Asian School of Business (ASB) recently hosted a high-pitch National Seminar on the topic “Gig Economy-Redefining the Organizations” at its Noida campus on Saturday, 21st September 2019. The event was organized by ASB’s Research & Development Cell that strives “to become a center of excellence in management & IT education by focused research pursuits through an interface with industry and academia.”
The seminar saw the august presence of distinguished dignitaries that included Dr. J. S. Juneja, Former Chairman – NSIC; Mr. Sandeep Tyagi, Director HR – Samsung Electronics; Mr. Neeraj Narang, Director – HCM Product Strategy – Oracle; Mr. Aditya Chakravarty, Head HR – Travel Triangle; Mr. Agnivesh Thakur, Lead – SAP – HCM Accenture; and Mr. Amit Mishra, Head Talent Management & Development – Landis+Gyr.
The event kick-started with the lighting of the lamp and welcome the introduction of dignitaries present on and off the dais.
The welcome address was delivered by Dr. Maroof Ahmed Mir, Assistant Dean, ASB. This was followed by the theme address by Dr. Anubhuti Dwivedi, Associate Dean, Asian Business School and the inaugural address by Dr. Lalitya Vir Srivastava, Director-Asian Education Group.
The keynote addresses were delivered by Dr. J. S. Juneja, followed by Mr. Sandeep Tyagi. As a token of appreciation and gratitude, the guests were felicitated with Mementos and IBMRC. The proceedings were followed by Vote of Thanks by Mr. Ravi Sharma, Assistant Dean, Corporate Resource Cell (CRC), Asian Education Group.
After the keynote addresses and felicitation of the keynote speakers, a panel discussion on the topic followed wherein the key participants were Mr. Neeraj Narang, Director – HCM Product Strategy – Oracle, Mr. Aditya Chakravarty, Head HR – Travel Triangle, Mr. Agnivesh Thakur, Lead – SAP – HCM Accenture and Mr. Amit Mishra, Head Talent Management & Development – Landis+Gyr.
The panel discussion was started by Mr. Neeraj Narang, Director – HCM Product Strategy – Oracle. The key takeaways as per him were:
- Gig Work had already existed, but now this jargon has been presented by Industry more often.
- He insisted students to take up Gig Jobs which will help them explore more and also polish their personalities.
- He emphasized on the role of online courses along with regular curriculum for their resumes for Gig working.
- He further reiterated, “You should love your work rather than love your job.”
The key takeaways from the second speaker – Mr. Aditya Chakravarty, Head HR-Travel Triangle – were:
- The average span of CEOs has reduced from 20-30 years to 5-8 years nowadays.
- The companies have to be Nimble-footed, Adaptive, Disruptive and Work with Speed, Agility and Flexibility.
- A gig worker has to constantly research and explore new possibilities.
- Along with the Gig Workers, the organizations are also reinventing and disrupting themselves constantly. He quoted the examples of Decacorns like Airbnb, WeWork, and Netflix which have disrupted their own business models for staying relevant.
The third speaker – Mr. Agnivesh Thakur, Lead-SAP-HCM Accenture – highlighted the concept of RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) wherein the entire recruitment process is outsourced. He said that in such cases, the company has a pool of good workers from where they hire on project basis rather than full timers. He also guided the students to keep constantly upgrading themselves and being relevant in the market place. Summing up, Mr. Agnivesh Thakur gave three essential competencies for success – viz. Critical Thinking, Integrity, and Empathy.
The fourth speaker – Mr. Amit Mishra, Head Talent Management & Development- Landis+Gyr – expressed that the Gig economy is a socio-economic change slowly evolving in India. He said that the companies are also gearing up to embrace this change by changing the modus operandi. The headcounts are being replaced by man-hours, physical onboarding sessions are out, and video presentations are in. Performance management goals are now based on projects, quality, quantity, and timelines. Compensation structures have reduced to quarterly or project-based structures. RNR practices have seen a sea-change wherein long service awards etc. are a passé now. Productivity and timelines are taken into considerations for RNR. He advised the students to chase their dreams and live their passion which can happen only if they reinvent and remain relevant to their work.
To conclude, Ms. Veenu Arora, Member Research & Development Cell at Asian School of Business, thanked the dignitaries and suggested her success algorithm of “4 R’s” – i.e., Relevant, Research, Reinvent, and Resourceful.
Thus, as expected, the national seminar concluded on a high note of knowledge and contributed immensely to the ongoing discussions on the rise of the gig economy that has brought new complexity–and opportunities–to the world of work.
It goes without saying that BBA & BCA students of Asian School of Business had a highly rewarding experience by attending this knowledgeable seminar with such well-known corporate luminaries!