The day allows volunteers from Deloitte in India an opportunity to give back to society. The virtual, in-office and on-the-ground projects across more than 500 locations saw over four lakh individuals getting actively involved during the 21st annual Impact Day. The project themes this year included education and skills, empowerment, healthcare, animal welfare and sustainability.

Volunteer project leaders, from across domains and ranks, pick causes they are committed to and collaborate with internal teams as well as non-profit organisations to plan day-long programmes. Volunteer team members register for projects that resonate with their interests and matter to them, and dedicate an entire working day to making an impact.

By volunteering to create an impact, the individuals not only manage to build leadership and organisational skills, but end up being more empathetic and sensitive towards the needs of diverse groups of people. In doing so, they also experience a sense of purpose.

Most of the projects are aligned with Deloitte’s “world-wide priorities of education and skill-building, as well as mitigating factors leading to climate change,” as revealed by PN Sudarshan, partner and corporate responsibility leader, Deloitte India. In fact, it is “one of the core elements of the company’s talent experience”. Through the Impact Day, volunteers are able to make “a meaningful long-term commitment to deserving causes.”

The company encourages its people to “set aside up to 20 working hours a year for such endeavours, over and above Impact Day,” shares Sudarshan. It is a “collective collective goal to drive positive change in our local communities,” says Kent Francois, regional managing principal, Deloitte LLP.

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Kasaragod Collector Inbasekar Kalimuthu issued an order directing all government employees in the district to be present at the Nava Kerala Sadas events as part of which Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his ministers would be touring all 140 constituencies of the state.

The Collector has asked the heads of departments to assign duties to the employees at the event in their respective constituencies in Kasargod on Saturday and Sunday. District heads have been ordered to ensure that all employees participate in the events, which is why Sunday has been declared a working day for government staff.

The district heads had been ordered to ensure that the employees are allocated duties before 16 November and submit a copy of the allocation to the Collector’s office.

People are disgruntled as the event entails a lot of expenditure, for which they feel the taxpayers’ money is being used at a time when the state government is facing financial challenges.

Instead of spending on an event to showcase their achievement, people feel the state government should focus on disbursing social welfare pensions and benefits.

It is reported that cooperative societies and other local bodies are being forced to contribute towards the expenses of the event. Members of the rural job guarantee scheme are also being forced to participate in the event.

Reports say that members have been threatened with removal from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) if they fail to participate.

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The programme also provided women entrepreneurs an opportunity to explore business opportunities with P&G. The firm has already spent ?400 crore on working with women-owned and women-led businesses in the last two years, as was committed by the company in 2018.

LV Vaidyanathan, CEO, P&G India believes “this initiative is in line with our global commitment to empower women-owned and women led businesses, which is an important aspect of our citizenship efforts.” The initiative is a “holistic capability platform which will help women entrepreneurs build their businesses sustainably” because “empowering and enabling equal and inclusive business practices will not only stimulate economic growth, but also bring about a long-lasting social change.”

Following the training, P&G India’s flagship External Business Partner Summit saw the firm announcing a ?300 Crore ‘P&G Supply Chain Catalyst Fund’ to collaborate with external partners and innovators, in co-creating solutions that accelerate its journey towards Supply 3.0 – the modern supply chain ecosystem.

The fund is aimed at creating a supply chain that provides greater agility, flexibility, scalability, transparency and resilience.The announcement is in line with the Prime Minister’s Gati Shakti initiative aimed at multi-modal connectivity in the country, that will enhance seamless movement of goods and services through targeted interventions. The strategic investment will ensure supply chain optimisation, digitisation, capacity enhancement and sustainability, all designed to strengthen and catalyse the company’s supply chain.

This new fund is part of the ‘vGROW’ programme that focuses on identifying and collaborating with start-ups, small businesses, individuals, and large organisations offering innovative industry-leading business solutions.

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It is being held in Lucknow, the capital, by the Minority Welfare Department and Employment Department of the Government of Uttar Pradesh for minority youth.

The fair has been launched at Shia PG College of Khadra, an area dominated by the minority

According to Danish Azad Ansari, the minister of state for minority welfare, similar fairs will be held in about 18 locations.

The appointment letters will be given to the selected candidates the very same day, on the spot, after they clear the interview. Amongst the participants are various startups and banks, who will have dedicated counters that offer guidance and motivation to budding entrepreneurs who wish to start their own businesses.

This job fair is one of the many measures taken by the State government to reach out to the minority community and ensure their empowerment. The State has also been promoting various health and education-related infrastructure development projects in areas with a significant minority population.

A survey of the unaffiliated madrasas across the State has also been undertaken with the aim of upgrading the education level of students studying there. Steps are being taken to ensure that these madrasas offer the students a view of the advancements being made in the world along with knowledge of religious texts.

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“Are we racing towards reskilling? Which skills will be critical for future resilience?’ was the topic of the second session of The Great HR Debate – Talent Special, the virtual event held on June 11, 2021

“It is easy to inculcate technical skills, but the bigger part is played by behavioural skills. In my experience, when the behaviours are aligned and changed with the changing needs, it is easy to bring any change in the company”

Amit Sharma, CHRO, Volvo Group India

Amit Sharma, CHRO, Volvo Group India; Reetu Raina, CHRO, Quick Heal; Viekas K Khokha, head – HR, Dhanuka Agritech; Ravi Kumar, head – HR, Roche Diabetes Care India and Ashish Anand, CHRO, SAR Goup, were the speakers part of the panel. The session was moderated by Amit Gautam, CEO & founder, UpsideLMS.

Gautam opened the debate with an important message, that the need to reskill is a priority at this moment, amidst the rapid changes taking place all around.

“People are almost racing towards reskilling their workforce. Last year, businesses had to move to a different working model and that too, very fast. My interactions with some of the HR leaders and L&D heads, tell me that the biggest challenge being faced by businesses now is, skilling their workforce,” said Gautam.

.               “We had to provide people with devices and network to collaborate remotely. Farmers in the villages were literally trained by our people to use such tools. Also, there was this huge shift towards data storage. Everything went digital and people had to be trained to handle data digitally”

Viekas K Khokha, Head-HR, Dhanuka Agritech

While there was no dearth of challenges in L&D, many of which were unique to some industries, the one challenge common across industries was remote working.

“Accessibility to customers and patients is something we require. Earlier, my workforce was used to face-to-face conversations with people, but now everything is virtual. So we had to unlearn and learn very fast in this situation,” said Kumar.

Khokha, who comes from an agri-tech sector, also mentioned the same thing. “We had to provide people with devices and network to collaborate remotely. Farmers in the villages were literally trained by our people to use such tools. Also, there was this huge shift towards data storage. Everything went digital and people had to be trained to handle data digitally,” mentioned Khokha.

“The talent gap in the cybersecurity sector is huge and is increasing with each passing year. So, there is a big upskilling movement happening at the Company to build talent and cater to the needs of the business. We decided to build talent rather than buy it, because buying from the market involves a lot of cost and is not a long-term solution”

Reetu Raina, CHRO, Quick Heal

As many people were struggling with remote working, for Quick Heal, there was an upsurge in business, with security of data in the digital world becoming more important for businesses everywhere.

.      “People are almost racing towards reskilling their workforce. Last year, businesses had to move to a different working model and that too, very fast. My interactions with some of the HR leaders and L&D heads, tell me that the biggest challenge being faced by businesses now is, skilling their workforce”

Amit Gautam, CEO & Founder, UpsideLMS

However, as pointed out by Raina, there is a huge shortage of talent. “The talent gap in the cybersecurity sector is huge and is increasing with each passing year. So, there is a big upskilling movement happening at the Company to build talent and cater to the needs of the business. We decided to build talent rather than buy it, because buying from the market involves a lot of cost and is not a long-term solution,” explained Raina.

She also stated that the education institutes do not train students to teach the principles of data breach, which is a cause of concern.

Being from the essential services sector, Kumar believes in the need to change the mindset of the people. “With all my workforce working in the field, the mindset we required was that of ‘serving people at any cost’. Come what may, we had to work and there was no option to work from home,” shared Kumar.

“We were able to see growth even amidst the pandemic. First we assured everyone that there would be no layoffs in the company, which allayed people’s fears and uncertainties. Then we decentralised our structure and trained and empowered local leaders to take decisions, which resulted in greater productivity”

Ashish Anand, CHRO, SAR Group

“There is a greater need for leaders to be empathetic towards people and become more like coaches and wellbeing managers to their people. Because at this time, the need is to understand people and take decisions accordingly,” added Khokha.

Another aspect the panel debated was of the demand for soft skills in people, especially leaders amidst the challenging situation of today. “It is easy to inculcate technical skills, but the bigger part is played by behavioural skills. In my experience, when the behaviours are aligned and changed with the changing needs, it is easy to bring any change in the company,” enunciated Sharma.

“With all my workforce working in the field, the mindset we required was that of ‘serving people at any cost’. Come what may, we had to work and there was no option to work from home”

Ravi Kumar, Head-HR, Roche Diabetes Care India

Anand shared that they were able to inculcate the above-mentioned skills in their workforce and also empower their local managers and leaders to take decisions.

“We were able to see growth even amidst the pandemic. First we assured everyone that there would be no layoffs in the company, which allayed people’s fears and uncertainties. Then we decentralised our structure and trained and empowered local leaders to take decisions, which resulted in greater productivity,” revealed Anand.

The panel concluded by listing out some of the key skills that industries are looking out for, which are, the abilities to work in a remote environment, handle ambiguity, be resilient and learn and adapt to all kinds of situations.

(The event was powered by UpsideLMS)

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The event started with the inaugural speech by Prajjal Saha, founder & editor, HRKatha, who shed light on the sequence and motive of the first chapter of the The Great HR Debate series. A special address by Pramath Raj Sinha, founder and CEO, Harappa Education, was an added bonus.

Pramath Raj Sinha, founder and CEO, Harappa Education

Commenting on the learning process in a WFH setup, Pramath Raj Singh, founder and CEO, Harappa Education, pointed out how “remote learning gave people a purpose, fired up their curiosity and gave them a sense of achievement.” People were able to learn and work at the same time, and “got a chance to practise, apply and experience the impact simultaneously,” he explained. He drew attention to the fact that discipline and consistency are two important things; and that organisations must expect their employees to be consistent, when it comes to learning, throughout their tenure with the company. “Finally, one is not learning for one’s own sake. One is learning for the sake of the company, the team, the group that one fits into, and so on,” he enunciated.

“Gig economy is all about flexibility. As individuals, if we want that flexibility to work with whomsoever we want to, then the onus is on us to learn and acquire the relevant skills to make that choice,” said Saurabh Nigam, VP HR, Omidyar Networks India.

The discussion was a part of the ‘The Great HR Debate’ sponsored by Harappa Education and organised by HR Katha on Friday, February 19, 2021, with a vision to establish the role of L&D in the professional world. The speakers put forth their views in three different sessions, chaired by Saurabh Nigam, Mahipal Nair and Shreyasi Singh, who are stalwarts in their respective fields.

The debate had three sessions, of which the topic for the first one was, ‘From “work to learn to learn to work”- Are we ready?’. Chaired by Saurabh Nigam, VP – HR, Omidyar Networks India, the speakers were Emmanuel David , director, Tata Management Training Centre; Jayant Kumar, joint president – HR, Adani Group, Tanaya Mishra, global CHRO, Essar Projects and Ravi Mishra, SVP-HR, Global Epoxy Business, Aditya Birla Group.

When asked about how to choose the talents with the right skills needed for a job function, Emmanuel David said, “The capacity to learn is a gift. The ability to learn is a skill. The willingness to learn is a choice. There is still a hunger for learning. People want to make themselves relevant.” According to him, in the virtual space, in addition to the quality of the content the outcomes are also happy, which is not the case otherwise due to lack of social interaction.

Jayant Kumar, joint president – HR, Adani Group

Tanaya Mishra went on to explain, “Learning to work and working to learn are complimentary to each other. When we go to colleges and institutions to hire people, we hire attributes and train for skills. Today, it is not about the time period of the training, but about what is relevant in this time, and upskilling and reskilling accordingly. Today, it is also about outskilling. With the new-age workforce, it is very important to make sure that they stay relevant. So there is also outplacement.”

She further added that it is highly important to understand the need of the hour and ensure that our employees receive training accordingly. To further explain her point, she cited an example saying, “Today selling is no more just a mere powerpoint presentation. It is also about storytelling and giving the clients a complete framework. So things are changing and we need to stay relevant and future ready.”

Emmanuel David , director, Tata Management Training Centre

Moderator Saurabh Nigam posed the question as to how the skills across various industries have evolved over the last ten to fifteen years. He further asked whether the required relevant skills are to be bought and sourced or whether it is convenient to upskill the existing employees for the same. Jayant Kumar’s response was, “It is not about build-vs-buy. It is about remaking, which we are already experiencing.” He felt that this trend is likely to go further. The new-age technology and its applications will force organisations to remake their workforces because most of them will not find the existing skill competencies relevant. However, Kumar pointed out, “At the same time, replacing the entire workforce will take a toll on the total productivity. Hence, the organisations will be left with no choice but to remake.”

Ravi Mishra, SVP-HR, Global Epoxy Business, Aditya Birla Group

Taking the build-vs-buy concept of skills across the industries further, Nigam sought the opinion of Ravi Mishra on the interventions and “what works pull-vs-push, when it comes to the success of the interventions”. According to Mishra, “The pull factor works more than the push one. When a child starts walking, he falls and injures himself, but he stands up again trying to walk. The basic instinct of wanting to learn starts over there.” Mishra believes that in the same way, “it is for us to create the instinct among the organisations about learning and make people believe that it is important for them to learn and that the organisations can provide whatever is needed for that learning process. So, I personally believe that it is the ‘pull’ that works.” He explained that not everybody follows the same pace. So, “we have to believe in the people with the urge to learn and help them build a better career path instead of arranging generalised learning programmes for all. Otherwise it is wastage of time for both the sides.”

Tanaya Mishra, global CHRO, Essar Projects

Sharing experiences of coaching interventions and the relevance of the same with the ‘pull-vs-push’ factors, Tanaya Mishra said, “Anything which is a technical skill and statutory necessity is a complete push-based action. There can be no compromises on certain matters, such as data privacy. Something that is relevant to a particular industry has to be a push-based action. It has to be monitored. In some organisations, if certain sessions are not attended, one misses out on the increment. There are certain things that define the working culture and character of an organisation. Therefore, it is highly important for people to abide by those, which have to be pushed. However, there have also been instances of people wanting to enhance their own skills. There, the pull factor works. Hence, it is a hybrid structure, with a combination of both that works.”

Saurabh Nigam, VP – HR, Omidyar Networks India

Referring to the example of a child given by Ravi Mishra earlier, she said, “We may create instinct in a child to walk towards a thing, but unless we provide options and push the child towards different aspects, we will never know what he is actually interested in. As parents, we should offer the child options and tell him what he can do to achieve what. However, things keep changing depending on what time or stage of life the child is at. Similarly, things have to change depending on the state that an organisation is at.”

Nigam concluded the session by speaking briefly about the importance of both pull and push factors in the process of learning within an organisation.

The Great HR Debate was sponsored by Harappa Education and organised by HRKatha.

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The three winning teams received certificates of recognition and pre-placement interviews (PPI). All other participating teams got certificates of participation along with goodie bags.

Aptly called, ‘Mind Over Matter’, this contest encourages research and collaboration amongst corporates, academia and students. The innovation programme has been challenging the sharpest, brightest, young minds from the premier engineering institutes across India for giving ideas and solutions on various real-life technical challenges related to steel making, for about seven years now. The students get the opportunity to be mentored by top R&D experts at Tata Steel in a two-month internship.

Launched in 2014, the objective of the challenge, according to Suresh Dutt Tripathi, VP, HRM, Tata Steel, was to “to engage with the brightest young minds and provide a platform for them to showcase their ability to research and innovate.”

The participating teams are invited to Tata Steel, where they create prototypes of their ideas guided by mentors from the Tata Steel R&D team.

For the first time, the grand finale and the award ceremony this year were organised using virtual platforms. Eleven teams presented their innovative solutions to the jury in the finale. Debashish Bhattacharjee, VP, technology & new materials business, Tata Steel, was the chief guest and also part of the jury, along with Vinay V. Mahashabde, chief R&D and product technology, Tata Steel, and Akshay Khullar, chief manufacturing (long product), Tata Steel.

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Attended by over 70 HR leaders and professionals, the Meet was anchored by Nikita Doshi, NHRD Bangalore Young Advisory Board Member and L&D professional, Publicis Sapient.

The need for leadership development was recognised as one of the biggest challenges of today.

Kameshwari Rao, chief talent officer, Publicis Sapient, along with Varun Salaria, India leadership development lead, Publicis Sapient, shared how they had to redefine the leadership development approach at Publicis in keeping with the external and internal changes in their organisation. They spoke about the launch of the Publicis Sapient India Leadership Academy, which helps their leaders become change champions, and value creators, who are keen to collaborate internally and externally and also possess a learning mindset. At Publicis, leadership development is a business agenda, not an HR one.

Since business leaders play the role of sponsors, designers, reviewers and faculty of the programme, their role in maintaining a strong engagement and alignment to business strategy was emphasised. The Company’s leadership development programme provides exposure through multiple development modes (workshops, action learning projects, assignments, coaching, regular check-ins) across all levels. Their focus on personal leadership, People Leadership, Business Leadership & Client Leadership through strategic leadership interventions has created transformational shifts among the leaders at Publicis Sapient.

Sharon Doherty, chief people officer, Finastra, drew the audience’s attention to the fact that in today’s age, young leaders are reverse mentoring older leaders to be social ambassadors. She spoke about new-age forms of leadership, such as servant leadership – an empowering approach to leadership— and agile leadership, with self-managed teams. eir teams – with the common vision to help the world run better and improve people’s lives. According to her, leaders need to find their own purpose and connect to the organisation’s purpose. She shared her strong belief in inclusive leadership across cultures, age, gender, and so on.

Shraddhanjali Rao, head-HR, SAP, and Sunil Menon & Sushrita Bhowal, directors HR, SAP, shared their Company’s vision to be the leader of leadership in the market. They emphasised on how SAP allows not only leaders to grow themselves, but also help the business and their teams grow through their Next Gen Leadership Development programme, and other similar development initiatives for all levels.

R.R. Nair, CEO coach & consultant, concluded the Meet by speaking about the shift from leadership to followership, building leadership competencies at all levels, the need to develop leaders as coaches, the importance of focusing on quality and meritocracy and securing the right talent by best standards of recruitment.

The Meet highlighted the fact that relevance to the future is all dependant on individuals and their learnability, and that HR should be an enabler. The discussions also brought out the fact that leadership development depends on the senior-level employees and the quality of people managing the programmes.

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Interestingly, KITU is the country’s first union of information technology (IT) employees, and is backed by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions. Unions were never encouraged within IT companies till recently, as their clients usually come from the US, Europe and other countries, and the existence of employees’ unions, it was believed, would only make clients apprehensive, and adversely affect business. However, in 2018, the Labour Commission permitted the formation of the Karnataka IT Employees Union, under the Trade Union Act, 1926, and Karnataka Trade Unions Regulations, 1958.

Unlike the factories, the IT sector is very liberal and relaxed. However, when it comes to cases of mass layoffs, there is a need for unions, such as KITU, to come forward and help obtain justice for IT employees.

Having started with a mere 250 members in 2018, KITU has a long way to go, especially considering the fact that the city of Bangalore alone is home to about 15 lakh IT/ITeS employees. After all, there is strength in numbers. If KITU is to create an impact and possess the power to negotiate, it has to expand in terms of member base.

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The 49000 strong workforce of the Irish-American diversified industrial manufacturing company, spread across the globe, made small changes to ensure a more healthy and sustainable world. They encouraged others to do the same and did their bit to spread awareness. ‘Green Teams’ are taking earth-friendly initiatives, such as cutting down on use of office supplies, avoiding straws, plastic containers and other single-use plastic items, eliminating junk mail, doing away with trash bins at desks to discourage excessive use of paper, and using rechargeable batteries.

This year’s ‘Small changes that make a big impact’ campaign saw employees volunteering to improve the environmental impact. They adopted various ways, such as using their own water bottles to drink water from, carrying their own canvas or synthetic reusable shopping bags, using cold water to wash clothes and switching off lights or electronics when not required, in order to conserve energy and electricity.

The Company believes that small actions over a significant time period, by a workforce of 49000, will have a considerable positive impact on the environment.

Ingersoll Rand is also collaborating with SolarBuddy to donate and help assemble 3,000 lights to be distributed to children in regions where energy is scarce, throughout the year. SolarBuddy’s innovative solar light that can be used after dusk, ensures accessibility to safe, effective and reliable electricity. These child-friendly lights can be easily operated and carried by children on their backs and charged on their long walks to and from school.

These lights will also be made available in Tanzania, Dominican Republic, India and South Africa.

The Company has already avoided 21 million metric tons of its customers’ CO2e, which is equal to avoiding 3.7 coal-fired power plants. It has reduced its own operational emissions by 45 per cent, and reduced energy intensity by 22 per cent.

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Facebook’s recently introduced Facebook Hubs initiative will be holding application-based AI training sessions for the benefit of startups across 20 locations in India. The mentor hours and training and workshop sessions under this initiative will help startups and entrepreneurs scale their businesses.

The Company will also be offering scholarships to 100 students and developers who will be working on ways to use AI for social good. The scholarships will allow the students to gain from advanced courses on Deep Learning.

The announcement was made at the AI for Social Good summit, at Bangalore where Facebook announced several programmes focussed on delivering social and inclusive growth with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies.

The one-day summit was attended by AI thought-leaders, start-ups, NGOs, and developers.

As part of its contribution to social good, Facebook has a blood donation tool, which c. It is a platform where donors can register themselves, and already boasts of over 35 million registered donors across the world. The platform connects blood banks and hospitals these donors.

A survey by Facebook in collaboration with blood banks in India and Brazil revealed that one in five people admitted to being influenced by Facebook in terms of their decision to donate blood.

Facebook is also doing its bit to ensure diversity by announcing the ‘Women in AI Hackathons’. These are aimed at encouraging women developers and women-led startups who work in the AI domain. The winners will be offered an opportunity to take courses in AI and ML conducted by the professors of ÌIT, Madras.

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The conference was powered by NoPaperForms, and organised by Elets Technomedia in collaboration with Chitkara University as university partner and QS I-Gauge as supporting partner.

The Conclave showcased the best higher education and HR practices from across the country to make students more employable.

The gathering also witnessed the launch of a special issue of digitalLEARNING, a magazine showcasing the challenges facing the education sector, its scope and visions pertaining to higher learning, and the manner in which the HR function and HR professionals have evolved over time.

Panel discussions were also be held on the present challenges being faced by higher education students and what is expected of them in the future, in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship.

During the conference, the best universities, business schools and engineering colleges of the country, ranked by digitalLEARNING were honoured and felicitated. HR leaders were also be felicitated for adopting or innovating new policies or practices that will make the youth more employable in the future.

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The participants, comprising mainly developers and tech brains, were expected to solve real challenges pertaining to smart cities, governance, safety & security, public health and transportation. The participants came from the colleges and organisations of Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jaipur and other parts of India.

Of the 41 teams that participated, 10 made it to the finals. The teams were marked on the basis of idea (impact and ingenuity), design document and final demo (user experience, scalability, market fit). The event also hosted external judges like Daniel P Nath, partner – inFeedo and K Y Iyer, SVP & head of technology, Times Network. The winners (team TAZITURN) won a cash prize of INR 1 lakh and the runners up (team SHARP) won a cash prize of INR 50,000.

The teams used technologies, platforms and languages, such as machine learning, data analytics, blockchain, computer vision, IoT, C++, Node.js, android apps, iOS apps and Python, to arrive at solutions for India’s Smart City Mission. The solutions revolved around providing road safety, newer trends in the traffic system, environment management, water management, , waste management, managing natural calamities or epidemics, smart governance through citizen’s feedback and remote physiotherapy.

Barco Geekathon 1.0 offered teams of developers and enthusiasts from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to create breakthrough ideas and solutions to support India’s Smart City Mission. The participants also enjoyed networking with each other and Barco mentors, while working on the challenges posed, for two days at a stretch.

The event was seen as an opportunity for the Company to promote its brand and also identify some of the best talent for its software labs, where it builds real-life applications to help resolve issues pertaining to growing urbanisation.

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As a curtain raiser to this two-day annual event, a five kilometre ‘walkathlon’ for HR professionals, academicians and students has been organised on March 3, 2019. Attractive prizes for the winners are sponsored by ‘The FiRM’ – a business management consulting company.

Health, happiness, wholsomeness and centeredness are the four pillars that the thought leaders believe will support organisations to continue their journey to thrive, whilst facing challenges to maintain their vibrancy and drive in decade 3 of the millenium.

‘Walkathlon’ symbolically represents these four pillars collectively. It is an invitation for all HR professionals to come together and fraternise as they walk the five kilometre stretch from MTNL (BKC) office to the Sofitel Hotel. A sumptious breakfast sponsored by Sofitel Hotels & Resorts will conclude with a prize distribution.

Teams that strive together and walk together, will win the challenges of the future together. Time that the HR fraternity comes forward and  shows its ‘centeredness’ to make this event a success.

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According to a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) report, the economic activities pertaining to the Kumbh Mela will create job opportunities in multiple sectors. The budget for this event, Rs 4200 crore, is three times more than it was six years back.

More than two and a half lakh people will be employed in the hospitality sector, whereas over a lakh and a half will be employed by various airlines and the airports. Tour operators will also be offering about 45,000 job opportunities. The unorganised sector will see about 55000 new jobs, including tour guides, taxi drivers, volunteers, and interpreters. Approx. 85000 people will find jobs in the areas of eco-tourism and medical tourism.

It is not just Uttar Pradesh that will benefit from this global festival—Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh will also earn substantial revenue from the spike in tourism.

Nine railway stations have been renovated and a new airport terminal has been constructed in Allahabad.

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On the final day, the top 55 finalists competed in a live hackathon held at Capgemini’s Pune Hinjewadi campus. The jury panel comprised Ashwin Yardi, COO, Capgemini in India; A B Ravi, editor-special projects, CNBC-TV18; Dr Vahida Z. Attar, head-Dept of Computer Engineering & IT, College of Engineering Pune, Pune; Girish Wardadkar, head, Sogeti India and Sarika Naik, chief marketing officer & chairperson – diversity & inclusion for Capgemini in India.

The hackathon this year was won by Team Juggernauts, comprising Adithya AN, Meetkumar Patel, Rajesh Kumar Sundaramurthy, Sandeep Kogge, Suvajit Majumdar and Tejaswini Khambe. The six of them together had created a proof-of-concept of an application called ‘KUDAConnect,’ for effective garbage disposal and waste recycling. The winners will receive a prize money of INR 3 lakhs and will qualify for the final round of interviews for potential employment opportunities at Capgemini.

The theme for the final challenge this year was ‘environment sustainability’. The finalists were required to develop proofs-of-concept for solutions to either reduce carbon emissions, improve urban planning or to manage waste.

The winning solution, KUDAConnect, proposes an Android platform to connect government authorities, local agencies as well as citizens and other stakeholder to ensure a seamless garbage disposal and waste management process for the community. The solution can be made more user-friendly by integrating Deep Learning and can also be integrated with Google Maps so that common garbage disposal locations in nearest to the user can be identified, ensuring efficiency.

In 2017, the Tech Challenge finalists were given a social challenge where contestants had to create prototypes to solve the problem of missing children in India. The prototype was later converted into a real app called ReUnite, which is soon going live in the Android store.

“We are overwhelmed by the huge success of the 5th edition of Tech Challenge. This year, we witnessed record participation with an increase of over 40% in registrations, compared to the last season’s challenge,” said Ashwin Yardi, chief industrialisation and automation officer, and chief operating officer of Capgemini in India. “We believe that Tech Challenge has become one of the most popular engagement platforms that promotes innovation and connects tech enthusiasts from across India to exchange ideas and contribute positively to building a better society. I would like to congratulate all the winners.”

This hackathon aims to orient young techies to the skills needed in the age of digital disruption and provide them with the opportunity to solve real-world business and social challenges with the help of emerging technologies.

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The event organised by the HR team of the Company, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bennett, Coleman & Co. culminated on December 7, and saw a footfall of about 1200 employees at the Noida head office. Employees at MagicBricks experienced a new dimension of learning and engaging the entire week, through vibrant activities planned for them.

The People-Week comprised five days of events, activities, displays and shows curated by the HR department to involve the employees. From Nukkad Natak to corporate tambola, the office floor was open to all sorts of hungama while simultaneously creating employer–employee awareness. The business managers cooperated and closely interacted and encouraged their people to participate and be a part of the week-long activities planned by HR.

“The idea was to engage the employees in a fun and creative way, making them aware of our best practices and policies and creating a sense of pride,” says Anil Misra, CHRO, MagicBricks.

Two-fold objective  

The HR team wished to create maximum awareness in its people by informing them about policies, practices and procedures relating to the employees. They wished to make sure everyone is aware of the Company’s core strength and was well informed about the new launches.

HR wanted to create a sense of pride among its people by showcasing their best practices. “We may not be great in all parameters, but we have our own moments of greatness so why not pull out those stories and highlight,” says Anil Misra, CHRO, MagicBricks.

Activities galore

Showcase Event

The board-room was converted into a showcase event with multiple posters exhibited on pin-up boards. Each day had a different theme, and the posters were changed to reflect the theme of the day. Misra says, “Day-1, the theme was talent acquisition, and our displays spoke about our hiring policies, the competencies we look for and how we attract talent; our referral policies, internal job postings and recruitment tests. Day-2 was MagicBricks Leadership Academy and then we had employee engagement, performance management, new initiatives and so on.”

Every department was given a two-hour slot, one hour in the morning and another in the evening to visit the exhibition.

Questionnaire

Three different sets of questionnaires with ten questions each were prepared to review the employees’ understanding. This was also to make sure that people understood the content and related it correctly. To incorporate a spirit of fun and competitiveness, prizes were given to those who scored eight and above.

“The idea was to engage the employees in a fun and creative way, making them aware of our best practices and policies and creating a sense of pride.”

Did You Know

The organisers pulled out data, pertaining to gender diversity, average age of employees, promotions in the last appraisal cycle and so on to run a ‘Did You Know’ campaign through multiple display screens in the entire office.

Nukkad Natak

Full of fun and masti, this genre of street theatre by an external agency was a crowd puller. It was 45 minutes of entertainment for the people, and at the same time delivered a strong message. The script spoke of the Company’s five core values, translated into Hindi to appeal to all.

Expert Speak

The ‘Expert Speak’ event was organised to give employees a fresh perspective by inviting imminent HR heads from different industries to speak. Yuvaraj Srivastava of MakeMyTrip, and the HR heads of Samsung and Max New York Life wree amongst the speakers. “Yuvaraj Srivastava spoke about culture and strategy; which one is more important and how organisational culture can be further developed. Our employees were inspired and benefitted immensely from these speakers,” says Misra.

Women in Leadership

Sixty four women professionals were invited to this forum to address the employees and speak about their roles and responsibilities. Their viewpoints, stories and experiences kept the audience engaged and enthralled.

Open House

An HR help desk in the form of a booth was established to clear any doubts regarding HR practices and policies. The employees profited immensely from this as they had a platform to clear any misconceptions or apprehensions on-the-spot.

Misra was certain that the array of activities and programmes left the people energised and the event itself resulted in a sense of positivity which will strengthen the employer brand internally.

Power-Packed Day

This week onwards, the five-day long People-Week will be compressed into a one-day power-packed affair, to take place across locations.

The post Five-day long People-Week at MagicBricks appeared first on HR Katha.

According to Suchitra Rajendra, VP-HR, PepsiCo India, the ‘Change the Game’ challenge is aimed at spotting the brightest amongst the participants and inviting them to develop sustainable and viable solutions to real-life business situations and problems.

This year’s challenge is to come up with solutions to accomplish the Company’s ‘Performance with Purpose’ goals, for sustainable plastic packaging and recycling.

The submissions from across India have been quite good and impressive. 11,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from the best business schools of the country will be collaborating to come up with innovative sustainability solutions to improve the environment.

Working professionals, with up to three years’ experience, are also given a chance to participate and try to make a mark globally.

The winning teams from PepsiCo’s India, Asia Pacific (Philippines, Korea, Thailand and Pakistan), Middle East & North Africa regions (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UAE) will then compete in the finals at Dubai. They will also be eligible for either a twelve-month international experience or a two-month international internship.

The runners up from the three regions stand to receive a local job offer or a chance to shadow a senior business leader for a week.

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The event is being organised by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE). It is the result of the collaboration of over 70 corporates and academic institutes, along with 22 state governments who have come together to realise the vision of establishing India as the skill capital of the world.

Over 50,000 registrations were received for IndiaSkills Competition 2018 from 21 states and union territories. These participants competed in 46 skills/trades across different levels to make it to the regional-level competitions at Lucknow, in the North, Bangalore in the South, Bhubaneshwar in the East and Jaipur in the West.

To be launched on October 2, at the Aerocity Grounds, New Delhi, it will be followed by the skill competition from the 3rd to the 5th of October. Over 400 participants from 27 states will display their talents across 46 skills, 10 traditional skills and four demo skills.

What is unique about this event is that the Abilympics or the ‘Olympics of Abilities’ will feature persons with disabilities (PwDs), who will be showcasing their talents across 10 skill competitions, for the first time ever.

During the closing ceremony on October 6, the winners in the various skill categories will be felicitated in Delhi. In addition, they will also get the opportunity to experience best-in-class industry training which will equip them with the skills and knowledge required to compete in the WorldSkills International Competition, to be held from August 22 to 27 next year, at Kazan, Russia.

Rajesh Agrawal, joint secretary, MSDE, said, “IndiaSkills competition plays a catalytic role in improving the overall aspiration for vocational training in India. This year’s competition is unique, as for the first time we have collaborated with 22 state governments who have organised district- and state-level skill competitions in their respective states and have supported us in training the winners for the national –level competition. We are hopeful that this year’s finalists will bring laurels to the country at the WorldSkills next year.”

According to Manish Kumar, MD and CEO, NSDC, “IndiaSkills Competition 2018 has witnessed more than fifty thousand entries this year, which is 10 times more than what we received for a similar event in 2016. It’s a great achievement for all the participants who are representing their states at IndiaSkills 2018. Competitions like these will help youth benchmark their skills against their peers in other states of India and those around the world, which will help us improve the overall standards of vocational training in India.”

Other than skill competitions, the event will also offer career counselling, skill exhibitions, and opportunities for the youth to try a skill among others. Several other events — State Ministers Conference, Skill Conclave, Industry Round Table — will also be organised parallely with the skill competitions.

India won a silver, a bronze and nine Medallions of Excellence in the last WorldSkills 2017 in Abu Dhabi. It ranked 19th among 56 countries at the event, which saw over 1300 contestants competing in 51 skills.

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Technology is disrupting everything we know and do today. As the HR function rides this transformational wave, future HR leaders will have to think differently, innovate and foster new ways of looking at everything— from jobs to processes and even how businesses function. While there are many outstanding innovators and thinkers out there who will be the future of HR, there are not many platforms that can really identify the most promising out of the lot.

Unlike many other leadership awards in HR, the 40under40 awards bring in stringent processes that identify futuristic capabilities in budding HR leaders. It is a platform that brings together young HR professionals in an ecosystem of thinkers and changemakers. Launched last year by Jombay, the talent assessment and capability building firm, the Awards are unique in various ways. The assessments, learning journey, and jury interactions; and the entire process are designed to identify HR minds that are capable of bringing about the next round of innovation in HR and people development.

There are four foundational behaviours that any future HR leader needs to demonstrate — learning on the go, creative approach, business understanding and relationship with the CEO, and storytelling capabilities.

Simply put, it is not just an award but a platform for extraordinary talent possessing the ability to chart an innovative future for HR and lead the way in a world that fears disruption. What makes it even more unique and credible is the selection process. The participants go through several rounds of assessments that gauge their leadership potential, learning agility, adaptability, behavioural strengths, weaknesses and so on.

The last edition of the awards saw more than 650 young HR leaders, from the best companies across India, participate in the evaluation process, which was a highly rewarding experience for participants. They competed with the most creative and driven amongst their peers, looked at their achievements and growth objectively, participated in a gruelling assessment centre, and finally, were assessed by a team of carefully-picked jurors.

It’s about how one re-invents the HR agenda, handling a multigenerational workforce and managing a culture of differences, allowing HR to go up the value chain.

Last year’s illustrious jury comprised Yash Mahadik, Shanta Vallury, Rajkamal Vempati, Dr PV Murthy, Prabir Jha, Dhananjay Singh, Govind Ethiraj, Keshav Sanghi and Roma Balwani.

Talking of her expectations from future HR leaders, Shanta Vallury Gandhi, head-HR, CSR and internal branding, RBL Bank, says, “There are four foundational behaviours that any future HR leader needs to demonstrate — learning on the go, creative approach, business understanding and relationship with the CEO, and storytelling capabilities.”

To register for HR 40Under40, click here

At the same time, Prabir Jha, group CHRO, Cipla shares what it takes to be a futuristic and innovative HR professional in the current times. “It’s about how one re-invents the HR agenda, handling a multigenerational workforce and managing a culture of differences, allowing HR to go up the value chain.”

PV Murthy

Future HR Leaders need to bring out their analytical skills, but to be innovative, they need to dream. They should look at HR as a blank canvas and look at themselves as the architects of that picture.

Jha beautifully adds, “Anything that impacts organisational effectiveness falls under the purview of HR, and that is what future HR leaders must keep in mind at all times.”

While PV Ramana Murthy, executive vice president and global head – Human Resources at the Indian Hotels Company, is of the view that future HR Leaders need to bring out their analytical skills, but to be innovative, they need to dream. He says, “They should look at HR as a blank canvas and look at themselves as the architects of that picture.”

Yash Mahadik

For those who don’t make the cut, failures should not pull down their morale.  Application and selection process here is a great learning journey that each participant undertakes and that is what matters more.

Sharing her experience from the last year’s assessment and awards, Rajkamal Vempati, SVP and head HR, Axis Bank, reveals that some things were common among people who had won last year. “They pushed boundaries and did different things that helped them break out of the set template. They showcased a certain openness by displaying their failures and providing an honest assessment of themselves. All of this helped them articulate clearly what they bring to the table,” she elaborates.

The winners last year pushed boundaries and did different things that helped them break out of the set template. They showcased a certain openness by displaying their failures and providing an honest assessment of themselves. All of this helped them articulate clearly what they bring to the table.

With over 1300 registrations this year, the competition may have doubled, but with the in-depth assessments and the strong jury selection, the best ones will shine through. In order to stand out from the crowd, the contestants do not need to do anything fancy, but simply be themselves and at their best. Jha stresses on being authentic, “Be aspirational but don’t be a fake, because the process will ultimately cull out the reality.”

Adding to that thought, Yash Mahadik, president-global HR, Lupin, says, “Be genuine and don’t try to be politically correct.” He also has a message for those who don’t make the cut. He asserts that the failures should not pull down their morale. His argument is that more than the destination aimed for, it is the journey that is a value-add. “The application and selection process here is a great learning journey that each participant undertakes and that is what matters more,” he opines.

This is not just an award, but an opportunity for the best young HR leaders to develop themselves and gain recognition, for themselves as well as the company. Haven’t registered yet? Hurry, as the registration deadline has been extended just for HRKatha’s readers. Follow this link and nominate yourself right away!

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