HR Confluence ‘13 - The Experience

Come 30^th 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 

HR Confluence 2013 – Strategic Recruiting and Employee Branding

After last year’s successful HR Confluence on ‘Managing Talent for Competitive Advantage: From Identifying and Acquiring Talent to its Retention’, the theme of this year’s confluence is Strategic Recruiting and Employee Branding.’

This second edition of the confluence will see eminent people from the industry, coming together on this platform to share their ideas on strategizing the hiring process that is of special relevance in the world of business today. The confluence will hold panel discussions on topics such as transformation in recruiting culture, employer value proposition strategy, HR in employee branding – Public v/s Private sector, and emerging global talent pools.  Strategic recruitment means identifying the needs of the organisation and recruiting accordingly. HR practitioners will share their observations from real life experiences.

Employee branding is the image that the employee of a company showcases of himself and the company outside. Each employee is a brand ambassador and it demands a strong affiliation to the company. Pipeline approach which includes workforce planning, branding, continuous sourcing and on-boarding will be included in panel discussions on transformation in recruiting culture.

Employer value proposition is what is offered to the employee to make the organisation a desirable place to work in. It describes the mix of characteristics, benefits, and ways of working in an organisation. It is also important to understand the differences and similarities in the role of an employee in public or private sector. The impact on local employees due to the emerging and sought after global talent pool will also be covered in the panel discussions.

The confluence aims be a learning experience for the future managers for whom it would be essential to understand in depth the methods and strategies for recruitment. 

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.