MBA IIT Kanpur community were pleased to
host Mr Pradipta Sahoo for a seminar on “HR Readiness for Industry 4.0” on 7th
April 2019. Mr Sahoo, CHRO, Karvy Fintech, is a seasoned HR
professional with over 25 years of experience in BFSI, Retail and ITES
industries. He has also been awarded as part of “30 Best HR Leaders” in 2013 by
World HRD Congress. He is presently associated with Karvy Fintech Private
Limited as CHRO for more than eight years now. He has also worked for
organisations like Bharti AXA General Insurance, Reliance Retail, ICICI Lombard
General Insurance, Bank of Baroda and Vijaya Bank.
Mr Sahoo started the discussion with an
interactive talk with the students on Why students go for MBA. He expressed his
pleasure in receiving beautiful responses from the students of MBA IIT Kanpur.
Mr Sahoo then went on to discuss the
technological transformation that the world is witnessing. He then emphasised
how this technological advancement has played a key role in the Business
disruption. He explained how an exponential change in technology opens up
unlimited possibilities. These unlimited possibilities bring about rising
Customer Experience. In essence, Business Disruption has brought huge changes
in the way Business is done.
He then moved on to explain how technology
was earlier the slaves of the humans. But the situation today has changed a
lot, and it would not be wrong to say that the time is not far when humans
become slaves of Artificial Intelligence.
He then went on to quote the famous Quote
by Darwin “It’s not that the strongest species survive nor most intelligent one
survives. It’s the most adaptable one who survives”. He also discussed with the
students why do people apprehend the new technology. Automation is not
something new. Then what might be the reason for this apprehension of the
technology? One possible answer suggested by Mr Sahoo was the limited
opportunities that we humans have. He backed up this by explaining how
companies lifespan has reduced. He also said that the Robots would take over
17% of the jobs by 2027 in comparison to the 10% of jobs created by it. The
reasons for the reduced lifespan of the companies could be the fast-paced
digital transformations and slow adaptability of the companies to these
disruptive changes. Tech Products is becoming obsolete quicker than ever.
He then discussed how these companies could
tackle the hostile technological environment. Automation could be used for
better customer experience and not for cost savings. An agile workforce is also
a need of the hour concept. He also gave an example of the Kodak Digital Camera
where Kodak failed to foresee the future and emphasised how Strategy and Executive
decisions still need to be taken by the humans and not by machines.
He then brought the attention of the
students to the different industrial revolutions. While Industry 1.0 focussed
on mechanisation, Industry 2.0 focussed on moving assembly lines. Industry 3.0
followed this by concentrating on more digitalisation. Industry 4.0 has just
started which has its prime focus on Cyber-physical Systems.
He further discussed how the new workplace
would be like in the Industry 4.0. The typical characteristics would be an
agile workforce, collaborative platforms, hyperconnected employees,
man-machine-AI working side by side and boundaryless organisations.
Role of HR was also discussed in length by
Mr Sahoo. Adaptive Talent Management is the need of the hour. HR should not
treat employees as commodities. HR has to balance the business goals and the
aspirational needs of the employees. He also explained how companies are not
doing the expectation management by treating the employees as customers. HR is
also now focussing on lifelong employability by implementing lifelong learning
for the employees. He also discussed the importance of flexible-working as
enablement and not just a mere allowing.
He then quoted “The greatest danger in
times of turbulence is not turbulence but to act with yesterday’s logic” by
Peter Drucker to make the students understand the need for evolving skill
requirements.
He concluded the Seminar by mentioning the
best practices followed at Karvy which are Caring & Thanking, Inspiring
& Developing, Hiring, Sharing, Speaking and Listening.
The MBA IIT Kanpur community was privileged
to host Mr Sahoo for such an enlightening and thought-provoking session.
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