Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur successfully hosted the Third Edition of its annual HR Conclave – Spandan 2015 on 20^th June, 2015.

Carrying forward the legacy from last year’s HR Conclave, this year’s event was conceptualized around a central umbrella theme “Connect”; focused on deliberating the ever evolving roles and responsibilities of the HR function.  The event began with an opening address by Prof. Janat Shah – Director, IIM Udaipur.  Prof. Shah talked about the conclave’s agenda of being a platform for global HR leaders to share their expertise and experiences in the ever-changing field.  Prof. Shah also laid stress on Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur (IIMU) strong focus on Research, Analytics, and Immersion in the three forms of Rural, Corporate & Global Immersion and Entrepreneurship & Intrapreneurship in his speech.

Mr. Santosh Bhave – Senior VP – HR/IR Bharat Forge, a global metal forging company gave the inaugural speech for the panel discussions.  In his address, Mr. Bhave shared his knowledge on Human Resource innovation in India. He also educated the students on the importance of HR innovation in development of a firm.

The event then proceeded with panel discussions on the two sub-themes for the summit:

• Connecting Creativity with Profession: Role of HR in fostering innovation in organizations
• Connecting to Mainstream: Role of HR as a strategic partner in businesses

The event saw stalwarts from the top firms of India expressing their knowledge and views regarding transformation in the industry due to innovation and HR strategy. The participating corporate leaders in the discussions were Mr. Santosh Bhave – Senior VP – HR/IR Bharat Forge; Mr. Harjeet Khanduja – Vice President Human Resources Reliance Jio; Ms. Kavita Kurup- Head Learning & Organizational Development, Axis Bank; Mr. Ashutosh Tipnis- Head – HR (West and South) Hindustan Times; Ms. Meenaa Sharma- Chief Human Resource Officer, Reliance Money.

The key things highlighted in the discussions were HR facilitation program- connecting HR skills with innovation, importance of having a human mind over a technological mind, Role of HR in bringing the right people, creating customer experience through driving innovation, fundamental beliefs and values of an organization, importance of database people management, significance of analytics in HR Practice area, Innovation at the grass root level, creating and delivering value, aligning the HR strategies with the business strategies to succeed in the long run, employee engagement, best industry practices, learning and organizational department, differences between people dependent and process dependent organizations.

The event was a completely student driven initiative of IIM Udaipur, which aims to bridge the gap between corporate and academics and to give a common platform where exchange of knowledge and insight is facilitated.  The panel discussion as well as quality interaction with the industry leaders was an enriching experience for the students of IIM Udaipur.  The event was very well received by the IIMU community. The event concluded with felicitation of the eminent speakers at the event and a vote of thanks.