On 15th December 2012, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur organised the 3rd HR Conclave on its campus. The conclave was envisaged to not only help the PGDM HR students understand the trends and nuances of the HR industry, but also for all management students to get insights into skill building and recruitment. Several industry stalwarts attended the conclave and shared their experiences with the students.

The inaugural panel discussion had Mr. Umesh Upadhyay(Infosys BPO), Mrs. Aditi Gupta(HR Manager, Rajasthan, Bosch Ltd.)and Mr Sanjay Satkalmi (Manager, Talent Acquisition, Future Group). They all emphasised the importance of skill development in different sectors. Mrs. Aditi Gupta also went into some detail about the selection criteria and the selection process at Bosch Ltd.

The focus of the conclave was mapping ‘the right skills with the right job at the right time’ for the critical growth of a company. It brought to the fore the role of HR professionals in defining the roles, selecting the right people and then grooming them consistently to evolve and grow with the organisation. During the conclave, the ambit of the discussions widened to include ‘the right skill sets for employability today’ and ‘exploring new skills required in the emerging markets’. The discussions brought home the point that good training and the development of skill sets at the B-school level need to be explored and built into the curriculum so that the courses remain industry-relevant.

The second and third panel discussions included Mr.Akhilesh Sharma (CEO, A3 Logistics) who also happens to be the President’s Award winner for a successful business in MSME. He discussed the hardships and challenges faced by a management student after completing his/her course. He also shared his experiences as a young entrepreneur. It was evident that he awed, inspired and motivated everyone present with the story of his life and many achievements. Mr. Ranjan Malhotra (Senior Manger- Hiring, Genpact), Mr. Jayendra Chaturvedi(HR Head, Mother Dairy) and Mr. Nitin Kalani(naukri.com) also discussed the importance of skill development and the challenges faced in achieving it. Mr. Jayendra Chaturvedi said, “The moment you join any corporate job, itdoes not mean that you will get the best of the things deserved by you instantly. You need to earn that reputation for yourself. It’s also important to remember that you should never get demotivated by failures; in fact, it is the failure that gives you the positive energy and lessons to move towards your goal”.

There were many questions raised by the students during these interactions, including queries about the skills required to be a good HR executive during recruitment as an interviewer and what they expect from candidates when they are asked to say something about themselves. This question was answered by Mr.Satkalmi and Mr.Upadhyay, who said that they assessed the candidate on how well and efficiently he could sum up about himself in a short period of time.

The conclave was a resounding success, not only for the students who were preparing for placements, but also for those who were looking at HR as a specialisation.