On Friday, the NUST Professional Development Centre, in cooperation with Graana, hosted a large networking event dubbed STIR – Socialise, Transform, Ignite, and Reskill – on the university’s Islamabad campus. The event brought together a large number of industry partners to network, share ideas and experiences, and foster a more inclusive growth environment.
Mr. Shafiq Akbar, Chairman of the IMARAT Group and CEO of Graana.com, was the chief guest at the event. Dr. Rizwan Riaz, NUST Pro-Rector Research, Innovation & Commercialisation; Mr. Sarwar Salahuddin, Jazz Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer; Ms. Musarat Jabeen, Executive Director of SECP; Ms. Fajer Rabia Pasha, Executive Director of PAGE; and Mr. Shehryar Ali Shah, Chief Digital Officer of Askari Bank were among those present. Mr. Muhammad Ali, Manager NUST PDC, chaired the conversation with the distinguished panellists on the “future of work and workplace.”
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Mr. Shafiq Akbar spoke at the event and explained the success approach his company has employed. “Every organisation runs on the PPP formula,” he explained, “which stands for each individual’s personality as well as the rules and practises that enhance an organization’s total production.” He claimed that in order to evaluate and reward each member of their team, they have developed a Growth Index (GI) system that maps their roles, potential, personality, and career growth plan to help them steer and achieve their objectives.
Dr. Rizwan Riaz told the audience that NUST provides a perfect platform for academia, government, business leaders, and service providers to meet for researching and accessing commercial prospects, based on the Penta Helix model for sustainable socioeconomic progress. He added NUST is committed to delivering advanced professional training opportunities to alter and excite the future workforce, emphasising that enterprises require trained and diversified human resources.
He urged industrial partners to strengthen mutually beneficial relationships for the benefit of society as a whole. He told the audience that, similar to its policy of providing a superior higher education experience, NUST wanted to broaden its services portfolio by expanding HR capacity-building training across the country.
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Ms. Sarwar Salahuddin emphasised the importance of adopting a hybrid working paradigm, stating that businesses must trust remote employees and build a framework for performance evaluation and management. Ms. Rabia emphasised the need of maintaining a work-life balance while working from home, particularly for working women. Mr. Shehyar discussed the digital future from a global viewpoint and how technology can be used to help organisations succeed. He presented some change and human resource management success stories with the audience.
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) established the NUST Professional Development Centre in 2007 to provide continuous education and professional development services to the industry, as well as training and courses for the skill development of its own faculty and employees.