Myself Jagdish Shiva Kumar from Kathavadi loop. I completed my schoolings in matriculation I secondary school. And my undergraduate Bachelor of Business administration in vit Vellore and my post. Moses in a. Masters of Business Administration in vit Vellore. Uh, thank you Arjuna. I'm glad to be here. I have a strong academic and research background in my field and my work mainly focuses on. Uh, uh, yeah, Charan. I have been involved in both dead. Research which has helped me develop a balanced approach to guiding students while uh. Also contributing to ongoing academic work.

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia

Can you repeat the question?

Just a quick intro — your name and what you've been working on recently in academia.

Uh.

Thank you, Arjun. My academic journey has been focused on developing a strong foundation in business fundamentals while gaining practical insights into. Real world management challenges Through my MBA, I have built skills in areas such as strategic thinking, leadership and decision making. I have actively engaged in case studies, projects and collaborative work. Which helped me understand how theory applies to real business situations. I am particularly interested in areas. Like mentioned your specification examples HR. Where I can contributing analytical thinking and problem solving skills?

I just need a quick introduction — could you share your name and a bit about your background working in academia?

So you’ve built a foundation in business and you’re interested in HR as a space where you can use those analytical and problem-solving skills. I’m curious — when you’re teaching a foundational HR concept to students for the first time, what’s one idea or practice you’re especially passionate about making clear?

That's a great question, Arjun. One foundation concept I am particularly passionate about is the idea that HR is not just about. Managing people but. Also about aligning people with organizational goals when I introduce HR to students. I emphasize that employees are not just resources. They are strategic assets. Practices like recruitment, performance management, and employee engagement should all be designed to support the overall business strategy. I also like to highlight the importance of empathy combined with data-driven decision making. Modern HR records balancing human understanding and analytics. It's improving. Employee satisfaction, reducing addression or enhancing productivity. If students can clearly understand this balance early on, they begin to see HR not as an administrative function, but as a key driven of organization success.

Okay, so you focus on helping students see HR as a strategic, people-centered function, not just admin work. Can you give me a concrete example of how you introduce that balance of empathy and analytics in your classroom — maybe a lesson, exercise, or case study that's worked well?

UH-1 exercise I have found very effective in uh case study UH. Attrition Analysis Activity I present students with a real world scenario. Where a company is facing I employee turnover, first I give them a datasets like. Exit survey results, absenteeism records, performance metrics, and engagement scores. Students work in groups. To analyze the data and identify patterns such as which departments have higher. Attrition or common reasons employees are leaving. Then I introduced a human side I asked them to. Tip into the role of an hour manager. And conduct A mock discussion. Or design and. Intervention plan. They need to consider questions like our employees feeling. Undervalued. Is there a lack of growth opportunities? Leadership impacting. Moral Finally, each group presents a solution. That combine both. Analytical insights. data-driven findings. Empathic Strategies. Like mentorship programs, flexible policies are better communication. This exercise helps students clearly see that effective HR decisions come from understanding both. Numbers and people. It also makes the learning interactive. And closely connected to real business challenges.

You ran a study on employee satisfaction at Kitchen Art Food Industries — can you walk me through how that research influenced your approach to teaching HR concepts, especially when explaining things like employee engagement or retention to your students?

Uh, my research on employee satisfaction at Kitchener Food Industries has a significant impact on. I approach teaching HR concepts. One key insight from the study?

Was that employee satisfaction is influenced.

So you found a key insight during your research on employee satisfaction at Kitchen Art Food Industries. Can you finish your thought and share what that main takeaway was, and how you bring it into your teaching?

Not just by salary, but by factors like recognition, work environment, communication and growth opportunities. I found that even small gaps in this areas could lead to. Disengagement and eventually higher. Attrition. When I teach concept like employee engagement and retention, I bring these findings into the classroom through real examples, for instance. Instead of explaining. Engagement only in theory. I show students of their lack of feedback or limited career progression directly affected employee morale in the organization I studied. I also encourage students to think. From both perspectives. Analytical side, human side, analytical side. Interpreting survey data. Identifying satisfaction trends. Human side understanding employee expectations and emotional drivers. This helps them see that improving retention is not just about policies, but about creating a workplace where employees feel valued and earned. Overall, all research allows me to make HR concepts more practical, relatable, and evidence based, which helps students connect. Theory with real organization challenges.

So your main takeaway from the Kitchen Art study was around what actually drives satisfaction. Go on—what did you find was the most influential factor, and how do you help students understand that in a practical classroom setting?

Alright, switching gears. Given your focus on employee engagement and satisfaction, where do you see the most fundable research directions emerging over the next few years? What kinds of grants or external funding would you target to make that work sustainable here?

In the area of employee engagement and satisfaction, I see several eye potential. And fundamental research direction emerging over the next few years, 1K area is the future of work, especially hybrid and remote work models organization are still trying to understand how to maintain. Engagement, productivity and well-being in flexible work environments. Another promising direction is people, analytics and AI in HR using data to predict. Attrition measure engagement. And personalize employee experts. Experiences. This aligns well with industries. Demand for evidence based HR practices. I also see strong potential in employee well-being and mentality. But. High pressure industries as well as diversity, equity. And inclusion. And its impact on engagement and organizational performance. In terms of funding, I could target a mix of government research grants, for example, projects related to workforce development, skill building and organization well-being. Industry collaboration where companies partner with. Academia to solve real HR challenges like retention and engagement consulting based art sponsor research projects where our. Organization Fund. Applied research with direct business impact. This combination ensures both academic contribution. And financial sustainability while also keeping. Seeing the research closely aligned with real world needs, ultimately my goal could be. To build long term partnerships that supports. Continuous research and. Practical impact.

You mentioned targeting a mix of government research grants and industry collaborations to fund this work. Realistically, how would you structure those partnerships to make sure the research stays aligned with both academic goals and the evolving needs of industry?

To ensure. Alignment between academic goals and industry needs. I could structure this partnership around the core. Creation models rather than. A1 sided arrangement. First, at the beginning of the project, I could work with industry partners to add jointly defined research problem, making sure it has both practical relevance for the organization and theoretical contribution for academia. Second, I could establish player governance and expectations, including timelines, deliver. Hubble's data. Protocols and. Publication rights this ensure transparency and protects academic independence while meeting industry objectives. Third, I could incorporate regular review checkpoints, for example, quarterly meetings where both Academy and industry stakehold. Chivalry with progress and refine the research direction. Based on emerging business needs, I also believe in maintaining a balance by designing projects with dual outputs, Academy outputs like journal publication and conference papers. Industry outputs like. Actionable reports, dashboards, or HR policy recommendation. Additionally, involving through internships or live projects can create value for both such students gain exposure and organization. Benefit from. Fresh insights.

Makes sense. Now, let's talk about teaching. Suppose you have to teach a large HR class—say, 200 students—and you can't use slides or traditional lecturing. How would you run a session that actually keeps those students engaged and helps them wrestle with the material?

If I were teaching a large HR class of 200 students without slides or traditional lecturing, I could focus on making the session highly interactive. I could. Begin with a tree. Thought provoking questions such as why employees leave despite good salaries to Spark. Curiosity. Then I'd use us. ThinkPad share approach where students reflect individually. Discuss in small groups and share insights with the class. To manage a large group I could divide. Students into clusters. It's exploring a different aspect, like leadership. Work culture or career code. I could also incorporate role plays or short simulations Allow. Allowing students to experience real HR situations. Additionally, quick polls and reflection prompts could keep energy levels high. I could conclude by connecting their ideas to. Core HR concept like. Engagement and retention, ensuring they link practical insights with theory while staying actively involved throughout the session.

So you’d split a big class into clusters, use real cases and role plays, and finish by linking their insights back to core HR ideas—definitely not just reading slides. How would you gauge if those students are actually engaging and learning during the session, especially the quieter ones?

In a large interactive class, I believe engagement should be continuously observed and measured, not assumed. First, I could use structured group task where each student has a small role. Such as? Presenter or observer, so even. KOIDA students have a different way. Participate. Second, I incorporate quick formative checks like asking students to write a one minute reflection or key take away. This helps me gauge individual. Understanding not just group output. I also use cold calling in a supporting way. Inviting quieter students to share simple observations rather than putting them. Under pressure. Additionally, I'd walk around the classroom during activities to observe group discussions. Nothing particip. Participation levels and the quality of. Bing exchange. Finally I could en. And with the short exit question or problem where students submit. Responses Hindi. Individually. This gave me clear insights into who. As understood the concept. This combination ensures that both engagement and learning are visible even for. Quieter students.

You mentioned setting up clear governance and regular checkpoints when collaborating with industry. Shifting focus a bit — beyond teaching and research, what role do you see yourself playing in department-level governance, like curriculum committees or program reviews?

I see department level governance as an important responsibility that. Compliments both teaching and research in roles like. Curriculum committees or program reviews I could aim to contribute by ensuring that the curriculum remains relevant in the. Align an academic. Rigorous. Given my interest in HRI, could. Advocate for integrating areas like people. Analytics, employee well-being and evolving workplace practices into the syllabus. I also believe in using a data informed approach, for example. Analyzing students feedback. Placement outcomes and industry inputs to continuously refine course structure and content.

At the same time I value. Collaboration. An inclusion in decision making I could actively engage with faculty members to bring. Diverse perspectives and build. Consciousness on. Key academic decisions. Overall, I see my role as someone who helps. Bridge academic standards fit industry expectations while contributing to continuous improvement in the department's programs and students outcomes.

So you see yourself contributing to curriculum updates and program reviews, especially by bringing in data from student feedback and placement outcomes. Can you give me one concrete example of how you've used that kind of data analysis to drive a curriculum change, or what you would do if you noticed a gap between industry needs and what the department was teaching?

You emphasized using student feedback and placement data to shape curriculum decisions, and you see yourself as someone who bridges academic standards with industry needs. Accreditation cycles can be pretty demanding — say you joined our department and found that outcome assessment data was inconsistent across courses. How would you approach fixing that?

I could approach in a systematic and collaborative way. Uh, first I could start with the. Diagnostic phase reviewing how different courses currently define and measure outcomes. To identify gaps and inconsistencies in assessment methods. Next, I could work with faculty to develop a common framework for outcome assessment. This could include. Clearly defined course outcomes align. Rubrics and standardized measurements tools. While still. Allowing flexibility for different teaching styles. Also focus on faculty alignment and support by organizing brief workshops or discussions. To ensure everyone understands the purpose and benefits of consistent outcome assessment, not just for. Accreditation, but for improving student learning. To ensure sustainability, I could introduce simple track. King system like share the templates or dashboards. And set up regular review checkpoints to monitor progress. Overall, my goal could be to create a. Process that is consistent, transparent and easy to implement. So it becomes part of regular academic practice rather than just an. Aggregation Recruitment.

You mentioned setting up a common framework with clear rubrics, and organizing workshops so faculty actually see the value of consistent outcome assessment. Walk me through a time you've had to get buy-in from colleagues who were resistant to standardization—how did you handle pushback?

To build trust, I suggest you have. Pilot approach where a small group voluntarily implemented the framework. We later share the results, including improved. Consistency and reduced. Grading disputes. By combining. Open dialogue, small wins and evidence of impact. I was able to gradually built by in and turn resistance into collaboration.

Alright, let's shift to something a bit trickier. Imagine a situation where a faculty member in your department asks you to co-sign a research paper, but when you review the data, you notice some gaps and inconsistencies that make you question its validity. However, your department is under pressure to improve its research output this year. How would you handle that?

That's definitely a challenging situation. But I believe it's important to handle it with both integrity and professionalism. My first step could be. To carefully review the concerns and then have a private, respectful conversation with a colleague, I could share my observation about the gaps or inconsistencies in the data. And seek clarification there may be valid. Explanations on missing content. If the. Concerns remain. I could clearly communicate that I am not comfortable Co signing the paper in its current form as maintaining research integrity is essential. Not just for me. Personally, but for the credibility of the department as well, at the same time, I could take a constructive approach, offering to help strengthen the work. Weather that involves improving the analysis, collecting additional data, or. Refining them methodology, while I understand the pressure to increase research output, I believe that. Quality and ethical standards should not be compromised. As that could have long term consequences for both the institution and individual. Involved so my approach could be to uphold integrity while still. Being supportive and solution oriented.

You made it clear you'd address questionable research data with direct but respectful dialogue, and refuse to co-sign unless the work meets ethical standards — but you'd still offer help to fix things. If the department head pushed back and insisted you sign to protect the department's publication record, how would you respond?

I understand the pressure. The department may be under. And I could approach the situation with respect for the. Context. However, I could still maintain that I cannot cosign work. That, I believe does not meet acceptable research standards. I could communicate this calmly and professionally. Emphasizing that my concern is not about resisting the departmental goals. But about protecting its long term credibility. And reputation. Pub publishing work with questionable data could lead to far more serious consequences, including reputational damage or. Retraction. Same time, I could remain solution oriented. I could offer to help strengthen the paper. Quickly weather by rechecking the data, improving the analysis, or suggesting alternative ways to meet publication hours. Such as? Accelerating other ongoing projects. If needed, I could also suggest seeking a third party review to answer objectivity. So while I could respectfully stand my ground on ethical standards, I could also actively support the department in finding responsible. Unsustainable ways to achieve its research goals.

Alright, turning to industry alignment for a moment. Given your background in HR, do you have any existing connections with companies or organizations that could translate into internship or placement opportunities for our students?

While I may not claim an extensive work network at this stage, I do have. Emerging connections with industries.

Industry professional. Approve my academic projects, research work, and interactions with HR. Practitioners. For instance, during my work on a employee satisfaction studies and related HR projects, I had opportunity to interact with professional scenario like. Recruitment. Employee engagement and HR operation. These connections can serve as a starting point for guest lectures, live projects, and potential internships. More importantly, I take a proactive approach to industry engagement I regularly use. Brought some like LinkedIn and professional networks to build a relationship with HR manages analogy. I also believe in strengthening. Ties to industry visits, collaborative projects, and alumni engagement. My focus could not be, not just on. Leveraging existing context, but on. Seriously expanding the network in a structured way that benefits students, internship and placement over time. So I see this. As both an existing base and a growing opportunity to create meaningful industrial linkages. For students.

Right, let's talk about your direct HR experience. Imagine you're tasked with overhauling a company's performance management system because managers say it's too time-consuming and employees feel it's not fair. What's the first thing you'd do to start fixing it?

You talked about building industry relationships through HR projects and engagement studies, but I need a more concrete example. Can you walk me through a specific situation where you directly improved employee relations or engagement—what exactly did you do, and what was the result?

Certainly, during my study on employee satisfaction at Kitchener Food Industries, I identify recurring issues related to low employee recognition and limited communication between supervisors and staff. Two others this I firstly conducted a detailed analysis of survey data on informal discussions. With employees to understand the root causes. Based on this, I proposed a few targeted interventions, such as introducing a simple monthly recognition program and encouraging supervisors to hold brief. Structure the weekly check insurance. Teams I also recommended implementing a feedback mechanism. Very important. Royce could share concerns anonymously, Which? Put surface issues that were previously unspoken. After these changes were introduced, there was a noticeable improvement in employee moral and. Participation levels. Informal feedback indicated that the employees felt more valued. Uh. And the organization reported their. Reduction in minor grievances and improved team communication. This experience reinforced my belief that even small, well designed HR interventions backed my data and empty. Can create meaningful improvements in engagement.

Alright, we're at the end of our conversation. Is there anything you'd like to ask about the role or the team before we wrap up?

Yes, can you explain me about the?

You asked me to explain, but I’m not sure what you’re referring to—did you want to know more about the role or the team? Let me know what you’d like clarified.

I want to know more about the role.

Sure. The HR Executive role focuses on core HR areas like performance management, compensation and benefits, and employee relations—especially in an academic setting. You’d be responsible for things like setting up and managing review processes, handling payroll and statutory compliance, and fostering a positive workplace culture. The role values strong communication skills, experience with HR software, and the ability to use data for decision making. There's also an emphasis on staying current with workplace trends and handling sensitive information with discretion. Alright, we're wrapping up. Is there anything else you'd like to ask about the role or the team?