In 2019, the Alumni Association of Institute of Business Management (IoBM) started a series of Guest Lessons named “Lessons for Leaders” for Corporate Executives, Alumni, Students & Faculty. On Saturday- February 29, 2020, the Alumni Association hosted its fourth Session on Learning Development – Opportunities & Solutions.
The event was attended by IoBM Alumni, Students and Corporate Senior Executives. Mr. Farhan Ahmed, President IoBM Alumni Association & Head of Corporate Communication, Standard Chartered Bank welcomed the guests and briefed the audience about the ongoing activities that are planned and currently happening within the alumni association and how the association aims to keep the alumni base engaged and promote networking within the alumni.
The session was divided into two parts, where the first one was a candid dialogue between Mr. Shakeel Mapara, Director HR & OD at Sanofi Pakistan and Ms. Asma Balal, Country Director, Marie Stopes Society. The conversation was about the career growth at the flattened structured organizations and about the challenges in nurturing the people at the organization and how to overcome them. Where Ms. Asma Balal mentioned that working on core competencies and skillsets of employees, encouraging and nurturing by calling in the best coaches also welcoming constructive feedback can help the organization to address these issues over time. The fact was highlighted that at Marie Stopes the workforce is diverse and its environment is respectful, safe, and nurturing for the employees with defined policies and values.
The second part of the session was a panel discussion where Mr. Mapara moderated a panel comprising of Mr. Kamran Siddique, IoBM Alumni & HR Consultant, Mr. Shah M Saad Husain, Chief HR Officer, Hascol Petroleum and Mr. Jalal Curmally, Head of HR, EFU Life Assurance. They all emphasized on the fact that the size of the budget is not the main issue, but what matters is an IDEA that is marketable. Learning and developing is the key to survive within the industry or market you are competing in. Economic conditions are just a catalyst. Mr. Jalal mentioned, “Graphs are steep, we have to remain ahead”. Whereas Mr. Shah Saad explained that “People die, organizations shouldn’t”.
The session was concluded with the Q&A Session, concluding remarks by Dr. Irfan Hyder, Rector, IoBM and Vote of Thanks by Mr. Talib Karim, President IoBM. The audience also visited the new Entrepreneurship and Management Excellence Center (EMEC) Facilities of IoBM. At IoBM the Alumni Association aims to keep organizing industry-led sessions with such intellectuals and inspiring personalities to have the latest industry trends insights.
