HR Summit 2017 aiming ‘Towards Heightened Employability’ succeeds in its mission of creating an achievable employability framework of innovative practices and new norms

11 May, 2017: The widening gulf between academic delivery and industry expectation raises a need to address the gap between industry and academia keeping in view the larger goal of students’ employability. In an effort to identify attainable measures and map a possible blueprint for the future, Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Manav Rachna International University (MRIU) in association with National HRD Network (NHRDN) organized HR Summit 2017 at Vivanta by Taj on 11^th May, 2017.

The Summit brought about the convergence of the leading lights in Industry and Academia to generate outcomes in terms of policies and practice in conjunction with an action oriented dialogue on ‘Employability: Dimensions, Issues and Challenges’ and ‘Action Agenda for Heightened Employability Quotient’. The aim was to enhance industry awareness among students with suggestions to augment their employability and encourage collaboration between academia and industry to bring about an achievable employability framework of innovative practices and new norms.

The Summit had as its Mentor Padamshree Dr Pritam Singh, CEO, Lead Centre, Ex Director IIM (L), MDI & IMI who conceptualised the event right from scratch. Dr Prashant Bhalla, President, Manav Rachna Educational Institutions was the Summit’s Patron; Mr S.Y. Siddiqui, Chief Mentor, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd graced the programme as the keynote speaker; Mr Dhananjay Singh, Director General, NHRDN was the Partner of the event and Prof. (Dr) Vijay Aggarwal, Director, FMS, MRIU was the Convener. Also present on the occasion was Mr J.P. Malhotra, President, DLF Industry Association.

In his welcome address, Dr N. C. Wadhwa, MRIU, stated, “We are here to discuss about the various dimensions and issues connected to employability and the ways in which the education sector needs to gear up to create a conducive atmosphere for learning and creating job-readiness for students in order to make them employable.  There is an urgent need for skill-centric education to make students job-ready as aligned with our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s call for ‘Skill India’ initiatives.”

Mr Dhanjay Singh, Director General, NHRDN, emphasized “on the power of collaboration and how it can bridge the gap between industry and academia to help towards greater employability among students.” He assured that NHRDN will do its bit to augument the employability of job-seekers and felt that today’s programme is a positive step in the right direction.

Dr Sanjay Srivastava, MD, MREI and VC, MRU, presented the contours of the HR Summit. He stated that the Summit is meant to capture various views of industry and academia and raised the pertinent question, “Are we in the business of teaching in the class or are we creating an ambience of learning? At MREI, we try to bridge the industry-academia gap and steps are taken to ensure that while the product is the core, equally importance is given to the packaging with help from our industry partners, alumni and through psychometric profiling.”

Addressing the gathering Mr S.Y. Siddiqui, Chief Mentor, Maruti Suzuki, Ltd, spoke about “the need for character building and capability among young graduates to help them excel in the corporate world”.

Also addressing the gathering, Mr J.P. Malhotra recalled the rich legacy and vision of Founder Dr O.P. Bhalla and his implicit faith in his dynamic sons to help actualize his dreams for the future.

A galaxy of distinguished speakers such as Mr Nishchay Suri, Ms Mamta Vegunta, Ms Rashi Kaushik, Professor (Dr.) Chavi Bhargava Sharma, Mr R. Anand, Mr G.P. Rao, Mr Amit Malik, Mr Subrat Kumar and Mr Srikanth Balachandran also addressed the august gathering.

The Summit provided not just a common platform for industry academia interface but was also a step in the direction of developing employable individuals who understand and can leverage organizations in a dynamic corporate environment.