structured approach to project management and executionTogether these experiences have given Shreya a multidisciplinary lens that brings together people business brand and transformation perspectives she continues to apply to talent and organisational challengesWhy Talent Transformation Is Becoming Central to Modern HRTalent transformation is increasingly broader than hiring It can involve understanding what skills an organisation needs how those capabilities are developed how leaders are prepared and how employees navigate changing rolesHer experience with a leading pharmaceutical and life sciences organisation offers a clear example of this broader approach She worked in LampD Transformation which included supporting the move towards a skillsbased model and enterprisewide capability alignmentThese exposures point to an aspect of modern HR that is increasingly difficult to separate from technology and data understanding people remains central but the systems supporting talent decisions are becoming more structured and datadrivenFrom HR Processes to Organisational CultureHer early field exposure across a leading FMCG organisation a major fashion and retail business and a consumer electricals and lighting organisation gave her a closer view of different workforce environments she was introduced to talent management young talent and succession planning while at CGCEL she gained experience in sales HR talent acquisition and people analyticsTaken together these experiences provide exposure to HR at different points in the employee lifecycle from attracting and assessing talent to developing people managing performance and understanding workforce dataThat broader view is important to the way she describes the culture she wants to contribute to Her stated vision centers on workplaces where people do not have to fit a single mould to succeed where diversity extends beyond representation numbers and where technology improves work without making it less humanThe Role of Management and Strategy in Talent TransformationPeople decisions are rarely based on one source of information HR data performance indicators workforce capability employee experience and organizational requirements can all influence how HR teams approach talentConsumer durables for example she worked on a largescale hiring project across two BUs driving recruitment efforts across North and South India and talent analytics related to engagement career movement and attrition At GSK she worked with learning systems learner requests skill profiling and process data At ABFRL she supported talent development journey across BUs as part of CoEThis combination of data and people considerations is central to strategic HR Numbers can indicate where a workforce challenge exists but understanding the reasons behind those numbers requires organisational and human contextRecognised as a 30 Under 30 Emerging Talent amp Culture Transformation Young LeaderShreya Thomass professional journey has also received recognition through the Business Mint Nationwide Under 30 ndash 2026 Awards where she was recognised in the 30 Under 30 Emerging Talent amp Culture Transformation Young Leader ndash 2026 categoryThe recognition comes alongside a career that is still at an early stage but already spans multiple HR disciplines and industries Rather than representing a destination it forms one milestone within a broader professional journey focused on talent culture and business partneringShreya Thomas herself frames the recognition in a similar way In reflecting on the award she describes it as a milestone she is grateful for while viewing it less as a conclusion and more as encouragement to continue exploring what can be builtThat distinction is significant for an emerging professional The focus is not simply on the title of an award but on the direction of the work that follows itWhat the Next Generation of HR Leaders could bring to OrganisationsShreya Thomass career offers one example of how emerging HR professionals can develop through varied experiences rather than a strictly linear functional pathHer interests span talent management leadership development employee relations change management enterprise transformation and workforce capabilityThe common thread is an interest in building systems and approaches that people can actually useShreya Thomas describes herself as someone who enjoys taking an idea that is still a little messy and turning it into something practical That approach appears across her professional experience from learningsystem transformation and process standardisation to workforce planning and organisational designHer reference to Legally Blonde also captures a personal philosophy she wants to bring into HR not assuming that there is one obvious profile for success and being comfortable entering spaces where ones background may look differentLooking AheadShreya Thomas is still early in her career and that is an important part of understanding her professional story Her experience is substantial in breadth but her own account makes clear that she remains interested in learning questioning and experimenting with new approaches to workHer stated ambition is not simply to find a place within the future of work but to contribute to making workplaces better through more inclusive opportunities stronger talent decisions thoughtful use of technology and cultures that recognise employees as people with lives beyond the workplaceThat makes her journey less about following a predetermined HR career ladder and more about testing how different disciplines can come together and be strategic partnerFor an emerging HR professional the next phase may bring new responsibilities new organisational challenges and new questions about talent and culture What remains consistent is the direction building workplaces where people and business needs are considered together

Shreya Thomas: 30 U 30 Emerging Talent & Culture Transformation Young Leader By Business Mint

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Shreya Thomas: 30 U 30 Emerging Talent & Culture Transformation Young Leader By Business Mint

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