Corporate Big-Wigs Converge at Great Lakes Institute for Human Resource Conclave

Corporate Big-Wigs Converge at Great Lakes Institute for Human Resource Conclave
Post-event Press-release

Mr. C. Mahalingam opened the session. He mentioned the fierce war for talented workforce. He emphasized the importance of right promises to be delivered by HR. "Expectations of employees," he said, "are beyond good money and position." Innovation

and creativity are the keys to success. It's not only media and entertainment sector which requires employees to continuously innovate, but across the industry domain, innovation is a necessary competence to have an edge. HR can't mandate creativity but unleash the creativity and innovation through right leadership. He said that sooner rather than later, companies may have a new job profile for CFO (Chief Fun officer) for entertaining its workforce. He talked about issues related to unorganized sector like bureaucratic influence, exploitation of labor, poor supply chain, and fragmented markets.

Mr. B. Venkataramana, while talking about 'Organizing the Unorganized Sector: Opportunity for HRM', said, "There is immense opportunity for HR in the unorganized sector." He spoke about the opportunities as well as the issues in the unorganized sector, which engages 90% of the workforce in India, and contributes 45% of the national income. He touched upon challenges faced by this sector, including lack of minimum wages and social security, abysmal working conditions and work hours, which often exceed 70 hours per week. He also spoke about the HR challenges in the unorganized sector like the difficulty in attracting skilled manpower, cross-cultural adaptability issues, etc. He concluded the informative session by highlighting the role of trade unions and the government in bringing about positive transformation in this sector.

Mr. Steve Rich gave insights on 'Employee Brand Building Across Geographies'. He said, "It is important to listen to your employees, particularly new hires to know why they joined us and why are they staying with us. This helps to formulate key employee strategies." He suggested that time should be taken to analyze employees' feedback and steps should be taken to address their issues and concerns.

"In a world where change is the only constant, encouraging creativity in the workplace will give organizations the edge to keep ahead in an environment of heavy competition," said Mr. Lancelot Cutinha, who talked about 'Challenges the Industry Faces in Nurturing Employee Creativity'. Mr. Cutinha spoke about how one can bring about dramatic changes in one's performance by activating the right brain, which is the seat of creativity and imagination. He gave very pragmatic tips on improving creativity in one's personal life. He spoke from his professional experience and highlighted that measures like establishing an environment of respect and trust, doing away with horizontal and vertical boundaries, and nipping office politics in the bud, would go a long way in nurturing creativity at the workplace.

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* Contributed by -
Ranjit Shankar (Campus Associate),
Class of 2009,
Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai.

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