The People Management National Committee of The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized 'The People Management Conclave - 6th Edition, Theme: Nation Building- The Human Resource Perspective' held on Saturday, 16th March 2024 from 2.00 pm onwards at Williamson Magor Hall, The Bengal Chamber Premises, Kolkata.

A brief about the Conclave:

Over the years, the conclave's goal was to comprehend and discuss nation-building initiatives with a variety of facets, as well as the part that human resources play in this process. It became clear as we navigated through the opportunities and challenges of the modern period investing and utilizing human capital is essential to achieve sustainable development, encouraging innovation, and ensuring our country has a prosperous future. The People Management Conclave has always provided a forum for thought leaders, HR experts, business executives, and innovators to gather and discuss the complex relationship between successful people management strategies and broader nation-building projects over the years.

Speakers at this event were: 

1. Mr. Vinay Ranjan, Chairperson, People Management National Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Director (Personnel & IR), Coal India Ltd.
2. Mr. Somesh Dasgupta, Mentor, People Management National Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Whole Time Director, India Power Corporation Ltd.
3. Mr. Subir Verma, Executive Director & CHRO – Power Group Companies, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group
4. Mr. Amitav Mukherji, Head- Corporate Human Resources, ITC Limited
5. Mr. Sandeep Kumar, Managing Director, Tata Steel Downstream Products Limited
6. Mr. Sunil Chaturvedi, Chairman and Managing Director, TIL Limited and Gainwell Commosales Pvt. Ltd.
7. Mr. Arnab Chakraborty, Vice President - HR, CESC Limited
8. Mr. Adika Ratna Sekhar, Chairman and Managing Director, Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd.
9. Mr. Rupak Barua, Adviser, Manipal Health Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.
10. Dr. Roma Puri, Faculty – OB & HRM, International Management Institute, Kolkata
11. Mr. Karan Lakhani, Chief Human Resources Officer, Tata Steel Downstream Products Ltd.
12. Mr. Ruchir Jhingran, Vice President & Head HR – Personal Care Business, ITC Ltd.
13. Ms. Kinkini Das, Chief HRBP Commercial Function and Profit Centers, Tata Steel Ltd.
14. Ms. Malwika Chakraborty, Sr. Manager - HR, TM International Logistics Ltd.
15. Mr. Shubha Ranjan Nandi, Director, PWC India
16. Mr. Sanjay Kar Chowdhury, Dy. General Manager- HR, CESC Ltd.
17. Mr. Jaidip Chatterjee, Co- Chairperson, People Management National Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chief Human Resource Officer, SREI Group
18. Mr. Harish Agarwal, Managing Partner – Kolkata and East, Ernst & Young LLP (EY)
19. Ms. Ahuti Swain, Director (Personnel) HR, Eastern Coalfields Ltd.

Eminent CEOs were of opinion that the success of any organization had always been driven by people, not strategy. As per research, the CHRO had been the most significant hire a CEO would make. People had really made a business successful, and the CEO's primary responsibility had set the enterprise’s talent agenda. To effectively carry out the administrative, strategic, and tactical functions and responsibilities, the CEO must be a capable CHRO who would create a positive workplace culture. 

It was also discussed that effective strategies like harnessing cutting-edge technology to establishing strong relationship had elevated organizations to unprecedented levels of participation and the same had been popular with customers, stakeholders, and communities. 

The most discussed agenda in today’s world is Artificial Intelligence (AI), which was also addressed in the conclave and it is seen that (HR) departments are changing in light of the swift progress in Artificial Intelligence era. There had been a constant discussion on the future requirement and usefulness of traditional HR tasks as automation, digitalization, and artificial intelligence (AI) had been on its way to transform workplaces.