Business enterprises or industries may be similar in every respect, at the same location with equal investment and similar technology and machinery. But it can't be guaranteed that each of them will produce similar results. Because there is a human factor and these people can't be automated or mechanised like machines. Even if these people in different units are in the same age group and with same qualifications, it is not going to standardize the result as people differ in their motivation, engagement level and attitude. Contribution of this factor can't be neglected in the functioning of an enterprise. Other things being equal, an organization with better equipped HR, will produce better results. This is the power of HR.

Every entity be it in business, social work or education etc., to meet its objectives needs suitable manpower. Thus HR is an important component of every organization. To manage and take care of this HR, you also need HR and here comes the role of Human Resource Development and Management.

The term Human Resource Management has been in existence since many decades. Development was added to it a bit late. Today's HR education covers both Development and Management. However a number of experts believe that, the time has come to split HR into administrative and developmental. As you navigate through this article, you'll understand what both these mean.

The area of HR can be considered as a career, particularly by those who believe in this people power and are keen to leverage this power. Making a career in HR is simple and entry barriers are few.

Functions of HR
The focus of HR is on people and HR deals with various aspects related with people who are called employees in reference to organizations. With time, so many developments have taken place in HR practices and accordingly HR functions now include the following-

Finding the right fit:
Organizations need people for specific roles and have to be very careful that only people matching with these roles are taken. Recruitment and selection are primary functions of HR which are of utmost importance. Advertising positions (in newspapers/ magazines/on social media platforms etc.), inviting applications, shortlisting applicants and conducting the selection process are major steps involved in this function. It is a huge exercise, particularly in our country where usually the number of applicants is much more than the positions available.

Placement and promotion:
When a large number of people are selected, their proper placement is a daunting task. From time to time moving people from a place/position to other may also be a requirement. Conducting promotion processes is considered important to fulfil the growth aspirations of employees and meet organizational needs. Under this function, matters to be considered are-aspects to be taken into account for placement, criteria for promotion, conducting the promotion process Government and public sector organizations, big IT companies and many others conduct this exercise on a regular basis.

Performance assessment:
An employee is selected on the basis of her potential. Employers need to see if the performance is in line with expectations and organizational requirements. For this performance assessment is an obvious things. Under performance management employee and boss also sit together to chart out future plans and implementation strategies. Evaluation of employee performance has few important objectives-consider it as the basis for deciding increment, promotion and placement. Performance assessment matrix is dynamic and is linked with organizational goals and policies. It is also considered important to keep this process transparent.

Succession planning:
People leave but organizations continue. These day's employee turnover in organizations is on rise as more and more employees keep changing their jobs at shorter intervals, particularly in their early work lives. Considering this, it becomes necessary to estimate possible attrition and make sure that the positions getting vacant, are filled in time. Vacancies also arise as some of the employees retire, get promoted or meet untimely death. Succession planning takes care of this and also the requirement of more people as the organizational grows and expands. Succession planning too is an ongoing exercise.

Employee relations:
Also known as industrial relations, this function is meant to ensure that the relations between employer and employees are cordial as well as productive and employee grievances are heard and addressed, as needed. Workers participation in management has been an idea widely followed in progressive organizations. Good employee relations lead to better performance and respect for the organization. There is more trust in the working environment and employee feel encouraged to give their best to their organization. This function also keeps a watch that employees follow proper discipline and employee misconducts are suitably dealt with.

Human Resource Management System:
HRMS is the short form for Human Resource Management System. We all know about Management Information System (MIS). HRMS can be considered as an integrated programme to generate HR related data and reports. It is also an online system to facilitate employees to apply for leave, submit claims, and update their personal data, etc. On one hand HRMS provides all details of individual employees, on the other organization may find cumulative figures like number of employees in a particular age group, number of employees retiring in a particular month, or training details for employees at one place.

Employer branding and social media:
In this competitive era, organizations want to be good and seen as good. Considering how social media is catching up, particularly with younger generation, organizations want to make their presence felt in social media which now forms a major component of employer branding. However employer branding doesn't mean just that. Through external and internal communication, organizations want to project themselves as employer of choice or preferred employer. The strategies for this have to be adopted both online and off line. Intranet in an organization is also meant to contribute towards that.

Compensation and rewards:
A job offer is evaluated on many parameters of which one is compensation and rewards. Under this the challenge is to decide compensation structure for employees at different levels. In government and public sector things are standardized and fixed to a large extent. Private sector usually adopts flexibility in such matters and has come with concepts like variable pay, performance based pay etc. So two employees joining together for similar roles, may be offered different compensation structure. Salary negotiation, deciding joining bonus, increments, rewards, performance bonus etc. comes under this function.

Learning and development:
Learning and development comes under capacity building. Organizations recruit freshers and experienced people both. Freshers, in most cases, need to be provided extensive training to understand organizations systems and processes as well as its working. Training programmes are also conducted to develop managerial and leadership skills. Most of the big organizations have their own inhouse training facilities. However in many cases employees are nominated to external training programmes also. Coaching, mentoring is also covered under learning and development function. More and more organizations are now going for e-learning, mobile learning and experiential learning.

People analytics:
People or HR analytics is relatively a new function and is drawing a lot of interest. Under this function HR data is put to optimum use to observe trends, generate meaningful information and make valuable predictions. Various programmes and software help in this function. Analytics in HR may be used to foresee attrition, assess future manpower requirements and decide best combinations of skills, qualifications and talent for a particular role. People analytics takes help of data science.

Requirements for a career in HR To make a proper career in HR, you need to have a postgraduate qualification in this area. However those with graduation in management [Bachelors in Business Studies (BMS)/Administration (BBA)] may get employed in HR firms/ recruitment agencies in junior roles.

As regards postgraduation, any of the following qualifications can be of use- MBA/MMS with specialization in HR Postgraduate Diploma in Management with specialization in HR Master of Human Resource Development/Management Master of Social Work (MSW) M.A. in Personal Management and Industrial Relations M.A. in Industrial Psychology.

Graduates from any discipline are usually allowed to enrol for above courses. However eligibility criteria and selection process may vary from institute to institute and from course to course. For most of these, selection is based on performance in a management entrance test, group discussion and personal interview. The course duration is two years.One year diploma courses doesn't carry as much value as two year full time course. Government departments, public sector organizations/banks/insurance companies don't accept a course of less than two years.

List of institutes offering the above courses is not given here for the simple reason that every university/ university having a department/faculty of management studies provide one or more of the above courses. It is your choice if you want to pursue your studies from a nearby institute or willing to do it from any good institute anywhere.

Apart from IIMs, Xavier Labour Relations Institute, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Faculty of Management studies, University of Delhi are well known names for pursuing a course in HR. For government / public sector jobs all UGC/AICTE recognised degree are accepted.

Those interested to enter the training domain may consider enrolling for Diploma in Training and Development from the Indian Society for Training and Development, New Delhi. In few cases a degree in law adds value for a career in HR Programme.

Work opportunities
There are many ways in which working in HR can be looked at. You may work in an organization to manage its HR. Every organization has a Human Resource department, you may work in some HR firm or further the cause of HR through teaching or training etc.

Public sector: All public sector organizations in the business of power, petroleum, gas, steel, banking, insurance, tourism, finance, electricity etc. employ freshers and experienced people for their HR function. One set of public sector companies recruit HR freshers as management/executive trainee. Now few PSUs shortlist applicants on the basis of their UGC-NET score. In the final year of your HR course, you may consider appearing in UGC-NET to apply to these PSUs.

Private sector: A large number of big private companies in India are involved in service and manufacturing etc. Banks, insurance, mutual fund, travel, fast moving consumer goods, information technology, e- commerce, automobile, hospitality are some examples.

Recruitment agencies: There are small, medium and large agencies involved in recruitment. As a matter of fact, a large number of HR freshers begin their career by getting employed in these recruitment agencies which may differ in their specializations. Some deal with technical manpower, some spark alive in today's youth and inspires them to be ready for a vibrant future. In its associated segments such as films, television, advertising, print and digital, the industry provides countless job opportunities to students. They have the advantage to explore and choose from various divisions of the industry and build careers in radio, television, anchoring, advertising, audio engineering, script writing, animation, gaming, VFX and more.

Media & Entertainment Skills Council (MESC), a sector skill council under National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has a huge role to play in accelerating the growth of the sector and in creating a talent pool of skilled aspirants who receive the finest skillbased education, qualification packs and job opportunities with the launch of Creative Warrior Programs.

Creative Warriors Programs are industry-led training programs supported by live projects and apprenticeship opportunities, which ensure candidates are industry-ready when they finish their education. These programs are focused on the pursuit of advancement and enhancement of Media and Entertainment courses in coordination with industry leaders. Creative Warrior Programs aim to provide a platform leading to high wage-based employability and exciting careers for entrepreneurship in the sector. A wide array of courses for all sub-sectors of the M&E Industry are on offer for every individual at reasonable cost at www.creativewarriors.co.in.

Under the Government's Skill India Mission, MESC offers 64 job roles (or qualification packs) for various subsectors along with many other short-term and long-term courses offering certification. These courses have been developed to keep pace with the future trends and the jobs that are in demand. All futuristic programs offered by under the Skill India Mission enhance the areas of opportunities and increases the pay scale of candidates. The skills expected to be imbibed by the media professionals are to design, advertise, promote and retain the clientele. Thus, the programs in the field of animation, augmented reality, virtual reality, visual effects, photography, social media, and digital media will rule the market in the years to come.

The immense career prospects associated with the media and entertainment industry ensure that a candidate continues to learn at every step of his journey. This not only offers a promising future but also provides immense creative satisfaction to an individual who has the freedom to play with his creativity for building something new.

With fruitful entrepreneurship opportunities and job prospects, M&E sector also offers the chance to be associated with the government sector. Even when most of the media organisations in India are in the private sector, there are some that are associated with the government. The government media units in which one can look for jobs are Akashvani (All India Radio), Doordarshan, Direct to Home, Press Information Bureau (PIB), Press Council of India, Song and Drama Division, Film Division and National Film Archive of India. Besides these, media companies, industrial houses and start-ups backed by venture money are also launching newspapers, magazines and television channels providing additional career opportunities to the candidates.

Social media has become an essential part of everyone's life. Jobs in social media marketing and digital marketing are considered prestigious roles in today's new era. Brands depend on their digital marketing and social media teams for product sales and customer satisfaction. Moreover, with the advent of social media, some of the highest salaried jobs are associated with the sector. The scope for receiving jobs in the domain of online marketing are immense, which can be defined by the success of the most popular social networking websites, including Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest and more. These networking sites are changing the traditional space into a vigorous and a dynamic market place with increase in marketing and advertising endeavours.

The M&E Skills Council is not only providing competent education but ensuring that the right candidate gets hired by a suitable employer. To continue the momentum, MESC is going to conduct a job fair for aspirants with the best-in-class employers of M&E industry. Yes, you read that right - a virtual job fair where a candidate will get screened, interviewed and are selected basis his or her merit over a virtual meeting. Selected candidates will receive an appointment letter and the date of joining will be decided on mutual consent between the employer and employee. Getting the right job from the ease of being at your home was never this easy. The virtual job fair by MESC will be organized in November and registrations are already open. You can share your resume at http://mesc india.org/mescjobfair/

No matter if you are a student or an employee, MESC has the Creative Warriors Programs to train and upskill you as per the current and future needs of the industry, so that you may find better opportunities for your bright future.

- Employment News
Arti S
31-10-2020