HR As a Strategic Business Partner: The Myths and the Realities

The Indian Institute of  Planning and Management, one of country’s leading academic institutions, imparting quality academic programs in entrepreneurship and management, had today organized a full-day seminar for its students- “HR As A Strategic Business Partner : The Myths And The Realities”. At Hotel Taj Krishna. The seminar, an initiative of the institute’s HR Club – Human Factor, was inaugurated by Mr. J.P.Narayan, Chairman, Loksatta.

Down the lane IIPM has been continuously emphasizing on the organizational foundation and its successful growth, thereby outlining the factual visage of HR. This Concept was once again customized through this seminar. Some of the top level HR professionals of different sectors of the industry, and the academic renowned in the respective field were in attendance to address and interact with a strong gathering of over 250 students and members of the faculty. Some of the panelists included corporate leaders of the likes of Mr. V.Sundar Rao (VP-HR, Saint Gobain Ltd.), Mr. Saumen Chakroborty (Global HR Chief, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories). Mr. Sriram Darbha (Head-HR, Hutchison Telecom), Mr. Ravi S. Vadapally (GM – Corporate HR, Satyam Learning Centre) and Mr. Govind Baghasingh (Director-Operations, Mensamind), among others.

Mr. J.P. Narayan, Chairman, Loksatta gauged the myth that follows along with the concept of HR as a calculated business associate. He said, “By design, the perspective demands that HR managers become strategic partners in business operations, playing prospective roles rather than being passive administrators reacting to the requirements of other business functions.” Mr. R.C. Shastry, Director (Retd.), Satyam Computer Services Ltd., also expressed his views.

Speaking on the HR tactics, Mr. Saumen Chakroborty, Global HR Chief, and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories commented, “Change is the call of the hour….. it is the magic formula for re-structuring the HR strategies a company where satisfaction of the employees and generation of the business goes hand in hand.” He overtly explained the dynamics of today’s HR vibes and also explained that as organizations continue to strive to identify ways to utilize their human resources at optimal levels, the need to link human resource strategy to the business strategy has become more urgent. Highlighting on the comment HR Scenario, Dr. Govind Baghasingh, Director- Operations, Mensamind India., explained, “There is a greater recognition that distinctive competencies are obtained through highly developed employee skills, distinctive organizational cultures, and management systems. This is in contrast to the traditional emphasis on transferable resources such as equipment. Increasingly it is being recognized that competitive advantage can be obtained with a high quality workforce that enables organizations to compete on the basis of market responsiveness, products and technological innovation.

At the end of Seminar, Prof. Satyabrata Dutta Gupta, the Dean Academics at IIPM Hyderabad thanked the gathering for their presence and concluded the seminar by saying, “This enlightening seminar on one of most debated issues of recent times have been conducted with an objective to create an academic interface for the students of IIPM Hyderabad with the corporate heads of the region in order to provide optimum exposure to the students.” At the end of the day, it was a great learning experience for the students at IIPM, as they were exposed to debates and discussions regarding the most booming subject matter in the management sector.