School of Management and Labour Studies at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, will consider academic background of a candidate only as an eligibility criterion from 2009. This step has been taken to bring all students from various disparate educational boards on the same level. We talked to Sasmita Palo, Chairperson, Centre for Human Resource Management and Labour Relations about the changes in, and the salient aspects of, the Human Resource Management and Labour relations (HRM & LR) program at TISS.
Most of the management institutes across India offer an MBA in HR. What is unique about the HRM & LR course at TISS?
At first, TISS is not a management institute, we are a social science institute with a focus on developing a socially sensitive HR professional. Other institutes offer an MBA course of which HR, amongst many others, is a specialization. While at TISS, the HRM & LR course as a whole is specialized. We teach subjects like Marketing and Finance too, such that our students get a basic understanding of these courses because no HR professional today can work in isolation. In the 1960s, Industrial relations and Labour relations were a part of the ‘Social work’ course at TISS and were made into a separate course (then known as Personnel Management and Industrial Relations or PMIR) due to their popularity. Today, it is known as Human Resource Management and Labour Relations though the ethos of the course remain the same and that is, to develop an HR professional with a strong understanding of society.
With such a specialized course, how do you zero down to the right kind of candidate? Could you elaborate your admission process?
Our admission process is elaborate and is divided into two stages: a) Entrance test b) Group discussion and personal interview (GD-PI). The entrance test is a national level written test consisting of two distinct parts. Part one is common to all those who apply to TISS, irrespective of the course. This helps us make sure that we select individuals with an orientation towards social science. Part two of the test is program specific. For the HRM & LR program we examine a candidate’s technical or mathematical abilities, his reading and comprehension abilities and his understanding of the society and the way it functions. We also examine his knowledge of current affairs and economy and basic knowledge of management, psychology and sociology. From this year, we have discontinued allotting marks for academic background of a candidate and will only be considering it for eligibility purposes. This is because the disparity in marking schemes between different examination boards makes it difficult standardize the marks of various candidates.
In GD-PI process we try to gauge a candidate’s intent of joining an institute; whether he wants to pursue HR as a career or has applied because he did not get admitted in other MBA schools. We also want to perceive the candidate’s flair for HR as not every person is suited for this area of work. The Group Discussion or the GD is one level of gauging this, which is followed by an interview. The interview is the second level where we refine our search by analysing the presence of mind of a candidate.
What is the general profile of the candidate at the HRM & LR program at TISS?
Most of the candidates who apply are Engineers, though this is because of the large number of Engineers who apply and not because of any preference given to them by the institute. Apart from that we have a very diverse profile of students who come from all areas such as Economics, Medicine, psychology, sociology. We do not make any conscious effort to admit students with a particular amount of work experience or of a certain age. If a candidate is suitable, he is admitted.
Considering this is a two-year specialized program, could you give us details of the curriculum followed in the school? What specializations can a student pursue in HRM & LR at TISS?
There are three foundation courses in political science, economics and psychology and Business Communication, Business understanding, Labour Laws. Subjects like organizational behaviour are taught in the second semester. Until now, a student could specialize under three baskets in the third semester called a) Training and development b) Employee relations and c) Compensation & benefits or do a generic course with one subject from all the three baskets (which was the most popular). However, from this year we have discontinued these ‘specializations’ because we believe that more ‘specialization’ is not needed in HRM & LR, which in itself is a highly specialized program. Instead the students can now choose courses from a group of courses which will include the most popular ones chosen by students over the past years. Hence the students will be able to create a mix of subjects they want to study without attaching it to a specialization.
What is the teaching methodology followed at TISS School of Management and Labour Studies?
Our pedagogy is a combination of class-room teaching and field work. Class-room teaching includes teaching through case-studies, lectures, assignments and project work. Field-work includes internships and live projects. As a part of field work, the present batch of students work every Monday and Tuesday on live projects with organizations in sectors such as Manufacturing, IT-ITES and Banking. After the fourth semester, the students have to compulsorily work an NGO.
What are the job profiles that students pursue after completing the HRM & LR course at TISS?
The students work in different profiles in the HR sector after the completion of the program and their profiles post the HRM & LR program depend upon their job-profiles and experience before joining the program. For example, a student with a work experience of four years of more would end up working for the consulting industry. The career path that an average TISS graduate chalks out starts from an HR Manager in a corporate organization and moves to Vice President (HR) within six to eight years of graduation. Regional Head and Country Head (HR) is the next step in the ladder. A small percentage of students also reach the positions of CEOs in the their respective organizations. Presently, as a trend, students work in the industry for six to seven years and start their own businesses as they believe that they can add more value to the industry by starting their own ventures.