Good day, Vanditha G. I'm Arjun. I've had a look through your background and your professional record. I'm interested in hearing more about your work and how you see yourself fitting in here with our faculty. Ready to start?

Good morning. So I'm Vandita. I'm basically from Vellore. So I've completed my MBA in VIT and my BCOM in VIT. So my major is in HR. So basically I see myself as a HR professional where I can stand, stand out of the people and also.

Manage a position in the HR department. So this focuses I I would like I would like to give my contribution on the recruitment department.

And tenant acquisition department. Thank you.

Thanks for sharing that!

Let us start by focusing on your technical mastery. First, let’s explore your understanding of performance management. Could you explain your approach to designing and implementing a performance management system in an organizational setup?

Of course is performance management in the HR department basically is about how the employees feedback reviews how the how the performance is analyzed and evaluated for the for the performance appraisal. So before performance appraisal performance performance management plays a major role in the HR department where how the employees work, how the employees work, and how the performance how how.

Employees contribute to the organization. Basically the feedback reviews, uh, of the employees is the performance management and uh, which is the before step of the performance appraisal.

I see—the role of feedback reviews in performance management is indeed central. Could you elaborate on the specific tools or methods you’ve used to track or evaluate employee performance effectively?

Performance management.

There I think HRMS is there and LinkedIn Insights are there. So mostly LinkedIn Insights for the IS recruitment part, but performance management HRMS is there.

Understood. Let’s move to compensation and benefits. How do you ensure that your organization's compensation structure remains competitive while aligning with company budgets?

Well, first we have to see what requirements we have for the employees and what kind of role is the employees is being played. And based on the hierarchy based we can fix a budget and the the amount of work the employees work based on that also we can fix the budget of the employee. So, so cost of cost of higher. So what is the cost that we hire for the employee.

Is is a major part in the HR department?

So, uh, when it comes to payroll, so salary path is basically about basic salary and, uh, deductions and also allowances. So these are the like payroll, payroll structures of the thing.

I see. Can you share how you've handled salary benchmarking or market research to ensure equitable pay across roles in an organization?

1st we can research about the role and the department and also main important thing is how the market works. So this VIT is an educational education institution. So we can first research what how we can stand out of other colleges, other universities. So first we have to make a market research. So based on the.

Few, few theoretical, qualitative or quantitative research, we can use it. So based on that, how?

How the payroll can be fixed? These can be This can be calculated based on the market research of other institutions. But basically VIT stands VIT stands 1st and also different from other institutions. So based on the based on the quality of the candidate also we can fix a budget for the employee.

Got it. Now, let’s focus on employee relations and engagement. Can you describe a specific initiative you led or were part of to enhance employee engagement within an organization?

Yes, uh, in my previous internship, which was in Narvi Hospital and also in Fortune Park ITC. So in Fortune Park ITC, I learned a different unique, uh, employee engagement program, which is the, uh, the recognition program of the employees where they will, uh, sit along where, where they conduct a recognition program. Of all the employees, starting from the basic employee to the top top level employee.

So they will sit in a in a auditorium and they will each each and every employees name. They will recognize it even though they are not that much about the work, but they will recognize in a like what is best of them. So what what the employee works and what is best in that. They will consider that and based on that they will provide a award and also a certificate to the employees.

Health and Wellness program of the employees. So it's a hospital, they normally treat the people or the like, whatever the patients, but they will also be recognized. They will they are also recognizing the employees health, health and well-being. So that was a different thing. And they can also register freely and also they can participate in the health and Wellness program. So that was a major. Employee engagement which I have saw in my internship.

About the work and contributions and all. So that was an unique 1 and in Navi Hospital I was, I was very impressed about the.

Of HR department, yeah.

Yes.

How do you measure the success or impact of such employee engagement initiatives?

Impacts is first, the employees will be very motivated and.

The employees will be very.

Focused on the work, they are more satisfied, I guess, uh, when compared to motivation, they are more satisfied and they will be like this is one of the main important initiative for employee retention, so.

Like many of the employees will focus on job satisfaction and job. Does the salary of the job so mean a few employees when we do these kind of initiatives, they will look only for the.

They won't consider that as a as a big thing because their their important thing is the satisfaction of the job and the respect of the job. So.

Satisfaction whether the salary the whether the payroll is low.

Such initiatives will impact more on employee retention.

Understood. Job satisfaction and retention are indeed key outcomes. Now, let's discuss how you incorporate data into decision-making. How do you utilize data to identify trends or measure the success of HR initiatives?

So the trends which is emerging now is the AI because in every part of the HR department process which is the recruitment selection, training development, performance engagement, I mean performance management, employee engagement.

I mean, yeah, performance engagement, performance management, employee engagement and then employee retention. So in each and every department there is a trend in the emerging.

Era, which is the AI. So when it comes to recruitment, we have higher view.

And HRATS, uh, for an example, and for training and development, there is another AIHRMS. So for selection, there is an AI like, uh, LinkedIn insights. So these are the emerging trends which I have seen, uh, in the recent times. And also an example Dobbin box recently, they reserve big AI which comes up for the which makes the process very smooth. And it is one of the.

It's one of the main thing now because we can't, we can't depend only on the manual things. We, we, we can't depend only on the paperworks right now. We have to be like digitally aware and also.

I have completed my certification in AI in HR so yeah.

It's good to hear about your awareness of AI trends in HR. To dig deeper, can you give a specific instance where you leveraged data analytics or AI tools to address a particular HR challenge or improve decision-making?

To improve the decision making, I was I, I have worked with the LinkedIn insights. I mean, the AI I, I learned about it. And also this work expert hire IO is one of the is also AI website where they can conduct the interviews. They can recruit. I mean, they can conduct interviews and they can. Decide the timings of the interviews.

So this makes a.

But very easy for the HRS, so, so that they can, uh, complete the process in a given time. And also it's, it also clears it also, it also gives a specific candidate's requirements and also the specific candidates which we are, which we are expecting from the institution. So yeah.

Got it. Let’s now shift to employment regulations. Could you explain how you ensure compliance with labor laws and HR best practices in an organization?

Yes, so there is when come to when we come to the compliance part. So this plays a major role in HR because rules and regulations are a part of every organization and every department. So when it comes to Wages Act and Employee Benefits Act. So these are the acts where.

These are the acts where the employees are more ruled and regulated in the in the institution. So yeah.

I see. In ensuring compliance, how do you stay updated on changing regulations, and how do you ensure their proper implementation within the organization?

The policies which was used by the organization before and the policies which is emerging right now. So when we compare to that we can able to find.

The better ways of the compliance which we can use for the employees. So based on this we can do it.

Understood. Let’s address your academic background. Your resume indicates that you’re pursuing a Master’s degree in Human Resources. How has this program shaped your approach to HR, particularly in applying theoretical knowledge to practical challenges?

Yes, basically my masters is a is a big learning thing in my life where I my major is in HR. So I have you. I have utilized every course which is being given by the department, by the institution.

Which is that the HR, like, uh, the recruitment course and the talent, I mean the HR analytics and also the talent management more specific to the talent acquisition, so employee engagement. So these, these courses were very impactful for me where I, I utilize these theoretical background to the practical one which I have implemented in, in the. HR internship. So these were very. These were very impactful.

I used each and every theoretical, uh, chapters in my life through the uh, HR internships. So it was very, uh, impactful thing.

And also.

Thank you. I have now verified all the required skills for this interview. One moment.

To begin, Professor, could you share which aspect of teaching in the HR field you find most engaging or rewarding?

OK, So I'm engaged and more excited about recruitment part because.

Recruitment part is all is the first basic thing of HR department where first the company or the institution will will form will plan about the manpower. First they plan about the manpower, the requirements of the manpower and the second thing is they first source the candidates through internal recruitment on external recruitment which is internal is about in like inside the.

Online websites and, uh, social media. So for example, LinkedIn.

So these Nokri indeed, so these kind of websites are for uh, external recruitment and then after the after the this sourcing part, after that they will look for the.

Interview part bad.

That it can be online, where it can be offline also. So based on the candidate, based on the role, so it will be calculated after the interview part, they will uh, or give the offer letter to the employee or the candidate. So after that, we have to onboard the employee in a better way so that the, the candidate should not be afraid or should not think about. Different ways so they they have to be very confident about confident and also.

They have to get motivated at at 1st and throughout the process. So the, the, the main part is the onboarding process. So onboarding, after onboarding, they can start their work. So I'm more in, I mean I'm more influenced and also I'm more educated in recruitment part, yeah.

Professor Vanditha, you mentioned being influenced and educated in the recruitment area. I noticed from your resume that you've conducted research on recruitment and engagement strategies, particularly with your study at Fortune Park ITC Hotel. Could you explain how that research has shaped your perspective on improving recruitment practices?

Yes, of course.

Advantage we can say because is a multilingual, I can speak more than 5 languages. So this Fortune Park ITC is focusing on the employees who can speak different languages. So one of I'm I'm one of them. So I'm the intern there. So they told me to speak to different candidates and call the candidates for the interview.

When I joined Fortune Park ITC, at first they have given me the recruitment part which my main.

So they have set of candidates in the previous thing. So they they told me to call the candidates for the interview to to schedule an interview.

For the candidates, so I called them like one of, uh, many candidates are from north. They are, uh, this isn't South. So many candidates are from north. So they were focusing on Jharkhand, Madhya Pradeh, Uttar Pradesh, those kind of employees because the amount of customers coming to the Fortune Park ITC was from north. The big, the big shots, I would say.

So far from not so the the employee should also be from there so that it will be a there should not be a cultural difference. And also they are recruiting from South also but they are more focused on the north. So I will I can speak Hindi. So I I was scheduling many interviews and also have conducted. I have given a better onboarding process and also I have I have completed the sourcing of candidates from the websites.

And they have a separate IDC website where they can, uh, post the jobs and they also they hire from the website. So through the recruitment part, I have done this in the recruitment part, I have done this in employee engagement, conducting of recognition programs and.

And also.

Performance management and also performance appraisal, these employee engagement activities I have done so employee engagement activities which is the recognition program mostly it is a recognition program and also a slip they they call it as a greater slip. So that slip will be given to the employees which is which is which is the kind of token of motivation.

So to, to for the retaining in the retaining part, retaining part, this place, this, this greatest lip plays a major role because this is a recognition for them and they can use it anywhere. They can post it in the LinkedIn also so that they, they'll be recognized. So these are the employee engagement activities and recruitment part which I have done in my HR internship in Fortune Park ITC.

Understood, Professor Vanditha. Your experience at Fortune Park ITC clearly gave you a strong foundation in recruitment and engagement strategies. Given that background, how would you adapt these practices, especially the recognition programs like the "Greater Slip," if you were to implement them in a more diverse or global organizational setting?

Sorry to interrupt, we're down to the last 5 minutes.

These can be these can be implemented in a better way where this will this will this will actually depends on each and every institution because each and every institution is unique and different. So they will have some kind of activities, some already the pre-existed employee engagement activities where we can redefine it if the if we want or.

Yes.

We can implement new like the employee engagement strategies to for the retaining part, yeah.

That makes sense—adapting to the institution's unique culture while refining or introducing engagement strategies is key. One final question: How do you ensure that these recruitment and engagement strategies align with organizational goals and contribute to overall business success?

Yes, recruitment on employee engagement is interconnected. So it is like it is like the important aspect and the major aspect of the HR department of the organization. So recruitment is sourcing from sourcing from the websites or sourcing the candidates is one part. An employee engagement is to to engage them, to motivate them whatever we source from the website.

With the whatever we source from, we source the candidates, we have to retain them. We have to make sure they are good, they are comfortable, they are motivated throughout the journey of their work life. So the most important thing is work life balance. We have to be flexible among about them because now Gen. ZS are the major part in the.

Are the employees in the in the current era. So Gen. ZS, they have a different mindset Gen. wise Gen. X, they have a different minds they have they have complete different minds. So whatever strategies we are implementing, it has to be suitable for them. So first we have to recruit the IT has to be a manpower planning first we have to plan what.

Requirement we have so that from that to the employee engagement.

Is it's it's uh, interlinked and interconnected process in the HR process?

Understood, Professor Vanditha. You've demonstrated a clear understanding of the interconnectedness of recruitment and engagement, while highlighting the evolving workforce dynamics. Thank you for detailing your thoughts and experiences here. Let's continue.

Yes.

Dr., what specific strategies would you propose to foster a culture of continuous professional development for faculty and administrative staff in an institution?

The culture of the communication because communication is the is the part where it lacks in the current era because.

The communication is the major part. So when it comes to faculties and administrative Staffs, there have to be supportive to each other because faculties can play their role when there is a good administrative staff in the institution because.

Yeah, again, it is an interconnected one because administrative staff are the basic or the hub of of all of the institution where they will process.

Everything, the documentation, the employee, the employee documents everything, the school's policies, everything will be managed by the administrative Staffs. So these are. So if this is good, if this is is in a basic good manner, then the faculties can do their work and they have to be very interconnected and they have to be very supportive basically so. These two are the major thing in the institution.

Which is faculties and administrative Staffs. So basically it is called as teaching and non teaching.

Understood, Dr. Now, how would you integrate innovative HR technologies to streamline payroll and benefits management in such an institutional setup?

In this institution, I can I can first do. I can first analyze what are the.

Softwares we have and what are the um.

Trends is, is there in the existing institution. So based on that, I can analyze it. I can, umm, think about a new one because, because, uh, from, from the recruitment to the payroll and the, the salary part and the training. So there will be different softwares it's used and different policies are used here. So based on the given pre-existed thing, I can analyze it and can, I can give.

Better decision. So yeah.

How would you mentor junior staff, ensuring they align with these policies and tools effectively while also maintaining high standards in their administrative or teaching roles?

Could you please, could you please give again the question? Can you please repeat the question again?

How would you mentor junior staff to ensure they effectively align with institutional policies and tools, while also maintaining high standards in their administrative or teaching roles?

Got it. So basically training and development plays a major role here because we have to be updated and we have to.

We have to make sure that every employee in the each, each and every department of the institution be aware and should be trained to the given role because.

Different roles and different positions require training because.

Because there are many emerging trends, so these training and development plays a major role here. And yeah.

Understood. Thank you for addressing this. That's enough for now.

Professor, can you detail how you would implement an active learning model, like a flipped classroom, for a large-enrollment HR executive program without resorting to slides? Please walk me through your approach.

Can you please repeat the question again?

Certainly, Professor. Could you explain how you would implement an active learning model, such as a flipped classroom, for a large-enrollment HR executive program without using slides? Please describe your approach in detail.

Got it.

Basically, my approach will be a industry expert of the program of the HR program, like the industry expert which which is important right now because the program has to be very engaging and also it has to be very impactful. It has to be knowledgeable most importantly. So for that. Industry expert from the real time. Real time examples.

We can get them, we can approach them and even we can make them to speak about their experiences and their challenges so that the the entire program will be inspired about it and they can learn.

Many more things about this SO industry expert is one of my approach.

Understood, Professor. While involving industry experts is indeed valuable, could you clarify how this aligns with an active learning approach such as a flipped classroom? Specifically, how would student participation, preparation, and engagement factor into your model?

When I bring an industry expert to the class, basically the students will be very alert, will be very uh.

We'll be thinking a different way. What is this industry class is about and what is, who is this expert and everything. So when the industry expert explains himself and introduces himself that students will be like very, very excited or very enthusiastic. They will prepare notes. We can tell, tell the students to prepare notes and get the notes from the industry expert as well. So when we play the real time examples in the slide.

Uh, like videos, the examples, which is the real one. So the students will get inspired and they can also write the notes and they can also prepare a set of points which they can ask the industry expert. So basically in my masters, I have done that. So I used to prepare a set of questions like in the, uh, industry classes, which industry expert classes. So I used to prepare a set of questions and ask the industry experts because my, uh.