I have been working with a manufacturing company for the last 1 year and 3 months. In the overall picture, I have worked in a generalist role involving Employee Relations, Statutory Compliance, Leave Administration, Manpower Planning, Training & Development, etc., more towards HR/IR and admin but have somewhat less experience in Recruitment & Selection and Employee lifecycle management.
So, my question is, should I look forward to the IR/ER field to advance my career, or, as a woman, should I consider HR as a safer career path? I look forward to all of your valuable suggestions.
From India, Pune
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7So, my question is, should I look forward to the IR/ER field to advance my career, or, as a woman, should I consider HR as a safer career path? I look forward to all of your valuable suggestions.
From India, Pune
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Choosing the Right Career Path in HR
Male or female status may not be an ideal criterion to provide direction to your career. When you move up the career ladder and occupy a senior leadership HR position, you may have to handle industrial relations as well. Therefore, choose the career path that your heart beats for because then only you can excel in it.
Relax and rewind your likes, aptitude, strengths, and tasks that you found comfortable and uncomfortable in the past, and the reasons therefor, before making a decision. All the best.
Regards,
B. Saikumar
From India, Mumbai
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Male or female status may not be an ideal criterion to provide direction to your career. When you move up the career ladder and occupy a senior leadership HR position, you may have to handle industrial relations as well. Therefore, choose the career path that your heart beats for because then only you can excel in it.
Relax and rewind your likes, aptitude, strengths, and tasks that you found comfortable and uncomfortable in the past, and the reasons therefor, before making a decision. All the best.
Regards,
B. Saikumar
From India, Mumbai
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Thank you for your valuable guidance. I will consider this perspective. My purpose behind asking this question was that as IR is very challenging and somewhat critical to handle, would it make a difference when dealing with labor because of gender? Anyways, it's good to see that now we don't believe in gender bias culture.
Regards,
Snehalata
From India, Pune
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Regards,
Snehalata
From India, Pune
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Competency and Gender Neutrality
Any competency is gender-neutral. There are women Heads of State who have faced huge challenges and steered clear of them. There are women CEOs who handle every critical function in the organization, including Industrial Relations (IR). There are women astronauts who have entered the once-exclusive male domain of space travel. Probably none of them started their careers with doubts in their minds about whether they could do it, being women. They all broke the glass ceiling and proved themselves, some even better than their male counterparts.
Traits Required for IR
What IR requires is empathy, patience (listening), good communication, caring, concern, and quick wit to anticipate a problem and pre-empt it or, if it happens, to settle it. Most of these traits come naturally to women. It's all in the belief system one entertains. You are the best judge. However, I appreciate your interest in IR. All the best.
Regards,
B. Saikumar
From India, Mumbai
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Any competency is gender-neutral. There are women Heads of State who have faced huge challenges and steered clear of them. There are women CEOs who handle every critical function in the organization, including Industrial Relations (IR). There are women astronauts who have entered the once-exclusive male domain of space travel. Probably none of them started their careers with doubts in their minds about whether they could do it, being women. They all broke the glass ceiling and proved themselves, some even better than their male counterparts.
Traits Required for IR
What IR requires is empathy, patience (listening), good communication, caring, concern, and quick wit to anticipate a problem and pre-empt it or, if it happens, to settle it. Most of these traits come naturally to women. It's all in the belief system one entertains. You are the best judge. However, I appreciate your interest in IR. All the best.
Regards,
B. Saikumar
From India, Mumbai
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I think you should ask yourself whether you are suitable for IR or HR. Women can do anything if they wish. They are in the corporate sector, politics, and even armed forces. However, surely not all women can join the Armed Forces. Few women do. While facing IR issues, you will definitely encounter hurdles, opposition, and may be taken lightly by the workers because you are a woman. It depends on your confidence level, determination, courage, and patience to prove yourself. With courage and determination, anyone can achieve anything. So, you have to do your SWOT analysis and then make a decision.
All the best.
Regards,
Rajeev Dixit
From India, Bangalore
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All the best.
Regards,
Rajeev Dixit
From India, Bangalore
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You have posed an interesting question! Like someone said, competency is gender-neutral, and I totally agree with that. Since you have been working in a generalist role, I presume that you have a fair idea of what the function is composed of. My question is, what aspect of the function attracts, challenges, and promises you satisfaction? Pursue that choice.
Having said that, I need to explain a bit.
In our country, IR is largely confined to the manufacturing sector and lacks somewhat the glamour quotient. White-collared unionism is still remote but not too remote. Compliance needs one to deal with (most of the time) corrupt officials of various enforcement agencies under various applicable laws, and the managements may NOT always be patient either to stand up for the "right" or to "buy" peace either with employees (represented whether by internal or by an external trade union) or the government officials.
Are communication skills, determination, management of human behavior—individual and collective—a part of your personality? Can you withstand isolation against a tide of populist approaches (where "the ends will justify the means" philosophy is in evidence)? It may even succeed albeit in the short term and certainly NOT in the long term.
Are you flexible and receptive, yet firm in your convictions? Do you keep up with new "learning" and "upgrading" yourself all the time? There would be many more questions that you will have to find answers to through hard and objective introspection.
IR being a power-oriented function (or so many people feel), it is easy to get "infatuated" with it. If you choose to make a career in IR, it cannot be a light-hearted decision. Presently, I suggest that you deliberate with what is said in this post and should desire or be tempted to take the dialogue further, you are welcome to interact further in a sharp focus but for the time being, let us deal with this first step and then decide whether to proceed further or not.
I am willing to help all the way. You may rest assured of that!
Regards, Samvedan
From India, Pune
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Having said that, I need to explain a bit.
In our country, IR is largely confined to the manufacturing sector and lacks somewhat the glamour quotient. White-collared unionism is still remote but not too remote. Compliance needs one to deal with (most of the time) corrupt officials of various enforcement agencies under various applicable laws, and the managements may NOT always be patient either to stand up for the "right" or to "buy" peace either with employees (represented whether by internal or by an external trade union) or the government officials.
Are communication skills, determination, management of human behavior—individual and collective—a part of your personality? Can you withstand isolation against a tide of populist approaches (where "the ends will justify the means" philosophy is in evidence)? It may even succeed albeit in the short term and certainly NOT in the long term.
Are you flexible and receptive, yet firm in your convictions? Do you keep up with new "learning" and "upgrading" yourself all the time? There would be many more questions that you will have to find answers to through hard and objective introspection.
IR being a power-oriented function (or so many people feel), it is easy to get "infatuated" with it. If you choose to make a career in IR, it cannot be a light-hearted decision. Presently, I suggest that you deliberate with what is said in this post and should desire or be tempted to take the dialogue further, you are welcome to interact further in a sharp focus but for the time being, let us deal with this first step and then decide whether to proceed further or not.
I am willing to help all the way. You may rest assured of that!
Regards, Samvedan
From India, Pune
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Hello Rajeev & Samvedan, I did some self-introspection and found that I am fond of the IR/Compliance area more than HR. A strength I consider for myself is my knowledge and skills. However, I need to work on my ability to be a little more loud and outspoken, and to have more interactions with associates to make myself more aware of market intelligence. Sometimes, I get so overworked with my daily tasks and priorities that I lose time for interactions. Working in a small organization, you may understand the high workload pressure.
Seeking Practical Training Suggestions
Can anybody suggest some effective practical training sessions that can help me gain an extra edge?
Regards, Snehalata
From India, Pune
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Seeking Practical Training Suggestions
Can anybody suggest some effective practical training sessions that can help me gain an extra edge?
Regards, Snehalata
From India, Pune
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