For the people

HELPING people to get where they are going to is not the sole province of a chauffeur, the road to self-actualisation and achievement is where the Human Resource Operative is the driver. So, if you are that innovative 'chauffeur' who thrives in an entrepreneurial and project-oriented environment, then a career in human resource development (HRD) is the one for you. With the employee-worker demographics undergoing a rapid change and management philosophies being redefined the interest in HRD will continue.

We have now lived for more than a decade with the concept of human resource development. When the concept first came to prominence it aroused a keen interest as it offered a novel approach to the whole question of employee-worker relation. While traditional personnel management is committed to the idea that employees' needs should be looked after, human resource management reflects a slightly different set of beliefs. HRD believes that the deploying of human resources with the right skills, at the right price is more important than just a patronising involvement in people's personal affairs.

Human resource management is all about managing people, the most important element in an organisation's success story.

Work

Today HR professionals are the "change" engineers in the corporate and industries they work in. They keep an active and productive team in place while saving the resources of the company they are working for. HR work includes developing job profiles, screening and interviewing candidates, administering and coordinating tests and also conducting background checks of prospective employees, if necessary. Training is another essential and mandatory aspect.

The induction of new employees, developmental training of mid and senior level managers and any other formal training that the organisation deems necessary is the HR department's job. The importance of this area of managenent can be gauged by the fact that today there are specialised HRD organisations that handle some of the major HR activities on consultancy basis.

Some of the traditional HR functions are staffing and recruitment and looking after the benefits and compensation of employees. To this have been added some new HR functions such as training, workforce planning,(like mediation) high-involvement work practices , knowledge management and continuous improvement programmes for the organisation.

Getting in

For most entry level positions employers look for MBA, or B.A. or B.S. graduates in Human Resources, Personnel Administration or Business Administration. Other related degrees that employers consider include Psychology, Sociology, Organisation Development , Social Work and Industrial Relations and Personal Management. Some additional course work in the form of diplomas in economics, statistics, public administration, labour laws, training and development and political science is always helpful too. Most of the universities in India offer these courses. The Xavier Labour Relations Institute - (XLRI) Jamshedpur, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) - Mumbai, the Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development, Pune ,and the IIMs are some of the premier institutes in the country which offer a degree as well as a diploma in human resource management.

If one does not possess the needed qualifications or the necessary work experience then one may have to start at the clerical or administrative level to learn the ropes of the job. As freshers in the HR department one's work would include conducting related research, compilation of company's HR publications, handling queries about the company's vision and mission statement etc. At a senior level HR executives need to know what competencies are required for each position and be able to train for these competencies and identify gaps if any.

Post it

One may get to work as a human resource specialist or perhaps as a recruiter depending on the size of the organisation and its H.R. department. Or one may be a generalist, responsible for dealing with various H.R. functional areas labour relations, training, benefits and compensation etc.

Some of the designations are:

Personnel Executive

Executive Personnel &

Administration,

Industrial Relations (IR)

Executive - HR,

Recruitment, Training

Senior Executives -

IR/HR/Recruitment/

Training Personnel Officer

Asst Manager - IR & Admin/

Training/Recruitment/

HR Manager &

Senior Manager -

IR & Admin/Training/

Recruitment/

HR Training Officer

Deputy General Manager -

IR & Admin/Recruitment/

Training/HR GM -

HR/Training

The department is usually headed by a Vice President HR or as in large organisations--Director-HR. The IT boom and the resultant new economy saw a slew of new designations like People Manager and Manager-Employee Relations. Besides routine HR work, a people manager is responsible for all the hiring, promotions, reviews and terminations within the organisations.

One of the challenges facing HR executives is putting the right people in the right jobs they love and where they can thrive. Often they have the unenviable task of hiring many people in a short span of time. Additionally, they are responsible for establishing and implementing policies and procedures, disciplining employees who violate these standards of conduct and handling layoffs and terminations.

Soft Skills

Professionals in the business of managing human resources must necessarily possess excellent written and oral communication skills, an ability to work with people with diverse cultural and educational background: they must be seen as generally affable personalities.

In HR departments in today's corporate world, computer skills are a must to manage information and the vast amounts of data. One is expected to be a good negotiator and an effective conflict resolver to mediate disputes between co-workers and between employees and their superiors.

Human resource development is one of the most important functions in an organisation. And the HR professionals are the link to locating and retaining the most important employer asset - skilled and qualified workers.

PADMA

padma.hyd@careercommunity.co.in