The School of Human Resource Management, Xavier University, Bhubaneswar conducts an annual HR Symposium in which industry stalwarts and eminent practitioners give a practitioners’ view of Human Resource Management. The HR Symposium, 2018 was themed on the tagline of School of HR – “Valuing People”. The one-day symposium was organized on 20th July 2018 which saw participation from industry stalwarts both from public sector as well as private sector firms and sectors comprising energy, oil, FMCG and media. Fr. E A Augustine SJ inaugurated the symposium in the presence of Prof. Snigdha Patnaik, Dean School of HR, the faculty colleagues and students of School of HR.
The pre-lunch panel saw an interesting discussion around the theme, “Employee Happiness in Organizations” which was moderated by Prof. Sanket Sunand Dash. The panelists included Mr. Banabas Acharya, DGM HR & ES, JSPL, Ms. Rashima Mishra, co-founder Milk Mantra and Mr. Sudeep Patnaik, GM HR, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. While Mr. Banabas identified the key role of happy and committed employees in ensuring the return of JSPL to profitability, Ms. Rashima articulated the four focus areas of her company – happy customers, happy suppliers, happy employees and stringent corporate governance and finally Mr. Sudeep described the various activities undertaken by HAL to improve and maintain employee happiness. The question & answers mostly focused on the incompatibility between increased work demands and happiness. The panelists suggested that loving one’s work made one more productive thereby reducing the need to spend extra hour at work and ensuring work-life balance.
The second panel discussion witnessed a lively interactive session on the theme, “Valuing Solid Citizens in Organizations”. The participants included Dr. Mukesh Biswas, Manager Administration, OIL India Limited, Ms Poonam Gupta, Director Regional HR, Asia Pacific, Metso and Mr. Satyakki Bhattacharjee, Chief People Officer, ABP news and moderated by Ms. Ishadarshi Mishra, ES Learning Manager, ETS Academy, Unilever. The panelists first clarified the concept of solid citizens for an organization and identified the behavioural indicators for the same. The panelists were unanimous in their view to dissociate the solid citizens and their performance. They also agreed to disagree with the various philosophies that the private and public sector adopt with respect to the solid citizens in the organizations.
The HR Symposium 2018 also marked another first in terms of also valuing environment. It was observed that the dignitaries are welcomed with flowers and bouquets which are often then consigned to the dustbins. Owing to the increased awareness with respect to sustainability, under the leadership of Prof. Snigdha Patnaik, Dean School of HR it was decided to give away plant saplings to the dignitaries – who could then nurture the same with care and it would also serve as a remembrance of the event long after was over.