Senior Human Resources Business Partner - Sales

Role Overview

Sheenlac Paints Limited invites an experienced Senior Sales HR Business Partner to lead the people strategy, performance culture, and talent initiatives across the sales division based in Chennai. This strategic role focuses on fostering a high-impact sales environment by setting stretch but achievable goals and cultivating talented sales professionals throughout their career phases.

Core Responsibilities

• Ensure that members of the sales team consistently reach at least 80-90% of their targets via systemic monitoring, coaching, and accountability frameworks.
• Collaborate with sales leaders to establish ambitious, market-informed targets using real data such as market size and past trends rather than arbitrary increments.
• Create and manage a performance tracking mechanism featuring frequent reviews to monitor individual and team progress against sales goals.
• Develop targeted performance improvement plans with defined timelines for underachievers, supported by necessary resources.
• Oversee end-to-end recruitment for sales roles by defining competency frameworks, conducting evaluations, and securing hires who align in skill, culture, and ambition.
• Establish predictive hiring methodologies based on profiles of past top performers to optimize recruitment processes.
• Champion and preserve a results-oriented, accountable sales culture by instituting regular recognition programs, team celebrations, and learning events that scale across locations.
• Perform regular skill gap analyses covering areas like product knowledge, negotiation, objection handling, pipeline management, and digital sales techniques.
• Design and roll out targeted training and certification programs tailored to various sales roles and experience levels, measuring effectiveness through assessments and performance outcomes.
• Develop career progression frameworks for individual contributor and management tracks, creating customized development plans for high-potential employees, and managing promotions to foster meritocratic growth.
• Monitor attrition patterns within the sales force, devise retention strategies including competitive compensation and engagement initiatives, and conduct stay and exit interviews for insight-driven interventions.
• Establish and maintain succession plans ensuring leadership continuity, mentoring and developing top talent to cover crucial roles without risk of disruption.
• Engage directly with consistently low performers to identify root causes and initiate structured turnaround plans involving coaching and revised goal-setting, with clear timelines and accountability measures.

Performance Metrics

• Percentage of sales personnel reaching 80-90% or more of their targets.
• Efficiency metrics for hiring: time-to-hire, quality of hires, and offer acceptance rates.
• Training impact measured by the closure of skill gaps and correlation between training and sales performance.
• Attrition rates focusing on regretted losses among high and mid-tier performers.
• Succession coverage for key leadership roles with ready successors.
• Proportion of low-performing sales staff improved to mid or top performance bands within specified periods.
• Engagement scores and employee Net Promoter Scores within the sales organization.

Candidate Profile

• Possesses 12 to 18+ years of human resources experience with substantial exposure as an HR Business Partner supporting sales functions in high-growth, target-centric sectors such as BFSI, FMCG, technology/SaaS, and real estate.
• Experienced in crafting incentive schemes, performance management setups, and sales-focused training initiatives.
• Well-versed in sales performance indicators—including pipeline management, conversion rates, and quota attainment—enabling effective communication with sales leaders.
• A proven track record of decreasing turnover and implementing effective succession strategies at scale.
• Educational qualification preferably includes an MBA or PGDM in HR.

Essential Competencies

• Strong business insight with sensitivity to market dynamics to contribute to realistic, ambitious goal-setting.
• Data-driven approach to decision-making.
• Excellent skills in coaching and conducting performance discussions.
• Ability to influence stakeholders and nurture relationships within sales leadership.
• Capacity to balance empathy with enforcing accountability measures.