CHRO Besa Murthi shifted the Agricultural Research Council’s human capital strategy by aligning it with industry best practices.
By Maggie Mancini
When Besa Murthi joined the Agricultural Research Council, she transformed the organisation’s HR function in several areas including talent attraction and acquisition, technology, and employee relations. She developed an employee value proposition that was built on pillars that would increase employee engagement. She also focused on digitising the organisation’s HR processes to help reduce recruitment times by 35% across all roles. She recruited top talent that helped reduce legal costs by up to 50% for labour relations. In the aftermath of COVID-19, Murthi implemented a buddy system to encourage employees to show care to families and developed a listening program to ensure employees felt appreciated, boosting employee engagement.
Her contributions led to the ARC’s certification as “Top Employer in 2023,” the first time the organisation has received the accolade in its 34-year history. Additionally, she helped align the organisation’s HR strategy with industry best practices and empowered her team with the latest trends in HR reporting like analytics.
Due to these efforts and more, Besa Kapisha Murthi won the HRO Today Association’s EMEA Award for HR Excellence, Research and Development.
