Tamil Nadu - Chennai

HR professionals should become agents of change: Ramadorai

CHENNAI: “Human Resources Development should focus on creating future leaders for the organisation,” S.Ramadorai, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services said here on Friday.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the 12th national conference of the National HRD Network (NHRDN). Mr.Ramadorai, chairman of the conference, said that HR professionals will first need to become change leaders themselves before they set to change their organisations.

The global financial crisis has raised questions about ethical leadership and HR professionals must conduct themselves in a manner that reflects the values of their organisation, he said.

Along with Ernst & Young, NHRDN initiated a ‘State of HR’ survey for India, covering a wide spectrum of organisations.

Presenting its preliminary findings, N.S.Rajan, Partner (Human Capital) Ernst & Young, said while almost all large companies believed that HR added critical value to business results, a majority planned to introduce more effective means to measure their results. “NHRDN intends to make this survey the baseline for HR practices across the country,” he said.

Rajesh Nambiar, vice-president and General Manager-Global Delivery, IBM India, in his address, underscored the enhanced role of HR in a globalised world.

Babu L.Lakshman, Chairman, Rane Group, spoke about the experience of building his company which went from rewarding loyalty to rewarding competence of employees.

He also touched upon the need for goal alignment across various departments of an organisation.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Conference, NHRDN National president Aquil Busrai told The Hindu that organisations suffering from attrition could do well by identifying the aspirations of their employees and providing them an opportunity to fulfil those.

As Executive Director, HR at IBM India Private Ltd. he said in the new business scenario companies would benefit from dispensing with internal hierarchies, adopting a pro-active communication at work place and adopting easy mobility practices for their employees.

David Nallathambi, President of the Chennai Chapter of NHRDN said employability of fresh graduates from colleges was a growing concern.

Bridging this talent shortage was also one of HR’s agenda for the future.

He said affirmative action policies towards the disabled and marginalised social groups were also becoming focus areas for HR professionals these days.

Over 700 delegates, representing nearly 400 organisations from India and 11 other countries, are participating in the two-day conference.

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