SRM University-AP organised the grandest National HR Conclave-2021, the grandest conglomerate of Human Resource experts, on February 27, 2021, in association with the Global Workforce Management Forum. The theme of the conclave for this year was “Leading the Disruption- The HR Agenda for 2021 “. Senior Human Resource Leaders from reputed companies such as KPMG, Airbus, IBM, Informatica, Standard Chartered Bank, Flipkart, Shriram Bio-seeds, NCC Ltd, NOKIA, Infosys BPO, Volvo Group, Reliance Jio, Western Digital, Visa, Accenture, Grant Thornton LLP, Xperi Corp, Western Digital, Kromozones Software Pvt. Ltd, Shriram Bioseeds, SS&C Technologies delivered keynote speeches and participated in Panel Discussions in the daylong event.

The event was started with the opening remarks of Prof V S Rao, Vice-Chancellor, SRM University-AP. In his speech, Prof Rao explained briefly how disruptive innovation had benefitted several industries such as the telecom and communication industry, automobile industry and others so far. It is high time to explore the opportunities in the Human Resource sector. “Covid-19 has provided us with many opportunities. Post-COVID era is the era of changed perspective and innovation, enabling the commoners to reap the benefits of technology,” said Prof Rao. He also stated the University encourages students to make use of the opportunities such as undergrad research, semester abroad program, student run-tech labs, etc to enhance their creative and innovative thinking.

Advancing the proceedings of the event, the founders of GWFM gave a brief understanding of their organisational structure and operations. Global Workforce Management Forum, founded in June 2014 by Dr Shiva Kumar and Partho Ganguly, is the world’s first WFM Forum. It is a non-profit professional organisation comprising of a group of Senior WFM & HR professionals committed to promoting the WFM movement on the global platform. Mr Ganguly set the tone for the conclave by addressing the present stagnation in Human Resource and opportunities to move forward.

In the first Keynote speech of the conclave Mr Unmesh Pawar, Partner – People Performance & Culture- KPMG India, explained how workforce reshaping is going to be a key element as we move forward. COVID-19 has changed the HR perspective globally. Mr Pawar took some realistic examples from whatever is happening worldwide and how it is creating shifts in overall organisational behaviour and operations.

The event progressed with a few panel discussions. Commenting on the importance of Digital, Data and Disruptions, the panel agreed that data analytics is crucial in today’s world, where we are standing on the verge of digital transformation. Predictive data analysis is being used to make business decisions. It is very important to have a sharp and clear objective to move forward in this field with countless opportunities.

Advancing into the event, Mr Suraj Chetri, Director HR Airbus India illuminated the audience with his strategic keynote on The Future of HR. “Start-ups are the future. Larger conglomerates will break into smaller companies with the abolishment of hierarchy. A lot of focus will be in healthcare and safety with special emphasis on mental health,” said Mr Chetri. According to him, a smart workplace is going a play a major role in the future. Technology will support employees to carry out several activities in a seamless way. It is going to impact the workplace culture and office management. Machine learning, data-driven automation, physical as well as virtual connectivity and Team collaborations are going to sustain in the future.

In another discussion on HR strategies to build flexibility, adaptability, and agility, the panel agreed on that every crisis goes through a time of recovery. This is a recovery phase. What is needed is adaptability as a skill. People are now looking for adaptability as the most important tool and hiring criteria. There are many tools and technologies to aid the recruitment process. But that is for ease of administration. More important is how one positions himself? Students should be focused from the beginning to create their own brand, deciding their selling points and USPs.

While speaking on the Future-proofing workforce 2020: Upskilling employees for future-oriented career trajectories, Mr Augustus Azariah, Human Resource Leader IBM mentioned that organisations used to build skills, capabilities, competencies, risk appetite among the employees. These skills are now being used to stay afloat in the storm called COVID-19. Analytics says storm riders are highly adaptable, willing to take risks with the resilience to get teams together. “If we walk through a journey of how HR has evolved over the years, we will find that it used to be process-driven, but now it is experiential and result- oriented. Conversion of data into actionable insights, design thinking, awareness of market trends, proactive learning and upskilling are the tools that employees of the future will need. To be an essential part of the future, one has to be digitally aware with a work experience consistent with his customers’ experience along with proper sensitisation in the workplace with the changed demographics,” advised Mr Azariah.

Over 25 Human Resource experts joined the conclave to share their view and usher in the way forward for the students. the conclave provided food for thought for the fellow recruiters as well as the students were highly motivated to listen to the experts speaking on real time problems with a solution. Mr Vivekanandan, Assistant Director-CR&CS, SRM University-AP, cordially thanked all the speakers, panel members, and the GWFM for their efforts to make the conclave a grand success.