IIPM and Times Ascent HR Forum had a series of programs on HR 2020 at New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
Background :
Remember the first time you applied for your job ? We all do ! The million dollar interview confirmation that you received - be it thrugh a speculative telephone call or a fancy call letter or after an interactive session with your prospective boss, in all aprobability, there was a time at some stage of your work life where you have dealth with the personnel department or popularly referred to as the HR department.
With the national economy growing speedily and with enormous growth in major sectors - IT ITeS, Retail,Pharma, Manufacturing, Telecom, Airlines etc of the Indian economy, HRs role has not only become an integral part of an employees life but also HR challenges have grown multifold. In todays highly competitive job scenario, it is like building an aircarft while you are in the air for several HR managers. FAced with growth at record levels in some industries and skyrocketing attritio, for HR finding workers with the right skills is a grave issue. Even hot industries that can attract college graduates from the top-tier business schools are being forced by market conditions to inflate salaries and lower job expectations.
While the HR challenges facing many Indian companies are both daunting and crucial to the continued success of their businesses, the number of enlightened HR leaders helping to tackle those challenges ina strategic fashion is small. HR still has not reached the strategic level that it should be at. Even in the larger companies, they talk about being strategic, but in the main they are not doing it !
Attraction and retention are all the HR puts emphasis on. But, HR needs to look at the bigger picture. HOw many of HR executive actually do workplace planning ? Are there any innovative HR policies laid to encourage employee motivation ? Hence, after the overwhelming response received inthe previous editions of the TimesAscent HR forum has conducted 3 back to back seminars at New Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai in the month of January, 07. To tune up to the challenges and trying to predict the future of HR these events are named as HR 2020.
Google India was Platinum sponsor while Adrenalin and Accenture were Gold sponsors for the event across 3 locations.
About the event :
If there is one people management mantra of the future, it is this - take a more holistic approach towards managing human beings. In the past, the term ‘resource’ was taken a tad too seriously. HRM was basically seen as a top-down activity; employees had to be ‘handled’ by the management. But people, unlike robots, cannot merely be oiled, polished, recharged and put to work. As Dr. Covey said, ‘Human beings are not things needing to be motivated and controlled; they are four dimensional — body, mind, heart, and spirit.’
Having realised this, managers and organisations are talking about creating more engaging workplaces. After all, today’s leaders have to do more than merely extract work out of their people. Modern people management has a lot to do with nurturing the dreams and ambitions of employees and making them realise that their contribution is not just a transaction of work for money and material comfort.
As HR enters mainstream management in its new role as a critical business function, Times Ascent, through the Times Ascent HR Forum: HR 2020, takes on the mantle of observer and analyst, in its quest to be the voice of the new Indian HR industry. HR 2020 is an attempt to gain insights into people strategies for the future by gauging employee engagement and empowerment tactics, innovative rewards and compensation practices; and everything else that enables leaders to meet the opportunities and the challenges of managing tomorrow’s workforce.
The events got started off with Key Note address by :
Mr Shantanu Khosla MD Procter & Gamble at Mumbau
Mr. Ravi Swaminathan President Hewlett Packard at Delhi
Mr. Romi Malhotra MD Dell India at Bangalore
IIPM has made a presentation about the institution which had a av.
Followed by the key note address there were presentations on Great Places to Work -
Innovative HR Practices: Case study on’ Great place to work ‘
At Mumbai by Sujaya Banerjee CLO Essar Group
At Delhi by Aditya Roy Manager HR Google India
AtnBangalore by Narasimha Prasad - Staffing Programs Manager Google India
Panel Discussion - I
Can HR contribute to the bottomline? “ CEOs" Perspective
Background :
Some still consider HR a support function. But there are others who actually dare to dream that there could be room for it to evolve and acquire a more strategic role. With functions like recruitment and payroll taking a backseat to more demanding functions like employer branding, talent grooming and succession planning, this dream could actually come true. As for getting a seat at the table, only time will tell how well professionals in this function manage to administer their new roles. We invite CEOs from progressive organisations to throw light on their vision for the function of HR.
Mumbai
Moderator - Pankaj Vaish Managing Partner Accenture Delivery Centre BPO
The panel had the following CEOs
S Ravi Kiran Managing Director Starcom
Gunith Chadha CEO Deustche Bank
Rajat Jain, MD Walt Disney Company I Pvt Ltd
Dr Abhijit Gangopadhyay Professor OB -XLRI
V Balaraman CEO Adrenalin eSystems Ltd
Delhi
Moderated by Nischae Suri Head Asia Pacific, Hewitt Associates
Panel had the following CEOs -
Yvonne Spalding COO Xansa I td
Ganesh Guruswamy Country Manager and Director Freescale Semiconductor
Ajit Kumar Senior Executive Accenture Delivery Centre India
V Balaraman CEO Adrenalin eSystems Ltd
Bangalore
Moderated by Sandee Arora, Lead Executive, Accenture Delivery Centre India
CEO panel consisted of the following :
Bhaskar Pramanik - President, Sun Microsystems
Sampath Iyengar Chief Executive Officer, PSI Data Systems
Amitava Roy, President Symphony Services
B Sambamurthy CMD Corporation Bank
V Balaraman CEO Adrenalin eSystems Ltd
After the initial pointers by the moderators the audience participated and had put questions to all the panelists.
After the panel discussion there were presentation on Innovative HR Practices: Case Study on the topic
Any Time Promotions by Nina Fernandes Mastek
Topic - Sapient Start by Binoo Wadhwa Director, People Strategy Sapient Corporation
Topic - Talent Development at SAP Satish Venkatachaliah VPHR Sap Labs India
Post lunch sessesion had a Panel discussion on - Change and the agile organisation
We talk freely of managing change. But isnt it a paradox? While you can prepare for the future, perhaps even predict it to an extent, how do you ensure that when the big change actually occurs, you will be able to handle it? Also, how do you make change acceptable to all? Three words can help an organisation maintain momentum even in times of change: clarity, courage and communication. Experts shed further light on a people managers role in adapting to and making the best of change.
Mumbai
Moderated by Sunit Mehra Managing Partner - Hunt Partners
The panel had the following -
Pankaj Bhargava Chief-HR Marico Ltd
Mona Cheriyan, General Manager Employee Engagaement & Europe Liaison I-flex solutions limited
Bijay Sahoo President HR Reliance Retail
Swaran Sehgal VP HR Edelweiss India
Unmesh Pawar Recruiting Lead Accenture Delivery Centre India
Delhi
Aquil Busrai Director HR IBM, Gurgaon.
Deepak Dhawan Global Head HR Exl Service
Manoj Varghese Director HR Google India
Rajan Sablok HR Lead Accentury Delivery Centre for BPO India
Chandan Chattaraj ED Xerox India.
Bangalore:
Ravi Parameshwar - Hewlett Packard
T Hari, Sr. Vice President- HR Satyam Computers
Varda Srinivasan VP HR Caritor India Ltd
Rahul Varma HR Lead Accenture India
Prof Ramnath IIM Bangalore
These meets were well attended by senior as well as middle level HR managers from the 3 metros.
Report filed by Editorial Team HRudaya - New Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai.
