Some leaders don’t just adapt to change—they define it. They reimagine industries, challenge conventions, and elevate the people around them. Their influence isn’t measured by headlines alone, but by the cultures they shape, the futures they build, and the legacy they leave behind. As the business world moves into a new era of purpose, resilience, and reinvention, a rare league of visionaries stands out—not just for what they do, but for how they lead.
Among them is Bala Sathyanarayanan, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Greif—an architect of transformation in every sense. With a leadership style grounded in empathy, precision, and ambition, Bala has redefined the role of HR as a strategic powerhouse. From embedding culture into performance to championing inclusive, data-driven talent strategies, his impact is as global as it is personal. Bala doesn’t just lead teams—he activates them. And in 2025, his name is one the business world is watching for all the right reasons.
Driving Purpose
Greif, a global leader in industrial packaging, is driven by a clear mission: to create packaging solutions for life’s essentials. This mission aligns with the company’s broader vision—to be the best-performing customer service company in the world. At the core of this vision lies a commitment to sustainability, empowered employees, and consistently exceptional service. Bala plays a pivotal role in advancing this vision. His focus lies in building a world-class, inclusive, and engaged workforce that’s essential to delivering on Greif’s strategic priorities.
HR as a Catalyst
For Bala Sathyanarayanan, the role of Human Resources goes far beyond traditional functions—it serves as a strategic driver of transformation and long-term growth. He positions HR at the heart of the company’s evolution, ensuring it fuels performance, innovation, and resilience across the business.
Bala emphasizes building and sustaining a diverse, inclusive, and engaged workforce as essential to executing Greif’s global strategy. His approach aligns HR practices directly with transformation goals, drawing from his experience leading both HR and Business Transformation at Xerox.
He champions a balanced outlook—meeting short-term operational needs while advancing long-term priorities like innovation, sustainability, and leadership development. From integrating new technologies like AI and AR to ensuring workforce equity and robust succession planning, Bala sees HR as a key enabler of adaptability and sustained growth.
Adapting for Impact
Bala approaches HR strategy with a clear focus on aligning it to a rapidly evolving global business landscape—particularly in diverse and dynamic markets like the APAC region. A key part of his strategy is technological enablement. Bala prioritizes modern HR platforms and the integration of automation and AI to streamline operations and support hybrid teams. This shift not only enhances efficiency but also ensures Greif remains responsive to changing workforce expectations.
Bala Sathyanarayanan also champions inclusion and belonging. From unconscious bias training to setting benchmarks for gender pay parity, he embeds equity and diversity into the company’s HR practices—an especially critical focus in APAC’s culturally varied landscape.
His strategic lens includes transforming HR into a data-informed, agile function—one that can adapt quickly to market dynamics while staying anchored to Greif’s global goals. This balance of global vision with local execution has helped strengthen Greif’s presence in the APAC region and beyond, ensuring HR remains a proactive driver of business resilience and growth.
Driving Engagement Impact
At Greif, Bala has championed initiatives that have significantly elevated both employee engagement and organizational effectiveness. One of the most impactful efforts has been his focus on improving colleague engagement across the company. In 2018, Greif’s engagement scores were in the 32nd percentile among manufacturing firms. Through sustained leadership, strategic programs, and a deliberate focus on employee experience, those scores rose to the 87th percentile by 2025—a remarkable shift that not only boosted morale but also correlated with stronger customer satisfaction and financial outcomes.
Another pivotal initiative under Bala’s leadership has been embedding a culture of transparency across the organization. By aligning HR policies with Greif’s broader business objectives, he fostered open communication, accountability, and a stronger connection between teams and the company’s vision. This cultural shift helped position HR as a strategic enabler and contributed to Greif earning recognition as a Gallup Exceptional Workplace—a distinction that reflects its standing as a top-tier employer in its industry.
Global Vision, Local Voice
Greif strikes a balance between global consistency and local adaptability through a unified strategic framework that empowers regions like APAC to tailor execution based on local realities.
Central to this is the “One Greif” mindset—driving shared culture and streamlined practices—supported by the “One HR” framework, which ensures core consistency while enabling regional flexibility. Programs like “Lead to Last” and the Inclusion & Belonging Steering Committee illustrate this approach—combining global alignment with locally relevant leadership and diversity strategies.
In APAC, local teams lead on risk, compliance, and sustainability, aligning Greif’s global goals with regional priorities. This is reinforced by the “Build to Last” strategy, promoting continuous improvement and agility. Through this structure-flexibility blend, Greif stays globally aligned, locally effective, and always responsive.
People at the Center
Bala Sathyanarayanan describes Greif as a truly people-first organization—where culture, leadership, and strategy revolve around a central belief: colleagues drive performance. This is rooted in “The Greif Way,” which promotes servant leadership, inclusion, and a people-focused mindset. Bala’s HR mission is clear: build a world-class, engaged, and inclusive workforce that enables strategic execution. Under his leadership, HR has evolved into a core business enabler.
He fosters a culture of psychological safety, open communication, and belonging—practiced daily, not just stated. As a culture champion, Bala has positioned HR as a key performance driver, not just a support function. Results reflect this shift. Greif ranks in the top quartile of Gallup’s Q12 global benchmarks, with an HR engagement ratio of 83:1—underscoring HR’s wide impact. Facilities with higher engagement see 42% fewer safety incidents, 46% less downtime, and 30% better operational performance.
For Bala, it’s about building a workplace where people don’t just work—they thrive, contribute, and feel valued. With measurable outcomes and inclusive leadership, Greif exemplifies people-first at scale.
Leading Through Complexity
Bala has consistently turned leadership challenges into opportunities for growth, culture, and performance. From leading global transformations at Xerox and HP to strengthening Greif’s culture, he has navigated complexity across 45+ countries by aligning diverse teams with a shared purpose.
He emphasizes building a “Winning Culture” rooted in unchanging values but adaptable to evolving business needs. Bala’s leadership balances operational discipline with innovation—knowing when to optimize and when to explore.
He views crises as catalysts for positive change, often saying, “Never waste a good crisis.” By fostering accountability, candid leadership, and resilience, he transforms adversity into momentum and drives high-performing, engaged teams.
Future-Ready Leadership
Bala Sathyanarayanan sees his role evolving with a strong focus on digital enablement and organizational agility. He is driving digital transformation through advanced tools and platforms that enhance recruitment, talent development, and employee experience.
Under his leadership, people analytics plays a key role in decision-making and measuring success, while technology also supports core goals like inclusion, well-being, and culture building. His vision is clear: a future-ready HR function that’s data-informed, tech-enabled, and deeply human at its core.
“People are the greatest enablers of sustainable success…”
Throughout his career, Bala has anchored his leadership in a set of enduring values that emphasize culture, integrity, and inclusion. Often described as a “Culture Activator” and “Engagement Champion,” Bala believes that strong values form the foundation of high-performing organizations—especially in complex, global environments.
His approach is rooted in shaping purpose-driven cultures that are inclusive, resilient, and performance-focused. He holds fast to principles such as candid communication, problem-solving, action orientation, and the ability to adapt while staying grounded in core beliefs.
Whether building world-class teams or guiding transformation across continents, Bala’s leadership consistently reflects his commitment to excellence, shared purpose, and the belief that people are the greatest enablers of sustainable success.
Culture in Action
At Greif, Bala Sathyanarayanan champions a culture that blends innovation, inclusivity, and performance—deeply human, yet tightly aligned with business outcomes. Recognized as a “Culture Activator” and “Engagement Champion,” he sees employee engagement as the bedrock of a resilient, high-performing organization. His approach ties mindset to execution—encouraging creativity and risk-taking while reinforcing accountability and operational discipline. This balance fosters agility without sacrificing results.
Bala leads by example, preparing teams to navigate uncertainty and turn challenges into growth opportunities. Through leadership development and values-driven practices, he embeds culture into daily operations. Inclusion is a cornerstone. By linking diverse perspectives to better decisions and innovation, and emphasizing traits like customer focus and continuous learning, Bala ensures culture is a lived, measurable experience across the organization. His impact has earned industry recognition—proof that at Greif, culture isn’t just stated, it’s built into the business.
Future-Ready Talent
Bala Sathyanarayanan sees 2025 as a turning point for talent management, shaped by cultural shifts, evolving technology, and new leadership expectations. His strategy centers on adaptability, resilience, and continuous capability building. He advocates balancing two mindsets: “playing offense” (innovation, risk-taking) and “playing defense” (efficiency, execution). Effective talent strategies must support both.
Leadership development is evolving, with a focus on leaders who embrace change, communicate candidly, and solve complex problems. Bala Sathyanarayanan also highlights key trends driving future talent strategy:
– Reskilling and upskilling for changing demands
– AI integration in workforce planning
– Greater use of people analytics
– Purpose-driven employer branding
He believes resilience—organizational and individual—is critical. Crises, he says, should drive reinvention, not hesitation. For Bala, the future of talent is about combining human-centered leadership with data-driven strategy—anchored in values, powered by technology, and focused on lasting growth.
Legacy of Unity and Impact
Bala Sathyanarayanan envisions his legacy as one rooted in unity, inclusion, and sustainable excellence—both at Greif and within the wider business community. His mission has been to build a globally engaged, inclusive workforce capable of delivering Greif’s vision of exceptional customer service.
Beyond organizational success, he champions values like gender pay equity, digital enablement, and ethical governance. Drawing from his boardroom experience, Bala hopes to influence broader corporate standards—particularly in advancing inclusive leadership and sound governance.
Ultimately, he aims to be remembered as a leader who unified people, inspired excellence, and helped shape a business culture where values drive performance and resilience defines leadership.
Leadership that Lasts
Bala’s advice to future leaders is clear: think like a businessperson first. HR professionals, he believes, must align closely with strategy and focus on creating real value.
He encourages a mindset of always improving—leaving things better than you found them. Bala Sathyanarayanan also highlights the need to balance bold innovation with disciplined execution, and to act decisively with accountability.
In times of change, he champions resilience and creative problem-solving. Above all, he believes leaders should model company values, build strong teams, and lead with purpose to drive lasting impact.
