Hema Waghray — Head of Talent

I have sat in enough rooms to know when a people problem is actually a strategy problem in disguise. Most leaders sense it too. They don't always have someone who can name it clearly and help them act on it. That's the work I'm drawn to. Across banking, financial services, and global GCC environments, it's where I've consistently added the most value. I'm a strategic HR leader and business partner. My deepest experience is in talent management, performance management, and leadership pipeline work. But what I actually do is help leaders see their people reality more clearly and build the systems that make that clarity last. Most organisations treat their talent pool as a fixed picture. The ones that sustain performance treat it as something that needs active management as priorities shift, markets move, and what good looks like changes. A talent pool that isn't actively managed doesn't hold its value. It drifts quietly until the gap becomes visible at the worst possible moment. That belief has shaped the work I'm most proud of. In one role, a shift in performance philosophy removed a critical data point from how high-potential talent was being identified. The process became inconsistent across portfolios. I designed a structured framework that gave the organisation a data-based, consistent view of its high-potential pool across business lines, which fed into the leadership pipeline and gave succession planning something solid to stand on. Across roles in wholesale banking, retail, credit cards, and capital markets, I've worked with senior leaders on talent decisions, performance frameworks, and large-scale HR delivery. I've also led OKR adoption for an HR function, connecting the people agenda directly to business outcomes across COEs. I've spent as much time understanding how I show up in difficult conversations as I have studying organisations. That's what separates advice that's technically correct from counsel a leader actually trusts. HR's real contribution is judgment. Knowing what to name, when to name it, and how to build practices that hold. I'm at my best in the room, in the real conversation, not just the document that follows it. If any of this resonates, I'd value the conversation. 📩 hemaw.careers@gmail.com

Stackforce AI infers this person is a strategic HR leader in the Financial Services industry.

Experience: 17 yrs 10 mos