The message at the annual (5th) conference & exposition of the Indian chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM, esb 1948), held on September 29-30 in New Delhi and attended by over 1000 HR professionals and others, was clear that the need for organizations is to be bold in their HR practices. This year’s conference was based on the theme “‘DARE – A Bold New HR” that highlighted the rapidly evolving HR practices that are both refreshingly different and daring. Achal Khanna CEO, SHRM India, who set the tune for two-day proceedings said, “The world today is no longer the one of yesteryears that we remember. Much has changed in the way businesses are conducted and the world itself is in a state of constant change. It therefore would be counterproductive for organizations to remain stuck in the best practices of say 2005 or 2010. Better and innovative metrics to measure employee performance are evolving, and organizations must be Bold enough to change with the changing times.”
Over 90 panellsts shared key insights and their experience while discussing key HR trends currently dominating the industry across the globe. The first day which saw scintillating and absorbing discussions on the themes by panels on Busting the Myth of the Open Organization; The Bold New HR: Courageous and Business Savvy; Shifting Gears: The Talent Acquisition & Metrics Story; Performance cycle and the bell curve; the final verdict; A salute to the spirit of Daring, was also addressed by Genpact Founder Pramod Bhasin. According to him daring to dream and believing are the corner stone of innovation and necessary ingredient to achieving something big.
Likewise, the second day of the event was marked by interesting sessions like The Face of Talent in the 21st Century; Employee Stress is stressing your bottom-line; ‘It’s time for YOUR feedback, HR!! The Performance Appraisal of the HR Department; Dare to Dream! The ‘Jio’ Story; the Olympic Mindset. Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog who addressed the delegates provided insights on the various activities and campaigns on branding of India globally.
PremleshMachama, MD, CareerBuilder, said, “Concepts around Human Resource & Talent Acquisition over the last couple of years have been evolving at a rapid pace. It has increasingly become important for leaders and practitioners to share & exchange evolving trends, best practices, challenges and way forward in this domain. Events like these organized by SHRM are the best platforms for such exchanges and immensely help everyone to share & learn from each other. Platforms like these work as facilitators in enabling the evolving change.”
SHRM India used the occasion to release a collaborative study by SHRM India and Career Builder on “Talent Acquisition & Automation”. The study focuses on the hiring metrics, their usage, impact and the level of technology usage within the hiring function. Another acollaborative study between SHRM India and MeritTrac “Talent Assessment Tools in India, 2016’, focusing on the various aspects of assessments such as usage, tracking, integration with other tools, obstacles in usage and the future focus was also released at the event. SHRM India also announced the winners of its annual awards for excellence in human resource management and innovative practices.
‘The Digital Tsunami’ book by Abhijit Bhaduri CLO, Wipro that contains useful insights on the rapid transformation taking place in the digital era and how new business models and new rules of business and laws governing them are emerging by the day was also released. Gavin Freeman- a well known business and sports psychologist on how to develop an Olympic mindset gave the valedictory address and talked on how an individual performing under pressure can develop a resilient, focused, disciplined and motivated approach to life and work.
