IMI HR Summit: HR leaders debate on attrition management and employee engagement

The Summit theme was Managing Talent for Global Competitiveness: Issues and Challenges. Day one saw a series of panel discussions and students competitions. Entrepreneur and thought-leader Mr Manish Sabharwal, chairman of Teamlease, delivered the keynote address. Emphasizing the importance of talent, Mr Sabarwal said, People or talent builds value for the company. They are the crucial differentiator in corporate success, and are the primary source of intangible value.

IMI Director Dr C S Venkata Ratanam in his inaugural address said, Talent makes difference to organizations Organizations should recognize this and let talent grow, prosper and breathe.

After the inaugural session, corporate HR heads discussed two important issues in panel discussions: Managing Attrition & Aspirations and Non-Financial Employee Motivators - Increasing Employee Engagement. Speakers included Rachna Bhanot, Head (Strategic HR), IBM Daksh; Sunita Majumdar, Senior Manager (HR), ITC Welcomgroup Hotels; Rahul Taneja, Head (Talent Acquisition), Dell International Services; N S Iyer, Chief Manager HR & Central functions, Asian Paints; Sushil Baveja, Director (Corporate HR), DSCL; and N S Rajan, National Director, Ernst & Young-Human Capital.

Addressing the issue of Managing Attrition & Aspirations, Rachna Bhanot said, Attrition is the result of lack of alignment of various aspirations of industry, organization and individual. So there is a need for alignment between aspirations of these three stakeholders to get a win-win situation The role of HR managers is now changing from personnel management to talent management where they manage competency, succession and performance.
Mr Rahul Taneja said, Today, HR is looked as a function of intellectual management. In his advice to employers he said, Dont sell the job to the employee -- rather sell the company.

Engaging employee is another key issue in retaining talent, felt Mr Sushil Baveja. There is growing realization today that money is not everything, as it doesnt stop churn. So to retain talent, companies need to engage their employees, he said.

Mr NS Iyer said, Employee engagement is all about creating a positive environment and then providing employees adequate tools to complete work responsibilities.

The Summit also saw an Inter B-School paper competition on the issues of Taking HR from the Backroom to the Boardroom, Attrition: A Blessing in Disguise? and Does the IT/ITeS industry need Unions? IMI short-listed the teams for the final round out of 156 entries from different business schools. On the occasion, papers were presented by the teams including the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kozikode; Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad; Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), Delhi; Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Gujarat; and International Management Institute (IMI), Delhi.

Day two of the HR Summit discussed the issues of Employer Branding: How truthful? How Fruitful, Planning for the Future: Succession Planning and Recruitment Process Outsourcing - Challenges & Opportunities.

MBAUniverse.com is the media partner of the IMI Summits. Stay tuned to read about the highlights.