Under the Management Cultural Fest of IIM Indore Mumbai Campus—Influx’16, the HR Conclave Pratibimb was held on October 16, 2016, which witnessed talks by eminent HR specialists, who discussed and shared their insights with the young management minds.
The Conclave began with the keynote address by Mr. K. Ramakrishnan, Vice President, Corporate HR, Larsen and Toubro Limited, who spoke on the topic—‘Changing Face of HR: Emerging Roles and Responsibilities’. Mr. Ramakrishnan stressed upon the importance of adaptation and how it affects a corporate life. He also spoke about business imperatives, HR challenges and HR imperatives.
This was followed by the first Panel Discussion of the event on the topic—‘Employee On-boarding, Engagement and Retention Challenges’. The panelists included Ms. Namita Vyas, Head of Talent Acquisition APAC & Diversity Hiring, InMobi; Mr. Sourav Mohapatra, Director, Hitachi Consulting; Mr. Harsha Peter, HR Specialist, ZS Associates; and Mr. Suresh Mehra, VP and Head HR, Axis Bank. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Meenakshi Aggarwal Gupta, Associate Professor, OB & HRM, IIM Indore. The panelists put forth their views on whether a formal on-boarding process is needed, whether engagement is a fad or a necessity, the difference between engagement and retention activities in the old and new age companies and what should be taken care of when new employees join the organization.
This was followed by the second Panel Discussion on the topic—‘Learning & Development for staying relevant in a changing industry’ with Mr. Biswaroop Mukherjee, Head-HR, Commercial, Tata Motors and Mr. Harjeet Khanduja, VP-HR, Reliance Jio as the panelists. Mr. Harminder Mohan Bareja, Head HR, Reliance Infrastructure EPC moderated the discussion. While Mr. Bareja emphasized the importance of knowledge, skills and right attitude, Mr. Mukherjee highlighted the importance of predicting the next wave. The panelists also discussed whether being a specialist is better than being a generalist and about the few things that an employee needs in the face of the changes in the industry.
The Conclave concluded with an address by Professor Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director, IIM Indore. He discussed about the significance of building expertise and shared its importance with students. ‘Your brand, is a marathon and not a 100-meter dash’, he said. He also urged the students to strive for excellence in whatever choices they make and attain a bright future.