Is Liberal Arts the Future of Human Resources?

The responsibility of liberal arts at its initial phase was to equip individuals to become civic. In the medieval times, the study of philosophy and theology were incorporated to channel individuals in becoming ethical, conscientious, and wise. Linking that to Human Resources, HR professionals are largely responsible for efficient operations of employees and the business. Consequently, features of liberal arts programs, namely, communication skills, critical thinking, and being logical, ethical, wise, conscientious appears to be a good fit as for the qualities of a HR professional. Having said so, individuals from a literary background may not be appropriate HR professionals, then which combinations of liberal arts become suitable for HR roles?

Top business schools in India training students for a HR specific degree incorporate a mix of industrial psychology, industrial sociology, business studies, micro and macroeconomics, social psychology and so on. Such combinations are curated specifically for HR related job roles for employees to gain a practical understanding of managing workforce in challenging situations. More precisely, beyond the traditionally designed degree programs of Bachelor of Technology, commerce and arts, Liberal arts is emerging as a new flexible discipline. Some of the renowned Universities in India provide a four-year integrated bachelor program. This program offers students the freedom of choosing their elective subjects from a wide range of disciplines of social sciences, mathematics, arts, and physical sciences. The main purpose of the program is to imbibe the qualities of problem solving, critical thinking and logical reasoning, among students. Such a practice aligns with the national and international curriculum accreditation bodies of Management Sciences.

With automation taking over the procedures of management sciences, will liberal arts and management students create a mark in the organizations for taking ahead human resources? Only time can tell, but as for now, with dynamically changing work circumstances, HR professionals are to be equipped with skills of adaptability, innovation, and solution-focused thinking.