Current Employment Trends and Their Implications for Business, Society, and Individuals
February 12, 2025
The reason why students enroll in management programs is that apart from graduating with a degree in management, they would want and like to be placed in a good company of their choice. This means that the goal of placement in their dream companies spurs them to do well and perform better than their peers. […]
Personnel management can be defined as obtaining, using and maintaining a satisfied workforce. It is a significant part of management concerned with employees at work and with their relationship within the organization. According to Flippo, “Personnel management is the planning, organizing, compensation, integration and maintainance of people for the purpose of contributing to organizational, individual […]
Human Resource Management used to be considered as other conventional administrative jobs. But over a period of time, it has evolved as a strategic function to improve working environment, plan out human resources needs and strike a balance between the organization and employers in order to increase organizational productivity and meet organizational goals. Not to […]
In today’s scenario where there is no dearth of competitors in the market, it is essential that employees work with dedication and sincerity. How do you expect a new joinee to develop a sense of loyalty and attachment towards the organization all of a sudden? The poor fellow does not know much about your company […]
Formal System of Education and Employment Historically, learning has been associated with attending a school, college or a university to acquire formal degrees that can help the graduates in finding jobs and otherwise, enriching their skills. While the parallel concept of learning by oneself or self-learning has been with us for the same time, the […]
Management professionals usually attend engineering and business schools as part of their education and progression into the corporate world. while engineering and business schools prepare them for the real world where challenges abound and where the day to day working life is very different from what they have learned, there are some obvious gaps that such professionals must overcome if they are to succeed in the corporate world.
Indeed, as the saying goes, Real Education is Outside of the Classroom, and hence, any aspiring professional could do with some approaches that would stand them in good stead, given the challenges.
To start with, management professionals must understand that textbook knowledge is fine to an extent only and hence, they must be prepared to face the world head on when they start their careers.
Of course, this is not to say that theoretical knowledge is useless. Just that they must learn to supplement and complement their didactic learning with the lived experience.
For instance, in our experience, we found that there is much to be gained from classic standard management books by authors such as Philip Kotler on Marketing since many FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) firms often use many of the strategies as described in Kotler’s book on marketing.
What more, one can also find many similarities between the case studies in the books and the real world challenges and hence, management students should well do by paying close attention to such challenges during their education.
Having said that, it is also the case that not all bookish knowledge is useful. Moreover, business schools usually start offering specialized courses on niches areas well into the Second Year and hence, aspiring management professionals should be cognizant of the need to specialize as early as possible.
The point here is that in times when specialists are more in demand than generalists since the industry is becoming highly niche focused, it is important to delve into the nuts and bolts of the specialization as soon as possible.
For instance, many business schools offer dedicated courses on IT (Information Technology), Finance, and Marketing and hence, if you are planning to be a specialist, then it makes sense to opt for such specialized courses.
On the other hand, management consultancies often recruit generalists who have the knack and the insight to tackle complex management problems in a holistic manner and this is where management students should decide whether they would like to be Generalist-Specialist or Specialist- Generalist.
In other words, the decision as to whether one must focus on comprehensive skills along with specialization in a particular niche or whether one must focus completely on a specific niche with generalized skills thrown in for good measure.
Apart from this, the real value of a business school education lies in acclimatizing students to simulations of how the real world works.
Indeed, world over, business schools are increasingly moving towards a Case Study Approach as well as Simulated Exercises which mimic real world situations and encourage the students to think of problem solving approaches.
Further, it would help the students if they pick up the Management Jargon early on since most corporates and consultancies are often Jargon Heavy in their daily communications.
On the other hand, there is no use of simply reeling out concepts and terms if they are not backed up with a real understanding of how the real world works.
This is the reason why many management students often take up additional internships apart from their regular summer internships. Indeed, even in India, many business schools are moving towards a Pedagogic Model where case studies, simulations, role plays, and presentations are replacing the Textbook Didactic Approach as well as testing the Students on Theory alone.
Making the transition from a business school to the corporate world might be tough initially, but if the management students focus on Getting Their Hands Dirty by delving and diving deep into the real world approaches, they can easily adjust to the new circumstances.
Further, a Hand on Approach is something that many leading corporates do when they push them into the field and make them come face to face with real world situations.
One of the most important points for management students to know and realize is that the real world is unlike what has been taught in their business schools despite the best attempts and the most well designed courses.
This is because most real world management problems are usually those which arise from the human to human interactions and hence, people skills are a must for any management professional.
In our experience, we have known peers who were the toppers and yet, could not make it big due to the lack of soft skills such as Language Proficiency, Communication Skills, and not being Presentable enough.
Lastly, business schools are like the rivers that merge with oceans and seas which are the real world and hence, to navigate the tricky waters of the latter, it is important to first know how to sail down the former.
In other words, we are not discounting the importance of a business school education. On the other hand, we are also not downplaying the need for real world skills which are absolutely necessary for success as a management professional.
To conclude, it is better to be an expert swimmer before launching into the sea than being thrown into the ocean and flail around.
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