Reskill & Upskill in The New Normal
Gaurika Tandon, HR Leader-Learning, Engagement & Employer Brand, Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd. (Times Group) presented a brilliantly informative live webinar session on the topic “RESKILL & UPSKILL IN THE NEW NORMAL” at Asian Business School (ABS) Friday 24th July 2020 at 12:00 noon under its Leadership & Entrepreneurial Aspiration Development (LEAD) Program.
Gaurika Tandon has over 17 years of experience in Human Resources across Consulting and Corporate and has worked in diverse sectors such as Media, HR Consulting, Pharma & Healthcare, Manufacturing, BPO Services and ITES. She has been involved in start-ups and HR Transformation assignments with focus on building an effective HR function. Besides multiple industries, Gaurika has supported business across geographies including India, USA, APAC, MEA and has been able to develop a deep understanding of various cultures and related human capital needs.
An initiative of Asian Education Group (AEG) – considered as the largest centre for professional media, IT, law, management, fashion & hospitality education in Asia with world-class facilities – the webinar was followed by a lively Q&A Session with the illustrious guest.
The illustrious guest, Gaurika Tandon set the webinar session rolling by straightaway bringing up the topic of the day, viz., “RESKILL & UPSKILL IN THE NEW NORMAL” for analysis and review. She began by stating that “reskilling and upskilling is very much required today as a new future is awaiting the entire mankind.” In her words, “In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has changed quite dramatically. More specifically, there are three things that are transforming in a big way – namely, WORK, WORKPLACE & WORKFORCE. As far as WORK is concerned, its basic nature has changed (for example, ticketing personnel is no longer required at the ticket counter) and the price point is going to become smaller. Regarding WORKPLACES, you can now work from anywhere. And finally, the WORKFORCE has become diverse and spread across the world.” “In this changed world,” according to Gaurika Tandon, “you have to find your ways to be relevant.”
The knowledgeable speaker then defined the “New World at Work” as being governed by three principles – namely, Demographics, Globalization & Technology. She stated that this “New World is Resilient, Agile, Dynamic & Anti-Fragile” and one needs to clearly understand these characteristics to succeed. This, according to her, can be truly achieved by “Re-Skilling & Up-Skilling one’s basic Skill-Set in tune with the changing times.” Here, she added a word of caution by asking the students to concentrate on “what is it that you are good at” and not go haywire in their efforts. She then explained the differences between Behavioural & Technical Skills and advised the students to differentiate for themselves as to where they were lacking and to re-skill & up-skill accordingly. The experienced HR Leader further stated that “Skills are attainable” and invoked the students to “Invest yourself”.
The qualified speaker concluded her brilliant exposition by sharing “Three Great Tips” to the young crowd of ambitious students to ponder and implement. The first Tip was, “Be curious … like a 3-year old; that’s the greatest way to learn.” The second Tip was, “In choosing between Training v/s Learning, remember, the key is Practice, Practice & Practice!” Finally, “Embrace failure, and don’t be afraid to admit mistakes.”
Students heard the entire presentation in rapt attention and they had some very important takeaways from the session. That in itself was a testimony of the success of this webinar session.
Gaurika Tandon then opened the session for questions from the participants. Several questions were put up by the students, most of which were related to courses, careers and challenges in the concurrent business and corporate world. To each of these questions, the distinguished speaker provided the most convincing answers.
Thereafter, the session concluded with the customary exchange of pleasantries.