Learning gaps in HR Higher Education: A first hand experience
B-Schools that are based in the big metros often have a big advantage. They are close to industrial organizations and the MBA students get a good exposure. But those in the other towns lack this exposure and this leads to learning gaps. This article is an attempt to discuss one such learning gap from my recent real world., a first-hand experience.
experience
Introduction
A couple of days ago, I was invited to address the MBA students in the second year, in a private college in one medium town of a Southern State, bordering Tamil Nadu. This town is a district headquarters town and the college is a big engineering college, that has a fairly good MBA, affiliated with the particular State Technological University. Over the years, the MBA is reputed to be the best in the town, as there are at least ten different such colleges offering the course.
The topic for my guest lecture was "HR: the New Latest Developments and Impact on Careers". It was a four-hour session, and it had a small case study on the Mahindra&Mahindra group as well. The identified gaps in learning HR, as a field of specialization, were related to a) Lack of knowledge of amendments to labor laws b) Lack of knowledge of developments in Industrial relations c) Lack of knowledge of modern HR concepts, and d) Lack of Knowledge of Career Implications. Lack of knowledge of amendments to labor laws
It was shocking that though the teachers had talked about the New Industrial Relations code, the students lacked deep knowledge of the amendments. They were also unaware of the stand of the various State Governments and the issues related to the implementation of the amended provisions. When the feedback from the teachers was obtained, they complained that the students would always seek knowledge only from an examination point of view. They would depend on bazaar guides.
HR is not a specialization where theoretical knowledge is enough. However, even this was found to be lacking. There were two students who always answered any question. These were the proactive students, who seemed to read a lot and also get some idea of what happens in the industry. However, such students were very rare indeed. My feedback, about this learning gap, was given to the teachers. Lack of knowledge of developments in Industrial relations
The same two students quoted above had some knowledge of disinvestment and the things that are happening to a company like BSNL. For, only such comprehensive knowledge can through comprehensive light on industrial relations as they applies to various sectors. For example, what the trade unions in the Railways are saying about the introduction of trains such as the Vande Bharat trains, that are seeking to become private sector trains, as they are operated and maintained by IRCTC, a private organization. The operation may still be in the hands of the Railways, but the Management is not. The special pricing is also totally different.
Hence, only such comprehensive knowledge can help the student give answers in an interview. And MBA students need to compulsorily have such comprehensive knowledge, anyway. Furthermore, it is also essential to know how the famous Voluntary Retirement Schemes pan out and so on. The feedback was given to the teachers to improve the input on such comprehensive knowledge, always floating around for free. Lack of knowledge of modern HR concepts
Some ten students had some basic knowledge about a concept such as 360-degree appraisal. However, when asked about the application of this concept in the Indian corporate sector, there was absolutely no response. A good number of HR conferences had already been conducted in recent years and a number of real-world experiences have been documented. It is absolutely essential that such knowledge is acquired by the students.
Furthermore, they were totally unaware of recent developments like HR Analytics. The field of Strategic Human Resources Management has too many developments to talk about. The students were found to lack knowledge of most modern developments in HR. The teachers were given feedback on how to address this learning gap after the session was over when the Management Committee members were present. Lack of Knowledge of Career Implications
It becomes absolutely essential to understand how to prepare oneself for the challenges in any profession. HR is no exception and the demands in terms of practical knowledge are so important. One needs total experience and should burn his or her teeth in the hard-core industrial relations field as well.
The keen and insatiable urge to acquire knowledge outside the framework of the syllabus would automatically show up in terms of practical knowledge and skill sets that one needs to acquire. For example, even a basic understanding of the implementation of Performance Management, through case studies published in any book, will through up a deep understanding of the different "what if" scenarios when the student attends his internship. Even if he or she is not able to see any practical implementation, as everything is secret, he or she should indeed interact with the managers to understand the practical context of the organizational climate and personal opinions about how the particular manager would assess some subordinates. Only when the managers from the field keep on addressing the students, they will get some exposure in this regard.
This learning gap was clearly identified and feedback was given to the teachers. Conclusion
HR is a very dynamic field. Learning is always related to practice. Some learning gaps, as identified through a first-hand recent experience, have been discussed above. My feedback to the concerned would possibly address the learning gaps to some extent.
This is very useful and necessary knowledge for all HR students. Manpower is very important to any organisation and the first among the 4 Ms that are required. The machine will work as per the program as they don't have their own brains. But getting work done by human beings is very difficult as they will have their own thoughts and feelings. So keeping them on track and training them suitably to the requirement of the organisation is the function of the HR department.
An HR manager should have a grip on all the labour laws and should be aware of the changes that are taking place and how best those changed laws can be implemented without sacrificing the interest. The HR students should understand the latest concepts in tuning manpower. An MBA HR should go for an internship to big organisations where good HR practices are in force so that they will understand the application part of the subject what they studied,