MET and HRFI Present HR Conclave 2022

MET Institute of Management, Mumbai in collaboration with the HR Federation of India (HRFI) organized the HR Conclave 2022 on 27th August. The theme of the conclave was ‘Talent Attraction and Retention: Battling the Great Resignation’. Approximately 630 Human Resource professionals across various sectors and industries registered for the conclave where top notch HR professionals shared insights and knowledge. The conclave also included a panel discussion that featured senior HR professionals from top companies.

 

Mr. Pankaj Bhujbal, Hon. Trustee, MET & Mrs Vishakha Bhujbal felicitating Prabir Jha, Founder & CEO, Prabir Jha People Advisory at the HR Conclave in the presence of Dr. Swati Lodha, Director, MET IOM

 

Having inaugurated the event with lamp lighting, Mr. Pankaj Bhujbal, Hon. Trustee, Mumbai Educational Trust (MET) delivered the welcome speech summing up the vision behind organising the conclave and the BANI environment surrounding industry and corporates. Dr. Swati Lodha, Director, MET Institute of Management set the tone of the conclave as she spoke about HR from the academia perspective.

 

This was followed by the addresses by stalwarts and renowned HR professionals who spoke in a thought provoking manner citing real life examples. The event featured speakers like Mr. Harjeet Khanduja, SVP HR, Reliance Jio, Mr. Raosaheb Kangane, Executive Committee Team, HRFI, Ms. Ankita Rudra, Head HR, Academy Jio, Ms. Sonal Jain, Head of people APAC, Coursera, Mr. Prabir Jha, Founder & CEO, Prabir Jha People Advisory.

Mr. Prabir Jha shared his wisdom with the audience and budding MBAs at MET. He highlighted that it’s time for making a change in the corporate culture, understanding the talent which is relevant for the business and ways and means of retaining and maximising them.

Mr. Pankaj Bhujbal, Hon. Trustee, MET with HR stalwarts: Prabir Jha, Harjeet Khanduja, Alok Sheopurkar, Hirak Bhattacharjee, Raosaheb Kangane, Nalini Nutan, Sonal Jain & more at the HR Conclave

 

For any organization, attraction and retention of talented employees has its strategic importance. Employees’ lack of talent or skill set can put a constraint on organizational growth. On the other hand, retention of talented employees plays a key role in today’s competitive industry. The Panel Discussion revolved around various strategic ways a company’s HR can take to tackle the constant Talent Attraction and its Retention. The Panel Discussion featured some of the most admired HR professionals, Mr. Alok Sheopurkar, HR Head – HDFC Asset Management Co., Ms. Nalini Nutan, Head HR – BASF, Mr. Hirak Bhattacharjee Head HR – Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance AMC and Mr. Girish Naik, Vice President HR – Birlasoft.

Panelist Ms. Nalini Nutan, Head HR, BASF expressed her viewpoint based on observation since pandemic with the emphasis on the employment statistics that show how people have changed their jobs and the reason behind changing their employment. Whereas, Mr. Alok Sheopurkar, HR Head in HDFC Asset Management Co., shared his experience of recruiting people and retaining the talent. He emphatically conveyed his conviction that employees prefer working in the organization which follows ethical practices and gives them a sense of purpose to work. Adding to the discussion, Mr. Girish Naik, Vice President HR, Birlasoft said that the IT industry scenario which has drastically seen changes since the pandemic phase. The initial stage of the pandemic had its own challenges and the demand for tech talent grew exponentially. The Salaries then were increased significantly and the attritions were also doubled. But he also added that correction in those rising demands has already begun to take place.

Mr. Hirak Bhattacharjee Head HR, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance AMC spoke more about the culture within oraganisation which supports the employees and their welfare. He gave examples of the pandemic phase of tackling the challenges and ensuring their employees to safeguard their health.

Extremely insightful panel discussion was followed by the launch of a book titled ‘The Art and Science of Effective Mediation’, it is co-authored by Dr. Farida Virani, Professor, MET Institute of Management and Mr. Ashraf Ramji which highlights the dispute resolution and mediation. 

Overall, the HR Conclave was extremely successful, and there was much learning and exchange of ideas which MET and HRFI are hopeful will result into practices as they would pave path for the personnel-centric change for good in organizations.