Building a Learning Culture, With Bala Sathyanarayanan

The Gartner Talent Angle

Learning and development is a key lever for CHROs to deliver strategic impact, but it can be a challenge to keep pace with workforce needs. As technology innovation impacts both critical skills and learning delivery, CHROs must evaluate the effectiveness of their learning initiatives and foster an environment of learning. Bala Sathyanarayanan, CHRO at Greif, joins the Talent Angle Podcast to share insights on how HR can build a learning culture. He explains why continuous learning is a necessity in today’s world of work, and shares how HR can drive business strategy by tapping into employees’ desire to grow.

Bala V. Sathyanarayanan serves as the executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Greif. Before Greif, Bala held global leadership roles at Xerox, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Coca-Cola and United Technologies. Bala earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electronics engineering and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Madras in Chennai, India. He also holds a master’s in human resources management from Rutgers University and graduated from the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Peter Aykens is the chief of research for Gartner’s HR practice. Aykens is responsible for building and leading research teams within the practice to address clients’ key initiatives. Before his current role, he spent over 25 years at Gartner leading research teams focused on banking and financial services strategy, producing numerous studies that addressed business strategy, channels, marketing, customer experience and product challenges. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from St. Olaf College, a master’s degree in international politics from Aberystwyth University (formerly known as the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth), and a master’s degree and a doctorate in political science from Brown University.