Why is XLRI a highly sought after MBA college for HR managers? Why do India’s top brands and employers who pay the highest for HR talent prefer to hire from XLRI?

I found out the answer during a 3-day in-person training program we designed at LawSikho for the tobacco division of ITC, one of the top recruiters from the XLRI campus. 

Most of the HR managers we were training at ITC were XLRI grads, while the rest were from various IIMs.

In the room was also a very senior HR manager who happened to have recruited most of them over the years.

I asked him why they prefer to hire from XLRI. 

What he said was very instructive. The recruiters at one point told the XLRI authorities that they need HR managers who have good knowledge of labour and employment laws. They said it to other management institutes also but XLRI responded most positively, incorporating a lot of focus on labour and employment law-related training.

This initiative made them the top choice of recruiters like ITC around the country for hiring HR managers.

This should give you an idea about how important labour and employment law is for HR managers and businesses. 

LawSikho is often hired by top brands to train HR managers on labour laws. Apart from ITC, we have worked with HPCL, Embassy Office Parks, JCB, Samsung and many others. It is one of our most in-demand B2B solutions.

In our various labour law-related courses we are training senior HR managers from companies like Accenture, Ultratech, Chaayos, HAL, TCS, SBI Life etc.

In 2020, we launched a labour and employment law handbook for HR managers. Within days, it was downloaded by several thousand HR managers.

But why is labour and employment law so important?

There are many other aspects of the job of an HR manager apart from labour and employment law, such as recruitment, organizational development and restructuring, performance tracking and culture building. These are critical aspects of any organization.

However, labour and employment laws inform each of those tasks. 

HR managers have to operate within a legal framework for each of their tasks, and having the requisite knowledge of the law is a hugely empowering factor. 

One who knows law will confidently come up with out-of-the-box ideas and would know the legal implications, and therefore can move faster, while the others would be slowed down and be at the mercy of lawyers at every step. 

So what are the law related skills that a HR manager should develop? 

What do India’s top companies often hire us to teach their HR managers?

Here are a few focus areas we think are most important:

• You need to know how to draft various employment policies and negotiate different kinds of employment contracts
• Drafting dismissal letters, official warning, strictures and other formal communications with legal implications
• Reply to show cause notices and communication with regulators
• How to brief and assist lawyers acting for your organization
• How to prepare a compliance checklist and build a comprehensive compliance system including MIS
• How to conduct hearings for misconduct, disciplinary issues, loss of confidence or sexual harassment
• How to engage with special laws like POSH, anti-bribery and whistleblowers protection
• Why data protection and privacy is increasingly the responsibility of HR and what to do about it

How can learning these skills accelerate your career as an HR leader?

Can such knowledge be advantageous if you are seeking faster career growth?

Why is it critical for HR leaders elevated to the director level to know labour and employment laws and what kind of issues and dilemmas do they deal with?

Who should attend?

• HR directors
• HR managers in the manufacturing industry
• HR managers who need to draft legal documents often or instruct lawyers frequently
• HR managers in the tech industry and MNCs
• Junior HR executives looking for a rapid rise to managerial roles

What will you learn

• Why do HR managers need to acquire legal skill sets? Which are the top legal skills in demand? 
• 10 case studies to understand costs of HR mistakes 
• How to create top-notch systems and MIS for payroll, compliance and audit 
• What are the most common documents that HR managers should learn to draft?
• How to prepare for labour inspections and raids 
• How to respond to notices from labour authorities
• How to collaborate with lawyers and represent your organization in labour court proceedings  
• Most important issues that arise while dealing with unions 
• How to create and implement policies that improve workforce productivity and culture are legally compliant
• How to prepare for transition to the new Labour Codes and what will change
• How to use legal skills to improve business outcomes and show progress to senior management
• Tricky areas under POSH and Maternity Benefit Act implementation
• What are the challenges posed by remote and hybrid workforce environments and how to handle them
• 5 new responsibility areas you can take charge of to rapidly make progress in the organization   
• How to develop further proficiency with these skill sets