LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY
To differentiate from its competition, Nanda leans into the company’ s unique identity – the intersection of industry and cutting-edge technology. Nanda believes that magic happens when the real and the digital worlds collide.“ What makes us unique is the combination of real and digital,” she explains. For AI natives, the draw is seeing abstract code manifest in physical reality through“ digital twins” and tangible engineering.“ It’ s about having digital twins that translate into real products... Something that you can touch,” she says. This synergy attracts a specific kind of talent – those who want to see their work solve“ real steel” problems. Reflecting on her time in the workplace, Nanda says that sustainability was a key factor that differentiated Siemens from every other business.“ Without missing a heartbeat, it was sustainability,” she recalls.“ And this is something that really matters to people.“ I hear people saying that they want to work for a company that actually can make an impact – and a large part of our portfolio, in fact, more than 90 % of our business enables customers to achieve a positive sustainability impact.” Yet Nanda’ s final piece of advice is not for the people employed, but rather for her peers. She argues that the P & O profession must continue to evolve quickly, which means“ unlearning” many of the rigid, prescriptive habits.
We need every voice. We need everyone to be able to challenge others
Nanda Burke Global Head of Talent and Organisation Siemens
“ We have a lot of work to do in terms of developing our profession to keep pace with the rest of the world,” she challenges. For Nanda, this means being willing to scrap legacy processes that offer no proven ROI. She explains:“ We have let go of a lot of things where we see a lot of effort, but no proven value.” Instead, she advocates for a more commercial, data-driven approach to talent.“ Let’ s open the gates of P & O. Let’ s get really curious about what’ s happening in the world and reinvent ourselves,” she says.“ We need to be commercial – bottom-line impact, data science.” By blending this commercial rigour with her signature“ lightness and joy”, Nanda believes leaders can create an environment where performance isn ' t just a high bar to clear, but a rewarding experience. As she reminds us:“ You only live once, so you need to have a joyous performance.”
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