Middle East, South Asia learning summit termed a memorable experience for participants

Middle East and South Asia Learning summit took place at a local hotel recently. Theme of this day long summit is Incorporating Lasting Agility through Learning and OD. Nutshell Forum and Bank Alfalah Limited in Strategic Partnership with Pakistan Society for Human Resource Management organised this summit which was attended by large number of professionals.
Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, CEO, Nutshell Forum & Asian HRM Network while commenting about the summit said "Pakistan is passing through a phase where most of the professionals working in different fields are contemplating the fact that opportunities are not available for their professional growth and they have to learn most traits once they start jobs and it's a lengthy process for learning. To all those professionals who are keen to enhance their learning process, this summit is an ideal opportunity to learn from the experience of national and international speakers and implement that learning in different operations of their respective organisations."
He further said "We are thankful for the response we get from the corporate world of Lahore. The trust imposed by you on me and my organisation give me lot of confidence and I will surely organise more such summits and seminars for you in coming months."
Sirajuddin Aziz, President, Bank Al Falah Limited was the conference chairman. He gave a thought provoking presentation on 'Incorporating Lasting Agility through Learning and OD'. In his address to the participants, Aziz said " In this modern age of fierce competition and short-lived opportunities, an organisation needs to be always ready to imbibe any change that it may be faced with. An organisation should be flexible and able to adjust to the need of such times which can be best done through learning and by introducing culture of organisational development."
Keynote speaker, Dr Aamir Matin, Country General Manager, CISCO Pakistan, spoke on the topic of Moving from Transactional to Transformational Learning. International keynote speaker, Dr David A Caroll took over from there, speaking diligently and passionately on the topic of Developing Leadership capability from Within. He questioned what organisations believe in more while building bench strength within their companies - Competence or Character? In his book both go together and are like brother and sister - every company needs a healthy balance of both. He stressed on it being all about credibility when it comes to keeping talent. Credibility, he said, comes from saying and also doing what you promise and the key ingredients are competence and character with a pinch of intent, which in essence is 'what you mean'. Integrity, another added spice the recipe, is about ethics, honesty, and principles. In conclusion, he stated that people are usually hired for their competence, but while this skill may get them the job, character blemishes may eventually put them out of business. Ultimately, for an employment brand to reflect a true "employer of choice" culture, character and integrity, more so of the senior team, are critical.
Panel discussion on 'The Future of Organisation Development' also took place during the summit. Ali Ahmed Khan, Managing Director, Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan, Kalim A. Siddiqui, President, Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited, Asma Bajawa, Managing Director, PeopleFirst, UAE, Saad Waraich, Country Director, Nokia Siemens Network, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Zafar Aziz Osmani, Advisor, Institute of Business Management, Haroon Waheed, President, Pakistan Society for Human Resource Management and Director HR, Unilever Pakistan Limited were the panellist at this discussion.
This summit provided a valuable opportunity for participants to learn from the experience of all speakers and to become better professionals in their present and future careers. In Sirajuddin Aziz's words - "The 'Middle East South Asian - Learning and Organisation Development Summit' provided the perfect opportunity for dissemination of knowledge and the chance to laud and adopt, innovative and effective practices".-PR