Top Certifications And Management Courses For HR

Updated 12 September 2023

The human resources (HR) industry consists of various jobs in recruiting, staffing, compensation, compliance and payroll. Taking an HR course or earning certifications can convince employers to hire you because these courses show your skills and professional abilities to work in the fast-paced HR work environment. If you want to succeed in the HR department, understanding the courses for HR can help you advance your career. In this article, we explore what HR courses are, the benefits of pursuing these courses and list some certification and management courses in HR.

What Are Courses For HR?

Courses for HR are professional certifications and classes earned by completing an examination or degree. It certifies your knowledge and skills in various HR fields. Many colleges and professional organisations offer specialised courses relevant to different HR positions. While having prior work experience can enhance your learning experience, it is typically not mandatory. Every HR course has a different syllabus and the examination questions vary from course to course. These courses verify that you have proficiency in the HR field, which can help in accelerating your career growth rather than a particular job.

Benefits Of Pursuing HR Courses

Here are some benefits of pursuing an HR course of your choice:

Enhances salary prospects: Specialised professional courses work as proof of your skills and abilities. This can help in increasing your salary prospects.
Increases networking: HR courses can increase your professional network that can be useful in the future.
Ensures development: Pursuing an additional course develops new skills and improve the existing ones.
Increases employment opportunity: Often, employers prefer candidates with a specialised HR course that helps increase employment opportunities.
Provides a competitive advantage: Completing an HR course can give you an advantage over other candidates without a professional course or certification.

Related: Top HR Skills And Activities

5 In-Demand Certification Courses For HR

Here are a few popular HR courses you can pursue:

1. Certified professional by SHRM

The certified professional (CP) certification is a global HR course offered by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). Candidates working in operational roles in the human resource department can consider pursuing this course. If your job role entails creating policies and procedures and maintaining employee relations, SHRM-CP is an excellent HR course to pursue. Candidates with a bachelor's degree in the HR-related field require one year of experience in any HR role to pursue this certification. In comparison, candidates with a non-HR bachelor's degree require two years of experience.

After completing the SHRM-CP certification, HR professionals can perform operational HR functions, implement policies and strategies and deliver excellent HR service. It is a computer-based four-hour duration test comprising 160 questions.

2. Diploma in training and development by ISTD

Diploma course offered by the Indian society for training and development (ISTD) is a course that the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) and Government of India (GOI) recognises. The course is ideal for candidates who want to pursue a career in HRD or training professionals. If you seek a strategic understanding of the human resources management function, you can consider enrolling in this course. It is a distance education programme comprising three months of internship. During the course, you study subjects like:

Business strategy and HRD
Training methods
Data analytics in training and development
Talent management
Training measurement and evaluation
Research methodology

3. Certified payroll professional (CPP) by KPMG

The CPP is a subscription-based HR course that helps in improving the skills of HR payroll professionals. It is an ideal course for a candidate who wants to remain updated in the country's income tax and payroll processes. When you pursue this course, you gain an in-depth understanding of income tax calculation, as per the government regulations. After completing this course, HR professionals can identify common gaps in the HR payroll process and accounting. During the course, you study subjects like:

Payroll processes
Eligible deductions
Tax deduction at source (TDS) mechanism
Social security and retiral payments

Upon completing the certificate, the certification is valid for one year.

4. Managing human capital in retail (Wharton School)

Managing human capital in retail offered by Wharton School in association with Coursera offers this online course. The course covers the fundamentals of human capital management by primarily focusing on the retail industry. After completing the course, you understand how human capital contributes to the success of a business. The course helps in understanding the role human capital plays in shaping organisational capacity. During the course, you study subjects like:

Human capital and performance
High-performance staffing
Motivating frontline workforce
Development and retention of employees

It is a four-week duration course that is free of cost and takes about seven hours to complete. This course is a beginner-level video-based course that can help in enhancing your skill set.

5. Human resources: Recruitment and Selection by The Open University

The success of many organisations depends upon the employees an organisation hire. Professionals working in the recruitment and selection department can consider a free of cost course offered by The Open University. After completing this course, you learn the art of recruitment and selection. It is a 12-hour long course and requires no sign-up or subscription. This is an intermediate level course and upon completion, you receive a statement of participation. During the course, you study subjects like:

Exploration of employee personality types
Specifying job and person requirements
Finding and screening applicants

While studying the course, you can track your progress by taking different quizzes and tests at regular intervals.

6. Preparing to manage HR (University of Minnesota)

The technique of managing HR varies from company to company and person to person. For those who want to delve into HR management, consider pursuing this course offered by the University of Minnesota in association with Coursera. This is a five-part course that covers various subjects like:

HRM
Non-monetary compensation
People management
Alternative to HR approaches

It is an introductory level four-week course that makes you adept at learning principles and tactics for handling employees. After completing this course, you get an understanding of different ways to motivate employees. The course from the University of Minnesota is an intermediate level and free of cost.

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4 HR Management Courses

Here are a few HR management courses to pursue a fulfilling and rewarding career:

1. Bachelor of business administration (BBA) in HR

BBA is a bachelor's degree course you can pursue after completing your 10+2. A three-year management degree makes you adept at handling and managing various functionalities of human resources to increase the productivity of the company. During the course, you study subjects like:

Organisational behaviour
Corporate social responsibility
Human resource management
Performance management
Subjected related to marketing.

After completing the BBA program, you can work as a talent acquisition manager, HR manager, IT recruiter, HR coordinator and admin executive. Many top colleges and universities offer this course.

2. Master of Business Administration in HR

An MBA is a postgraduate degree you can pursue after completing your graduation. A two-year management course is an excellent choice for candidates with or without prior work experience. The course primarily focuses on the recruitment and management of a company's HR department. To gain admission in an MBA course, you appear for the various MBA entrance examinations. Based on the score in the examination, qualifying candidates appear for the group discussion and interview stage. Qualifying candidates at this stage can get admission to colleges of their choice.

During the MBA course, you complete four to six weeks of internship in a relevant field. You study subjects like:

Compensation and reward management
Quantitative techniques in HRM
Research methodology
Strategic human resource and management
HR audit
Human capital management
International HRM
Subjects related to business management

3. Master of Arts in human resource management

An MA HRM is a two-year full-time postgraduate course you can pursue after completing your graduate degree in any stream or subject. This degree course prepares a student to hire employees, oversee staffing decisions and maintain an organisational culture in the company. Those who want to gain deep insights into the field of HR after graduation can consider completing this course. During the course, you study subjects like:

Analytics
Research
Employee-employer relationship
Fundamental of people management
HR development
Human behaviour or other related subjects.

4. Postgraduate diploma in human resource management

This is a postgraduate course of one year and for gaining admission in this course, you appear for an MBA entrance examination. Based on the performance in the test, group discussion and interview process, you get admission to a desirable college. During these courses, you can study subjects like:

Strategic management
Managerial economics
Human resource management
Employee legislation
Performance management or related areas

Please note that none of the companies, institutions or organisations mentioned in this article are associated with Indeed.