It is a misconception that enterprising is for profit-making only. Instead, businesses are always about people and nothing else. Only those businesses thrive in the long run that care for people, value their talent, strive for their personal and professional upliftment and contribute to fulfilling their aspirations and empowering their lives.

Empowered people make a healthy and progressive society at the core of which functions a developing entrepreneurial community. Whatever the business, if its people aspect is robust, all the pieces fall into place automatically, making the business successful eventually. This people aspect gets reflected in every company’s Human Resource Management (HRM).

There are two ways to go about HRM /People Management. One is managing the function in-house, investing full-time resources and capital to support an organization effectively. However, the approach is time, resources and capital-intensive. In short, the choice may turn out to be expensive, little complex and ineffective as well in the long run if not handled carefully.

This is where the second option of partnering with an exceptionally expert, experienced, trusted, and renowned human resource partner like Human Touch – an HR Consulting Firm becomes feasible and viable.

Why is Human Touch the best and the Most Leading HR Consulting Firm? The reasons or factors are aplenty.

Human Touch – an HR Firm came into existence in 2013 in the smart city of Navi Mumbai and since then is continuously growing and evolved remarkably with another office in Mumbai and a presence in Ranchi as well.

KS Praveen, the Firm’s Founder & CEO, shares, “In August ’23, we are completing a decade of HR Services in the Industry. Our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all our associates, friends and well-wishers who directly or indirectly supported us in our entire journey.”

The Business of Business …

During these ten years, Human Touch has extended its HR Services to all kinds of companies, from MNCs to big Indian business houses, SMEs and startups in various sectors. KS Praveen says, “In HR Consulting and Outsourcing Space, we have clients in diverse sectors ranging from Manufacturing, Retail, FMCG, IT, Real Estate, Logistics to Services. We cater to traditional companies as well new age startups.”

The partial list of Human Touch’s esteemed clients includes Johnson Matthey, Eternis, BHEL, GE, Bombay Dying, Deepak Fertilisers, APM, CMS, BKT, Kalptaru, S Raheja, Jyothy Lab, GeeCee Venture, Hexagon, i-Chess, INARCO, Rx Infotech, Lykis, Quantum, Choice Group in the large sector.

And Snell, Greenifit, Neotech, Lamba Infra, Yash Power Tech, MSA etc. in the SME Sector.

 KS Praveen adds, “As an HR Firm, we firmly believe that quality and competence of people is the fundamental competitive advantage, and there is nothing more important than acquiring and developing talent by robust and effective HR Practices.”

Human Touch is a team of well-qualified industry professionals with rich and diverse experience in the HR Domain. “Our philosophy is – ‘Business of business is people as they are at the heart of any business,” says KS Praveen.

Human Touch’s Management Consultants are deeply passionate about driving business outcomes while developing client solutions for sustainable growth. The firm’s strength lies in its ability to draw on its rich knowledge and resources over years of solid industry experience.

A Remarkable Leader

“We define success as more than the completion of an assignment. We pursue real business outcomes in partnership with our customers to build high-performance organizations,” says KS Praveen, a well-known, highly respected senior HR professional from Navi Mumbai. He has about 25 years of rich and diverse experience in the HR domain across industry verticals and in leading Indian and MNCs (Aditya Birla Group, Grasim, Hitachi, Siemens, Neoteric and Writer Corporation) in middle and senior management positions.

KS Praveen graduated in Arts from St. Xavier’s College, Ranchi and then pursued his PGDM (full-time) in HR at XISS, Ranchi. Later, he attended MDP from IIM-Ahmedabad and SMP from IIM-Indore during his career.

KS Praveen has been the Editor-in-Chief of ‘People Pulse,’ a premier HR quarterly magazine. He also authored a book titled ‘HR in VUCA World a few years back (available on Amazon & Flipkart).

KS Praveen’s areas of interest as a corporate trainer and people coach include communication and interpersonal skills, team building and goal setting, personal empowerment, managerial effectiveness and time management. He is passionate about the subject of Leadership.

An active member of many reputed institutions, KS Praveen is associated with some leading B Schools, including IIMs, as a visiting professor for HR/OD subjects and as an advisor. .

KS Praveen is a connoisseur of art, music and literature and is keenly interested in spirituality. He is also a sports buff, nature lover and wildlife aficionado. He enjoys reading, travelling and trekking.

A Team of Stalwarts

Sharing Human Touch’s portfolio of value added HR services, the Co-founder and Director, Pinky Kapoor, says, “We support the growth and excellence of our clients by providing

• Talent Acquisition Services across functions and sectors;
• Human Resources Consulting for big companies as well as SMEs;
• HR Outsourcing – extending end to end HR support to Startups and SMEs;
• Culture Building & OD mainly for Startups and SMEs; and
• Business and Strategy Advisory mainly for Startups and SMEs.”

Pinky Kapoor has 18 years of industry experience in Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, L&D and HR Consulting. She is very passionate about all these areas.

In her last role, she was heading Leadership Hiring at Fact HR Pvt Ltd. and handled successful industry mandates.

At Human Touch, Pinky Kapoor has been spearheading the Business Development Role and extending proactive operational support as well. She is responsible for devising strategies & team management. She has made a positive difference in the industry by working closely with various professionals and business owners.

Pinky Kapoor has been acknowledged and appreciated for her work and contributions by many senior people in the industry. Last year, IAA awarded her with the ‘Women of Excellence Award.’

She is a very active and senior member of the BNI-Business Network International- Exponential Chapter in Mumbai and a couple of other business organizations and NGOs and has also been part of the leadership team as Vice President of BNI -Exponential

Pinky Kapoor – a Landmark Graduate is fond of reading, meeting people from different parts of society, attending seminars & conferences, dancing, running, and cycling. She has participated in so many marathon runs across Mumbai and has an impressive collection of medals and certificates as a Runner. She plays cricket also as an all-rounder.

Her Life philosophy is: ‘Live & Let Live’ and ‘Everything happens for a reason.’

She is extremely passionate about building a winning team, business growth, and entrepreneurship.

Meeting People Needs with a Human Touch

Sharing Human Touch’s Vision, Pinky Kapoor says, “Our vision is to become a world-class and leading HR Consulting Firm in the Industry by offering a bouquet of value-adding quality services and solutions in the HR Domain.”

Dr Shalini Sharma, PhD who serves as the Chief Happiness Officer, states that Human Touch’s Mission is ‘to contribute to the Growth and Excellence of its Client Organizations by proactively and sensibly meeting their People Needs with a Human Touch.’

As CHO of the Firm Dr Shalini oversees HR and Wellness, Finance, IT, Social Media and CSR activities. She is a certified Happiness Teacher and Yoga Teacher as well.

As a Happiness Teacher she has conducted 100 plus workshops so far (offline & online combined) Dr. Shalini is fond of reading, music, gardening, social work and a Wondercook.

Sharing his inspiration behind venturing into the human resource consultancy industry, KS Praveen says it was the freedom and passion to create something meaningful from the zero base, build it up and make a difference.

Key Human Touch Features

*Proactive: We are extremely passionate about our approach and service delivery. We believe in delighting our clients.

*Strategic: We have a strong strategic orientation and firmly believe in adding value to our client’s business. A Vision without a Strategy remains an Illusion.

*Adaptable: We mould ourselves as per the needs and goals of our clients with utmost sincerity. Adaptability is wisdom in action.

*Innovative: We are extremely creative and imaginative in designing our HR Solutions for our clients. Creativity is intelligence having Fun,” he adds.

Core Values- DNA

Pinky Kapoor adds, “Our clients admire our Mission and Core Values with which we work. Our values are part of our DNA. They guide how we work with our business partners, within our communities and with each other.”

Human Touch’s Five Core Values 

• Integrity: “We Act with Integrity, Respect and Trust.”
• ­Demonstrate a commitment to integrity and ethics.
• ­Show respect for and value all individuals’ diverse backgrounds, experiences, styles, approaches and ideas.
• ­Listen to others for understanding.
• ­Generate Trust
• Accountability: Pinky Kapoor states, “We are all accountable.”
• ­ Take personal accountability for actions and results.
• ­ Focus on finding solutions and achieving results
• ­ Actively engage in discussions and commit to decisions once they are made.
• ­ Keep promises and commitments made to others.
• ­ Personally commit to the success and well-being of teammates.
• Humility: Dr Shalini informs, “We have the humility and desire to learn.”
• ­Value openness and curiosity to learn from anyone, anywhere.
• ­Seek and provide honest feedback.
• ­Be open to personal change and continuous improvement.
• ­Learn from mistakes and successes in equal measure.
• ­“We strive for simplicity,” she says.
• Passion: Pinky Kapoor says, “We are passionate about our business.”
• ­Show pride in work.
• ­Promote a positive, energizing, optimistic and fun environment.
• ­Promote and implement creative and innovative ideas and solutions.
• ­Value, promote, and fiercely protect Human Touch’s reputation.
• Client Sensitivity and Commitment: Dr Shalini furthers, “We are absolutely focused towards our Clients.”
• ­Extremely sensitive to client needs.
• ­Committed to long-term relationships with all their clients.
• ­Offer the best services and delight them.
• ­Value clients’ feedback and suggestions.

The Precious Human Ingenuity 

Being an industry thought leader, KS Praveen opines how adopting modern technologies like AI and ML impacts the HR consultancy solution space and how Human Touch is adapting to the change. The HR function continues evolving with technology – from the early internet to mobile phones to the cloud, AI and machine learning.

According to him, AI&ML in HR can support improved productivity, reduce operational costs, and reduce time spent on repetitive, mundane tasks. AI is best suited for repetitive data-driven work and data-driven decisions.

However, he insists that Human intelligence and skills such as creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence and complex problem-solving are still more valuable.

Surmounting Challenges

KS Praveen accepts they faced several challenges in this journey, which they overcome as a strong & united team. “We faced some serious challenges during the Pandemic as some of our clients choose to discontinue our HR Services to cut costs because of prevailing uncertainties,” he reveals.

Pinky Kapoor furthers, “Gradually, after the pandemic, we recovered by acquiring a range of new clients, and several previous clients also returned to us. We are doing well now, and we see good growth in our Firm as we advance.”

Bringing Back the Missing Link

When probed about how crucial human resource consulting services are, what can be expected in the coming time, and how Human Touch is bringing innovations in this regard, KS Praveen divulges that SME sectors which include manufacturing, infrastructure, service, food processing, packaging, chemicals, and IT employs around 40 % of the Indian workforce. Yet, its contribution to GDP is slightly over Six % only. He reveals, “We found out the reason behind this mismatch. What is missing is A People Strategy.” It is high time the sector transforms to develop a visionary mindset and bring HR on board for further growth. Human Touch is driving this transformation in the country.

According to KS Praveen, there is an important attribute of Human Touch as the leading HR Consulting firm -. “Quickly getting a grasp of client’s HR challenges and pain areas and proactively supporting them accordingly is what we are known for,” he adds.

A Critical Piece of Advice

In his advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the HR consulting solution space, KS Praveen says that it is simple.

• The deep desire to add value to the organizations by designing and implementing appropriate HR Practices.
• Developing competence to link HR practices to client organizations’ business.

Excelling to the Next Level

On envisioning scaling Human Touch’s operations and offerings in the future, Pinky Kapoor mentions that by acquiring more and more clients specially in the SME sector for extending HR Support to them, they will keep growing.

“We firmly believe that businesses are not able to go to the next level in the absence of a good people strategy, and they must go for an exceptional HR support function provided by firms like Human Touch to scale up and get empowered,” says KS Praveen.

Appreciations & Praise from the Clients for Human Touch:

* “Human Touch has always been a key resource for Johnson Matthey. The team sounds optimistic, and hence the one can be relied upon when you give your commitments.” – Human Resources, Johnson Matthey Chemicals Ind. Pvt Ltd. –  I’st Client of Human Touch

 *“We have been partnered with Human Touch for the last several years, and they are providing Talent Acquisition solutions to us. They maintain very high quality while sourcing candidates for us. They have a very clear understanding of the client’s requirements. They are very much aligned with the client’s vision and provide very customized service.”- Amit Ranjan – Human Resources, Eternis Fine Chemical Ltd

*“The LnD Sessions conducted by KS Praveen for our officers/managers entitled ‘Business of Business is People’ were highly insightful and informative.” – Raju Advani, Chief Manager – LnD, Indian Oil.

*“We have closely involved Human Touch in our company and they are doing a fabulous work for us in terms of building HR Structures, formulating & implementing HR Guidelines and defining and spreading Vision, Mission, Core Values, People Engagements etc.”-. Rajeev Sharoff, Founder & Director -YPTS.

* “Human Touch takes care of entire gamut of HR so nicely and seamlessly. They truly add Human Touch to an organization. I would like to strongly recommend its HR Services.”-Janaki Ramani, Founder of House of Happiness.

* “Human Touch is our trusted and reliable HR Partner.”-Nishit Shah,MD of Neotech.

* “Excellent! All the goals of the LnD Sessions by Human Touch Team were fully achieved. The contents of each session were very clear, and the participants found them very simple to understand and relate to. They rated you high in terms of your content delivery, best wishes.” – V P Mathur -Sr. VP HR, BKT Industries.

*“Engaged Human Touch for designing KRAs for our entire leadership team. Good quality job done by them.”  Neha Jain, CHRO – Choice International Ltd.

*“Human Touch has proactively & sensibly supported my organization to go to the next level by designing and implementing good HR Processes and building people oriented culture.”  – Manoj Dhanwani Founder & CEO of Snell – an e Commerce Company.

*“Human Touch has been nicely supporting us in transforming our organisation. Pinky Kapoor is an excellent change agent.”– Shyam Raheja, Owner & MD of S. Raheja Group.

*” Human Touch is an HR Firm I would like to recommend for HR advisory and related services basis our ongoing experience of working with them.” –  Varun Talcherker, Director & Owner of Display House.

* “Human Touch has been a great HR support to us since the beginning of our Start-up” –Hitesh Hiran, Co-founder & Director – Greenifit.

In addition to the core team and the extended team, Human Touch is having several senior industry professionals and prominent academicians on its panel for guidance & support and we are highly grateful to them.

• Vikram Parekh– Professor of Marketing & Strategy at SIESCOMS, Navi Mumbai
• Ranjeet Nambudiri – Dean at IIM Indore.
• Jaywant Amin – Independent HR & IR Consultant, Mumbai.
• Laksman Sundar – Veteran Ad & Media Person, Navi Mumbai.
• Kusumadhar -Senior HR Practitioner, NCR/UK.

“Last but not the least our gratitude and thanks to Ms Pranali Karanje for being instrumental in establishing and expanding the TA Vertical in our Firm with tremendous passion and involvement from 2013 to 2020.”

“And finally …. we are thankful to Mr. Agnel D’Souza, Founder of ACEF Global for always honouring our Firm, Amrut & Neha of CreativFish also for beautifully designing our Logo, Website etc., and Mona Parekh /ASPA Digital for nice social media support and Nitin Raj for always proactive IT support.”

“We at Human Touch are committed to two social causes- Health n Wellness and Green Environment,” concludes KS Praveen.