HRD Concave at NDDB, Anand

NDDB (www.nddb.coop) has been one of the initial clients for BasilHR (www.basilhr.com) when we started consultancy. My dear partner Ramchandra Rao knew Dr SS Gill the-then Head of Training & Development for National Dairy Development Board situated at Anand, Gujrat. Dr Gill gave us some training assignment and since then BasilHR has been regularly working with Gill and NDDB for various training and OD initiatives. Any new HR initiative Gill has discussed and involved us. So it was no surprise that Gill shared his desire to host an HRD Conclave at Anand for all the MDs & CEOs of Milk Cooperatives, Milk Producing companies, the subsidiary companies of NDDB spread all over India and the IRMA & NDDB employees based at Anand.

Dec 15th and 16th saw nearly 450 Dairy professionals and 100 plus students of IRMA attending the HRD conclave at the TKPatel Auditorium at Anand. Gill and his HR team got together in real earnest to make this a memorable event for every participant. The 2 days saw a galaxy of speakers addressing the packed gathering. We managed to get academics like TV Rao, Anup Singh & Sunil Shukla; practitioners & consultants of the stature of Anil Khandelwal, Vivek Paranjape, Aquil Busrai; & close friends of the HR community like Marcel Parker, Pramod Sadarjoshi & Alok Sheopurkar. Even an old dog like me (after having spent 42+ years in the field of HR) learnt some tricks. The speakers shared their experiences and learning. The event was stimulating & momentous. Besides being a Speaker myself, Gill asked me to summarize the main learnings from each speaker. For a change, I had to sit, in the first row, continuously in rapt attention and take copious notes so that I could do justice to the summarization I was charged with.

The learnings were so great that I realized on return they can be interesting input for every student and practitioner of management. We all know management is no pure theory, Body of management thought is the culling together of the rich experiences of practitioners who are further down the road than you are!! Hence I decided to pen this blog and share the main points made by each speaker. I hope you will find these pithy epithets of wisdom as energizing and motivating as I did while listening to them first hand. So here goes…

1. Neemesh Shah, Chairman NDDB
   a. Great Organizations are made by people. Development of people is the main agenda.
   b. This Conclave will give you an external; Ouside-in perspective; What other organizations are doing.
   c. Lack of competent manpower will hinder innovation and employee satisfaction
2. Anil Khandelwal ex Chairman, BoB
   a. NDDB itself is a great Institution so it is right that they are hosting the Conclave on building great institutions
   b. In today’s environment; anyone who has customers can disrupt your business
   c. Dare to be different. Have the courage to create a new future
3. TV Rao, TVRao Learning Systems
   a. We need to invest in constant Self Renewal
   b. Between A & B, P is a point which may totally change your life
   c. We must always have Respect for People & lots of Perseverance
4. Anup Singh, DG, Nirma University
   a. When you create a purpose, you are born again. eg Gandhi on return from Africa
   b. गियर बदलने के लिए टाइम चाहिए : Find Time to Act
   c. The movement must be from Deficiency to Sufficiency to Efficiency. From Aspiration to Imagination to Actualization
5. Sunil Shukla, DG, Entrepreneurship Institute of India
   a. Knowledge & Skills can be taught but more imp is Aptitude & Attitude
   b. Be prepared for Risk Taking & develop Failure Tolerance
   c. Entrepreneurship is all about value creation
6. Vivek Paranjape, Coach & Strategic Consultant
   a. Make a business case for Diversity and Inclusion in your organization
   b. Institution’s Culture needs to be worked on to ensure D&I takes roots
   c. Affirmative Action & D&I actually results in better business results as data shows
7. Aquil Busrai, Consulting
   a. Give leadership to others around you
   b. Earn Respect: Do what is Right, not what is popular
   c. Employee Engagement earns money
8. IRMA Prof.s Madhavi & Sushanta
   a. HRD is minimal in Coop, mainly Admin & transactional stuff gets done
   b. Lot to do, Huge Scope to make a difference
9. Pramod Sadarjoshi, Cornerstone Consulting
   a. Transform while performing
   b. Exorcise 3 demons : Fear, Doubt & Worry
   c. Work with PACE : Problem Solving, Agility, Creativity, Empathy
10. Alok Sheopurkar , Head HR HDFC AMC
    a. Culture must enable you to win in the market place
    b. Leaders must have grass root connect
    c. Leave a smile on the customer: Customer Service will help you win always
11. SS Gill, DGM,NDDB
    a. Create your own “Why?” Define your purpose first
    b. Purpose will be achieved through people
    c. There are 3 Layers of Culture: Most fundamental : the way we do things here
12. Marcel Parker, Chief Mentor, Quess Corporation
    a. Take responsibility for your career
    b. GROW model of coaching : Goals, Reality, Options, Will
    c. Benefits of Coaching
13. Vikas Shirodkar, BasilHR
    a. Empower employees to drive an innovations and foster a consumer first mindset
    b. Road to innovation is not easy, requires courage from leaders & employees
    c. Never sell a brand, sell an experience

Am sure you will agree if we can imbibe even a modicum of these insights we will take giant strides ahead professionally. Enjoy the journey: vikas the seeker

PS: these are my notes, so humbly E&OE

PS2 : Thanks NDDB for the great learning experience