PRESS RELEASE
National HR Meet 2010: HR Practices 2010 & Beyond

Photograph: from left to right - Mr. Partho Das Gupta, Lt.Gen.(retd.)Vinayshankar, Prof.(Col) A Balasubramanian, & Mr. B Sudhakar

Pune August 7, 2010. “HR Practices: 2010”, the Annual  National HR Meet, organized by  Balaji Institute of Modern Management  from July 23rd to 25th, 2010 as a part of  corporate interface program for the postgraduate management students of all the streams.

As part of this, HR Meet addressed  certain critical HR challenges and issues that lie ahead for business leaders-some very obvious and others either beyond the horizon or waiting to waylay us around corners we have yet to reach. Issues such as outsourcing, engagement of contract labour, diversification, employee relations and other pertinent aspects facing managers, are challenges, which unless met proactively have the potential of generating significantly undesirable outcomes. 

The meet  saw presentations from over twenty  high profile corporate stalwarts from all across India   who spoke  about the metamorphosis in the HR practices which has taken place in the few years and the anticipated changes in the future from their vast and rich experience in the industry. 

The key speakers at the conference included:

Speaking on   various economies of the world (US, India and Europe) and its impact on business & human resource Mr. Sudhakar shared that India should be prepared to lose some business coming from western Europe as it will outsource more from Eastern Europe. Also, consolidation in IT industry may happen which may move business from India to small countries like  Vietnam and Philippines. With influx of  human resource from other countries we may face different cultural and social issues.  He was also of opinion that managers should have good understanding of sociology and psychology as  employees are having more difficulties in personal relationship. The movement had been from joint to nucleus families and now to weekend families. He stressed on skills like process skills i.e. ability to influence others and building on inclusive growth. He also emphasized that to remain relevant one must build his capabilities. He concluded his talk by saying that we require modernization of minds rather than modernization of plants. 

Mr. Dasgupta,  said that Personnel Management helps to deliver better performance. It focuses on the result. The climate of the organization should be conducive for delivering better results.

Employee engagement was one of the main discussions of  Ms.Matoo’s address.
Mr.Padmanabhan  said, “You don’t need managers to manage the people. You need leaders to manage the people.” In his view competencies for budding managers are Connecting with people, Influencing ability – Empathy, Change Management- Discover something new. Be innovative, Team effectiveness, Strategic Alignment, Business acumen, Cross Cultural Management, Business Outcome, Global Mind-set.

Ms. Singh, suggested that in the first couple of weeks of joining the organization, observe the culture / work environment, sense people & then adapt accordingly. She also helped management students by giving fruitful tips on  on what is expected of them when they join the organization.

Mr. Sahoo, acquainted audience with challenges in a start-up.

Talking on trends in HR, Mr. Tamhane spoke on performance linked compensation structure, usage of social recruiting channels, Cost effective workforce planning etc.

Mr. Krishnamurthy spoke on future HR challenges and also he emphasized that the company should have a transparent reward policy and practices.

Mr. Maini, said that role of HR will be focused on Business Strategy, HR transactions will be outsourced. He opined that HR Manager needs to have financial, analytical, marketing and risk management skill acumen.

Dr. Manohar, spoke about journey of HR from labour officer to strategic partner. He shared that HR practices influences Organisation, Industry, Customer and Employee. According to him emerging challenges are Mergers and acquisitions & JV’s, Building Performance Culture, Building leadership brand.

Mr. Makarand Khatavkar, MD  HR ,  Deutsche Bank spoke about women empowerment in the corporate world. He also shared that number of women should be more to increase the bottom-line of the organization and supported his opinion with research findings. He also opined that one will have to manage gender diversity at the work place. He was also of the view that Gender diversity brings in more innovation at the workplace.

Mr. Kalia, in his engaging presentation shared  interesting facts about trends in HR Practices and  also shared that in his view Africa will be the next destination for attractive jobs.

Mr. Mehta, spoke on HR challenges for organization in rural marketing. Mr. Palit shared thirteen virtues to be successful.

Mr. Bawa urged for greater understanding  of business and context.

Mr. Tyagi mostly talked about the business centered roles that HR is playing. Also spoke about measurement matrices and its part played as a catalyst to bring in change and implementing technology in the industry.He  emphasized that  HR in today’s scenario needs to develop analytical and decision making skills.

Dr. Govind Bagha Singh enlightened the audience about changing the world and the methods to do so. He talked about today’s situation in Indian prospect and about the imperatives for business. He also talked about the manner in which HR is perceived at the evolution of industrial HR and HR practices. In the end he concluded with new trends in HR and 3 D ’s  i.e “Combat for Climate Change.

Mr. Bhattacharya spoke   about the High Performing Organizations (HPO).He explained the KPI’s of HPO and the details about creating HPO strategies.

Mr. Asthana explained the concepts like total rewards management, business partnerships and entrepreneurship in greatest of details. He also explained the importance of talent management and succession planning and the part that engagement, organization structure,  benchmark standards, cross cultural sensitivity and ethical training place in the above.

Mr. Shoepurkar threw light on the major and minor challenges that the HR is facing and has constantly been facing since years. He explained the economic position of the world and specifically talked about China and Indian economy. He also explained the Khazanha Fortis issue and the technicalities and benefits that Indian economy would receive if the deal happens. He talked about the latest practices like human asset accounting, green audit & skilled matrix in full depth.

Mr. Dutt explained the importance of theory and its application in the corporate world. He talked about the future of HRD, execution of the key practices and their sustainability .He discussed the key points about human psychology, behavioural analysis, gallop survey, assessment centre and seven stages of HR. He suggested books like “The Leadership Brand” by Dave Elrich, “How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie, “In Search of Excellence” and “future of HRD” by T.V Rao.