Good day, Shankar Mahanti. 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?

So.

Could you please introduce your professional journey in academia?

Sure. So I have started my career as a MBAR professional. I have studied from MIT Business School, Noida and having around 11 plus years experience into HR domain itself starting from HR Journalist to HR Operations as well as Industrial Relations Executive Professional. So my overall journey is into HR domain itself handling from starting from employee end to end.

Michael and as well as into employees testory compliances and into employee welfare activities. Coming to my academia background, I have done MBA in HR as well as I have done also be in computer science and engineering and post my engineering. Also I have worked into support software functions like I was part of core banking solutions. And I worked as infinical service professional.

For under year and half and then I did my MBA which was regular from MIT Business School Noida into HR domain.

Thanks for sharing that!

Professor Mahanti, let's begin by exploring your expertise in performance management. How do you ensure consistent evaluation and improvement of employee performance in an organization?

So for uh, employee continuous performance, what we can do is actually there are different mechanisms which organizations follow like some follows traditional method where we have that bell curve system where the top performance are placed into around 20% and then 70% into the average scale and then below performance are placed in the 10% bracket.

Apart from that, there is another method which is more suitable also. That is 360° feedback where we take feedbacks from the stakeholders, the hiring managers, then the peer groups as well as the employee himself can also rate in that and it starts from like the employee first states. His or her initial goals for that financial year.

Along with discussion with his or her reporting manager and then the reporting manager evaluates the goals based on. There are different parameters like.

Your based on their core values of the organization as well as the business needs. Apart from that based on this then the managers rate the employee and accordingly it further goes with HR and other stakeholders for the rating.

Now coming to the improvement thing, what is done that once the rating is being given, the employee is given the feedback where the employee is said about his current performance and also the objectives what he has defined is well kept into the place and discussed accordingly by the reporting managers and where he can improve giving the constructive feedbacks to the employees on.

Those parts as well as like.

Where? What was the company's expectation about?

Those parts from the employee, those areas where the employee is working, So what where the expectations from him or her in those parts and how he's performed. So giving that and if required. Can also suggest methods like if any.

Skill development program is there for that person in the company itself he can offer that or in outside also the organization. If any such program he wants to pursue for his improvement then surely company can suggest that also.

You've covered some practical methods like traditional evaluation methods, 360-degree feedback, and structured skill development programs for improvement. Out of these, how would you handle scenarios where employees resist feedback or struggle to align their goals with the organization's expectations?

So let's take one example. Say Mr. A has been given certain feedback which he might not take in a positive way, might feel that what he is doing is very good and that's the only method. But then what we can do to improve him without demotivating him is like.

We can. Tell look you have done this job good in this manner, but what we have expected was the outcome with your.

Work method has come around 60 to 70% but we were expecting say somewhere around 90 to 100% in that area itself. So there is always an improvement area. Yes, what you are saying or your working style is good but as you know that every time the scenarios are changing so.

So probably if you go for some skill improvement thing, this will sharpen your what you are doing in that the edge and then also it will lead you to improve your journey ahead even in the organizational structure. Also this way what you can do is you will be learning a new skill set which might enhance you in future. As well as this will also help to.

More than what you have performed currently and that might lead you to a better result what you have received now.

Grow and meet the expectation of the organization so that next time you can perform.

You provided a constructive and balanced approach to handling resistance to feedback, incorporating encouragement and skill development strategies. Let’s move to compensation and benefits. How do you design a system that ensures both market competitiveness and internal equity in an organization?

Sure. For that what we can do is certainly in an organization already there might be having them will be having some set slabs and.

Pay practice. So first I will be analyzing those pay practice, what is the existing scenario with the skill set matching pay, what they are giving and then we'll see for the similar.

Work roles, what other organizations are providing. So we'll check for the best practices of the organizations relevant to the same industry, same fields and same work profiles. And then we can benchmark from taking the practices of others and see what are there like positive points. Or what our organization is having. So we will compare them and then.

We can, uh, see which is the best, uh, slab that can fit to our internal requirements also so that the budget constraints should not be like, it should not exceed our budget. And also what best we can pay as per the market standards, which like will be a fair pay for that work profile.

Understood. How do you ensure that the compensation system remains adaptive and reflective of an employee's ongoing contributions over time?

So for that we will check about that employees journey with the organization. Also we will see like how the employees performing, what are these skill set, what is his qualification, experience, uh, how much he has learned in that particular domain.

And as well as we'll see that for the same profile in any organization, what's the market is suggesting. So there are different agencies whose ratings or skill related parameters come out as articles and also best practices sometimes discussed. So there are various mediums or even in social media help also we can take like now many. Uh, websites are coming with those, uh, informations or agents, rating agencies come. So we will see what the market is, uh, suggesting for that person, if he is relevant, uh, with that pay, what we are paying or is at par with that pay or not. And then accordingly, we can see whether that employee is having fair pay and is continuously getting what is required or not. If any changes is required, maybe.

In our software, we need to do some changes according to the need. We can do that whatever payroll softwares are available in the organization. So based on that we can go with that keeping in mind the.

Laws also like what the minimum wages is suggesting, what the labour laws has come out with. So taking those also into consideration we can see if the payment is relevant or not.

That's a thorough approach, balancing employee evaluation, market trends, and compliance with labor laws. Shifting now to employee relations and engagement—how do you foster a sense of belonging and motivate a diverse workforce in an organization?

So, uh, this I believe should be invite from day one into the employee when he or she joins. And what we can do to imbibe this, uh, is the work culture. So the work culture should be made in a way that the employee feels that, yes, he is part of the organization. So like we can organize various activities.

RNR programs.

As well as we can also do 1 to one skip level meetings with organization time to timely basis so that if he faces any challenges, we can come to know about those challenges and if possible professionally or towards set a level personally.

To an extent, keeping his privacy and respecting those in place if required, Whatever supports can be given, that can be said also. We always should. Design such engagement programs which will be inclusive of diverse background people also. So the programs the policies should be designed for the organization in such a manner that all.

The genders and diverse background peoples feel inclusive in those programs and policies and should not. One group should not feel that yeah, they have been ignored that way. Secondly, by providing the skills required to.

Improve the employee to such an extent that yeah, they feel yes, they are now good enough for any organizations to be fit in. Although we will also have a place in organization where like we will try to have such programs that retain those employees and always setting and respecting work life balance in place for that organization, that employee.

You mentioned inclusive engagement programs, personalized attention through skip-level meetings, and work-life balance as critical aspects—those are vital elements. How do you measure the effectiveness of these engagement strategies over time?

So what we can do is we can do some feedback, we can take the feedback.

Basis to see like whether what we have provided the employees are performing to those parts or not and also having the metrics in place which will define that yes, what is the score we are looking for in the engagement activities that we have achieved or not.

About this those programs then there are surveys pulse surveys in place which we can take help of as well as. Some training mechanisms also there which we can use and some activity sessions we can conduct.

That’s clear—using feedback, surveys, and engagement metrics to evaluate success. Let's examine using data to inform HR decisions. How do you leverage data for identifying trends or improving HR processes?

How, what, where the previous?

Performances of the organization as well as the employees of that and if like trainings and all have been provided, how much those trainings have able to help that employees so to gauge the gap between the improvement areas and the business requirement if the employees are meeting those.

Doing the trend analysis of the data of those employees, like how they have in the journey, how they have performed.

In place or not? So that as well as.

So using of HR analytics also.

Right, utilizing HR analytics for trend analysis and gap assessment is a strategic approach. How do you ensure data privacy and compliance while working with such sensitive employee information?

So in our policy we should have the clause of confidentiality like data privacy 0 tolerance on any such miss breach of data policy which is related to confidentiality then also we should. Make people aware on the sensitivity of the data.

And sanitizing the data on a regular basis to see if any.

Like attacks have been happened or not into the data.

And also making people aware of what to do regarding the IT assets and the data and what not to do. So having the proper policy guidelines set into that with the redressal mechanism.

Understood—a strong focus on confidentiality policies, data sanitization, and employee awareness. Shifting to employment regulations and best practices, how do you ensure compliance with labor laws while maintaining organizational flexibility?

So there are statutory compliances which should be adhere like filing the returns when and as required that should be done without fail. For that we can always have a monitor checking process which will check that whether the required returns have been filed on timely basis or not. Secondly. The compliances should be aligned.

With the labor laws, with the latest labor laws so that what we are following are as per the compliance or not that should be taken for that regular audits should be in place.

Compliance audit or HR audits in place and this should be both internal as well as through external agencies also to have a fair and unbiased approach.

To that and 0 tolerance policy on the compliance part.

You've detailed compliance monitoring through audits and timely filing of returns, which is essential. Finally, I’d like to confirm your academic foundation. With your MBA in HR from Amity Business School, how has your academic training supported your practical roles in HR?

So, uh, prior to my MBA HR, the person I was was, uh, uh, I was, uh, little introvert, uh, kind of person. And, uh, I used to be like, uh, only, uh, mixed with certain, uh, group of, uh, persons where I feel myself comfort. So I always preferred my comfort zone prior to my MBA in HR, but.

HR has given me a wide perspective. Uh, they, uh, because of MBA in HR, I got an opportunity to work in organizations where I have got an opportunity to, with work with diverse background people. And also I have got an exposure to various, uh, uh, tools, HRMS tools, uh, to work with and.

Uh, which has widened my learning.

Scopes and this intern has also turned me into more expressive person and now I can easily communicate or mingle with or rather mix with any diverse background persons and I know like.

Where to open myself and where to like set a boundary that yes, beyond this I should not?

This also has helped me in growing as a person in my personality. So MBHR has taught me given me exposure.

Professor

And made me more expressive and a kind of extrovert person.

Where I can say no if I want to say no to a particular thing, you know?

Requisite manner.

Understood, Professor. Thank you for sharing that insight into how your journey in Human Resources has shaped both your professional and personal growth. Let's discuss your teaching perspective for a moment. Could you share an example of a key HR concept you particularly enjoy teaching to new learners and why?

Sure. So.

Enjoy teaching is more into UH.

Labor are related issues, so labor law and partly into talent acquisition because these two are the areas where there is always a scope of more new introductions to be given like better methods improvement can be done and both are related to employee, both are most.

Part major part of employee centric approach.

So if you are good in talent acquisition and using the latest methods be it like now the concept of AI is into place so if sourcing can be done through AI tools, you can have a better candidate in place. So AI should be the tool which should be.

And deals directly with people so and also help any organization to grow.

Talk to students now, which I, as a part of technology will enjoy using. That to help students to know about that as well as the best industrial practices latest going on in the organization that will help students with the practical aspect. And coming to the labour law point like recently 4 Labour Courts has been introduced to discuss more on that and how that can be implemented from the organization perspective.

So that students will have both the theoretical as well as practical approach in that part will help more to the students to grow and in turn I will also enjoy teaching those parts to the students as a HR.

Professor Mahanti, I appreciate your enthusiasm for teaching topics that blend theoretical and practical approaches, especially labor law and talent acquisition. Let's delve deeper into that. You mentioned the recent introduction of the four labor codes. Could you elaborate on how you would integrate this development into your teaching methodology for HR students?

Sure. So the labor codes majorly deals with the wages then the Social Security, occupational health and hazard in places and work, workplace protection. So this is the brief like about the labor laws labor codes which has been introduced recently and this I can implement.

Into the curriculum, Like what are the benefits?

And the pros and cons of those labour laws, teaching them to the students and how practically the organizations are taking them up. Because even though the liver laws are in place, we also know that organisations are working for or any companies working for profitability also. So we have to have a place where we can. Use both labour laws and keep in mind that profit should come to that.

Organization, we can have develop a system in place. So to encourage that we can have like tools, different ERP tools which we are having right now like work day, like SAP into place. So taking them the good parts of those and.

In adapting them with the label laws, we can talk to the children on those can make them.

Work on those projects and during their internship we can suggest the students to take those internship which can help them to sharpen their knowledge into labor laws more so that way it can enhance.

Professor Mahanti, your approach to integrating labor codes with practical tools like ERP systems into student learning is indeed thoughtful. To clarify further: How would you design such a project or internship opportunity that combines these elements? Could you outline a specific example of a project for students that marries understanding labor laws with practical ERP system applications?

So what we can do is like we can have some students work with the startups, startups where there is always an opportunity to learn and enhance their skills because their everyday new challenges they will be having. And then as I said.

But first also so their students can run on the new age tools also like ERP tools. So we have some tools like sync plans and all. Then HR One HRMS software where we have compliance tracker where we can have the compliance calendar into the place. Even. We have other software also where the compliance.

They are more adaptable to newer tools. Which for their profitability purpose also and growth.

Those deadlines are set into place so students can work on those.

A room short project where they come to know like yeah, these are the dates when the comprehensive should be filed. If any compliance has not been performed, this can be the implication. So that way.

Part and they can take internship in any consulting firms or startups as I mentioned and can specifically choose the work related to return filings, annual return filings where they can also have.

Thank you, Professor Mahanti. You've outlined a strong practical approach. By embedding internships with startups or consulting firms focused on compliance tracking, you allow students not only to understand labor law in depth but also to apply modern ERP and compliance tools effectively. Let me pose one final question. Beyond labor law and talent acquisition, how do you plan to inspire students to engage deeply with the subject of HR, particularly in a rapidly evolving technological context?

What we can do is like we'll analyze the inner strength or the core strength of any student, be it like they can be very good listener, they can be good in communication. So leveraging those skill sets and which are also requirement from HR perspective also the qualities of HR. So leveraging those skill sets in the students and also conducting.

So.

Sessions like role plays, more role plays into the classroom as well as practical exposure like internships while doing that giving projects. And about the place where they will come to know more on HR by giving them surveys. Like telling them yeah. Check for best practices of HRE in some of the organizations and can.

Make a dissertation report on those part and can give us and whoever will give us the best report will be rewarded accordingly through some point system et cetera in the classroom and yeah of course as I mentioned earlier also enhancing into more into role plays and.

Developing the case studies. So what we can do is like practical business case studies related to HR, where the HR scenarios are given, we can.