KIIT School of Management, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology organized its 9th National HR Conclave on 28th July, 2018 on the theme “Future of Work”. The conclave was inaugurated by Prof. Hrushikesha Mohanty, Vice Chancellor, KIIT and Prof. Debashish Das, Director, KSOM along with distinguished Industry leaders from all across India.

The first session of the conclave was on the theme “End of Leadership or Rise of Intellectualism?” The panel comprised of – Mr. T.N. Hari, Head HR, Big Basket & Strategic Advisor, The Fundamentum Partnership, Mr. Sandeep Tyagi, Director-Group Human Capital, Samsung Electronics, Mr. Jerry Jose, Head HR, ICICI Lombard GIC, Mr. Swapnakant  Samal, Head- Policy, Processes Digitization, Talent Acquisition Group, Reliance Industries and Mr. Ramchandra  Honap, Head HR, Force Motors. The panellists were of the viewpoint that sweeping changes have already taken place in terms of composition of the work force, organizational culture and the prevailing HR systems and processes. Most of these changes are due to technological advancements. The advantages and disadvantages of the use of technology were discussed in detail. The discussion also stressed on the viability of ‘Gig Economy’ through platform driven technologies. Finally, the panel concluded that innovation is the key to the future of work where leadership is leveraged through technology.

The discussions in the second panel focused on the theme “Team work or Individual contribution?”. The panel comprised of – Mr. Kailas P, MD, Toshiba, Dr. Shwetaleena Bidyadhar, VP-Learning Design, TIS, division of MPS Interactive Systems, Mr. Vivek Jain, EVP HR, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mr. Sabyasachi Das, Global Head of Product Engineering, Digital Workplace, DXC Technologies and Mr. Satyadeep Mishra, VP-HR & TM, Reliance Jio. The panel started its discussion by debating on the impediments to change in organizations. They also emphasized that young India is a wealth of creativity and innovation. Thus the employable youth are individualistic in their work orientation. Finally, in their conclusion they were in agreement with the first panel in stressing that technology would help sustain human capital in their continual quest for up gradation of skills and knowledge.

The second half of the conclave saw Large Scale Interactive Process (LSIP) discussions on six relevant sub themes. Twenty four parallel round table discussions were held on the following sub themes – “Gig Economy Learning, Manpower Unplanning, Remodelling Work & Work Structure, Lifelong Employment towards lifelong Employability, Competing with Artificial Intelligence with Reskilling and Adding Value with New Age Education”. Each table had an industry leader and a local HR professional leading the discussion with the students.

The conclave was one of four national level conventions which are annually organized by KIIT School of Management in the areas of HR, Marketing, Finance and Operations Management to bring industry closer to the academia. This year’s HR conclave provided students with an opportunity to interact with business leaders and policy makers for holistic learning. The conclave was received enthusiastically by industry professionals, academia and students and bought into focus the challenges of the future of human resource management.