Delivering a lecture on ‘Impact on Media Sector of Covid-19: Lockdown 4.0 and Unlock 1.0’, Mr. Samir Kapur - Vice President and Board of Directors, Adfactors PR shared insights about Indian viewership behaviour as seen during the lockdown. He averred how ‘Week 12’ in television registered many firsts including highest TV consumption ever in a week; News & Movies recorded an all-time high growth in viewership and Hindi movies surpassed Hindi GEC in viewership. ‘Week 13’ saw a surge in the viewership of TV by over 4% than the week before and overall growth of 43% over pre-Covid 19. /’India has been hooked on to TV during this time of Covid 19. The return of classics has helped DD National become the most watched channel in the country. This prompted even the GEC’s to go back to the classics and improve their viewership. DD National gained the most and was the maximum watched channel during the first week of the lockdown,” stated Mr. Kapur.
He also shared how late night and early morning viewing has grown during this period of lockdown. Telecast of old classics including Buniyaad, Shaktimaan, Circus, Byomkesh Bakshi, Dekh Bhai Dekh helped DD National increase its viewership manifold while movies clocked growth across all languages. “Premium audiences in megacities continues to register growth in viewership,” said Mr. Kapur. He further added that smartphone usage is inching towards four hours/day usage, a 12.5% increase over Pre-Covid times and over and above the time spent in front of television. He also stated how virtual education and virtual drives gained importance during this period of lockdown.
An industry lecture on "The logical way of living and living Beyond 9 AM and 6 PM" was delivered by Mr. Amit Gulati, Olx Cash My Car. Mr. Gulati shared logical mantras of life including the problem is the solution and advised students to understand the problem, then try to resolve it to find the solution. He further linked it to the burning question in the students mind these days about which company to apply for during the placement? He further explained logic number two which is remembering the core value in life that relates to the individual the most and they will assist you when a problem arises. He further averred that the third logic of life is to control the controllable and leave the rest to the Lord. Mr. Gulati added that the efforts of an individual can be controlled and not the output. He further averred that it was important to have a work life balance and living beyond 9AM to 6 PM. “You are defined by what you do before 9AM and after 6PM. Relations made outside work are true relations. And your network is your net worth,” shared Mr. Gulati.
A lecture was delivered by Prof. (Dr.) Balakrishnan Parasuraman, Faculty of Entrepreneurship & Business, University Malaysia Kelantan, Kelantan, Malaysia on ‘The Impact of Covid-19 on HR Strategies and Industrial Relations Practices’. Prof. Parasuraman talked about how COVID-19 has been affecting the world since last three months and has been affecting businesses by disrupting sales, marketing, challenges of working from home, challenges in HR & training of employees and connecting with the consumers. He further averred that the primary challenges being faced by a human resource professional during these times includes maintaining business continuity plans; managing remote work; manage flexible work engagements & employee communication; keep the productivity going and also keeping the employees engaged. Prof. Parasuraman stated that it was important to maintain regular contact with the employees to keep them apprised about the various guidelines for traveling employees; share updates from business leaders via email or video; offer education through health talks and share human resource directives related to the pandemic. Talking about the future oh HR & IR in post Covid-19, Prof. Parasuraman said that there will be focus on new recruitment strategy; majority of business will move to digital economy without any boundaries for business around the world; Working from home will be the new normal; traditional industries/sectors will be transformed into new digitization of economy under the IR 4.0; new performance appraisal and management will be introduced and most jobs will be decentralised.
A lecture by Mr. Nishit Saigal, Founder and Managing Director, S&S Super Brands was delivered on ‘Start Your Own Franchise Business’. While addressing Mr Saigal said that franchising industry in India is growing at 30-35% year on year basis and is pegged to touch $100 billion by 2024. “India is already the second largest franchise market in the world after the US, with over 4600 active franchisers and nearly 2 lac outlets operated by almost 1.7 lac franchises. During the last two years, multi-unit franchising has grown by over 36%. The franchising industry accounts for about 2% of national gross domestic product,” said Mr. Saigal.
He further averred that the job creation is estimated to be to the tune of 1.5M in the franchise industry in India. Almost 1000+ new retail brands adopt franchising every year. With India poised to become the third largest consumer market coupled with over 85% growth in numbers of high net worth investors, India is certainly becoming a franchise hot spot. He stated that there are many benefits of franchising like established brand name, standardized product and system, collective buying power, financial assistant, operation manuals provided, ongoing research and development etc. He also shared the 7 steps to buying the franchise including:
- Find a franchise concept, that fits your financial and personal aspirations.
- Review and determine your budget.
- Franchiser due diligence and FDD study.
- Training and support overview.
- Finding the right location
- Franchise agreement sign off.
- Effective Pre and post launch marketing.
A lecture by Mr Amit Rathi, Co-founder and Director, Edu stori was delivered on ‘The Road Ahead: Corporate Calling’. While addressing Mr Rathi said that Mr John Maxwell has given a very famous quote that success and unsuccessful people do not vary great in their ability, they vary in their desires to reach their potential. He also mentioned the difference between the campus and corporate culture whereas in campus fun and learning go hand in hand and on other side corporate work replaces fun most of the time, need extra effort to have fun. On the other hand classes in campus most of the time is informal settings whereas corporate goes with formal interaction and formal settings so always choose right words. During campus life enough time is available for self-development and harnessing your skills, in corporate informal settings only goes with friends and peers.
He also mentioned, seven keys point to be a successful person in corporate. PREPARE is the main key factor for success. in this context P stands for Prioritize, R stands for Respect, E stand for Enhance, P stands for Plan, A stands for Always, R stands for Realize and E stands for Energize. According to Mr. Rathi, you should prioritize your day, health, month, passion, routine and network. He also advised to respect other point of view and listen carefully. “Always maintain relationship with seniors, peers and juniors. Enhance your knowledge base, be patience and work upon your communication skills. Always take the lead. Work hard to harness your true potential,” stated Mr. Rathi.
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