National HR Summit on TRANSFORMING HR: INDIAN POWER SECTOR
Speaking at the National HR Summit, Mr. Pradeep Kumar Pujari, Hon’ble Secretary, Ministry of Power, Govt. of India said, “, “Government from last 2.5 years has boosted power sector by Transparency and efficiency, Higher distribution network and quality and Economical supply. To support this changes, proper HR policy needs to be improved to meet up the human capital, technologic advancements and attractive employment opportunities.”
Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida in association with NHRD Network, Power HR forum and Deloitte, organized its “National Summit for Energy Sector on the theme “Transforming HR in Indian Power Sector” on 02-03 March, 2017 at ITC Maurya, New Delhi.
Bold business solutions are needed for the new energy era in India and the rest of the world. The radical thrust on solar and other renewable is just one aspect of the transformation that is going to sweep across the energy space. Energy-Environment interface is going to determine the global agenda as well as individual lifestyles in the twenty-first century. The 21st COP held as Paris in 2016 sets the tone for the remainder of the century. Benign and affordable energy abundance is the ideal the global community is striving for. Different scenarios are being deliberated in the energy space. In view of the centrality of the energy sector, the need for in-depth and continuous deliberations on energy issues with a view to finding out viable energy solutions cannot be over emphasized. Obviously, HR will have a key role in promoting energy solutions for the future which is going to be increasingly more complex. In a future marked by competitiveness through radical energy productivity, an equally productive HR approach will be required. That is what the focus and the objective of the Summit was which saw the participation of HR professionals from leading companies of the power sector- NTPC Ltd, Human Capital Consulting, Energy Infratech Pvt Ltd, Central Electricity Authority and many others.
The Inaugural Session of the summit started with the welcome address by Dr. Harivansh Chaturvedi, Director, BIMTECH. He extended a warm welcome to the Chief Guest, speakers and other delegates. In his welcome address, Dr Chaturvedi mentioned that, “HR Philosophies needs to be changed as per industry depending on technological developments.”
The contours of this Summit was given by Padma Shri Dr. Pritam Singh, Chairman-LEAD Centre who talked about the ‘Need for Paradigm Shift in HR”. He gave a clear cut vision on the theme of the summit. He started with saying that, “Sustainable growth strategies companies are using the six elements of Cost leadership, Quality leadership, Customer relationship, People power, Innovation Power and Ethical governance. He also expressed his views that , “R&D is the biggest issue in India. Global players are interested to perform in R&D rather than the local player.”
The Keynote speaker, Mr. R. V. Shahi, Chairman, Energy Infratech, in his innovative presentation said that, “HR is behind the growth and development of all the sectors with all the functions.” According to him, “ in the last 12 to 18 months changes are leading to challenges that need to be coped up with at political level, technology and administrative levels.”
The Inaugural address Speaker, Mr. Pradeep Kumar Pujari, Hon’ble Secretary, Ministry of Power, Govt. of Indiagave his enlightening views on the Summit and said that, “More focus on the primary education is required to lay down proper foundation which will automatically solve issues in higher education.” As the Energy sector is going through rapid transformation mainly the power sector, the primary objective should be to make power available at affordable prices.. He also expressed his views that, “Focus is on renewable energy sector and wind targets expected to be achieved by 2023-2024 with the help of roof top panels.” He concluded his address by saying that, “To support these changes, proper HR policy needs to be improved to meet up the human capital, technologic advancements and attractive employment opportunities. The first session concluded with a formal Vote of Thanksby Mr. Dhananjay Singh, Director General, NHRDN .
The new thrust on nonconventional and renewable sources of energy has radically altered the energy dynamics in the country. During the period 2017-2027, there is likely to be more capacity addition (in terms of megawatts) in the renewable segment than in fossil fuel based power capacity. Keeping this in view, the second session started with a panel discussion on the topic- “Emerging Energy Sector Landscape : The Talent Challenges and Opportunities”. The panel comprised of Dr. Ashok Balyan, CEO – Oil & Gas Business, Reliance ADAG, Mr. Atul Sobti, CMD, BHEL, Mr. Gurdeep Singh, CMD, NTPC, Mr. I. S. Jha, CMD, Power Grid Corporation, Mr. Rajeev Sharma, CMD, Power Finance Corporation. The Chairman & Moderator for the panel discussion was Mr. R. V. Shahi, Chairman, Energy Infratech.
The panel discussed various problems and their possible solutions pertaining to different areas of HR in the emerging energy power sector. They came out with a viewpoint that “Technology disruptions to be addressed by HR professional, new skill sets should be created to deal with changes and uncertainties.” They discussed that “theHR should persuade policy makers’ industry leaders to cope with these challenges and that capacity orientation programme for current manpower and the new recruits should higher as per the industry needs, and recruitment plans should be formulated accordingly..” The discussion was followed by a Q&A round by all the delegates present in the summit. It was a very animated discussion focusing on the important facets of the changing power sector.
In the third session which comprised of the theme “Transforming and Nurturing Talent”, the focus was on the fact that talent has become the key differentiator among organizations. Consequently talent management has become the key issue for HR professionals. While the energy sector has a large number of highly qualified professionals in senior roles, it now needs competent leaders who will help them compete and sustain, especially in the VUCA world of today. Changes in technology, customer aspirations, expectations of the employees (more so with the millennials joining to the workforce in larger numbers) and the changing facets of competition bring into focus the relevance (or otherwise) of the HR philosophies and practices. There is a need to relook at the HR philosophies and practices with a view to attracting, retaining and promoting talent in the energy sector. The panelists for this session were Dr. Asha Bhandarker, Distinguished Professor of Organizational Behaviour, IMI, Dr. Avinash Chandra Joshi, Director (HR), UJVN, Dr. Jayant Kumar, CHRO, Tata Power, Mr. Nikhil K. Jain,Director (Personnel), NHPC, Mr. Nikhil Shahane, Director (HR), Technip.The Chairman & Moderator for the session was Mr. Saptarshi Roy, Director (HR), NTPC. The panel came out with interesting views like, “Consumer expectations are making the market complex. Today, we live in uncertain situation experiencing hardship. The only certainty is the need to have transform and nurture talent. Talent development has to become a mission and that the mindset of the people to look at the talent should undergo a changeover.”
The fourth session of the summit was on the theme “Building Leadership Pipeline”. The panelists for this session were Mr. Gautam Chainani, Group President (HR), JSW, Ms. Meenakshi Davar, Executive Director (HR), PowerGrid Corporation, Mr. Pushp Joshi, Director (HR), Hindustan Petroleum , Mr. Sabih Kidwai, Director (HR), Schneider Electric and Dr. Subir Verma, Sr. Professor, Fore and Former Dean, IIM Ranchi. The Chairman & Moderator for the session was Mr. Sudhir K Chaturvedi, Former Chairperson, JERC (Goa & Union Territories) & CMD, Power Grid Corporation. The panel discussed on the facts that in order to unleash the potential of the Indian economy as envisaged by the Government of India, we need to unleash the potential of the energy sector and in turn, of all the people in the sector. We need more and more leaders developed through a conscious strategy and plan in the sector to ensure sustained delivery of solutions amid constraints and crises. Finding leaders who possess vision, versatility, emotional strength, understanding, execution and people orientation remains a challenge for business organisations.
In the next day of the summit, the fifth session was on “Employee Relationship and Engagement – The New Imperative” . According to the panelists, employee development and employee engagement (leading to the growth of both the organization and the employee) can be achieved in an environment of peace, harmony and trust. The methods of building employee relations and engagement undergo change with the changes in the nature of the economy and the business scenario. The panelists for this session were Mr. Alok Misra, Executive Director (ER), ONGC, Mr. S. K. Biswas, Director (Personnel), THDC, Mr. Sanjay Singh, GM (HR), NTPC, Mr. Vijay Sinha,Sr. V.P. (HR), JSW Energy and Mr. Virjesh Upadhyay, General Secretary, Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh. The Chairman & Moderator for the session was Mr. V. C. Agrawal, President – Corporate HR, R.P. – Sanjiv Goenka Group.
The sixth session was on “Future Strategy for Innovation- Role of HR”. The idea behind the session was that the entire energy value chain is likely to see significant disruption in the coming years and decades. Energy production is likely to see rapid de-carbonization with renewable, and in particular solar, likely to contribute a much larger share of global energy sources in the years to come. Energy distribution is also vulnerable to significant disruption because of emergence of the concept of distributed yet integrated power generation and storage systems that might very well obviate the need for large transmission networks. In view of this, organisations and leaders will need to explore ways to transform existing strategic competencies, organizational structures, talent management imperatives, and networking within the energy sector and beyond.
The panelists for this session were Mr. Debabrat (Debu) Mishra, Partner, Human Capital, Deloitte Consulting, Mr. Gautam Vivek, In-charge, World Energy Council, Mr. K. N. Subramaniam, CEO, Moser Baer Solar, Ms. Pia Khanna, COE Leader, Talent Management, Dupont, South Asia, Mr. Rajeev Bhadauria, Director-Group HR, Jindal Steel & Power. The Chairman and moderator for this session Prof. Sunil Sangra, Professor – Strategy & Innovation, BIMTECH.
The two day HR summit ended with a Valedictory Session in which the summary for the whole summit was presented by Mr. Debabrat (Debu) Mishra, Partner, Human Capital, Deloitte Consulting, followed by theValedictory Address by Padma Bhushan B K Chaturvedi, Former Cabinet Secretary and Member Planning Commission. The vote of thanks for the entire Summit was proposed by Prof KK Sinha, Dean- Development, BIMTECH.
