The world is enjoying the numerous benefits of technological advancements in both personal and professional aspects. However, like everything else in this world, technology has also brought forth ways to leverage it productively and to misuse it as well. At the same time as new technologies set in, in the corporate world, it raises a concern among most organizations as to how much access should be provided to technology and how much control should be exercised on the same. To discuss the same concerns some corporate experts, HR leaders and C-suite came together in a bistro discussion during the TechHR 2014, to find out the right balance.

The younger ones among the group shared the fact that the way people look at jobs has transformed completely. This is the age where jobs are being created and technology plays a major role in how talent accesses, identifies and chooses the right job or on contrary how organizations choose their right fit. Technology also impacts employer brand, as sites like glassdoor and linkedin have become the report cards of organizations while the new-age talent is also always alert of the happenings in the corporate world. Therefore, organizations cannot fully cease to provide access. As Varadarajan Srinivasan, CHRO & Head of Corporate Affairs at TATA SIA Airlines Limited rightly said, “It’s about bringing in trust and building a better workforce by empowering people, providing them the desired access while also keeping the risk at the back of the mind. It is about how we manage the balance between the access and control”. He continued, “There is a clear mismatch in the mind sets of the first, second and the third generation workforces. While the first and second generation wants to keep most information in closed silos, the third generation is open to share all the information and knowledge. It is about bridging this mismatch and striking a balance here”.

Elango R, Executive Vice President, Emerging Geography SBU and Global Chief Human Resources Officer at MphasiS, put forth a very practical insight as he said, “The right amount of access is required to create an open culture at the workplaces while at the same time IT needs to be active enough to mitigate any kind of risks involved”.

The group concluded with a mutual agreement on the fact that organizational trust plays a key role in balancing out access and control and IT is the army that needs to keep all risks at bay. It’s all about Trust with Caution!