TAPMI’s PGDM (HR) – Building Strategic HR Partner for the Future

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PGDM (HR) programme at TAPMI

Google, Microsoft are the dream companies for any executive to work for. The work culture and quality of people-practices exercised in some of these extraordinary companies make them the great places to work. The role of people in achieving and sustaining success in corporate does not require any further validation. Listen to any of the top executives including the likes of Bill Gates and they would share the vitality of hiring right kind of people for their mind blowing achievements. The process of building and maintaining an effective culture and attracting right kind of people thus plays a crucial role in today’s business. The conventional role of HR in terms of merely hiring people is not adequate to drive an organization to a greater height. The role of HR has to be more strategic in alignment with the vision of top management. 

TAPMI’s LADC Advantage

At TAPMI, the newly launched PGDM (HR) is aiming to create graduates who can support the corporates to become the great place to work. This is a two-year post graduate program with an exclusive focus on creating HR professionals. Apart from the motivation to meet the ever growing demand for HR professionals as business partner, TAPMI derives its strength for the program from its incredible legacy of more than three decades in management education. TAPMI is known for its intensive curriculum and experimental teaching methods focusing on participant centered learning. Besides classroom learning, students are also exposed to several psychometric tools to assess their leadership potential through the Leadership Assessment and Development Center (LADC). Within the first three months of joining, all the students undergo a battery of psychometric tests. The results from the test are documented through an Integrated Leadership Report (ILR) for each student. Trained faculty members presents these reports to each students through an intensive one-to-one advisory. Post advisory, students are expected to follow a developmental plan to work on their weaknesses and leverage their strengths. The process followed at LADC helps students to understand their specific strengths and weaknesses in terms of traits and competency. Students often find this exercise very helpful while facing interviews for internship and recruitment, and also in handling issues related to work-relationship. We expect that the newly launched PGDM (HR) program would successfully leverage the expertise of TAPMI in management education. 

The Unique HR Program

The PGDM (HR) program at TAPMI is designed to produce graduates who would be skilled in five strands that makes a difference to business -  1) leadership competencies including how to use leadership psychometrics to develop leadership competencies and corporate coaching, 2) use of analytics, evidence based HR and managing technology, 3) creating and changing culture for aligning the organization to strategy, 4) designing, and  changing organizational structure to meet strategy using contemporary organizational development (OD) techniques, and 5) strong industrial relations and negotiation skills.

The students of PGDM (HR) would attend six trimesters spread over two years. During the first three terms of the first year, all students study courses related to human resource management with few elementary courses related to other disciplines like Marketing, Operation Management, Information System Management and Finance. The first year covers courses related use of management techniques in business, business communication, basics of people management processes, use of HR tools and measurement, communication for persuasion and negotiation etc. Students are required to submit a dissertation at the end of first year. Students are expected to publish their work in either scholarly outlet or business outlets. Students are required to do a project on issues of societal relevance by the end of first year. Students would take up an internship at the end of third trimester. In the second year, students would do detail courses on Marketing, Operation Management, Information System Management, Strategy and Finance, with a focus on how these impact HR in a company and how HR can add value to these areas to become a true business partner. Few advanced courses on Human Resource Management would also be offered in second year.         

The SHRM Partnership

The PGDM (HR) at TAPMI would be the first two-year program in India with a tie-up with the Society for Human Resource (SHRM) India (see www.SHRM.org). The curriculum for the PGDM (HR) is being designed in consultation with SHRM and all students from PGDM (HR) would be trained to take the SHRM Certified Professionals (SHRM CP) Global Certification, the most coveted HR certification for HR professionals. TAPMI will embed the content of the certification in the PGDM (HR) program. Of course, each student is responsible for meeting the criteria of SHRM including passing the certification examination.

We are confident that like the other two very successful program of TAPMI - PGDM and PGDM (BKFS), PGDM (HR) would surely make a mark in Indian management education and would deliver on its promise.

About the Author

Prof. Sushanta Kumar Sarma

Prof. Sushanta Kumar Sarma holds a doctoral degree (FPRM) from Institute of Rural Management Anand. Prior to joining the Fellow Programme, he has worked for five years in non-profit sector with organizations of national repute like CAPART, SEWA-Lucknow and PRADAN.