Is HR Losing Its Appeal? Exploring Why Fewer B-School Grads Choose HR Over Other Fields

Greetings!!!

PFA Doc to know about the current trend of HR as a career option.

In essence, only 1.08 percent are opting for HR as their career choice from B-Schools!!!!

Is HR losing its charm? What could be the reason for its lagging behind compared to Marketing, Finance, and International Business (I am sure some people would not accept its lagging behind, but let us face the reality)? If you notice, the majority of HR professionals have not reached the top ladder like CEOs of companies, but definitely, professionals from other backgrounds have. Let's ask ourselves a few questions like:

- Do HR professionals really need an MBA?
- How is the market outside India? Is it the same?
- What could be the reasons for youngsters not opting for this career path?
- Where are we going wrong, and what could be the corrective measures?
- Can we change the scenario of HR? (People think that HR is a cool job with no amount of pressure)

Anticipating a real and serious discussion on this topic from all the Cite HR friends...

Note: It's a general discussion, not inviting any offense on this topic.

Food for thought... Think Think!!!!

Hi Padmini,

Thanks for the input.

However, personally, I do not think that HR is losing its value. Any organization - "Manufacturing" or "Services Sector" needs HR professionals.

Frankly speaking, a company would not flourish without HR.

Try asking yourself these questions:

1) Who will frame the policies of the organization?

2) Who will take care of the organization's "Statutory Compliances"?

3) Who will train the employees?

4) Who will take care to address the retention in the organization?

If you can start thinking, there will be numerous instances where you can find that an organization is nothing without the HR function.

Money should never be the first thing on an HR professional's mind. No doubt, the HR function may bring you less money, but as you flourish with knowledge, the opportunities also grow.

Moreover, one should always try to concentrate on improving the core skills and try learning more. For example, try learning more about ERP like SAP or Peoplesoft or attend programs and training on Six Sigma.

By evaluating and honing the skill sets from time to time, an HR professional would always be a winner. :)

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Please let me know if you need any further assistance or revisions.

Hey Ravi,

Thanks for the post. The idea behind my post is to gather the market scenario. Personally, I also feel HR has demand, but statistics have their own say. Hence, this post! Anyways, let's see what others have to say. Thank you!

Hello Padmini.P,

Please don't go by the statistics of Business Standard because statistics do not represent everything. You must also consider the background of those from IIM and other B-schools who choose to pursue Marketing or Finance degrees; many of them are the children of family-owned business backgrounds and have a strong interest in entrepreneurship.

Service-oriented individuals make up less than 10 percent of this group. HR is not the preferred choice for those from family-owned business backgrounds. Even in cases where there are exceptions, their focus lies in entering the market with commercial and marketing skills to promote independent business ventures. They are not inclined to invest time and money, waiting to gain sufficient experience to be eligible for competitive salaries post B-school graduation. This approach is neither economically viable nor a profitable proposition according to the theories of business-minded individuals.

Repeatedly engaging in activities that do not yield ROI within a year or two is a common trait among businessmen.

Regards,

Sawant

Hi Padmini,

It was really a nice post, and this is a fact with which we have to agree. It's all about stats. The demand for quality HR professionals is high in the industry, but the outputs from B-Schools are decreasing day by day. I have been visiting B-Schools for guest lectures and have also been part of their Admission interview panel (IMT Ghaziabad also...) and I clearly see the aspirants opting for Marketing, Finance, or International Business as their first choice. The reasons I could figure out from interactions at such platforms have been that these days MBA aspirants have high ambitions. They want to climb the success ladder quickly, and they perceive the steepness of the success ladder in HR as less. Compensation is the second factor for HR aspirants. The third factor is career options abroad (which are very limited compared to other fields). Another factor is, as pointed out, HR professionals becoming CEOs or MDs of companies, which is very rare.

These are just my observations, and there is no intention to hurt anyone's feelings. I am also an HR professional, and I love this profession.

Thanks,
Pawan

Hi Padmini,

Thanks for the article. I am sure alike you and me, more HR professionals have a same question.

A decade back HR was a Personnel management and a IR function, who use to deal with all the matters relating to procuring and maintenance of personnel. Traditionally Wage/Salary administration, Recruitment, record maintenance, employee welfare etc. Gradually the than called Personnel management has bloom into various functions like HRD, Organization Development, Training & Development, Recruitment, Employee Relations, Talent Acquisition and so on. Most of the companies still club all the functions in one single arena of HRD.

Manufacturing is no more only industry, but today every vertical (to name few Hospitality, IT, Construction, Education institutes) has its own set of HR function and demands a HR personnel too. Though HR have undergone a change in a recent time ; the function 99% (I believe) still demands the monotonous set of responsibilities, it is still a cost center since it does not earn; it does not charge the other departments for its services. Indian Industries are yet not ready to invest in HRD and see it as a support function and a cost centre since the ROI is not seen in terms of money. More of HR is a thank less job, demanding to handle humans in bulk.
I have only heard of many foreign companies who understand and appreciate the value of HR function as a Business partner and are ready to invest 12% of his profits in HR function. Here HRD is seen as a function of creating an environment of learning and translating the learning into performance, career & personality enhancement (few companies like Mercedes, GE). Nutshell Indian HR function is still to pass through many phases of its life cycle and is still in infant stage.

We see commonly HR people paid less compared to the IT graduates/post graduates and it still continues. No wonder today's graduates are more alert before choosing HR as a career due to various reasons mentioned by the other colleagues in this discussion. Today they are more easily access able to the information than few years back.

I don't think it's a matter of changing the scenario in HR, its foremost the matter of time. HR in itself is a huge field and needs to be understood at first place. I firmly believe there is lots of talent in the market which needs to be assembled at one place for a good distribution.

Will put my more thoughts after a while.

Cheers
Neelam

Hi,

HR may be paying well in modern organizations; however, if you look at the amount that an experienced Finance or Marketing person gets, an HR person probably earns comparatively less.

Besides, I have not heard of an HR person becoming a CEO or MD of an organization over a career span. Most CEOs or MDs were either from Finance, Marketing, or Technical backgrounds at the start of their careers.

Additionally, I personally think that while Marketing offers great scope for onsite opportunities, HR does not provide as much.

Probably these are the reasons why B-school graduates are not opting for HR. However, as your document shows, most companies do recruit HR professionals from Xavier's or TISS.

Regards,
Soma

In my view, too much importance should not be given to what youngsters choose as a career. At that age, they tend to be money-centric and choose to go wherever they feel the best commercial prospects are. It is only after functioning that one gets to know one's real working identity, and there are several people in the US itself who are dissatisfied with their work (http://mypyp.wordpress.com/). Even if you read the Training and Development magazine, the employee disengagement percentages are always high, which indicates a tremendous scope for HR.

In the last few years, because of fierce competition, the onus is on Talent management, which is what HR is all about anyway. If one reads the Talent management books by Americans, it clearly reveals that without the right Talent, it is impossible to perform in the long run, which calls for exceptional HR - strategically and operationally. There is actually plenty of scope, and the HR name should be changed to Talent management to give a more precise picture.

The Role of HR in Business Success

In my view, the secret behind every successful business is not only managing money and doing marketing. It also depends on how efficiently they are working towards their tasks. In many organizations, employees perform under stress and strain to achieve targets. If they work without these struggles, they will achieve more success. However, if we don't set targets, it indirectly causes a slowdown in the profits of the organization. So, we need targets but not stress.

All these things are possible with the right HR person. HR means not only recruiting, payroll, selection, industrial relations, etc. It is an all-encompassing function. HR is none other than an all-rounder. I hope people will realize it soon, and we will see more HR CEOs and board of directors. They will play key roles in the organization. Money is also a part of the job but not always a motivator. I believe HR professionals will earn more than financiers and marketers.

This is entirely my opinion, not based on a survey or any data. Please excuse any errors; it is just my strong belief.