Cedar on Unlocking Human Capital
Cedar on Unlocking Human Capital examines how organizations can maximize the value of their people in an era of rapid change. This channel explores workforce strategy, leadership, culture, talent transformation, and performance management—connecting human capital decisions to enterprise strategy and results. Conversations focus on building agile, aligned, and future-ready organizations.
Cedar on Unlocking Human Capital
Escaping the CEO Trap: Restoring Strategic HR Functionality
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Sanjiv Anand, Chairman, Cedar Management Consulting International
In this episode, I outline the critical HR priorities that I believe every CEO must personally lead. First, organisational structure must be aligned to strategy — it cannot be delegated blindly to HR. Structure is a strategic decision.
On compensation, I emphasise the growing importance of performance-linked variable pay to meet market realities. I also discuss succession planning through what I call the “hit-by-the-bus list,” ensuring immediate backups for every critical role.
Culture, in my view, is not defined by posters but by behaviour at the top. CEOs must model and reward what they expect. Finally, I highlight the importance of direct communication — particularly regular town halls — to build trust, alignment and leadership credibility across the organisation.