Companies need to gear up to be future ready: experts
With customers becoming empowered and competition getting rigorous, it is important for businesses to sustain growth. The challenges, however, are not limited to economic and market shifts. With more government regulations and policy reforms, businesses are constantly changing. For instance, the recent amendment in the Companies Act envisages radical changes and calls for more accountability on the part of corporates. Such reforms along with evolving economic challenges question the status quo of some organisations.
The 43rd and 44th edition of Shine HR Conclave held at Bengaluru and Mumbai, respectively, saw wide ranging discussions on the topic Restructuring the Organisational Design to be Future Ready. The conclave had senior HR delegates interacting with eminent speakers from across industry verticals.
The panel for discussion at the Bengaluru event included Amitava Saha, senior vice president and head – human resources, Biocon Limited; Kameshwari Rao, vice president, people strategy, Sapient India; Rajeev Mendiratta, vice president - head workforce management and overseas operations at Wipro Technologies; Sailesh Menezes, country manager-human resources, Hewlett Packard Enterprise India and the moderator for the discussion, Abhijit Bhaduri of HR Influencer.
The panel at the Mumbai Edition included Ashutosh Telang, chief human resources officer, Marico Limited; Harjeet Khanduja, vice president, Reliance Jio Infocomm; Rajendra Ambekar, executive vice president and global head – human resources, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals; Mamta Binani, president, The Institute of Company Secretaries of India and the panel moderator Dr Sheen Akkara, chief human resources officer (CHRO) at CMS Info Systems.
The question posed to CHROs and HR leaders at The Hindustan Times Shine HR Conclave in its Bengaluru and Mumbai editions was whether the conventional organisational design still worked in the current business scenario.
Abhijit Bhaduri, moderator at the event, said that “Since businesses look for an integrated view of the solution, it is crucial to bring to light the various scenarios that stimulate change for organisational restructuring and the role of HR to address the issue.”
Rajeev Mendiratta, emphasising on the attributes of the millennial workforce, said, “Experience and age is no asset to the knowledge level of the staff. Today innovative young professionals having technical expertise don’t wait for odd structures or policies. They themselves become harbingers of change across organisations.”
Highlighting the need for the HR fraternity to multitask, Amitava Saha said, “In the manufacturing sector, the impetus is not just on quality but on other aspects such as business, regulatory compliance etc. Hence, we create role-based positions in an organisation so that a person who is in a particular position gets to wear multiple hats, grow in multiple directions compared to the one which has high stimulus for growth”
“There is a need for further specialisation, training and skill development of professionals who belong to specific teams. So, there is no stringent alignment with one core functional area,” says Kameshwari Rao.