Chandigarh University, Gharuan, in association with SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) has launched a two-year MBA in strategic HR. It is the first programme of its kind in north India, to be jointly launched by SHRM, the world’s largest HR professionals’ society, with 300,000 members in over 165 countries, and a premier university of the region.
The programme was announced during a launch ceremony at CII headquarters (North Region) Chandigarh, where Dr RS Bawa, Vice-Chancellor, Chandigarh University, and Achal Khanna, CEO-SHRM India & Business Head – APAC & MENA, exchanged the formal MoU. Senior Vice-President, Chandigarh University, and former Vice-President HR at IBM India, DP Singh, was present too.
Eminent HR leaders, including Mamta Sharma, Vice-President, HR, Fiserv; Pooja Atal Singh, Senior Director, People Strategy, Sapient; Sofi Zahoor, Director HR & Business, Quark India, and Richa Jayaswal, Head Human Resource, Steel Strips Wheel, took part in the panel discussion on the theme “The role of HR in continuously changing world”. Young HR professionals of the Apex Institute of Technology (AIT), Chandigarh University, interacted with HR leaders to understand the changing role of the HR professionals in global organisations.
Better entry-level professionals
Discussing the importance of the MBA Strategic HR Programme, Achal Khanna, CEO, SHRM, said “SHRM’s Academic Initiatives mission is to create better-prepared entry-level HR professionals through education, competency assessment and internships. Chandigarh University is one of the few forward-thinking universities that is making substantial investments in developing HR professionals for tomorrow. We at SHRM are excited to partner with CU to bring out a unique curriculum which embeds SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM CP), the most coveted Global certification.”
This will equip them with comprehensive Online Learning System, various study aids and certification study material with the necessary competencies linked to job performance, she added. She disclosed that the final year students of MBA course can now take up SHRM CP certification exam and get certified.
HR’s changing role
“With the changing times the role of HR department in an organisation has even got more importance as it is no longer considered to be just an hiring division but it is also responsible for the overall development of the human resource along with taking care of their welfare, growth and training for futuristic roles in an organisation” said DP Singh, Senior Vice-President, Chandigarh University. He added that the new MBA strategic HR programme, launched in association with SHRM, will go a long way in training the next generation of HR leaders for the corporate world who, with the changing global scenario, have to understand the changing requirements of organisations world over.
Deliberating over the panel discussion, Pooja Atal Singh, Senior Director-HR, Sapient, said: “HR Professionals are required to acquire inter-personal skills that can act as a bridge between the organisation and the professionals”. Sofi Zahoor, Director HR & Business, Quark India, highlighted the role of HR in the overall growth of any organisation, adding that: “The major challenge for HR professionals today is to match the fast pace of changing technology being adopted by organisations as there would be a demand of different category of professionals every time there is a shift towards new technology”.
Richa Jayaswal, Head Human Resource, Steel Strips Wheel, talked about the increasing scope in the field of human resource as it is strikes a balance between organisational goals and individual goals.