Come 30th August 2013,
the students of IIM Raipur PGP batch 2013-15 were to attend the HR
Confluence ’13. Despite there being a lot of hype surrounding the kind of
reputed professionals participating in the panel discussions of the confluence,
the true nature of what we were about to witness was yet to be revealed. It is
a common sight in IIMs, the premier B-schools of India, to see people donning
suits and lots of grey hair sitting on the dais and addressing students.
However, as soon as the discussion began, it was apparent to us that this was
no ordinary event.
Dignitaries from various areas of
the corporate sector arrived to the city of Raipur to participate in discussing
various aspects of 'Strategic Recruiting and Employee Branding'. The era has
changed drastically, the quintessential workplace has changed, the needs have
changed and so have the recruiters. Recruiting is one important function of HR
and with these changing times, it has become more and more strategically
aligned with the entire organisation. In words of one of the speakers, “HR is
too serious to be left to the HR guys.”
One of the most difficult tasks
in any academic discussion is to ask simple, grassroot yet pertinent questions.
This task was amply addressed in the confluence, taken care of by the able
faculty of IIM Raipur as moderators. As discussions progressed, the issues
started coming out of the mist and clarity emerged as to some possible precautions
and solutions. The result, a form of enlightenment for the students.
One very important thing which
appealed to me was that if you keep the designations in perspective, the people
on the other side of the dais still were able to connect both to the topic and
to the students at a very basal level. The kind of comments that were made, the
kind of arguments that were put forward, were of course pertinent, but they
also appealed to the raw intellect of the students in a very natural fashion.
This contributed very much to the non-commercial success of the event.
One of the speakers, Mr. Shwetabh
Jha, mentioned, “HR as a function has always had an identity crisis. This is
changing now.” The change that the aforementioned speaker spoke about, has been very apparent for quite some time
now. The only dearth was that of recognising it and acting upon it. This
confluence and all events of such kinds go a long way in contemplating upon the
said change. Another interesting thing about HR as a functional specialisation
is that it seems very generic on the outside; non-HR aspiring professionals are
often of the opinion that HR is something which needn’t be learnt or studied,
it is something which comes very intrinsically. Whether this is good or bad,
that is a story for some other time. But the fact remains that this confluence,
in a not-so-subtle manner, showcased the importance of HR as a discipline and
the complex nature of the kind of problems and issues that HR professionals
face one they are in the industry.
Suffice to say that the HR
Confluence ’13 organised by Indian Institute of Management Raipur was an
enriching experience, both in terms of knowledge and exposure.
Contributed by : Jayesh Surisetti, PGP 2013 -15. He can be reached at pgp13082.jayesh@iimraipur.ac.in
