Pandemic Has Created A Multitude Of New Opportunities, Believes Sudipto Mandal

In the bright facilitating episode of #BWPeople Presents #RandstadLeadershipDialogues in association with BW Businessworld and Randstad India on 'Compassionate Communication Key for HR Professionals in the New World', Sudipto Mandal, VP & CHRO, Star Cement Ltd., joined an elaborate panel and shared his insights and thoughts.

 According to Mandal, this is a time for HR People to realize, that the upskilling ferocity of the moment can be overwhelming and cause stress to the employees- and that’s where being compassionate and conversing in a compassionate manner comes in.

Talking about the relevancy of hurdles in engineering compassionate communication, Sudipto Mandal commented that “I see this as an opportunity, from the point of view of employees as well as that of HR and the management perspective. We have to be aware of the fact that digital savviness is imperative now but perhaps not an allocation of what was needed before.” 

Adding more on the same, he explains that in the manufacturing industry, digital skills were not heavily relied upon but it has now changed in lieu of the pandemic crisis. There is a digital divide, both in terms of skills and perhaps in terms of aversion to technology stemming from the technologic nature of the user. He acknowledges that there is a skill gap that needs to be bridged but this shall be an opportunity to upskill people.

The crisis is not only now in the form of the COVID-19 crisis but will continue to persist and that’s where the true role of ‘human management’ shall come into play for the professionals, he believes. 

“A very important point has to do with people’s mindset. How to adapt to the new situation that pandemic has forced you into?” he argues, “The leaders, in our industry, haven’t really thought about the working from the home model and using a virtual network but this situation has allowed them to see that this model works well too!” Many traditional industries couldn’t get into the technological advancements, but today we have no option but to indulge in them. This also has been a benefactor for the people and global advancement. 

Sudipto firmly concludes “A lot of new opportunities have stemmed from this situation and that’s how it should be on the evolutionary scale of HR People.”