Learning from the best: My experience from the HR Summit IIM Raipur

IIM Raipur organized its 1^st HR Summit on 19^th and 20^th of September, 2014 which proved to be a huge success as industry professionals and academicians from all over India shared their experiences and insights on the various topics related to the central theme of “Aligning HR with Business Strategy”. The two day event saw participation of over 50 HR Directors, Presidents and Vice Presidents from the industry voicing their opinions during the six panel discussions.

For students like me who are looking for a career in HR, the Summit gave an opportunity to get an industry perspective.

The Chief Guest, Mr. Narendra Kothari, CMD, NMDC, in his inaugural address stated that better HR policies are the best way of motivating employees and there is a need for performance differentiation during appraisal. In his words, “While hiring a new employee one must try to align the job requirements with the personal requirements.”

Mr. Ramkumar, Executive Director, ICICI bank, built his speech around leadership. He ascertained that techniques can be learned but passion cannot be and as business professionals we should stop identifying ourselves with our specializations. His opinion that we should refer ourselves as leaders and not as HR or marketing professionals was intriguing and made me realize how we limit ourselves as we inch a step closer to the doors of the corporate world.

On the first panel discussion, titled ‘Managing Intangibles – Connecting with Internal Customers’, the panel members talked about the best HR practices across the industry and how they manage, motivate and reward their employees.

I particularly enjoyed the discussion of the third panel, which was on ‘HR as a strategic business partner’. As an HR enthusiast I do feel that HR should move from the administrative role and be a part of the decision making process of any organization. The discussion revolved around the changing roles of HR. Key speakers in this panel shared their opinions about the practices that could be implemented to achieve this.

The second day of the summit was as enriching as the first day and started with the discussion on how organizations can develop a high performing culture. At this time I remembered the article, ‘Characteristics of High Performance Organizations’ by André de Waal which talks about various dimensions an organization should assess itself on to be high performing. The discussion revolved around the same dimensions and the members of the panel shared their firm’s culture and expressed views on the dimensions which their organization focused on to become high performing.

The last panel discussion on ‘Leadership in volatile times’ was very interactive and the panelists stressed that all times are volatile times and a leader should be prepared to face any challenge that comes along their way.

All in all, the 2014 HR summit organized by IIM Raipur was an exciting experience and as a student I found it to be a very enriching journey.

This article is written by Prasha Mishra, of PGP 2013-15. She can be reached at pgp13101.prasha@iimraipur.ac.in

The First Step Forward- HR Confluence 2012 in Reminiscence

      Managing talent for competitive advantage – this is a sentiment that resonates in every organization as people are its most valuable resource. So when the first HR Confluence 2012 addressed this very issue, it was bound to generate a huge interest among industry experts as well as budding managers. 

       The discussions of HR Confluence 2012- Managing talent for competitive advantage revolved around three major themes which addressed the central idea in phases. These were talent spotting, talent retention and talent development. The main objective of the event was to provide insights into the plurality of perspectives on talent management. Also, the factors affecting the adoption and formulation of talent management strategy tailor-made to meet specific local needs and context of an organization were discussed.

          In a fiercely competitive environment, how do companies identify the right talent from the same employee pool, especially with the shrinking percentage of employable people? The discussions on talent spotting addressed this very dilemma. Acquiring the right talent is just a part of the problem organizations face. How to retain it seems to be the bigger issue as talent retention is easier said than done.  More importantly, how can companies best plan, select and implement development strategies for the entire talent pool to ensure that the organization has both the current and future supply of talent to meet their strategic objectives? Talent development plays a crucial role in every organization for this very reason.

        To address these issues on talent management, the HR Confluence 2012 witnessed HR practitioners from prominent companies in both public and private sectors such as SAIL, TVS, Renault-Nissan, Deloitte, L&T, Essar Oil Ltd., Balco and Carwale. From elucidating the concept of employee management using ’The Mahabharata’ to stressing on the need for companies to recruit individuals not just for their skills rather for the principles they carry, each speaker brilliantly put their thoughts forward. The common thread present in their speech was the cardinal principle – ‘People are important’.

           The ideas exchange that took place during the entire event was immense. The queries put forward by the students, inquisitive to know about the real-time business scenarios, were received with equal enthusiasm by the speakers. By providing the practitioner’s perspective on the questions raised, the experts helped the student panelists gain a better understanding of the realities faced by organizations. This is what ultimately resulted in the success of the inaugural chapter of HR Confluence paving the way to its second chapter in August 2013.

           Every organization spends a great deal of resources in recruiting and training its ‘talent’. Hence, it is relevant to discuss issues that deal with recruiting, developing and retaining people. However, there is much more to this story. Strategic recruiting and employee branding are equally essential for the long term sustainability of an organization. This is what the upcoming HR Confluence 2013 aims to address. Let’s see it take forward the success story of 2012 this year to a whole new level.

HR Confluence on Talent Management

                    

        “The Confluence was organised at IIM Raipur on 25thAugust 2012 at its campus for students to gain an industry interface as well as understand the applicability of management principles to real life. This was also a step in joining hands with the Corporates here, their HR and all HR Professionals.”,said the Confluence Convener Prof. Shubhra Hajela.

          The confluence was graced by the presence of HR veterans from prominent corporates such as SAIL, TVS, Renault Nissan, Deloitte, L&T, Essar Oil Ltd.,Balco and Carwale.com. The issues of talent management is an issue which needs much deliberation was agreed by all the panelists especially in the world of today where economic and social changes are happening at a rampant pace. The confluence took place in three phases addressing the most important aspects of talent management such as Talent Spotting, Talent Retention and Talent Development.

           The session began with the Director of IIM Raipur, Prof. Sahay addressing the gathering on functioning of an organization and the vital role played by HR in it. The keynote speaker Mr Bhagirathi Dhal, Executive Director, SAIL in his speechstressed on how people centric the business is, and also cited interesting stories from Mahabharata to explain the concept of employee engagement.His speech threw light on the fact that talent management is not an isolated entity; instead it is interwoven all along the fabric of the organization and influences its functionality to a great extent.

             Mr ShashikanthJayaraman, Head HR, TVS highlighted the trend of modern era where ‘jobs are after people’, which is in stark contrast to the past when ‘people were after jobs’, since the mantra has changed from job security to value addition. He strongly advocated that the corporate should recruit individuals based on the principles they carry and value they hold, and not merely based on skills alone.

             Speech by Mr. Arokia Sagayaraj, HR Head, Renault Nissan revolved around the talent expectations in the core automotive industry and the importance of shifting the focus from the retention of top 10% to 30-40%. The inference from his speech was that in order to have high level of employee engagement the management should be more concerned in the mannerism in which a strategy is rolled out for it has a significant impact than the strategy by itself. Mr Vikas Gupta,VP Talent, Deloitte connected the HR activities to India’s most favourite sport cricket; this led to an easy understanding of complex issues in talent management. Ms Priya Singh, Carwale spoke of the importance in developing friendly work culture for employee involvement.She emphasized that the retention and work culture begins right from the hiring process.

               Moderator for the third session, Prof, Parashar stressed that it is talented people who provide a competitive advantage to organizations. Speech by Mr. V .Ravi, L&T Hydrocarbon, focused on the need to innovate the training programs so as to help employees develop their skills.Mr Amit Joshi, Associate VP of BALCO, emphasized that each and every employee of an organization is a talent which must be nurtured and developed through competency mapping and structured induction programs.

            The three panels Talent Spotting, Talent Retention and Talent Development had student panellists who were inquisitive about the theoretical manifestations of the real-time business scenarios.The industry experts were more than happy to provide the practitioner’s perspective on the questions raised and broaden the students’ views.The confluence served the purpose of not only gaining an understanding on employee behaviour and retention, but also gave a new dimension about the role of HRs and hopes pinned on them by the organizations for their success. As a whole this kindled the spirits of aspiring HR managers of IIM Raipur to learn more on this field and carve a niche for them.

         

            The success of the confluence can be attributed to the student core committee members Arindam Mandal, Dhileeban Rajakumaran and Anshu Katiyar under the guidance of Confluence Convener Prof. Shubhra Hajela.