Bhubaneswar, July 16: A number of contemporary human resource practices were discussed at a daylong symposium organised recently at Xavier University here.

Hosted by the Xavier School of Human Resource Management, the event revolved around the themes of overview of contemporary human resource practices and pushing the boundaries of human resource.

Panellists gathered to provide their insights on the value of the human resource function that elicits contradictory views within organisations.

The first phase of the symposium witnessed panellists from various domains of human resource engaging in discussions related to performance management, employee engagement, learning and development and work culture in the era of digitisation and artificial intelligence.

Arpita Sahu, senior manager, talent and development, Bharti Airtel Services, spoke about how performance management should not end with just a rating but a future plan, as performance was past but potential was future.

Ankush Arora, head of organisation development and business human resource at Havells India Limited, spoke about human resource being a paramount driver for leadership and ethics. He said: "It is okay to unlearn something to learn something new. Always think like a business head, and not only as an human resource person."

Gaurav Khandelwal, human resource leader at Honeywell Process Solutions, spoke about driving innovation by having people in the organisation who challenge the status quo.

In the second phase, Jose Maria Aulotte, director of studies, Magellan Institute, which offers international human resources MBA programme, stressed on human resource being a key player for business.

Abhishek Mohanty, management consulting professional, PwC India's People & Organisation Advisory, spoke about "audacious rethink" that consisted of fierce catch up, significant leap and leapfrog resulting in creating quality as opposed to quantity.

"Technology is driving this shift and it means that employees and customer experiences must converge," he added.

Students interacted with the panellists and questioned the concepts of employee engagement, leadership development, performance vis-à-vis potential and attrition.

"It is necessary for us to meet the experts in the field before going out into the real world. The session was helpful," said Anshuman Jena, one of the participants.