“Care before Cure” – A way ahead for the organizations to navigate through the uncertainties posed by the pandemic was the message promulgated by Yukti’20 – the Annual HR Conclave. Indian Institute of Management, Amritsar successfully conducted its fifth annual HR Conclave, Yukti’20 on August 8-9, 2020 in VC mode. Yukti’20, was graced by eminent industry stalwarts having perceptive discussions on how the competencies need to be redesigned and rethought to cope up with the transcendental changes in the post pandemic world. An insightful discussion ensued over how the authenticity and vulnerability of the leaders would pave the path for substantiating employee well-being. The pandemic has become a catalyst for the implementation of technology enabled policies across the globe and has caused digitization beyond imagination. An emphasis on reducing the middle management workload by resorting to “We-Working” and automated processes and operations was deemed a necessity. Not only this, learning to learn, bio-empathy, challenging the status-quo and authentic originality were identified as the quintessential competencies of the future jobs.
The VUCA model has been changed to vulnerability, unprecedented times, contradiction and anxiety on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. The concept of “Meta-Change” which revolves around “Learning to Learn” was deemed a necessary competency to tackle this new VUCA model. The discussion accentuated the importance of “Bio-Empathy” which focuses on the leaders hitting on the pause button and taking some time out to learn from the nature. Given the crisis times, there has been a momentous shift towards minimalistic ways of living. Even owning only two pairs of clothes can suffice for one to stay relevant in these times. “Challenging the Status-Quo” was also deemed as one of the necessary competencies to steer through the turbulence. The novel idea of “Authentic Originality” which implies making use of every moment creatively was viewed to be an asset provided by the pandemic. The concept of “Remote Empathy” was regarded crucial and the leaders suggested that every organization should cultivate it in order to empower its employees. In addition to this, the idea of staying relevant by tailoring oneself to the needs of the market and investing in oneself was reckoned essential. Given the possibility that the current skillsets might not even exist by 2030, the employees should accept and embrace changes with a learning and growth mindset. Closing the discussion on an optimistic note, the leaders enunciated how broad the future opportunities are going to be and how agile learning would help one grab these plethora of opportunities.
Concurrent to overcoming the challenges posed by the pandemic, devising policies aimed at bridging the communication gap, mitigating the skewed work-life balance, and addressing the looming fear of unemployment were deemed imperative. The need for assessing the physical and mental health ramifications on the employees was thus viewed as paramount. The discussion revolved around how the overall wellbeing of the employees has been impacted in diverse ways and as to how there is a fine line between employee enablement and employee entitlement. There has been digitization beyond imagination. The pandemic has become a catalyst for the implementation of technology-enabled policies across the globe. The leaders insisted on looking at the positives emerging out of the situation, such as the ability to transcend the geographical borders and save time, thereby realizing the term “Location-Free” employee in its most real sense. “Authenticity” and “Vulnerability” showcased by the leaders in terms of highlighting their struggles and challenges was thought as the way ahead. And in such tough times, assuring the employees that we are together in this pandemic and bringing in clarity in terms of the expectations for better employee engagement was adjudged important. The leaders emphasized focusing on all the possibilities before taking the right action. On a concluding note, the panellists pressed upon the idea that accomplishments aren’t the only things defining a person and that we must look beyond that and use resonance coupled with a growth mindset to find solutions to the problems.
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