A Mega Digital ‘HR Konclave’ was organized by KIIT Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar on the theme ‘The Future is Now – Rewiring the Workplace’. Organized by the KIIT School of Management (KSOM), the conclave, one of the biggest digital events in India, was participated by 200 eminent corporate personalities from 17 countries spanning five continents and had an audience of more than 30000 from industry, academia and student community.
The virtual meet was inaugurated by Prof. Achyuta Samanta, Founder, KIIT & KISS in the presence of Mr. Scott Friedman, Author of “Celebrate! Lessons Learned from World’s Most Admired Organizations”; Mr. Manoj Kohli, Country Head, SoftBank India, SoftBank Group International; Dr. Hrushikesh Mohanty, Vice Chancellor, KIIT; Prof. Sasmita Samanta, Pro Vice Chancellor; Dr. S. K. Mahapatra, Conclave Chairperson & Director, KSOM; Dr. Sanjay Muthal, CEO, Kontempore, along with Co Convenors Dr. Kumar Mohanty, Director, Corporate Relations, KIIT and Dr.Saranjit Singh, Director, Industry Engagement & Placements.
Delivering the inaugural address, Prof. Achyuta Samanta said that a lot of change has happened in the economy because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the topic of the conclave is very relevant in the current context. Rewiring the workplace will bring in positivity in the tough times, he said. Citing examples of KIIT and KISS, he said that the two institutions rapidly adapted to the situation and integrated digital workspace and blended learning thereby becoming one of the first educational institutions to respond and overcome the pandemic situation.
“In these difficult times, we have to keep our spirits high and look for alternate solutions to workplace changes”, remarked Dr. Hrushikesha Mohanty. Dr. Sasmita Samanta spoke about the changes in aspiration of the younger generation who are about to enter the workforce. She appealed to the thought leaders present to accordingly shape the future of organizations.
Dr. S. K. Mahapatra set the context by saying that despite the world being faced with an unprecedented challenge from the pandemic, KIIT saw a great opportunity to innovate by taking the conclave to a global stage. He was happy to share that KIIT-DU, one of the 20 IOEs (Institution of Eminence) in India, has been one of the pioneering institutions to seamlessly adapt to the new environment of virtual workplace and virtual learning space.
The first keynote address was delivered by Mr. Manoj Kohli. He said that in this pandemic situation, organizations have to take note of five key areas –changing customer preferences and inclination towards digital platforms, maintaining higher standards of operations, financial agility and fitness, focus on innovations and ensuring employee integrity and performance.
Mr. Scott Friedman, in his keynote address, spoke about the importance of being happy for achieving better performance in work and life. He said that we have to focus on ‘GPS’ – Gratitude, Play and Surprise. As per him, in the pandemic situation, organizations need to celebrate employees and create a happy environment. For better performance, both organizations and employees have to be tuned to think of ‘finish lines’ and not ‘deadlines’.
The vote of thanks was proposed by Dr. Sanjay Muthal, CEO, Kontempore. He lauded the efforts of Prof. Achyuta Samanta for his colossal effort for uplifting society through education. He thanked and applauded the organizers for putting up such a huge digital event with 30000 audience and 200 global speakers.
The inaugural was followed by 16 panel discussions digitally happening across 9 different schools of KIIT. Some of the themes under discussion were ‘The Altered Workplace-Opportunities and Challenges’, ‘Reinventing the Rural Workplace’ and HR 4.0: Is the workplace ready for New Age Technology like Block chain?’ The panelists were eminent speakers from various national and international corporations.
A total of 100 workshops will be organized on the second day of the conclave. The virtual meet has been able to create a digital platform to connect industry, academia and student community.