DB India and Sodexo Celebrates Spirit of Excellence & Innovation at HR Best Practices and Awards 2017

The most crucial resource for any industry or economy is the human resource, and over the last decade, there has been a profound shift in the working of human resource development functions. Sharing of HR Best Practices has been identified as one of the most prominent areas, especially for developing countries for maximizing organisational and individual efficiency. Keeping this in mind, Dun n Bradstreet, the world’s leading provider of global business information, knowledge and insights, in association with Sodexo successfully organized “Dun n Bradstreet India- Sodexo HR Best Practices and Awards, 2017”. The occasion also marked the launch of the publication, ‘HR Best Practices 2017’.

The publication, ‘HR Best Practices 2017’, a joint initiative of Dun n Bradstreet and Sodexo India, captures and showcases some of the excellent and impactful human resource initiatives and programs adopted and implemented by organisations across India Inc. Organisations are often faced with a plethora of talent-related challenges ranging from engaging employees, optimizing performance, identifying and nurturing of future leaders, retention and many more. In the modern age, an organisation's ability to come up with and implement new-age and innovative human capital strategies can help it successfully deal with its talent-related issues. This publication represents interesting and effective human resource initiatives undertaken by Indian corporates pertaining to multiple aspects including recruitment, retention, talent acquisition, leadership & talent management, employee welfare, performance improvement and managing diversity among others. The publication profiles 171 case studies, from 77 organisations, grouped into 5 broad categories - Recruiting (Talent Acquisition, On-boarding) Living or Environment (Engagement, Industrial Relations) Growing (Performance Management, LnD) Rewarding and Caring (Incentives, Welfare, Workplace) and Others (Records management, HR Analytics)

Delivering the welcome address, Kaushal Sampat, President and Managing Director - India, Dun n Bradstreet said “Technological advances, paired with increased connectivity and interdependence across countries and geographies, are driving businesses out of their comfort zones rapidly and has deep implications on Human Resource. The new generations of young professionals entering the workforce are changing the shape of the workplace and work culture. Future workplaces will undoubtedly be more technologically driven and integrating talent across geographies will be an important part of an organisation’s culture.”

“Our survey findings reveal that more than 60% of the respondent companies have made use of programs to promote diversity at the workplace. These include professional development programs, mentoring programs focusing on diversity, employee networking programs and other internal communications focusing on diversity.”, he further added

Expressing his views at the event, Rajiv Warrier, Managing Director, Benefits and Rewards Services, Sodexo SVC India Pvt. Ltd. said “With an ever-changing people landscape of young India, it is important to adopt collaborative hiring and talent development practices which act as a win – win for both individuals and organisations. Our close association with the HR fraternity in India over the past two decades has helped us understand that it is time for India Inc. to look beyond the conventional HR approaches. This book captures some great insights on managing millennials as well as other industry-leading best-practices.”

With the objective of creating a knowledge sharing forum, the event witnessed an interactive panel discussion on ‘Human Resources Management in the Age of Millennials’. The essence of the panel discussion was to deliberate on how the role of the human resource function has undergone changes over time and its status in the current age of millennials.

Sujaya Banerjee, Chief Talent Officer and Sr. VP – HR, Essar Services India Private Limited said “The Millennials as an Age-Cohort have not been fully acknowledged in India Inc. as we mostly make the mistake of believing they are yet another group of young professionals, similar in aspirations like past generations. Their lens is different and so is their world view. We Mentored/Parented them so they are thankfully a 'differently similar' generation. Human Capital Management will need to integrate this world view to curate new solutions that meet the Millennials more than half way!”

Prashant Khullar, Vice President and CHRO (Designate), Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Ltd. “Millennials are not a generation looking just for ‘entitlements’ or any special treatment. They’re looking for greater responsibility and challenges and are ready to work towards it. What they want is a workplace that helps them express themselves, build their strengths and help them adapt.”

Also present at the launch were Prof. Y. K. Bhushan, Senior Advisor & Campus Head, IBS Business School, Mumbai, Rakesh Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Aditya Birla Finance Limited, . Sanjiv Anand, Chairman and Managing Partner, Cedar Management Consulting International,  Unmesh Pawar, Global HR Managing Director, Accenture, . Amita Maheshwari, EVP and Head HR, Star TV India Pvt. Ltd.,  Tarun Ramrakhiani, Managing Director, Santa Fe Relocations,  Rahul Taneja, Chief People Officer, Jet Airways (India) Limited and  Karthik Krishnan, Chief Executive Officer, eCentric HR along with the leaders from the business and HR community.