India has arrived, Bharat is yet to

A 35 year old HR professional from Jamshedpur had taken a 27 hour train to reach Mumbai for the HR40under40 Masterclass in 2019. His company had not sponsored his participation nor his travel expenses.

A 32 year old HR manager had booked her train from Rajkot to Mumbai for the same Masterclass. But her leave was canceled at the last minute.

In our years of running HR40under40, many such stories have emerged where people have struggled to participate because of constraints on their time, resources and location. Many didn’t even apply just because they were in far flung parts of the country where we didn’t conduct the Masterclasses that were part of the HR40under40 Future HR Leader Certification.

I have always felt that we couldn’t be considerate and inclusive of HR professionals who come from parts of the country beyond the metros. The pandemic broke multiple myths & allowed us to experiment in the 4th edition of HR40under40. We ran Masterclasses interspersed with Assessments & Digital Learning – fully online. And we got great feedback! 

So, this year I challenged the team to expand the gamut of HR40under40 to the remotest part of the country. And I am happy that the program team of HR40under40 agreed 🙂 We are already seeing 25% of the registrations roll in from non-metro cities – from Bhuj to Kakinada and Rudrapur!

I truly believe that while India has arrived, Bharat is yet to. There’s a lot of talent that resides in Bharat, and if we can give them exposure to the latest practices in HR, I feel it will make a long lasting impact.

I welcome your ideas on how to make the HR40under40 more inclusive and more impactful for the broader HR fraternity in India this year. We start the journey on December 3rd and close the registrations by November 20th.

On that note, wishing you a happy and inclusive Diwali!