Jamia Millia Organizes Webinar On Post-Covid Disruption At Workplace

On the eve of International Human Resource Professional Day which is celebrated on 26th September every year, the Department of Social Work, Jamia Millia Islamia has organized an online Industry Interface ( webinar) for its Human Resource Management students on the theme “Post-COVID Disruption and Talent Management: A Human Resource Perspective”. Senior HR Professionals from the industry participated and it included 

-Ms. Kiran Singh, General Manager for Corporate HR at Mother Dairy
-Ms. Mehernaaz Zahir, Management Consultant, Speaker and Life Coach
-Mr. Kusumadhar Pandey, Head of Human Resources at MphRx.
-Mr. Saiful-Islam, AVP and Global Head for Compensation and Benefits at Tata Communications.

The event was moderatored by Dr. Sarika Tomar. She gave a brief overview about Jamia Millia Islamia, its outstanding rankings in NIRF 2020 and UGC’s Evaluation of Central Universities, and its continuous growth over the time span. 

Prof. Archana Dassi , HOD of the department mentioned that the workforce needs to be agile and constantly upgrade its education to become fit for handling the change of job structure in the market. The HR holds an important position in bridging the gaps between the management and the employees and it needs to constantly reskill and upskill its manpower through innovative methods.

Later, Saiful-Islam discussed the topic of “Post Pandemic Disruptions” at length while quoting examples and situations from the organization he works at, i.e., Tata Communications Pvt. Ltd. He began by explaining the business they are in and how it has indeed benefited during the pandemic since remote working became the new normal. While the shares of the company touched 4X of their original price, the company was able to empower 98% of its workforce to work remotely as compared to the earlier 5%.

Kiran Singh brought to light the larger set of challenges which existed in Mother Dairy since it was categorized as an essential service provider and their supply chain includes contact with 7 lac farmers on a daily basis. As the anxiety of the uncertainty kept increasing in the minds of their employees, the need for them to step out and continue their duty also kept increasing. In order to educate the workforce, several hygiene awareness campaigns were started. At the same time, in order to keep the motivation levels high, the company used advertising medium by showcasing their employees as true warriors.

Mehernaaz Zahir took up the topic “Getting Ready for Workforce 4.0”. She started with a case study dealing with the necessity of understanding the dynamics and skills required for working through the online mode. Highlighting the inevitability of upgrading competencies, she also acknowledged that the current pandemic has pushed the workers to learn digital and collaborative skills that has been necessitated by the current scenario, which according to her, has brought the future to the present. Pinpointing the skills which are an absolute necessity, she shelved Agility/Adaptability, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Innovation on the top of the list. Alongside she mentioned that AI, 3D Printing, IoT and Augmented Reality as tools that could serve as a boon to every business stakeholder. 

Kusumadhar Pandey condensed the prior speeches in three words – Agility, Adaptability and Analytical Attitude. He recommended that the workforce needs to constantly upgrade itself and the HR, as a prominent department of business, must contribute to its maximum in the process. The HR need to understand the knitty-gritty of business and need to envision and expand its scope according to its talents and demands of the organization. It needs to understand business resources and strategically engage in redeployment through intellectual humility. It needs to identify its hardcore and transactional roles to connect with the employees rather than being glued to the computer. 

At the end of the program, Archana Dassi along with the students put forward their questions which were answered suitably by the guests. Dr. Sarika Tomar and Dr. Shaad Habeeb from the faculty were also members of this who convened it.