HR Symposium 3.0

IMI Kolkata witnessed the first symposium of the academic year 2021-2022 on the morning of 26^th June 2021. The HR Symposium 3.0 of IMI Kolkata comprised honorable panelists, Ms. Pallavi Verma, VP HR, QBS Learning, Dr. Nitin Barekere, Head – HR, The Better India, Mr. Rishav Dev, CHRO- VP HR, Anmol Feeds, Ms. Dipali Pallai, Deputy General Manager HR, NephroPlus and Mr. Ratna Sekhar Adika, Director – HR & CA, Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd. focusing on valued insights around the topic “HR nXT: Beyond Pandemic “. The discussion emphasized on the challenges faced by industries along with strategies innovated to retain and sustain talent within the organization. The panel was moderated by Dr. Sachin Modgil, Chairperson, Alumni Relations, Assistant Professor (Operations and Supply Chain), IMI Kolkata who drew the session to an end by offering a vote of thanks to all the exceptional panelists in the room.

Ms. Dipali Pallai from NephroPlus stated some facts about the healthcare industry, for example, there wasno concept of Workfrom Home for the employees from this sector and quick adaptation to the new normal for their individual betterment. When asked about post pandemic changes, according to her, online consultation and 24*7 counselling are here to stay, depending on the type of treatment.

“The biggest challenge of the industry is the industry itself”, mentioned Mr. Rishav Dev, Anmol Feeds, when asked about the challenges he faced. As per his opinion, since the agriculture industry is unorganized, educating people on the requirement of professionalism along with retention of talent is the need of the hour. He believes if the channel of communication is open and if people, especially the young generation is treated like adults respectfully, then their patience and hard work will take the industry to new heights.

Taking the discussion forward on the same lines, Ms. Pallavi Verma from QBS Learning said, “Everyone has to be a multiskilled person” including how the publishing industry had anticipated the need of digitalization, the pandemic had just accelerated the process.In her point of view, future HR jobs will be inculcated with automation and how data will have a huge role to play in the dynamics of human resources.

Dr. Nitin Barekerewhile addressing the young minds mentioned, “No size fits all”,because he had never faced the challenge of digitalization as his organization was already working on that mode. Yet his industry did face challenges in other aspects which included hiring & deploying, training & development, managing mental health, monitoring self-regulation, etc.

Mr. Ratna Sekhar Adika emphasized on the importance of agility in business. In the 155years since the inception of their company, they had strategized workforce and skills accordingly, therefore they were not agitated by the thought of the pandemic closing down businesses. As a matter of fact, they took the pandemic positively and by having an optimistic approach, they modified themselves accordingly into a complete travel company so as to be able to cater to all customers.

The symposium was an insightful one, giving the students a flavor of all sorts of challenges faced by various industries and their modus operandis to overcome the same, thus enabling the young minds to strategize their own solutions to problems and giving the students a practical knowledge based approach.