IIM Shillong in association with its HR club, usHR, organized the second edition of Kaleidoscope

Shillong: IIM Shillong in association with its HR club, usHR, organized the second edition of Kaleidoscope, the Industry Academia meet on Reequipping the National Workforce on 7th October. The expert talks and panel discussions by industry leaders from the top echelons of industry focussed on the changing paradigms in technology and their impact on the workforce and bridging the gap between ever dynamic industry and academia. The event was inaugurated by Director, Dr. Amitabha De and followed by paper presentations, expert talks and panel discussions.
Talking about the impact of automation on jobs, Mr. Winston Derosario, Director- Head of People and Culture at Grant Thornton LLP said, “Automation will be a journey of transformation and will shift us from mundane tasks to activities that matter.” Dr. Naqi Abbas, Associate Director, HR at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. welcomed automation as it will eliminate administrative roles of the HR and pointed out that automation is not scary as similar disruptions have happened in the past. Mr. Rajesh Srivastava, Joint Executive President, and HR business partner, UltraTech Cement (Aditya Birla Group), talked about the importance of Artificial Intelligence and smart systems in evolving the practices of HR.
Ms. Anamika Awasthi, formerly Head of Learning and Academic Program at HCL Technologies, talked about the gap in learning that exists in the country today and how it impacts the prospects of a job. Mr. Mani M. Dan, Head HR – New Business Division at Godfrey Phillips India emphasized on picking up life skills and people skills along with getting the right mindset which is acquired by not just being restricted to attending fine universities. Ms. Kamakshi Raman, Executive Director (HRD) at Management Training Institute, Steel Authority of India Limited shared her views with the students on the relevance of academic courses in the industry. Elaborating on capital, competence and the business challenges she said, “We have to go beyond customer and focus on customer’s customers.”
The annual meet gave the students of IIM Shillong the opportunity to present their ideas and discuss their philosophies with the industry leaders. The focus was on moving away from incremental reforms and bringing about generational transformation and ways to stay ahead of the curve.