Learn the business, and your value as an HR partner grows exponentially: Coromandel's Arun Leslie George

Published 22 June 2026 · india

The organisations that will thrive in the next decade are not just investing in technology or strategy. They are investing in people leaders who understand

The organisations that will thrive in the next decade are not just investing in technology or strategy. They are investing in people leaders who understand the business as deeply as they understand people. That shift is already underway, and Arun Leslie George, President and CHRO of Coromandel International Limited, one of India's largest agri-input companies and a recent inductee into Mint's India's Iconic Workplaces, is one of the leaders defining what it looks like in practice. Over three decades within the Murugappa Group, Arun has led HR across multiple business units, worked on group strategy and restructuring, turned around the Super Phosphate business and headed Retail before returning to HR at the most senior level. That journey is not just a career timeline. It is the lens through which he approaches every people decision today. Step outside the HR function to lead it better Most HR leaders build their careers by going deeper into the function. Arun Leslie George went in the opposite direction. "Very early in my career, I made a conscious effort to learn beyond HR and understand the business deeply," he reflects. "I have always believed in being a student of the game." In his early years, that meant visiting the factory on Sundays simply to learn something new. It also meant living by one principle above all others. "I followed one simple principle; never say no to an opportunity, however challenging it seemed." That openness took him far outside his comfort zone. A Group-level role working on strategy, value chain architecture and portfolio review gave him a strategic lens on the business that HR alone could not have provided.

Then came the defining test: being asked to lead the Super Phosphate business, which had been loss-making for several years. For the first time, he was directly accountable for a P&L. "Managing business strategy, operations, finance and people on a daily basis accelerated my learning tremendously," he notes. After turning that business around, leading the Retail function sharpened his understanding of customers and markets further. Those experiences reshaped how he thinks about the CHRO role entirely. "As a CHRO, I believe the role is not just about facilitating processes, but about taking ownership and driving outcomes from a people perspective," he believes. The message he gives his team consistently flows from the same conviction. “Learn the business deeply, because once you understand the business, your value as a partner increases exponentially.” For Arun, this is not aspirational advice. It is a principle he has stress-tested across roles and business cycles. "Almost every people decision is ultimately a business decision," he points out. "People decisions deserve the same seriousness as any major business investment." And just as he learned to identify a few critical priorities and pursue them with discipline when running a business, he applies that same focus to HR. The function, in his view, works best when it is anchored in business impact rather than process for its own sake. Embed purpose into your peoples’ lived experience at work Coromandel's mission, to enhance the prosperity of farmers through quality farm solutions, could easily remain a statement on a wall. Arun is deliberate about ensuring it does not. "Purpose cannot remain a communication exercise," he emphasizes. "Employees have to experience it first-hand." The organisation runs an initiative called Sense of Purpose, where employees spend time directly with farmers and dealers, understanding their realities from the ground up.