HR Symphony- A Grand Success

It gives me immense pleasure to let my readers know that 'HR Symphony' on 12th September [at Ambassador Pallava] created the perfect symphony in terms of key insights on the theme 'Strategic Management in a Turbulent Economy',intensively studied Research Presentation, thought provoking discussion on 'Retaining the Top Talent', HURECANE [Department Newsletter] release which was extensively appreciated and the very impressive Placement Brochure release to just name a few.

The dignitaries present were:
Mr Irai Anbu,
Secretrary, Tourism and Culture
Govt of Tamil Nadu

Dr Fatima Vasanth- Principal
Madras School of Social Work

Mr CD Jose
Hon Secretary, SSER

Prof Jayanthi Peter,
Head of the Dept
MA HRM

Mr G D Sharma,
Vice President,Human Resources
Larsen & Toubro [ECC Division]

Mr Rakesh Gupta
General Manager, Human Resources
Ashok Leyland

Mr GD Sharma[whom I also consider as one of my HR Guru] was the Key Note speaker and he created a great impact in the audience's mind through his quintessential passionate presentation on 'Strategic Management in a Turbulent Economy'.

According to him turbulence is good[in a positive context] as it helps us to recognize our true potential. He encouraged us to embrace these turbulent times and learn from it.

Mr Irai Anbu released our Placement Brochure and spoke on various HR issues. His special focus on non verbal communication was very well liked by the audience.

Mr Rakesh Gupta discussed various cases related to reasons for attrition among 'Top Talents'.It was a good platform where students [ including me] could ideate on various issues pertaining to attrition among Top Talents.

I am sure I could not do the justice in describing the events of 'HR Symphony' here as it's tough to post the vast learnings and observations
here through a single post.

But my future writings shall reflect the learning I recieved from 'HR Symphony'.

I wholeheartedly thank each and everyone associated with the success of 'HR Symphony'.

*By the way your's truly was the Vice President of the HR Symphony team. It felt nice to wear the Vice President batch during the event.

Best Practices V/S Micro Practices

The posters in XYZ company speaks volumes about their new HR best practices. It's branded in a spunky way which makes it genuinely attractive.

It has got extensive media coverage and most likely; XYZ company will grab the place of 'Best Employer' in the next nation wide 'Best Employer' survey. The Chief People Officer is recieving appreciation from all corners.

However; Mr X , an associate who has joined the company 15 days back is slightly amused with the 'Best Practices'. He is one of the many victims of poor canteen facility, poor transportation, delay in getting bills sanctioned etc.......

The glossy and attractive packaging of 'Best Practices' which ultimately boils down to a performance bonus, 360 degree appraisal, assesment centres etc does not really mean much to him. He doesnot have faith in the HR team to deliver the so called 'Best HR practices' as it is incapable of delivering the basic/micro practices.

It's important that the 'Best HR practices' are directed towards the employee causes and not nation wide surveys.

The employees must endorse and have firm faith in the 'Best HR practices'.

Finally; there should be proper delivery of core/micro practices even before thinking about the idea of implementing the 'Best HR practices'.

HR Symphony!!!!!

The Student Forum of MA-HRM, The Madras School of Social Work

presents

'HR Symphony', A seminar on 'Strategic Management in a Turbulent Economy'

Friday, 12th September 2008 15:30-20:00

Hotel Ambassador Pallava Egmore, Chennai

* Only for Corporates [Registration-Rs 100]

Contact- mssw.mahrm@gmail.com

9790717784 [Cell]

GLIM HR CONCLAVE

My experience in Great Lakes Institute of Management HR conclave was thought stimulating and extremely informative. The theme of the conclave was ‘Managing Human Capital in the Globalized Business Environment’. It served as a perfect platform for educational institutions and corporate fraternity to ideate on various new age HR issues.

The list of dignitaries included:

Shri Prem Chand Gupta Honorable Union Minister for Corporate Affairs

Dr T.V Rao Chairman, T.V Rao Learning Systems Pvt Ltd

Mr Muthuraman Managing Director, Tata Steel

Mr Chandrasekaran President & Managing Director, Cognizant

Dr Chandrasekhar Sripada President HR, Capgemini Consulting India Pvt Ltd

Mr Allen Sequeira Sr VP HR, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd

Mr B Venkatramana Sr VP HR, Reliance Retail Ltd

Mr Lancelot Cutinha VP HR, Big FM

Mr Steve D Rich Shared Services Manager India & ASEAN HR, Caterpillar

Mr Anuj Kumar Associate Director HR, CSC

Dr K Prabhakar V P Corporate HR, Apollo Hospitals

Mr C Mahalingam Executive VP & Chief People Officer, Symphony SVCS

Mr Boddapati Balaji Director, ADP Private Ltd

With that esteemed list of dignitaries; a great conclave was assured even before the start of it.

It did meet my expectation and felt blessed to invest my time in such an occasion.

Some key learning and observations were as follows:

*It’s money value of time which concerns rather than vice versa.
*Sensible product differentiation has brought product branding.
*Most important investments are time and emotional commitment.
*India’s success is based on LSP [Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati] quotient.
*Human mind is still classificatory even today.
*HR is the new strategic variable for Corporate India.
*Competent people are increasingly scarce to find.
*The way in which 360 degree or assessment devt centre are applied is very important
*HR professionals are increasingly Internet savvy, communicative, well networked and energetic.
*HR professionals lack:

1.Thorough understanding of talent mgmt and devt process.
2.Comprehensive professional knowledge and skills.
3.Patience to stay long enough in a job to make a difference.
4.Long term thinking and holistic orientation.
5.Respect for local talent.

A few qualities for global leadership are as follows:
1. High degree of self awareness and focus on self renewal.
2. Result oriented and they deliver result.
3. Ability to empower, reward and recognize others continuously.
4. They have a sense of priority and purpose.
5. Integrating ability.
6. Know when to leave.
7. Bounce back from mistakes.
8. Cultural sensitivity.
9. Ability to seek and manage diversity.

*Globalization is a compulsion and not choice.
*Have common performance standards across the globe.
*Integration of cultures during M&A is very important.
*There should be a well defined purpose behind any M& A
* Integration does not mean uniformity.
*All processes of the acquirer may not be right.
* The combined entity may need new processes and approaches.
* Agreeing to disagree is important.
* Insist on pre merger due diligence.
* Tolerate and respect differences.
*Set aside turf.
*Renew focus.
*Adapt to new culture.
The two key mantras of a successful M&A are :
1. Be humble
2. Learn along the way.

*Value identification depends on financial, operational distribution synergies, managing emotions and alignment of structural process.

Three challenges identified to manage workforce diversity are:

1. Inclusion
2. Alignment
3. Communication

*Creating teams inclusive of both [M&A] companies is very important.
*In order to out compete; out innovate.
*There is huge scope for HR in un-organized sector.
*In order to make a strong employer’s brand; one has to really listen to employees on attraction and retention; don’t believe there will be no one simple answer; watch it evolve over time; set key metrics to manage the issue.


*Foster creativity at workplace by:
1.Being stress free
2.Seek new experience.
3.Ensure you are in an environment that nurtures creativity.

*Making BPO jobs an aspiring career is the biggest HR challenge in the BPO sector.

*Customer satisfaction to customer delight to customer astonishment.
*Leadership has two dimensions: Visionary and Architectural.

*Creating a shared vision through vision workshop is the key in having the perfect vision statement.