Delhi & NCR Chapter of NHRD Network conducted a conference on 9th April, 2014 on the theme of “Young Minds Confluence – Changing Landscape: Agenda for Action”.
The event was a great learning experience which witnessed industry leaders sharing their stories and experiences on Passion, Communication and Execution. The event started with an inaugural address by Mr. Venkatesh Kini (President, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia), who emphasised that it is the Passion/Drive/Motivation that differentiates between success and not-so-success. He also urged HR Professionals to stress more upon the “Human” part Human Resource and less on the “Resource” part.
Mr. Kini’s address was followed by wonderful presentation from Padma Bhushan Dr. MB Athreya (former professor IIM, Kolkata). As passion is a fire within, so there must be a Mission and Vision that drives this passion. Dr. Athreya explained the importance of Mission and Vision of a young Indian HRD Executive and also explained “Total Management Model”. It was indeed a fantastic learning from the Management Guru.
Context – Now it was time for Storytelling and Mr. PV Ramana Murthy (Executive Director – HR, Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages) told a story from his experience, thus beautifully setting the context for the event. Story was as – Once Mr. Murthy went to a B-School for recruiting and after all the process, closed onto two candidates. One candidate was extremely good in academics and the other one was fairly mediocre. When Mr. Murthy talked to the professors there, they told him about the social work done by the second student who was mediocre in academics. The kind of social work of the second candidate showed his passion and zeal to perform. As the requirement was of only one candidate, the second one was picked and he eventually grew up to VP level in the organization. Now the context was absolutely crystal clear to the audience.
Session 1 – Passion: The Fire Within
Though I had great learning from all the three session, but this session was my personal favourite. The session was moderated by Mr. Avinash Kohli (VP-HR, Citi India) and other speakers were Mr. P Dwarkanath (Advisor – Group Human Capital, Max India), Mr. Pankaj Bansal (Co-Founder & CEO, PeopleStrong) and Mr. Gulshan Sharma (President, NIMA).
Mr. Dwarkanath shared that being an HR professional, his job is to develop CEOs and thus he is a kind of king-maker, and this is what he enjoys in HR profession. This part of enjoying what he does fuels the passion and makes him successful. Mr. Pankaj Bansal also shared his journey of PeopleSrong and I could easily see the passion that he carries about the company and the work he does. So the conclusion is that first you need to enjoy what you are doing, only then you can ignite the passion within.
Session 2 – Expression: Connecting the Dots….
The session was moderated by Ms. Neha Saxena (Sr. Manager, GE India) and speakers included – Mr. Nishchae Suri (Head – People & Change Practice, KPMG), Ms. Harpreet Datta (VP HR, SMS India) and Mr. Rajneesh Bawa (Director HR India, Case New Holland).
The session was based around importance of right communication, at right time and with the right people. Among many stories shared by the speakers, one was the story about importance of communication in stopping grapewine, shared by Ms. Harpreet Datta. The session also witnessed an interesting exchange of ideas on the topic of dichotomy between diplomacy and transparency.
Mr. Rajneesh Bawa shared very insightful statement – “Listen with intent of listening, not with intent of replying”.
Session 3 – Execution: Mantra for the Ultimate Success
Mr. Gurpreet Bajaj (Head – Talent Development, MakeMyTrip.com) was the moderator for the session and other speakers were Ms. Anupama Babbar (VP-HR Aricent), Ms. Seema Bangia (Head HR, Mahindra Defence Systems) and Mr. Sandeep Girotra (Global Head – HR, Ranbaxy).
As it is said that strategy is as good as its execution, the session focussed on role of execution in shaping bright career, building trust and personal brand. Ms. Anupama Babbar shared some of the reasons for the failure of execution and those were like lack of sponsorship, and non-alignment due to different teams of strategy and execution.
Mr. Sandeep Girotra – “Execution eats strategy for breakfast”.
The event ended with a vote of thanks from Ms. Ester Martinez (Co-founder & Managing Editor, People Matters). It was a wonderful experience with some priceless learnings. Thanks to the whole team of NHRD Network. Hope to have more such events in future!!
Sahil Chopra blogs on Human Resource Management 
Good job Sahil.
Thanks Nirmalya.