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18th August 2017, Bhubaneswar
“Kshitij 2017“, the National Level HR Summit organized by XIMAHR, the HR Association of Xavier University, was held by the Xavier School of Human Resource Management on Friday,
18th August, 2017. The event illuminated the need to address the growing phenomenon of Gig
Economy, accompanied by the demands and challenges faced while working with a contingent
workforce.
The panel consisted of esteemed HR stalwarts, namely: Mr. Maharana Ray (GM HR –
Bajaj Auto), Ms. Ankita Poddar (HR Business Partner – Amazon), and Ms. Swati
Yadav (CHRO – HFCL). The moderator of the event was Prof. Sasmit Patra, Associate
Professor, Xavier School of Human Resource Management, XUB.
The event kick started with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp, and a welcome address by Prof.
Snigdha Pattnaik, Dean, Xavier School of Human Resource Management, XUB.
The first speaker of this august gathering was Ms Swati Yadav. She introduced the concept of
gig economy by taking specific examples of Uber & AirBnB. Stressing on the importance of
transformational & evolutionary HR, she stressed on how professions which deal with the
human touch in gig economy, viz. educators, innovators, researchers, etc. would play a key role;
and their participation in the economy might increase by 20,000 times. “The need of the
hour would not be Employee Value Proposition, but Contingent Employee Value
Proposition”, she prophesied. She finished her talk by touching on the challenge of security
protocol & statutory compliances at workplaces dealing with contingent workforce.
The second speaker of the day was Ms. Ankita Poddar, who focused on the ‘Dark side of the
Gig Economy’. Her major area of concern was lack of focus on the worker’s part due to multiple
commitments, which might lead to loss in their mind space to bolster innovation. She also
emphasised how the worker’s “Right to Fail” might be taken away by organisations, who would
be looking for immediate and effective results. Finally, she spoke about the anxiety faced by the
contingent workforce in the gig economy due to lack of job security. “While we have been
stressing on reducing stress at work place, are we ready to introduce a new lifestyle disease?”, was a moot point raised by her.
The final speaker of the day was Mr. Maharana Ray, who said that the “gig” might be the
new buzzword, however the concept existed in the Indian Workforce for over 50 years. His
advice to the students was to focus on Strategic Differentiation, i.e. being a specialist and
creating personal brand equity, Lean Operations, i.e. to look at things minutely and to focus on
one’s strengths, being Performance Oriented and getting one’s basics rights, and to be Adaptive
by creating one’s own future. “Innovate, Improve, Invent. Focussed, Fearless, Fun,
Fail Fast, Learn Fast.”, were his wise words to the participants of the conclave.
The speeches were followed by an interactive question and answer session with the audience.
Competition on the same theme, which saw participation from some of India’s highly illustrious
b-schools, including IIM Trichy, SCMHRD, and MDI. Mr. Abhishek Singh (IIM Trichy) was
felicitated with the runner’s up certificate, while the winner’s award was presented to Ms.
Swapnila Moharana and Mr. Manvendra Singh, from Xavier School of Human Resource
Management, Xavier University, Bhubaneswar.
The event concluded with a vote of thanks by Professor Mousumi Padhi, Xavier School of
Human Resource Management, Xavier University, Bhubaneswar.
ABOUT XAVIER SCHOOL OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Xavier School of Human Resource Management is proud to carry forward a legacy of 30 years
(since 1987) of HRM education. What began as a functional HR specialization in XIMB,
morphed into a full-fledged two-year post-graduate program in 2011. Since 2014, this has been
offered as the flagship program of the Xavier School of HRM as MBA-HRM.
ABOUT XUB
Xavier University, Bhubaneswar (XUB) was established in accordance with the Xavier University
Act 2013 and was inaugurated on the 7th of July 2014. XUB is India’s first digital University and
an institution of higher learning for imparting professional and technical education. It is a
self-financing institution imparting professional and technical education. XUB has 6 Schools
that offer world class education in different fields. XIMB offers an MBA in Business
Management, Global Management and Executive programs. Xavier School of Human Resource
Management offers the MBA-HRM program. MBA-RM is offered by the Xavier School of Rural
Management. The Xavier School of Sustainability, Xavier School of Commerce and the Xavier
School of Media & Communications offer different post graduate and undergraduate programs.
Apart from these it has proposed to set up other schools of higher learning in various areas like
Public Policy, Finance, Education and Centers of Research in Public Policy & other domains.
For more information please contact:
IlluminatiX, Media & PR Cell of XUB
Phone No: +91 90515 08444
