HR panel discussion that was conducted on the 5th of September 2022 on account of Teachers’ Day Celebration.

IIIT Lucknow hosts HR Panel Discussion on “Role of Mentors in Bridging Academia & Industry Gap”

The Indian Institute of Information Technology Lucknow (IIITL) hosted a zestful HR Panel discussion on the evening of the Teacher’s Day, 5^th September 2022. The topic of the session was the “Role of Mentors in Bridging Academia & Industry Gap”. The program, organised by the institute’s Department of Management and Humanities in coordination with the students of the MBA (Digital Business), gave the student managers deep insights into the invaluable and irreplaceable role of mentors in bridging the gap between ‘acquired knowledge’ and ‘required knowledge’ (that which is demanded by today’s corporates and industries). The distinguished guests of honour comprised Mr. Rajeev Kumar, VP-HR at L&T Infotech Ltd., Mr. Prateek Kapoor, Director & Digital Transformation Ally at AON, Dr. Shashi Kant, Associate Director (North Zone) at Flipkart, Ms. Ekta Roy, Assistant Manager-Group Management Resource at RPG enterprises, and Ms. Monisha Verma, AVP-People & Culture at Niro.

The session threw light upon the role of the mentor in motivating a mentee to realise his/her full potential by opening up diverse perspectives and in assisting them to translate the theoretical/conceptual knowledge into the practical skills required in the workplace. ‘Empathy’ of the mentor and ‘Dedication’ of the mentee were highlighted as the key factors to a successful mentorship. Stressing upon the brilliant features available for students now with the New Education Policy 2020, Mr. Rajeev Kumar shared how one can leverage the benefits of pursuing academics in more than one discipline (say, a perfect blend of Science/ Engineering with Humanities/ Liberal Arts) which will help break monotony and facilitate a holistic learning opportunity. The discussion also helped reveal the importance of various other aspects relevant to bridging the gap, such as the necessity of having skill building & observational learning as an inevitable part of the curriculum, self-learning by leveraging the myriad online platforms we have today, collaborating with practitioners in the industry, joining different industry forums and developing strong networks therein, maintaining good links with the alumni, learning how to present the best version of oneself, and building connections with people who share similar interests. Mr. Prateek Kapoor called upon students to make the best use of collaborative and community-based learning which is indeed a substantial experiential learning opportunity that goes beyond the boundaries of classrooms and instils a spirit of endless learning.

The participants were also encouraged to proactively discover mentors in their field of interest and were provided various tips on how to utilise different digital channels for the same. The need for leaders to transition into mentoring roles within their organisations was also emphasised during the course of the discussion. The session concluded with a note on how one should be willing to unlearn and relearn through experiences in the industry, regardless of what and how much one has learnt in the past.