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Moheet Nagrath Guest Lectures at USF Muma College of Business Speaker Series

By Elizabeth L. Brown

TAMPA (March 7, 2022) 鈥� For more than 30 years, Moheet Nagrath worked in human resources at global consumer goods giant Proctor & Gamble, traveling to more than 50 countries and living in five different countries.

On Friday, he shared some insights about navigating among global cultures with a roomful of Executive MBA students as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series held March 4 at the USF Muma College of Business.

Nagrath is the founder principal at Leadership Architecture Worldwide LLC. When he was head of human resources at P&G, the company operated with $83 billion in revenues a year, he said.

Nagrath shared lessons and observations from his 30-plus years of global leadership experience. Among them, it鈥檚 important to know the impact culture has on today鈥檚 global business environment.

鈥淚f the behavior of your organization is not aligned with your goals across different cultures, then you鈥檙e not going to achieve your results,鈥� he said.

And while people within varying cultures may appear different, there are commonalities.

鈥淯nderneath that surface, we are motivated by the same things,鈥� he said. 鈥淲herever you go in the world, you have some common human needs.鈥�

In 1983, Nagrath began his 30-year career at Proctor & Gamble in his native country of India. After seven years, the company moved him to the Hong Kong office to oversee training in Asia. His tenure in East Asia spanned a decade and included moves to mainland China and Japan. He finished the final half of his P&G career at its company headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Over the past nine years, Nagrath has been a consultant across a broad range of industries, working in different parts of the world, including South Africa and Russia. He has advised clients on developing leaders, managing talent, transforming organizations, and improving HR operating models.

Nagrath emphasized that in every part of the world, employees seek key commonalities, such as the desire to do meaningful work, the need for recognition for their contributions, and the drive to learn a new skill.

鈥淓mployees need to reflect the consumers they serve. It is really about serving the consumers,鈥� he said.

Nagrath said it鈥檚 also important to be aware of how different cultures value the time and task of a job versus establishing a relationship.

For example, in some countries, the culture dictates that it鈥檚 more important to get the job done than to first build a relationship. But in other parts of the world, the opposite is true. Building a relationship comes first before anyone will trust you with the time and task of a job.

He summed up his talk by stressing the importance of knowing the critical differences between cultures wherever you are in the world.