Feeling Stuck in HR? Is Going Back to School After 10 Years the Right Move?

Hello Everyone,

Solutions for Career Stagnation in the Human Resource Field

1. What are the solutions for career stagnation in the Human Resource field? Is it relevant to go back to education after 9 to 10 years of working experience in HR?

Mileage from HR-Related Education in India and Abroad

2. What kind of mileage can one expect by undergoing HR-related education in India and abroad?

Need your inputs on this.

Dear Franidhar,

The replies to your questions are as below:

Solutions for Career Stagnation in the Human Resource Field

1. What are the solutions for career stagnation in the Human Resource field? Is it relevant to pursue education after 9 to 10 years of working experience in HR?

Reply: The stagnation or growth of an HR professional will vary from one industry to another, one company to another, and of course, one individual to another. There cannot be a generalization. Career growth depends on education, willingness to work hard, a learning attitude, and other factors. Additional requirements include being diplomatic, opportunistic, manipulative, ingratiatory behavior, and so on.

Yes, it is relevant to pursue education after 9 or 10 years of working experience in HR. However, after completing a course, the HR professional should strive to apply the knowledge in their work and seek opportunities to do so.

Leverage from HR-Related Education in India and Abroad

2. What kind of leverage can one expect by undergoing HR-related education in India and abroad?

Reply: You probably meant to say "leverage" and not "mileage." Qualifications in a specific field enhance the knowledge base. However, merely possessing a qualification is not sufficient. That qualification should contribute to the maturity of the HR professional. Otherwise, there are cases where individuals hold an MBA in HR but remain immature. Therefore, the leverage depends on the individual's maturity.

Leverage also relies on the ability to present knowledge effectively. The capability to communicate and express oneself impacts this. Many MBA (HR) holders struggle with poor communication, which diminishes their market value.

All the best!

Dinesh Divekar

My take on your queries is:

Career stagnation in HR

Career stagnation in the HR function or any other function arises when one remains content to limit oneself to routine tasks in the same old manner repeated over time. Take any field in HR, like recruitment, HRD, compensation patterns, employee assessment, welfare, grievance management, discipline management, etc. There are a lot of innovations occurring, and in the last decade, there has been a sea change. As an HR professional, one has to keep abreast of the changes and innovate practices to suit your requirements. The pandemic time has compelled all of us to think differently and bring new methods of managing human resources. That is the challenge, so don't rest on the tried and tested methods of yesteryears. Constantly update your knowledge through dedicated studies, and Citehr offers you enough learning opportunities.

Importance of professional education

It is always necessary to be professionally educated, whether in India or abroad. However, the Indian context differs widely from the international context, so it is all the more necessary to update knowledge in the Indian context.

As far as my personal opinion is, there is no limitation for career growth achievements for any individual. As rightly said by Mr. Dinesh Divekar, "merely having a qualification is not sufficient. That qualification should make the HR professional mature. Otherwise, we have cases wherein people are MBA (HR), but they remain immature. Therefore, leverage depends on the maturity of the individual." The HR job role in any organization is everywhere.

The above somewhat depends on whether you are a "BIG FISH in a small pond or SMALL FISH in a big pond." The opportunities are everywhere. Besides the normal HR functions, HR can contribute a lot to Purchase, Production, Sales, Cost Reduction, and even Sales and Marketing, provided you have lateral thinking and have established your own credentials/identity in the organization. I know for certain a young man who entered as a "Welfare Officer," became a Plant in charge, and later became Director on the board.

This is basically based on how you react to any situation in the organization and your determination that the same can be achieved. Every question/query/problem, you can contribute, and never say "NO"/NOT possible, or Not connected with it. If you observe with data, there are/will be several alternatives/ways to achieve/overcome it, and select the best suitable, and convince the Management to implement it. Do not be afraid of failures. Establish your own credentials/identity in the organization.

Dear Colleague,

This important discussion is very useful for many HR practitioners in the present scenario.

Career Stagnation

"Career Stagnation" is common in Government, Non-Government, PSU, Private, Education, and in so many fields. It is an inevitable part of every professional's life. But it is possible to overcome this situation provided we are keen and really learning.

Stagnation may be a lack of growth, only a very nominal increase in salary levels, the same role for many years, no elevations, no new challenging roles, the repetitive nature of the job, the same organization, the same department, the same function, the same... same... etc.

I would like to quote a few insights in addition to what our learned members have already shared in their discussion.

Main Causes of Career Stagnation

Mainly, this "CAREER STAGNATION" is happening due to:

1. Individual Factors like Lack of updated skills in the Talent
2. Organizational Factors like Lack of providing Opportunities to its talents to grow
3. Technological Factors to keep moving at the fast pace of changing tech in every field
4. Environmental Factors which are external to Individuals and Organizations like slowdowns, fast-moving changes in socioeconomic factors.

In fields like IT and Medical, for example, rapid developments happen every day. We all know that a Software Engineer becomes obsolete very quickly unless they pick up new languages and new developments every minute. A Medical Professional, if they stop learning once they come out of college, will quickly become obsolete.

Even materialistic items like Mobile Phones, TVs, Refrigerators, and Automobiles, workplaces are continuously undergoing a BIG CHANGE every minute as we know. Who knows the ONLINE PLATFORMS, SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS, GOOGLE PAY, PAYTM, PHONEPEE, FOOD DELIVERY PORTALS, UBER, SWIGGY, OLA, and so on. Even the common man is able to accommodate and learn fast to adapt to the situation and use these services which are inseparable in common life.

Those who are stagnating are those who willingly refuse or are unwilling to learn. There is a saying that "In the present century, the most illiterate person is the one who STOPS LEARNING."

Hence, "Stagnation" happens when the "SPEED" is low with which one is coping up and picking up the new learning that happens around. If the SPEED is high and instant with Willingness to CHANGE, then there is a very remote possibility for STAGNATION. Whether we are in HR, Finance, Operations, whatsoever, this is a fact.

Stagnation in HR

Mainly, Stagnation in HR happens when we do the same type of role over a period and are not able to explore different segments due to factors like UNWILLINGNESS TO COME OUT OF THE COMFORT ZONE, UNWILLINGNESS TO CHANGE, LACK OF CHANCE IN THE ORGANIZATION, and so on. Mainly, TECHNOLOGY is changing, and when we are behind in the race in learning NEW TECHNOLOGY used in HR, we become stagnant very quickly and also become OBSOLETE.

Solutions for Career Stagnation in HR

1. What are the solutions for Career Stagnation in the Human Resource field? Is it relevant to pursue education after 9 to 10 years of working experience in HR?

How can we overcome career stagnation? By focusing on - What are the external demands in Skillset and What is the internal skill the person possesses. What the organizations expect and What are the Key skills one possesses. If this is mapped, what are the gaps? If there are identified NEEDS Vs. REQUIREMENTS, will merely adding qualifications help or should one undergo any professional SKILL TRAINING/CERTIFICATION further? Hence, the suggestions are:

- Come out of the Comfort Zone
- Take moderate Risks in Career
- Check the possibility of Growth in the same organization. If the answer is NO, then move to a suitable organization outside
- Add your SKILLS and NOT QUALIFICATIONS
- Overcome Resistance to Change
- Look for each new opportunity and volunteer to take it up
- Take part on your own in the new projects/processes/changes happening around in your organization as well as externally
- Assess whether there are enough growth opportunities available in the Organization or the person has to look outside/external organizations to move ahead in their career.

Mileage from HR-related Education

2. What kind of mileage can one expect by undergoing HR-related education in India and abroad?

I would like to mention that a Doctor who needs to become a Surgeon cannot become an expert if they add another qualification like an MS from London alone. However, definitely, obtaining an MS will add weightage to their career growth. The key challenge here is how good the Surgeon is and what their SUCCESS RATE in surgeries is going to determine how the patients will prefer this surgeon. For this, they need to keep themselves updated in their SKILL of performing surgeries and using advanced technologies in their field. Similarly, EDUCATION alone, in my view, will not be of help. But if you pursue an Advanced Certification in HR from XLRI, IIM, Symbiosis-like Institutes, it will give you a Passport to move to the next level in your Career. But what is more important is to update your Skills and try to undergo CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS and not degrees or diplomas.

General Recommendations

In general, one has to be focused on:

- Keep up with the phase of Technology
- Keep Skills updated
- Move into different roles and not stay in the same role for more than 2 years
- Change organizations every 3 or 4 years, or maximum 5 years, and choose a growing field - Not a conventional Industry
- Take Risks in every Walk of life (sometimes it may be challenging and failures may occur, but it is inevitable)
- Have your own LIFE and CAREER PLANS and do not solely depend on ORGANIZATIONAL PLANS for your growth. If things align with your aspirations, then it's fine; otherwise, swiftly move to where opportunities are available
- Above all, NEVER STOP LEARNING

You may like to add more thoughts from other colleagues.

Thanks for this wonderful question raised as everyone is undergoing this challenge in their career.

All we are advocating, as an HR professional, is that one should not be like the 'frog in the well'. This means do not limit yourself to organizational practices but keep abreast of the changes in the profession. If you look at the vocabulary of HR professionals in the last decade, there has been a sea change. Therefore, there is a need to update oneself with current knowledge. There is no end to improvising and innovating practices rather than following the beaten path.

Thank you so much for your valuable inputs. Your suggestions would truly help other professionals shape their careers.

In addition to my query above, I need your inputs on the following points as well:

Challenges in HR Career Transition

Many of my friends have worked in the area of HR Statutory Compliance and are currently working in other functions like L&D. However, when they appear for interviews, interviewers/hiring managers often believe that their profile/experience is very confined and limited.

Overcoming Experience Limitations

On the other hand, my friends are unable to learn from other areas of HR as they are getting stuck with their regular work.

Please suggest any resources that could help them fill this lack of hands-on experience.

Be it Human Resources or any other field, when a working individual feels a lack of engagement or productivity with their work, they can take the following steps to overcome it:

- Set a goal
- Identify the skills you are good at and the ones you need to learn
- Keep upskilling along the way
- Take up challenging and engaging tasks
- Connect more with people in your sector (it will open new doors for you)

Also, you can definitely go back to education and learn new courses after working for 9 to 10 years.

In addition to this, no matter what HR-related course you take up, you should make the most out of it. In simpler words, you will excel in your career only if you practice the learnings in your work life.

I hope this answer helps you.