Collaboration of manmachine at Shine.com
TRENDS At the 52nd Shine HR Conclave at Gurgaon, HR leaders discussed how to develop mechanisms to integrate artificial intelligence with human resource practices
Shine.com, the 2nd largest online job portal in India, successfully concluded the Gurgaon chapter of its HR Conclave on 23 March, 2018. The event witnessed Industry stalwarts like Ratna Singh (Director HR of Flipkart), Biplob Banerjee (Executive Vice President-hr and CSR of Jubilant Foodworks Ltd), Deepa Chadha (Chief Human Resources Officer of Vistara), Suchitra Rajendra (VP Human Resources of Pepsico) and Kinjal Choudhary (Senior Vice President and Group CHRO of Volvo-eicher).
The panelists shared their views and insights on one of the most crucial trends in the contemporary HR landscape: ManMachine Collaboration. The panel discussion was moderated by Suchitra Rajendra, VP Human Resources of Pepsico. The conclave also had the renowned stand- up comedian, Vasu Primlani, add a melange of wit and humour, with her stand-up comedy act.
The event comes at a time when there is a general fear in the market about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can lead to job losses. The panel expressed their views on how businesses and the HR fraternity will be leveraging AI, the possible impact of AI on the existing workforce and the importance of creating a balanced workspace ecosystem to ensure maximum productivity at work.
Speaking at the Conclave, Kinjal Choudhary, Senior Vice President and Group CHRO of Volvo-eicher, said, “The drudgery of the repetitive task will go down as we move more towards embracing AI which will simultaneously increase the require- ment for a skilled workforce. AI certainly saves time by reducing a lot of non-value adding and manual activities that take place within an organisation. In the HR space, some of the most redundant tasks like the screening of CVS, general conversations that HRS have with the employees, etc., will be eliminated to a large extent.”
Deepa Chadha, Chief Human Resources Officer of Vistara, added “AI can play a significant role in helping organizations to understand the patterns and behaviour of their customers and engage them emotionally. So far, a lot of e-commerce platforms and video streaming sites have been able to leverage this aspect of AI. ”
Ratna Singh, Director HR of Flipkart opined that AI could help eradicate the bias that prevails in the performance management process.
The panel discussion ended with an interactive questionand-answer round. The panellists deliberated upon the significance of AI in the HR space and its usage to increase business efficiency. The discussion was interactive and witnessed a huge participation from the audience. Shine.com through the 52nd HR Conclave Shine.com wants the HR fraternity to think about the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence in establishing the right momentum between machine learning and human interventions.
Speaking at the event, Mr Zairus Master, CEO of Shine.com said: “Artificial Intelligence is reinventing the HR landscape today, which needs focussed attention due to the potential it holds. At the 52nd Shine HR Conclave, we wanted to address the subject of developing a sustainable workspace ecosystem through the right integration of AI and Human resource practices. We are overwhelmed with the kind of response, we have received at the conclave today.” We don’t listen well enough. Many managers like me speak well, read well, make grand presentations, try hard to lead from the front, and we also attempt a host of other good official deeds, for which we deserve due commendation. But sadly, we are poor listeners. Often, we may hear, but we don’t listen.
This is despite the fact that for most professions, over 75% of the work we do is based on listening to others. Imagine a marketer not listening to his customers, or an HR professional not listening to young managers, or a leader not listening to her team members. So, most people will agree that listening is a powerful and essential managerial skill. Unfortunately, it is not a skill that receives adequate focus, either in business schools or in organizations. Here are some simple suggestions on how we can listen better.
KEEP QUIET
We love hearing the sound of our own voice, so we don’t keep shut often enough. But if you have to listen carefully to someone else, you have to shut up. The deepest listening often occurs in total silence, where what you are hearing can be absorbed beautifully into your mind, without having to contend with the clutter of extraneous noise. I find that when I am tempted to speak out of turn, which is quite often, putting my finger on my lips is a good way to shut up. My primary-school teacher taught me that, many years ago.
OPEN YOUR MIND
To listen, you need an open mind. Often, when we hear something that goes against the grain of our existing belief, we tend not to listen any more, simply because we don’t wish to hear that we are wrong. Defences build up immediately in our mind, and then we are done. On the other hand, most new ideas emerge from something that is not aligned to existing knowledge. So the best way to listen is to keep your ears wide open for negative evidence—evidence that says you are wrong— and pay particular attention to why the speaker thinks that way. Don’t begin the process of evaluation until you have heard him/ her out fully. An open mind does not guarantee you true enlightenment, but it certainly helps.
PUT AWAY YOUR PHONE
Opening your mind during a meeting does not help if you have simultaneously also opened your mobile phone or laptop. When you are listening to your colleague speak, put away your digital devices, and watch the positive energy flow. Whatsapp and emails are the best way to plug your ears, and Facebook is not far behind. On the other hand, two or more people, face to face, discussing a topic without any digital distraction threatening to raise its head, makes for the best listening platform.
FORGET THE FOOD
Our listening ability is, unfortunately, inversely correlated with our hunger and our abiding interest in food. As mealtime approaches, a few participants begin actively daydreaming about what could be on the menu for lunch or dinner, which is a recipe for delicious distraction from the subject at hand. But then we need to reckon with pangs of hunger, which are totally real, and yet find ways of remaining unmoved. I find that carrying a small hard boiled sweet in my pocket is a very helpful device. When hunger strikes, I pop the sweet into my mouth, roll it around my tongue, which helps me to continue listening intently, until the meal break.
WAIT, THEN ASK
Once you have listened well, and there is a natural pause in the speaker’s flow of conversation, it is a good idea then to ask questions that help bring clarity to your own thinking. Don’t hesitate to do this, because productive listening requires clarity. Sometimes, if you are listening to a colleague who has come to speak to you, you could even ask him to clarify exactly what he means, or really needs from you—this reassures both of you that you are thinking in the same direction.
LISTEN WITH ALL SENSES
If you need to listen really well, then non-verbal cues are as important as what is said. The best listeners carefully observe
THE PANEL DISCUSSED HOW AI COULD BE UTILISED TO GENERATE GREATER EFFICIENCY IN THE WORKFORCE