Why Has There Been A Sudden Surge In Demand Of HR Professionals Within The Industries?

With the rise in hiring and recruitment complexities, organisations are increasingly hiring HR professionals to help them retain employees amid significant employee churn to build a future-ready workforce. This is further evidenced through A upGrad, who has witnessed a growth of 237% in learner enrolments and 372% in revenues from their HR vertical in Q4FY22 as compared to the previous year.

Hence, Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & MD, upGrad is here to throw light upon why has there been a sudden drift in the industry, seeking HR professionals. 

1. How and why has the demand for HR professionals increased recently?

Following the pandemic, the very notion of life and by extension - work, has changed. Employees no longer wish to continue working for an employer, when there is an inherent difference in their overall principles. Moreover, this mindset shift stems from the need for work-life balance and therefore, moving from monetary gains to non-monetary gains if need be to achieve a sense of overall well-being. As cited by the Talent Trend Report, 2022 61% of Indian respondents are willing to accept a lower salary or forgo pay rise and promotion for better work-life balance and happiness.

Given this shift in the very behaviour of the global workforce, organisations are reassessing their people strategies and pivoting cultures to make them more employee-centric. For instance, organisations like 3M, SAP, Twitter, HubSpot, Spotify, Coinbase have agreed to make work-from-home or hybrid work permanent for their employees. Due to such changes in people strategies, the pressure has been mounting on the HR function to rework policies, while hiring for open roles amidst high attrition levels.  Furthermore, since HR is involved with employees, at different levels, across their life cycle, therefore managing a more specialised workforce has given rise to more HR professionals being deployed. At upGrad, we have witnessed a considerable increase in the total count of the HR workforce. Since the company has seen considerable growth over time, the HR function has been extremely crucial to keep the momentum going.

2. Can you share some data and insights to prove this trend? What kind of participation do you see in terms of demographics for your HR programs?

With the rise in hiring and recruitment complexities, organisations are increasingly hiring HR professionals to help them retain employees amid significant employee churn to build a future ready workforce. This is further evidenced through our learner enrolment data for the HR courses we offer at upGrad in partnership with leading universities. We have witnessed a growth of 237% in learner enrolments and 372% in revenues from our HR vertical in Q4FY22 as compared to the previous year, with an increased participation from women - more than 65% women learners enrolled for the courses. Furthermore, learners within the age group of 24 years to 35 years, with work experience ranging from 0 – 4 years constitute the major chunk of our cohort profiles.

3.  What are some of the recent HR initiatives at upGrad?

After 2 years of work from home, we wanted our teams to feel connected with their colleagues, to drive up collaboration and transform the working experience into a seamless one, especially since many were hired during the pandemic, and never got a chance to visit the workplace, or work with their teammates in a physical setup. Therefore, in an effort to increase employee engagement and improve facetime between the larger team, we thought of arranging off-sites to start the work from the office phase, by first building team spirit by recharging, reconnecting and rejuvenating. This is why off-sites were arranged for the upGrad Marketing, Finance and Administrative teams across various destinations in Maharashtra, especially because some of these offbeat destinations are quite peaceful and relaxing. At these off-sites, we drove engagement through outdoor group activities like trekking, rappelling, planned group games, strategy sessions, team building exercises and more. We also took the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of all our employees, by following the protocols laid by the government, with regards to masks and regular sanitization.

4. Are attrition rates high even during the appraisal season? Does appraisal season affect the behaviour and productivity of employees in some way? How have you devised or made relevant changes to upGrad's appraisal policy?

Attrition rates typically plateau during the appraisal season. This is further evidenced through an appraisal culture that focuses on boosting employee productivity and morale, through the pay for performance culture, wherein feedback is effective and the company differentiates and appreciates high performers through good hikes, promotions.

At upGrad, we value employees for the value they have created through their performance and we always appreciate it. Keeping this in mind, this year we have built the appraisal cycle around the cornerstone of Pay for Performance, while also adding the element of values and behavioural attributes that we expect our employees to inculcate. There is a better differentiation in both salary increments and variable payouts, along with clarity and transparency in the process. This also aligns the interest of the employees with the interest and values of upGrad.

5. How has the role of HR evolved in the post pandemic era? Can you elaborate on the skills required to fit this role?

The HR function has been at the centre throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and even after. With businesses on the verge of recovery, HR's function has become even more critical. The pandemic's impact on companies has underlined the need for adaptation and resilience in today's workforce, while keeping empathy at the heart of the transition to a new, digital economy. Therefore, the pandemic has expanded the role of HR post-pandemic. From IT-related queries, mental health-related issues, employee engagement, employee well-being, flexible working, HR has been at the forefront, addressing the evolving complexities in the world of work. The core skills that have worked in solving a multitude of such issues have been critical thinking, effective communication, social & emotional intelligence, strategic workforce planning, analytical skills, management skills and design thinking with empathy at its core. It is extremely important to understand where the employees are coming from and offer solutions.

6. What are the factors that cause a behavioral and preference shift by employees?

In today’s world, employees resonate more with value creation and making a difference through their work, beyond mere compensation. And the best way to ensure that they realise the impact of their contribution is through consistent communication and feedback. Therefore, as leaders, we have to focus not only on performance and output, but the overall career trajectory and growth opportunities of our workforce, while ensuring that our employees stay motivated to make a difference in the world. These are the major factors that influence an employee’s behavior and preference.

For us at upGrad, we make it a point to showcase to our employees that they are making a big difference in the lives of our learners. Our workforce through their relentless dedication and hard work ensures that our learners are meeting project submission deadlines, taking them through the course while solving their queries along the way and training them to crack interviews; all the while encouraging them that they can achieve their career goals. Even when learners feel dejected and lose confidence, our employees encourage them to get to the finish line and get placed. Therefore, to support one learner through their upskilling journey with upGrad, more than 10 people act as their constant source of support and guidance.

7. What are some key highlights of the HR program curriculum at upGrad?

upGrad has always aspired to democratise education for our learners through diverse, accessible and affordable courses and in that pursuit, our HR programmes are curated for working professionals who want to improve their understanding of the evolving Human Resource landscape. Some of the areas that are covered as part of our programs include, HR analytics, Talent analytics, applying analytics and HR concepts, performance and reward management, Training & Development, and how to use quantitative analysis to analyse trends and consequences in HR data. upGrad uses a case study-based teaching approach which includes practical hands-on capstone projects, and 360-Degree career assistance to make learning easier for working professionals. It takes around 6 to 9 hours of learning per week.

We are poised to create an army of skilled professionals to meet and address the evolving complexities of the HR function.

8. How many universities has upGrad partnered with to provide HR courses? Can you please share some details on that?

upGrad currently has two HR programs - Professional Certificate Programme in HR Management and Analytics with IIM Kozhikode with cutting edge industry relevant curriculum developed by experienced faculty at IIMK  and Executive Post-Graduate Programme in Human Resource Management with Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) having best-in-class content by leading faculty and industry leaders in the form of videos, cases and projects, assignments and live sessions.