Article: CEO Dialogue: Changing people paradigm in the current times

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CEO Dialogue: Changing people paradigm in the current times

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the way we used to manage talent. The business dynamics today requires a redesigned talent agenda that prioritizes employee experience, new forms of leadership, and technology.
CEO Dialogue: Changing people paradigm in the current times

The pandemic has put light where it was necessary– the talent transformation agenda. The people's transformation has once again been brought into focus and everything about the talent transformation agenda will have to be reinvented for businesses to continuously keep on realizing value and inch from recovery to growth.

The SAP HR Connect 2021 saw CEOs from leading organizations in the country coming together and sharing their sentiments on the changing paradigm of talent transformation and what’s going to be their prediction for the future of talent.

In his power-packed panel discussion at SAP HR Connect, on the theme “CEO's perspectives on the changing people paradigm in the current times,” moderated by Ester Martinez, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, People Matters saw coming together of leaders from three prominent industries– CP Gurnani, CEO & MD, Tech Mahindra, Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director, Sun Pharma and Kulmeet Bawa, President & Managing Director, at SAP Indian Subcontinent, where they reflected upon how people agenda has once again become the center of board room concern.

Here are some key highlights from the session:

Pandemic as an accelerator to relook at our talent agenda

The pandemic became the accelerator for one of the greatest workplace transformations of our lifetime. How we work, exercise, shop, learn, communicate, and of course, where we work, will be changed forever! This has definitely changed the role of HR in the organizations. CP Gurnani shared,” Given the ongoing transformation at work, HR today means how it impacts me as an individual and my 130,000 associates.”

Reflecting upon the uncertainty that the pandemic brought, CP said “The first few months was about arranging chairs, tables, renting out hotels near the workplaces, creating a secure environment. It was completely about mechanically responding to an emergency– you created war rooms to provide the essentials. However, very soon we realize that the transformation is required for the customers, for the manager to manage a remote workforce, and for the workforce, to balance their personal lives, and business lives.”

The pandemic has also brought the shift in how employees and the workforce sees an employer. Kulmeet shares the need for being a lot more conscious of bringing the new talent amidst the changing expectations of talent, dynamic work environment, and the changing flow of work. 

“Talent transformation requires a whole new paradigm in terms of leadership that breaks away from traditional hierarchical chain of command model, moulding ourselves for the next generation of workforce- GenZ or ‘screenages’, bringing in digital dexterity, and a resilient culture with a lot more agility and nimbleness is required to lead the talent transformation agenda in this new world of work,” shares Kulmeet.

Technology- A table stake in leading the talent transformation agenda

Technology has unarguably played an important role in leading the workplace transformation as a response to pandemic. Not only it accelerated the possibility of remote working but also supported collaboration, engagement, communication, and experience which were some of the biggest worries of the employers. 

“Technology has been a great enabler and it will continue to play an increasingly important role especially in removing the subjectivity from employee performance and making it more transparent. The role of technology is only going to accelerate in enabling us to move to the future of work," shares Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director at Sun Pharma.

Another important priority that has emerged in the organization's talent agenda is employee experience. Kulmeet reflects, “We're living in the experience era today and there is an immense need to offer personalized real-time experiences to our people. We are living in an era where the questions should no longer be about Why technology but how to implement faster and holistically.” 

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the way we used to manage talent. The business dynamics today requires a redesigned talent agenda that prioritizes employee experience, new forms of leadership, and technology.

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Topics: Leadership, #DigitalTransformation, #SAPHRCONNECT2021

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