Interview with Surya Prakash Mohapatra, Global Head – Talent Transformation & Learning & Development, Wipro
We at ET-Insights spoke with Mr. Surya Prakash Mohapatra who is the Global Head – Talent Transformation and Learning & Development of Wipro to get his views on the ‘The Workforce of the Future’. Here’s what he had to say:
ET-Insights: When we look at the workforce of the future, what are top of the mind issues/priorities for key stakeholders – CEO, HR and employees?
Surya Prakash: It is a great question. I think for the CEOs and CXOs the top of the mind priorities is:
- How to attract the best talent to their organization
- How to create an eco-system which keeps the top talent engaged and inspired
- How to reskill and upskill them in real time
- How to unleash their potential to the optimum extent
ET-Insights: What according to you does The Workforce of Future Look Like?
Surya Prakash: The workforce of the future is going to be largely Gen-Y and Gen-Z. They are going to be:
- Fearless and prepared to take risks
- Willing to experiment, make mistakes and learn from mistakes
- Indifferent to hierarchical organization structures, bureaucracy, rigid policies and procedures
- Fast and Agile in decision making
- Hungry for feedback and recognition
- Highly tech-savvy and low on people skills
ET-Insights: What has been your experience with digitisation, AI & Robotics in HR? Is India ready for such a huge transformation?
Surya Prakash: AI, Robotics, Big Data etc. can revolutionize the way we source, hire, on-board, develop, retain and grow talent.
Now coming to the next question, India is marching ahead with digital transformation. A lot of innovation in this space is coming out of India and going to the rest of the world. At the same time, we also need to learn from the transformational stories coming from the other parts of the world.
ET-Insights: What are your views on “The Economic Times Workforce of the Future Summit” and how important do you feel is the need of organizing such summits?
Surya Prakash: This is a great initiative by the Economic Times. I would say this is the need of the hour. Such Summits will bring industry experts, HR and Business Leaders together and provide them the platform to brainstorm on how we get India Inc. ready to welcome the workforce of the future. I am sure this Economic Times Summit will throw up many thought-provoking questions. And even if we find answers to some of the questions (if not all J), it would still be a great achievement.
