On Tuesday, 10th February 2015 was a significant start to the year for the Indo-German HR Partner Forum as over 40 senior HR Partners from Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd., BASF Group, Bosch Group, Brose India Automotive Systems, Evonik India, Häfele India, HDFC Ergo General Insurance, KSB Pumps, Mercedes-Benz India, Merck Group, Schaeffler Group, Siemens Ltd., TÜV India, Wacker Chemie India and Wacker Metroark Chemicals were a part of this meet.
The meeting was hosted by Volkswagen India at their Pune Plant and the topic of the day was ‘Labour Relations including Contract Labour’. The day began with a warm welcome extended to all the HR Partners by Mr. Peter Raussendorf, Executive Director – Human Resources, Volkswagen India. Mr. Akash Sangole, Human Resources, Volkswagen India made a detailed presentation about Volkswagen India, its operations, Mach 18 – global strategy that is followed with an emphasis on the activities done with respect to Contract Labour. The Union President of Volkswagen was also invited to speak on the objectives of the union and the support that they are provided with by the organization.
Mr. Arvind Kshotri, Option Positive – an expert on Labour Relations expressed his findings about the importance of synchronization between management and the union to be progressive so as to obtain prosperity for the organization. On special request, a slot was provided for a presentation on Vocational Education and Training Network (VETnet) – an initiative by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and supported by the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). Mr. Zubin Kabraji, Regional Director, IGCC and Ms. Judith Evers, Manager DE international Services, IGCC emphasized that the youth unemployment rate in Germany is lowest as compared to any other European country solely due to the German Dual Education System. Owing to this success the IGCC aims to start their pilot project from March 2015 which is a 3 months basic course in metal working based on German curriculum.
Following this interactive discussion, Mr. Chaitanya Halbe, Corporate Communications, Volkswagen guided the HR Partners through the plant tour in his own flamboyant style. This was complemented by allowing the HR Partners to sit through the rigorous but safe test drive to have an experience of one aspect of the quality check. Post lunch, detailed presentations were made by Ms. Pallavi Shastri, Human Resources, Bosch Group and Mr. Abhay Waikar, Head of Employee Relations, BASF Group with respect to the main theme of the day – ‘Labour Relations including Contract Labour’. At the end of the day, the need of the hour for all the HR Partners was to form a working group that could work in tandem about the details and intricacies of the extremely large and important topic of Contract Labour and Industrial Relations.
On behalf of the Indo-German HR Partner Forum, Ms. Radhieka R Mehta, Director, Indo-German Training Centre proposed the Vote of Thanks and a group photograph was taken. The day ended with an icing on the cake which was – Motor Sport Stunts performed by professionals and this was not all, they allowed the HR Partners to not only view this extravagant and impressive session but also sit next to the driver and experience the thrill themselves. The entire day was exceptionally organized by Volkswagen Human Resources team in terms of hospitality and left an impact of Volkswagen being a truly customer sensitive organization.
