Testimonials

The 6th batch of Executive Business Management Program in Pune was inaugurated at the onset of the New Year. Brand new year and brand new start of unlearning, learning and relearning began. The enthusiastic batch of 55 participants arrived unknowing of the exciting journey in the coming year. Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce addressed the new IGTCians. He explained the significance of ‘Makar Sankranti’ a celebration of beginning of New Year similar to their commencement of a new year their beautiful journey with IGTC. Marja Einig Deputy Consul General present at the auspicious ceremony wished the new batch success and mentioned that the course will enhance their professional as well as personal growth.

Faculty Rajeev Chawla, Dr Harkant Mankad, Anant Amdekar, Sagar Narsian, S.M. Fakih, and M. Hariharan were present to congratulate the batch for taking the right step ahead. They collectively concluded that theory is born out of practice and not the other way. They advised participants to believe in actions and apply one idea that they learn over the weekend in their jobs, thus for an enriching EBMP experience.

The lamp was illuminated by the Radhieka Mehta Director IGTC, faculty and the current participants. The chanting of Vakratunda Mahakaya was played to invoke the benevolent Lord’s blessings, followed by the first lecture on financial management and management accounting.

On 20th November 2018, the Indo-German Training Centre hosted the final meet for the year 2018 for the Indo-German HR Partner Forum. The theme for the day was rightly selected as ‘Design Thinking and Community Dialogue Process’. Thus the context for the day also was appropriately set as a dialogue about Current State of Changes in Organizations & Design Thinking’s Role for HR Community. The trainer for the day was Mr. Raj Mali from Red Wisdom.
• To understand the basics of Design Thinking
• To give a taste of challenges and opportunities of a community dialogue process
The meeting was attended by HR professionals from organizations such as Baerlocher India Additives Pvt. Ltd., BASF India Ltd., Bosch Ltd., Brose India Automotive System Pvt. Ltd., Covestro India Pvt. Ltd., Evonik India Pvt. Ltd., FEV India Ltd., Häfele India Pvt. Ltd., KSB Pumps Ltd, LANXESS India Pvt. Ltd., Schaeffler India Ltd., Siemens Ltd., and Wacker Chemie AG
The day commenced with a brief introduction of each member where they had to introduce themselves stating something they are proud of in their lives. The workshop then began with the trainer clarifying the do’s and don’ts of a Design Thinking & Community Dialogue Process. Members of the group were asked to pick cards with certain guidelines on them. The guidelines that were given to the forum were:
 

These guidelines have to be practiced throughout the day without any intervention from others.

The next session was the role of senior HR leaders during a group dialogue process. The session commenced with a practice session for the members for facilitating a meaningful dialogue. Each person had to suggest a topic for discussion. Two topics were unanimously decided upon – ‘Change Management and Performance Management’. For the afternoon session the discussion was on Change Management. The HR partners discussed on mergers and acquisitions, cultural assimilation, how do leaders address doubts of employees during mergers and also how do companies maintain gender diversity. The topic of Performance Management will be covered in the next meeting in 2019.

After the discussion, a reflection was done to see if the guidelines were followed, if everyone was given an opportunity to speak and also on how the members felt when their topic was not picked. It helped the partners understand what to expect & to be prepared for during group dialogues.

The workshop ended with each member sharing their learnings from the day and promising to implement them in their organizations.
• Let others feel what they want to feel. Own your feelings.
• Create a safe space for people to feel. Feelings don’t always have to be positive.
• Power of structured dialogue
• Power of planned silence
• Close system v/s open system of communication
• The 16 guidelines followed during the day
• Approach of empathy to define problems.

After the workshop, a new chairperson was appointed for the Indo-German HR Partner Forum for the year 2019 – Santanu Ghoshal, Vice President – Human Resources from Schaeffler India.

On the 17th and 18th of November, Indo-German Training Centre held a customized program on International Project Management for all their stakeholders – PGPBA and EBMP current students and alumni – together for the first time. The faculty for the lecture was Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Project Director at Siemens, Karlsruhe and a guest lecturer at the Duale Hochschule Baden- Wuerttemberg (DHBW), Karlsruhe. Dr. Kumar has personal acquaintance with this subject which enabled him to speak in more than usual interest upon it.

The program consisted of 5 modules to give the participants an overview on the subject.
• Leading and managing international project teams
• Planning and structuring an international project
• Project controlling
• Project financial result reporting methods
• Management review and reporting

He shared with the participants many practical examples and challenges in planning and structuring an international project from his work experience at Siemens. The program concluded with the participants giving a final presentation on the case studies discussed in the class. Thereafter, the participated were felicitated with a certificate by Dr. Rajiv Kumar and Radhieka Mehta on successfully completing the two day intensive program.

Ms Marja Einig Deputy Consul General & Ina Lapel Ambassador Director General for Asia and the Pacific
Indo-German Training Centre commenced 2019 with a lot of positivity & hope. The story began when IGTC saw a lot of visitors. Radhieka R. Mehta, Director at Indo-German Training Centre was pleased to give an insight into what she does best at the training centre as the visitors got a chance to see & experience the entire set-up of the training centre. They listened to the dedicated staff & took note of the whole range of subjects that the students learn. They felt the enthusiasm of the students present there and thanked the dedicated Director Radhieka Mehta and the Faculty for sharing their vast knowledge & experience with this wonderful program with the participants.

Our Three Months at IGTC
I am taking a break from reading cases and studying accounting to write a few thoughts about my first term at IGTC. Sitting in my chilling classroom at IGTC, which is so cold probably because they are preparing us for the icy cold weather of Germany, I can’t help but realize that I am sitting in the same classroom as Mr. Arun Roy, CFO, Chevron, had sat when he was reading cases and studying accounting.

As I took my first step into IGTC, I stared at the tall rustic building etched with the name Indo-German Training Centre, and the thought of coming here itself gave me a lot of confidence. As I looked through the vast classroom, I saw the name tags of people who were diverse in every sense. The students came from different parts of the country, some engineers, some arts graduates and some even from the hotel industry.

As much as I was in awe of the environment, part of me was concerned if I would be able to feel comfortable spending so much time with the people whom I have just met. But all my suspicions have now gone down the drain as after spending more than 12 hours every day with my classmates, we have already become very close, just in a three month term.

Change. Or Leadership. These are the topics we often talk about. It’s not a surprise if we hear these discussions in an operations management class or an accounting class. In the end, every subject is linked to each other and to the basic crux of management in some or the other way. Now after 3 months, we can easily relate the Managerial Economics principles with what we had learnt in the Fundamentals of Management class.

We started our journey at IGTC with Descriptive Statistics. Engineers are supposed to be the best at math but thanks to Chitra Ma’am, now everyone in the class can solve complex probability problems with ease. After all, why should engineers have all the fun?

“If you don’t change, you will die” were the golden words of Prof. Leslie Rebello in the first lecture of Organizational Management where we were studying Change Management. Thus we now make it a point to come out of our comfort zones more often than not, and strive towards changing ourselves with the ever-changing world.

Our very first encounter with financial accounting and cost accounting were at IGTC. After studying assets, income, expenses and liabilities in detail, I can definitely say that we all IGTCians are being moulded into “Assets” for our hiring companies. Fundamentals of Management and Managerial Economics are taught to us by the veterans, Prof. Sydney Prabhu and Prof. Harkant Mankad. These subjects are highly relatable as we are basically studying to bridge the gap between management practices and economic theories. Morardian Sir’s operations management has taught us much more than just operations. Thanks to his “principles of management”, we begin to lead a new way of life.

Undoubtedly, each professor at IGTC believes in only one thing and slowly the students are also imbibing it, that there is no elevator to success…you have to take the stairs. Hence, studies are taken very seriously here.

The first term climaxed into a very intense week consisting of major presentations in each subject. Every day was a challenge and that is exactly the culture of IGTC, preparing the students for playing in crunch overs. We had Organizational Behaviour, HRM, Business Communications, IT presentations where we had been given a topic and had to research, prepare presentations and deliver in front of the whole batch and faculty. Marketing assignment was one of the most interesting ones as we had to deliver a presentation on how would we start our own new venture and how would we market it. The topics given were also quite interesting ranging from opening an Asian cuisine restaurant in India to re-launching Tata Nano in the market.

Once the presentations were over, it was time for the exam week. All the students slogged through it but in the end everyone seemed quite content with their hard-work. Some of the exam patterns were really creative and new for us. One example of this is the economics exam where we were not only tested on our concepts but we had been given the Economics Times from which we had to discuss an article of our choice.

‘Nothing can substitute experiences’ is the one line that IGTC has taken very seriously as we had the chance of experiencing an unsupervised examination. There was not only an exam of academic knowledge but also of trust. The subject for this exam was also strategically selected to be Cost Accounting because this is an area where students have a strong impulse to cross-check the final answer. This stimulated an experience for us where we could demonstrate superior emotional intelligence by not cheating and breaking the trust of our faculty when we have a hundred percent chance, need and impulse to do it.

By the end of the first term at IGTC, we realized that through every briefing and interaction with our Director, Radhieka R Mehta, we were gradually being steered and being prepared for our corporate internships. We had started understanding what we are expected to do and what all should we expect from the companies. From being extremely professional, to making an impact with our work, to carrying forward the values of IGTC, we were guided thoroughly. Moreover, working for huge German multinationals that too as a first time for many of us, can be scary. But IGTC has acquainted us so well with the German culture and beliefs, we are confident that we will be in sync with the company’s norms. We are all set to learn as much as we can from our internships and keeping in mind the motivation that the expert in anything was also a beginner once.

Most of the time in the first term we have listened attentively to our professors relating the most complex management concepts to simple life experiences. Our language is changing. We have started are journey towards being a full-fledged MBA student. We now use jargons and phrases of the corporates (which is working in our favor and making us look brainy to the outside world).
“Why IGTC?” is what I am often asked. I reply to this question with another question:
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver, The Summer Day.

Article contributed by students of IGTC, Mumbai’s PGPBA Batch 2018 – 2020: Aruja Singh and Gargie Paliwal

Honoring future CEOs

On 9th September 2018, managers of the 8th Executive Business Management Program (EBMP) batch moved a step closer to becoming future CEO’s in their respective fields. Although eagerly awaited by all, this day was filled with bitter-sweet moments. Sweet because it was an accomplishment and a milestone in their professional careers; bitter because it was an end to the beautiful, one-year journey of learning and friendships at IGTC. The atmosphere was brimming with excitement and positive energy as the managers arrived with their families. Children walked in with a cheeky sense of pride into their parent’s graduation ceremony. Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that they would get to see their parent’s graduation.

The dais for the evening comprised of Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce; Thomas Fuhrmann, President, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce; Chief Guests Avinash Chintawar, Vice President – Plant Technical Head, Bosch Limited and Sanjeev Taneja, President & Managing Director, Region India, Evonik India Pvt. Ltd.; and Radhieka Mehta, Director, Indo-German Training Centre. The graduation ceremony commenced with a beautiful dance performance of the Ganesh Vandana by one of the managers, Priya Daryani.

“Where are all the ‘bachas’ in this crowd?” Mr. Steinruecke asked as he began his opening address at the EBMP graduation. “The bachas are the future; the entire ceremony is for them! They are going to be responsible for their parents’ pension after all. We need to focus on the future. India needs to get moving in a major way to fill the development gap. And since there is time for the bachas to grow up, the people who can help fix this development gap are the EBMP graduates, the future CEOs of industry.”

The opening address continued with Thomas Fuhrmann, President, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, expressing his joy for being present at the event and interacting with the young students.“As a part of the German fraternity we are honored, to be able to touch upon and contribute to what we call the German Style of providing training to the society. We are humbled that as managers, you are very happy to receive this knowledge and make your job even better.”

So, what does an EBMP graduate have to do to be a successful CEO and a successful employee at the same time? Avinash Chintawar, Vice President – Plant Technical Head, Bosch Limited gave the graduates an insight on the importance of pursuing higher studies and how can they channelize this into developing new skills, getting better job satisfaction and continuing the process of learning throughout their professional careers. Not just being content and satisfied with being a high performer at work or achieving materialistic goals but also working towards a higher purpose in life.

The keynotes continued with Sanjeev Taneja, President & Managing Director, Region India, Evonik India Pvt. Ltd. He began by congratulating IGCC and IGTC for doing such an incredible job in bring the German fraternity together. Mr. Taneja, too reiterated on having that ‘purpose in life’. He made reference to a Ted Talk by Simon Sinek, motivational speaker and organizational consultant, who spoke about how leaders can inspire cooperation, trust and change. This talk changed his way of thinking profoundly and how he was inspired to work toward the outcome.‘If you do something do it with passion otherwise don’t do it’ he quoted and concluded his talk by emphasizing on continuous learning.

Finally, it was time for the graduating managers to take the stage. What makes a CEO? A question put forth to all by Olive D’Silva one of the graduating EBMP managers. The answer to it seems fairly easy, but as we all know what seems easy is never really so easy! According to her, a great leader should have three qualities.

• First, if you do what you did, you get what you got. Leaders should be open to accepting change and look at it as an opportunity than as a threat.
• Second, learning should be continuous in one’s life and it is an essential element which needs to be inculcated into a human being, let alone a leader.
• The last quality is one of the famous management principles given to all students by the operations faculty at IGTC, Boman Moradian. Have no double standards in life. People would need a high EQ to abide by that principle in their life.

The journey of the past year at IGTC has enveloped all three quotients: Change, Learning and Emotional. The bond that the managers have shared with the IGTC faculty and team was evident, as the managers remembered specific lessons from faculty lectures and even included witty one-liners about the professors in their remarks. With humility, all due respect and a standing ovation, the managers and the IGTC team jointly felicitated and honored every faculty member present in the audience one at a time. Words and emotions fell short as gratitude made its way from the heart for these living legends!

There were families of the batch, who also wanted to share their journey while their spouses, fathers and mothers were away studying. Arya, daughter of one of the Bosch managers, missed her father while he was in class but also poked fun at him for studying so much at his age. The spouses too had lot to express about their better halves as they saw the changes that program brought in them. It is truly said that with family support, one can achieve their dreams.

The celebrations had begun as ceremony was close to its finale and what better way than inviting our EBMP Alumni who were in their nostalgic state. Rajesh Jakhmola, National Sales Head – Linde Material Handling India, said that he was back in time when he was students and could relate to very jargon used during the ceremony. Shankar Kottur, General Manager, BASF India Ltd. recalled how the programd excelled him to communicate with his peers and how practicing all the things that were taught in class has helped him achieve his goals in life.

Finally, Radhieka Mehta, Director, Indo-German Training Centre, concluded ceremony by a vote of thanks to the dignitaries, faculty, alumni, participants and their families.

The spirits were high and the stage was set for a musical game of Antakshari. The room echoed with some old and new songs and while everyone cherishing the moments.

We wish the managers the very best in their path to becoming future CEOs of industry and like the faculty, Moradian Sir quoted, “Don’t let this stay a dream”.

The third quarterly meeting of the Indo-German HR Partner Forum was held on 14th August 2018 at Evonik Catalyst India Pvt. Ltd., Dombivli. The theme for the day was selected as HR Role in Integration: Mergers and Acquisitions. Evonik India had acquired Monarch Catalyst in 2015, which has now become Evonik Catalyst India Pvt. Ltd. Subsequently in 2016 and 2017, two more acquisitions were also made by the company. Hence, the hosts were well equipped to share their expertise on the subject.

After a short safety briefing, Ritu Joshi, Head HR – India Region, Evonik India, along with Raina Vaidya and Neha Bharadkar, Managers, Human Resources took over as hosts and presented the history of Evonik to the forum. Following this, Sanjeev Taneja, President India Region and Managing Director, Evonik India Pvt. Ltd. spoke on Evonik’s ‘Continued growth journey – Evonik’s footprint in India’. Being associated with the company for about 30 years, he was undoubtedly the best person to capture Evonik’s history, its growth and integration with various companies over the years. “Even though Evonik is only 11 years old, it is a combinations of a lot of companies most of which are about 160 years old. One thing which unites everyone, is resistance to change” he stated, emphasizing on importance of HR as an enabler to change as they become the eyes and ears of the organization.

“Journey from India to Germany: Germany to India”, Thomas Tacke, Managing Director, Evonik Catalysts India Pvt. Ltd., shared the current status of Evonik after acquiring Monarch Catalyst. To ensure a smooth transition, he said “integration is a two dimensional at Evonik – between the two different companies and with Evonik’s global company as well.” He also spoke of HR’s role in integrations from this aspect along with the histories of two companies being different, processes are also different. Keeping in mind these differences, he mentioned that there was a need for a ‘One HR Project 2018’ within Evonik Catalyst India.

Ritu Joshi then spoke of the experience form acquisitions from an HR perspective. She gave the about the overall concept for HR integration, and the various measures taken, such as:

1. Safety was made a part of the targets as a step towards safety culture
2. Transition of the Performance management process during and post the acquisitions
3. Alignment of policies impacting employee experience

Raina Vaidya, Neha Bharadkar and Satishkumar Nair from the HR team continued the presentation about the various projects in progress. They elaborated on the communication channels maintained before, during and after the acquisition and the intercultural training given to all employees to ensure a smooth transition.

After lunch, Satish Mahapatra, Vice President – Human Resources, C&B, Global Mobility, M&A, Siemens Ltd. presented the role of HR in M&A from the Siemens perspective. He elaborated on the many mergers and acquisitions from 2008-2018 at Siemens, the key steps undertaken during, role of HR in due diligence, and the various legal aspects of integration.

The day ended with an active discussion between the HR partners on the new changes in data privacy in today’s changing environment. Post the discussion, everyone was taken on a brief tour of Evonik Catalysts’ Quality Control and Research and Development Centre. On behalf of the entire forum members, Mr. Shantanu Ghoshal, Vice President – HR, Schaeffler Group gave the Vote of Thanks.

The attendees included HR Partners from companies such as BASF India Ltd., Bayer Group in India, Bearlocher India Additives Pvt. Ltd., Bosch Ltd., Covestro India Pvt. Ltd., Fuchs Lubricants (India) Pvt. Ltd., Häfele India Pvt. Ltd., Knorr-Bremse Technology Centre India Pvt. Ltd., LANXESS India Pvt. Ltd., Schaeffler Group, Siemens Ltd., TUV India Pvt. Ltd., Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. and Wacker Chemie.

When a Member of the German Parliament blends with Indian Youth Christian Hirte’s Visit to the Indo-German Training Centre

Indo-German Training Centre, Mumbai warmly welcomed the delegation of Christian Hirte, Member of Parliament and State Secretary, Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy on Saturday, 11th August, 2018. Christian Hirte was accompanied by Arne Kueper – Director, Economic Relations for South and South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and Dana Loeschke, member of the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

The delegation was received by Radhieka Mehta along with the IGTC team and the PGPBA students. She gave the delegation a detailed overview on IGTC, its various programs, number of students and managers trained so far and how IGTC continues to shape the future of students, while being the most respected platform for German companies in India. Some of the IGTC students showcased their fluency in German by greeting Christian Hirte and the delegation in their native language. They expressed their happiness with the overall IGTC experience, the learning opportunity in class and their training companies, as well as their recent intercultural learning trip to DHBW, Karlsruhe.

Christian Hirte, one of the youngest Member of Parliament, was quick to identify with the student audience and addressed them enthusiastically about their unique positioning in the world market. He mentioned that India was progressing in the developed world, especially the IT industry. He focused on the unique opportunity to collaborate India’s IT sector with the German manufacturing sector, which would be beneficial for both the countries. “With your IT industry, I think we can create an economy industry 4.0 together, that will not only not only foster the relationship and collaboration between our countries but also bring forward both of our countries and companies in Germany and in India”. He concluded saying that IGTCians have a very great and bright future by participating in the dual system of education being imparted to them with the engagement of German companies such as BASF, Bayer, B.Braun, Bosch, Deutsche Bank, DHL, Haefele, Schaeffler, Schott Kaisha, Siemens among many “I think it is great that you have taken this step and joined this course as it will change our life. You will have a big opportunity for a prosperous life in the future”, encouraging the students to keep in touch with Germany.

Bernhard Steinruecke, Director-General of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, who accompanied the delegation, also gave his welcome address to the PGPBA students. “IGTC is a lot of hard-work, and we appreciate the trust that you have put in us. In return, we also have a lot of faith in your strengths and abilities and hence this will be a win-win story for everyone – you, the German companies and IGTC. To get qualified people is the biggest challenge that we face in India as well as in Germany. You are the back-bone of the future, and I can promise you that after these 18 months of training, you will be a different person.” He also gave his traditional German speech to the students, assuring them that it was an easy language which they can master in no time, since in Germany “even little children and tiny tots speak German!”

The delegation concluded positively, expressing hope for a deeper collaboration between India and Germany in terms of skills and growth in every sector.

Diversity grows at IGTC as the EBMP 9th MumSophia Ambosta, Assistant Professional, Mobility Management, Siemens Ltd. EBMP Participant 9th Mumbai Batch 2018 – 2019 bai batch is inaugurated with 9 Women Managers

On 4th August 2018, Radhieka R Mehta, Director, IGTC along with faculty Dr. Harkant Mankad and Shuaib Fakih inaugurated the Executive Business Management Program (EBMP) 9th Mumbai Batch 2018-2019. The lamp of knowledge was lit by Radhieka R Mehta, along with the faculties, the IGTC team and participants of the new batch. The inauguration continued as managers were inducted into IGTC by the faculties, the IGTC Team and the current senior batch. Faculties Dr. Harkant Mankad and Shuaib Fakih addressed the new batch giving them a brief insight on the program and subjects. The senior EBMP participants also spoke to the new batch about how the program has helped them evolve and grow professionally as well as personally.

32 high performing mangers have been nominated by partnering companies such as: BASF India Ltd., Bosch Ltd., Evonik Catalysts India Pvt. Ltd., Evonik India Pvt. Ltd., Fuchs Lubricants (India) Pvt. Ltd., Hafele India Pvt. Ltd., Inde Global Consulting LLP, Lanxess India Pvt. Ltd., Organic Recycling Systems Pvt. Ltd., Pheonix Appliances Pvt Ltd, Putzmeister Concrete Machines Pvt. Ltd., Rastek Pvt. Ltd., Rittal India Pvt. Ltd., Sarin Technologies India Pvt. Ltd., Seavie Pvt. Ltd., Siemens Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., Siemens Ltd, Spectrum Chemicals, Uma Surgicals and Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd.

This diverse group where almost 30% of the batch consists of women, has also come from diverse areas such as Administration, Customer Services, Engineering and Commissioning, Finance and Accounting, Gemologist, HR & Admin, Marine Coordinator, Marketing and sales, Mobility Management, PMO Support, Quality Assurance and Technical.

Our 32 enthusiasts also introduced themselves and highlighted their expectations from the program.

‘I enrolled myself for EBMP@IGTC Mumbai through Bosch Ltd. with very basic expectation. However as I went through the faculty profiles, I realized that this is not just another management institute. This is an institute that believes in imparting knowledge & the faculties attached with IGTC are great achievers in their own fields. IGTC is a place where learning is fun & teaching is all about story telling’.

Himanshu Mamtani, Zonal Manager – Institutional & Industrial sales (West & North), Bosch Ltd.
EBMP Participant 9th Mumbai Batch 2018 – 2019

“When I registered for the EBMP and was told that 4th Aug would be the Inauguration followed by Lectures, I just thought it would be a normal welcome to all participants and then lectures would start. As I walked up the steps curious to know what would be waiting for me, as I had never been to IGTC, but when I entered I felt so much at ease when I was welcomed by the IGTC Team calling me by name and with a wonderful smile. The atmosphere was wonderful when we lit the lamp. It was nice to hear the experiences shared by the senior batch; it really motivated us a lot”.

Sophia Ambosta, Assistant Professional, Mobility Management, Siemens Ltd.
EBMP Participant 9th Mumbai Batch 2018 – 2019

HR Capability Building Initiative by the Indo-German HR Partner Forum in Association with the Indo-German Training Centre

Beginnings are even more beautiful, when our combined efforts and collaboration culminate into a reality. ‘Horizon Redefined’, a HR Capability Building Initiative by the Indo-German HR Partner Forum in association with the Indo-German Training Centre was launched on 28th June. “Let us all partner companies come together and build our HR capabilities which will be sustainable for the future. With this objective the initiative got defined, thanks to Radhieka, Dr, Lakshmi and Ramesh who have been the core drivers behind the initiative. We formed a small core group which we called the HR Capability Building team. This team brainstormed and decided the competencies that should get framed and learnt. Once we had the competencies defined, we went back to the HR forum for finalizing. We realised that we need to do something really simple and Rupesh came up with the concept of doing our ABC’s right and thus the ABCDE came about” – Padma Gupta, Director – Human Resources, Häfele India Pvt. Ltd.

The topics chosen as part of this initiative were:
• Analytical Mindset
• Business Acumen
• Consultative Mindset
• Digitalization
• Employee Relations (ER)

The initiative was inaugurated by Dr. Raman Ramachandran, Chairman & Managing Director, BASF India Ltd. and Head, BASF, South Asia; the dignitaries also included Ramesh Shankar, Executive Vice-President and Head – Human Resources.; Dr. Lakshmi Nadkarni, Director – Human Resources BASF, South Asia; Padma Gupta, Director – Human Resources, Häfele India Pvt. Ltd.; Ricky Kumar, Head – Human Resources, Covestro (India) Pvt. Ltd.; Rosette Silveira, Corporate – HR & Admin Manager; Wacker Chemie India Pvt. Ltd. and Anjali, Manager – Human Resources, TUV India.
“We thought we need to build our own capabilities as HR professionals before we build the capabilities of others. This is a great model because when organizations come together and you are able to do a program, the cost is low but quality is high. So we are able to share the best practices, the best faculty and leverage the power of numbers.” – Ramesh Shankar, Executive Vice-President and Head – Human Resources.

The dignitaries then lit the ceremonial lamp and officially flagged off the beginning of this learning journey undertaken by the Indo-German HR Partner Forum for their HR colleagues.

Dr. Raman Ramachandran Chairman & Managing Director, BASF India Ltd. and Head, BASF, South Asia and Guest of Honour for the event, addressed the participants on the changing Global Landscape in today’s world. “Globalization is on the verge of being reversed and this will require many strategic changes in the way we think about investment in the future. The second unpredictable change we face is digitization. Digitization is changing the way we think. Third is the concept of Sustainability. For many companies sustainability is about CSR – it is no longer about CSR, it is the way we think about how to run a company in terms of governance, sensitivity to society we live, environment health and standard, so the whole realm and paradigm of how we do business is changing and more so in emerging countries like India because of the challenges we face in this country are more.” He then continued stating the growing and changing environment of HR in organizations “Recently I heard from a sociologist that the new generation if millennials, will change 14 jobs on an average in their life time. Hence this concept of ‘hiring till retirement’ can be forgotten about. And hence HR becomes different about how you think about hiring, talent development and letting people go. So congratulations to all who thought about bringing this together to advance the organizations”.

There was an over whelming response for the program as HR professionals from 22 Indo-German member organizations signed up for the various learning programs that are to be conducted in the upcoming year. Over a 100 nominations were received across all programs ensuring that each of the programs is conducted in 2 batches.
“One thing that struck me as something that probably we need to see through today is the kind of humility displayed by the leaders of our partner organizations throughout this initiative. None of them said, this program is happening in my company so I don’t want to participate even though each one of us is doing something to raise the capability of our people. This was the best collaborative experience I have seen between companies with Radhieka being the hub for it. I thank all the leaders of member companies.” – Dr. Lakshmi Nadkarni, Director – Human Resources BASF, South Asia;

The first program on Employee Relations kicked off with 21 participants. Mr. Suman Mitra, Senior General Manager – Human Resource, Bosch Ltd. was the trainer for this program which was conducted over 2 days.
“It’s a great start and a great opportunity for all of us to network. I ask you to learn the nuances, the small things we do so well in our work place. Pick those nuances and achieve excellence in HR. The world is changing very fast so let’s change with the world or bring the change so we can all adapt to the digitation and business models which are changing so rapidly” – Ricky Kumar, Head – Human Resources, Covestro (India) Pvt. Ltd.

The session was packed with new and relevant content and examples. The trainer, Mr. Suman Mitra from Bosch, with his vast industry experience in Employee Relations, gave the participants an insight on how ER is important to the advancement of an organization and its sustainability and applicability across industries. Some of the learnings that were covered during the session: History of IR in India, Changing concept of IR to ER, Statutory Compliance & its importance, Negotiation Process, Disciplinary Proceedings – Factory Discipline & Work Culture, Grievance Handling – its Process and Expectation, Employee Engagement Forums to deliver the objective along with power of communication, Public Relation & handling media , International IR and OECD (How it can impact us), Managing People Proactively and Contract Labour-Engagement and Compliance.

The 2 day power packed session ended with Dr. Lakshmi Nadkarni, Director – Human Resources BASF, South Asia distributing the certificates to the participants who were now ecstatic about being a part of this Capability Building Initiative. The proof on the success of this program lies in the pudding as during the final discussion they decided to form a forum for Employee Relations to discuss best practices and learn from each other, similar to the way the Indo-German HR Partner Forum contributes to the member organizations.
“The way the programs were brought together on a cost sharing basis, the finesse with which it has been done and the heart with which it has come together, is what will take the initiative a long way. Companies are feeling involved, they have owned the program, it’s their baby more than mine. We have all worked on it with a lot of love and passion and belief. Sometimes it is just belief that takes it through. So welcome to IGTC, it’s a place where our motto’ IGTCians at heart, phenomenal you will be!! This applies to our youngsters but also applies to you older ones because everyone who goes through training, learning and skilling just emerge better human beings. For IGTC it definitely is a Horizon Redefined”