I am so inspired by what Chanel stands for ,” says Leena . “ It is a company that believes in the freedom of creation , in cultivating human potential and in acting to have a positive impact in the world
she worked her way up from the factory floor .
Cutting her teeth on a handful of managerial roles in employee relations and in HR , Nair landed her first leadership role in 2006 as general manager of HPC and Foods and Head of Management Development , where she led the move of the company ’ s Foods business from Bangalore to Mumbai and created a model for building capability that is now used company-wide .
Within 10 months , she was promoted , becoming the first woman on the Unilever South Asia leadership team . Responsible for the firm ’ s growth in five markets with a business size of US $ 6.75bn , it was here that Nair embedded performance culture as a way of life for Unilever , improving productivity levels by 33 % within two years and transforming employee relations into a proactive employeecentric function .
Flash forward six years , Nair is promoted to Global SVP Leadership and Organisation Development and Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion , where she was instrumental in driving the company ’ s employer brand to a record high and advancing the diversity agenda to industry leadership . She also spearheaded the creation of a worldclass leadership centre in Singapore and was the lead on key technology innovations simplifying the firm ’ s core HR offerings .
It was in 2016 when Nair finally landed the top HR job . Relocating to London in 2016 , she took the global HR reins as CHRO of Unilever and ran with it .
And why wouldn ’ t she ? For someone whose purpose is to “ ignite the human spark for a better business and better world ”, Nair was certainly living her dream job . And she was recognised for it with HRH Queen Elizabeth II acknowledging Nair as one of the most accomplished Indian business leaders in the UK .
Now , in 2022 , as human-centred leadership becomes more central to business success that it has ever been , Nair is taking her purpose and passion for people to the business of fashion , where she will run the show globally for Chanel , which generated sales of US $ 10.1bn in 2020 , and employs more than 27,000 people internationally . businesschief . com 17