How to compare MBA vs. Diploma and other HR Courses

Have you decided to pursue a career in HR? Or are you still contemplating with the thought of whether to pursue it or not? Or is it that you wish to, but don’t know which HR course would be right for you? 

Your queries are valid. With a number of courses offered in HR, by various colleges, it is a tad bit difficult to decide which one to go for. This is one of the crucial decisions of your life, and it is important that you consider every aspect of your career, such as job prospects, remuneration, growth opportunities etc. before arriving at a decision.

I come from an HR background. After spending a long stint in the area with training and recruitment, I thoroughly understand the predicament students go through while choosing a course.

To make your decision easier, I have attempted to describe the role of Human Resource in an organization, the key characteristics that this role demands and HR courses which you can evaluate before you enrol.

Role of HR

Role of Human Resource

The strength of an organization lies in its people and HR professionals are the ones responsible to drive the employees to give their best. Every organization, to succeed needs well trained and highly productive employees. However, it is easy said than done. Right training, creating a need for excellent work, building highly productive employees leads to success of an organization. But to attain this it is important to have a person who understands the employee as well as the employer. That’s where an HR comes into the picture.

One of the key roles of HR is of identifying the apt recruitment sources and utilizing the recruitment potential of the organization. The common roles that are part of any HR professional job profile are hiring employees, organizing training sessions for the employees, taking care of the compensation, enhancing company’s human resource and other such activities. The HR is the key person who evaluates the employee’s performance, introduces policies that would churn the best out of every employee, organizes training and workshops as per the requirement of the organization. 

• Dealing with diversity 
• Build the right culture for the organization 
• Upgrading the existing HR policies 
• Enhancing employee engagement and developing their potential 

About Courses in HR

MBA HRM/ MMS HRM / 2 Year PGDM HR

MBA HRM

MBA Human Resource Management is the most preferred course by students and professionals who wish to pursue a career in HR, or professionals who wish to get better opportunities in the field. MMS HRM and 2 year P.G. Diploma HRM are equivalent to MBA HRM. These are comprehensive courses, which cover all areas of HR. The subjects include all aspects of management, human resource management, fundamentals of labour laws and application, management audit, corporate governance, CSR and corporate leadership etc.


PGDHRM- One Year

One year PG Diploma in Human Resource Management course is a special management program with clear focus on in-depth understanding of HR concepts.

Usually management institutes state full time work experience of minimum 2 years as one of the eligibility criteria for admission.Also, many institutes offer this course as a part- time curriculum hence you can for this if you are a working professional.

MPMIR

MPMIR is Master of Personnel Management and Industrial Relations a course that emphasizes more on developing relations between a employees, employer, trade union and government. Compare industrial relations to human resource, which usually limits the management to employees and the employer.

Industrial relations focuses on providing job security, creating working conditions for maximum output, developing employee relation policies, administering collective bargaining agreement or labour contract and rectifying any employee relations issues for smooth functioning of an organization.

MPMIR is also a two year management course.

HR Ceritifcation Course

Human resources certification course programs provide an in-depth understanding of the specific tasks involved in HR like performance management, talent acquisition, etc.

The certification course is of great help if you come from an experienced background.

Conclusion

Carefully consider aspects that make a successful HR. Question yourself whether the HR profile excites you, do your own research, talk to professionals. Even if the job prospects are good, if the role sounds exciting, if the remuneration is as per your expectation; it is also very important to have passion for ones chosen profession. And if you think you fit the bill, then just go for it.

Understand which course suits your academic background and would be beneficial for you. The duration, course syllabus, eligibility are some aspects that you need to check before you enroll or start preparing for entrance exams. Check for colleges that offer the above course or related course and the placements provided.

How to compare MBA vs. Diploma and other Retail Management Courses?

Are you one of those who wish to enroll for one of the retail management courses like MBA Retail Management or short term diploma or certificate programmes, but are unable to decide which course is good for you? 

I faced a similar challenge when I was new to retail for hiring. 

Wondering what is the connection between hiring for retail and applying for a retail management course? To be able to hire the right fit for the right role, recruiter needs to understand the industry first. How it works, what tasks are involved and then what roles it creates. Similarly, as an applicant, get an overview of how the retail industry functions and whether you see yourself in that environment. That helps identify the competencies and in turn comparing different courses in that sector.

I’ll first give a simplified overview of retail management and the functions involved. Then a comparison of a two year full time course with short term retail management courses, followed by a conclusion.

An Overview of Retail Management

Let’s start with what you see when you go window shopping. 

Fashion Store Display Window

A visual merchandiser creates window and interior displays in shops, malls and store to attract the desired types of buyers. There are other parameters as well like store interiors and location.But which store do you enter with the intention of buying? The one that you think offers products of the price range and quality matching your expectation. Some retailers play on the price point of being the cheapest, some identify with a certain image like chic. A merchandiser or buyer takes care of that.

Behind - the - scene

Buying or merchandising is what truly defines retail and makes a retailer unique. This aspect of retail management consists of the activities involved in acquiring particular goods and making them available at the places, times, prices and quantities that enable a retailer to reach its goals. Now the question is how much to buy and respond to customer demands and how to move the products from source to retailing outlet.


Retail supply chain management are related to product procurement and controlling product quality, inventory levels, timing, and expenses. Logistics are also involved in moving the product from source to destination, handling and storing them.

Merchandising vs Supply Chain Management

Other functions include applying retail communication mix for promoting and selling the products, human resource and training, finance and administration, information technology and customer contact service .

Retail Management Courses

Courses I am considering are:

• Two year MBA Retail Management or equivalent PGDM Retail Management programme
• One year Diploma in Retail Management and 
• One year diploma in any particular retail function like supply chain management 

Competency: 

Ask yourself what you want to do in retail and build the right competency.

First of all a Retail Management course will generally cover all aspects of retail. So a MBA Retail and a Diploma in Retail would generally speaking have syllabus designed to cover most of the functions of retail. What MBA also covers are general management concepts and fundamentals of accounting, marketing organization behavior, operations research, research methodology, perspectives of management, etc.

Functions of Retail Management

Specialized courses like a diploma in supply chain give you an in-depth perspective and understanding of supply chain management. So if you are inclined towards cost optimization and other functions of supply chain and want to build a career in SCM specifically, then these short term focused programmes can help build the required competencies. Similarly, if your only focus is Visual Merchandising and store display, then you may consider searching for a relevant short term course.

Career:

Ask the recruiter what they are looking for when they are hiring.

If you’re already working in retail and looking forward to a promotion opportunity or to improve your knowledge, skill or ability in this sector, then a diploma or a certificate program can be helpful. But don’t forget to do a reality check with the HR department your organization and find out about the criteria.

If you are a fresh graduate, check what recruiters in retail sector as looking for in job descriptions. 

My experience of managing vacancies especially for big retailers is putting preference for MBA or equivalent PGDM. The job vacancies are I think the best way to understand the scope of growth in a company and about their compensation offerings. In my view, MBA offers opportunity to move across functions in a business organization. Read some case studies about your favorite leaders and don’t be surprised if you see most of them with cross functional experience.

Time:

Ask yourself how much time you have for management studies.

That I think depends from person to person. As a fresher without experience if you can afford to continue your education with a full time two year course, then might as well consider MBA instead of a one year/ part time diploma or certificate course. 

You’ll also get an opportunity to get involved in campus activities, contests, and events and even work experience through internships. Any reputed institute would have a placement committee to ensure internship and placements to their students. Institutes like JDBIMS , SNDT University Mumbai even have the concept of concurrent placements wherein MBA Retail Management student does 2 days a week field work along with studies to get practical experience in shop floor.

Conclusion:

To summarize, first understand whether you fit in the retail environment and can see yourself from a long term perspective. Once you decide what competencies you want to build, in what time period and for what type of career path, compare retail management courses to find out which one suits your purpose. Decide the course first, then shortlist institutes which are offering those programmes. Make an informed decision.