Today, businesses and economies are witnesses to a multitude of disruptive changes of unprecedented magnitudes and frequencies. In such dynamic times as these, the million-dollar questions are - How do the human resources of corporates align with such phenomenal changes? How do they who stand at the adoption end of the spectrum of disruption find their feet?
In a bid to explore the answers to all of these and much more, the Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur conducted its first ever HR Conclave on Oct 7, 2017, bringing together HR leaders from various corporate houses on a single platform for discussion. The topic for the discussion was ‘Harmonising with the Disruption Economy: Emotional, Cultural, and Generational Intelligence’ and it was aptly moderated by Mr. Ayan Pal, acclaimed author and Distinguished Toastmaster. The chief guest for the event was Mr. Siddhartha Mukhopadhyay, Dean, Alumni Affairs and International Relations, IIT Kharagpur.
Among the various discussions held in the Conclave was the impact of the current generation of young professionals who are perfectly at ease with smart devices harnessing the power of social media which has led corporates adopting unconventional yet effective strategic practices to succeed.
In this context, Mr. Prateek Dubey, Director – HR, IDFC Bank, highlighted the pertinence of cultural intelligence in today’s disruption economy by saying, “Disruption is any new technology, thought process or vision. Anything new causes culture to change and adapt so does disruption”.
Ms. Deepti Vij, Assistant Director – E&Y GDS, drew the audience’s attention to how generational intelligence has evolved over the ages, for which the things we perceive to be important are different from what mattered most to our parents or grandparents. She further illustrated change through significant steps taken by organisations, such as abandoning the forced ranking system, and the rising demand for job descriptions focusing on “How individuals can make a difference to the company”.
Hailing from a company that boasts of over 60,000 products, Mr. Amulya Sah, Director-HR, Samsung, described innovation as an integral part of the “DNA of the company” and said that Samsung serves as the backbone of Jio, which is the biggest disruption in our country today.
Mrs. Kiran B. Tandon, Head Talent Acquisition, Stryker Corporation spoke of a modern innovation in medical science that lets people undergo surgery for a brain tumour without having to shave their heads while talking about 'disruptive' innovation.
Mr. Rajesh Hurkat, Director HR of Mattel India, shed light on the significance of designing an organisation with the purpose of ensuring strong stickiness among employees that will eventually translate into high performance for the organisation. Complementing it, Mr. Hurkat also spoke about the need to practice the novel concept of ‘Servant Leadership’, which will go in the direction of establishing strong leaders and building better teams in organisations.
The HR professionals shed light on radical concepts of the present age such as that of the ‘Gig Economy’, a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs. Such instances have taken an increasing trend not just in the private but even in the government sector. Job descriptions are also evolving faster in comparison to the past.
As the discussion meandered through the realms of economics, history, science, and global mindsets, the audience sat enthralled. Finally, the panellists concluded the discussion with Mr. Prateek Dubey’s thought-provoking one-liner “Innovation is change. Change is the only constant, and whatever is constant is positive”.