A Fitting Tribute
The compilation of essays is inspirational and topical for students as well as practitioners of HR.
- Jul 23, 2016,
- Updated Jul 27, 2016 9:44 AM IST
An author of more than 30 books, Udai Pareek is the man credited with bringing in concepts such as HRD (human resource development) and OD (organisational development) to India. His work on behavioural sciences, human resources development, institution building and social development has been seminal. Hence, it is only fitting that in his memory a collection of essays by scholars, CEOs and practitioners from all over the world has been published.
All students of HR would have some personal memories associated with Pareek's work. My early memories revolve around walking through the halls of my city library looking for a highly recommended book titled Training Instruments in HRD and OD. I remember being first sceptical, then bewildered, and finally awed by the book when I realised that something as ambiguous as culture could be scientifically categorised and measured.
The essays are divided into three sections - HRD & OD, Institution Building, and Social Development and Nation Building. Particularly insightful are essays by giants in the domain of institution building such as Prof. Abad Ahmad and Somnath Chattopadhyay reflecting on their struggles, dilemmas and learnings from having set up institutes of repute such as the South Campus of Delhi University and ISABS. Practising consultants can draw a lot of insight from the essay titled 'HR as a catalyst for change management' by Anil Sachdev and team. Anil Khandelwal, co-author of the book, in his essay, shares unique insights about 'CEO as a change agent' in a large and complex business transformation led by him at Bank of Baroda. He reflects on how having been a part of the personnel department let him develop deep insights about union issues at the bank and successfully resolve complex union issues later as the CEO. Aquil Busrai, in his piece, laments about the dismal state of industry-academic partnership in India and highlights how to improve it.
This is a timely book dealing with, perhaps, some of the most pressing issues being faced in India today -building and sustaining institutions and organisations of excellence in an environment of mediocrity. One of the answers lies in understanding and enhancing 'human processes' to maximise the discovery of talent and facilitate its impact on individuals, groups, organisations and institutions. This is the theme that Udai Pareek has always worked for and will continue to inspire many others.
The reviewer is CEO of SHRM India
An author of more than 30 books, Udai Pareek is the man credited with bringing in concepts such as HRD (human resource development) and OD (organisational development) to India. His work on behavioural sciences, human resources development, institution building and social development has been seminal. Hence, it is only fitting that in his memory a collection of essays by scholars, CEOs and practitioners from all over the world has been published.
All students of HR would have some personal memories associated with Pareek's work. My early memories revolve around walking through the halls of my city library looking for a highly recommended book titled Training Instruments in HRD and OD. I remember being first sceptical, then bewildered, and finally awed by the book when I realised that something as ambiguous as culture could be scientifically categorised and measured.
The essays are divided into three sections - HRD & OD, Institution Building, and Social Development and Nation Building. Particularly insightful are essays by giants in the domain of institution building such as Prof. Abad Ahmad and Somnath Chattopadhyay reflecting on their struggles, dilemmas and learnings from having set up institutes of repute such as the South Campus of Delhi University and ISABS. Practising consultants can draw a lot of insight from the essay titled 'HR as a catalyst for change management' by Anil Sachdev and team. Anil Khandelwal, co-author of the book, in his essay, shares unique insights about 'CEO as a change agent' in a large and complex business transformation led by him at Bank of Baroda. He reflects on how having been a part of the personnel department let him develop deep insights about union issues at the bank and successfully resolve complex union issues later as the CEO. Aquil Busrai, in his piece, laments about the dismal state of industry-academic partnership in India and highlights how to improve it.
This is a timely book dealing with, perhaps, some of the most pressing issues being faced in India today -building and sustaining institutions and organisations of excellence in an environment of mediocrity. One of the answers lies in understanding and enhancing 'human processes' to maximise the discovery of talent and facilitate its impact on individuals, groups, organisations and institutions. This is the theme that Udai Pareek has always worked for and will continue to inspire many others.
The reviewer is CEO of SHRM India