The importance of executive education in a manager’s career growth ...

“Select a specialized course that is in sync with your aspirations, compliments your skills and competencies that will help you to move into a senior management role” .explains Dr Uday Salunkhe,Group Director -WeSchool.

1.How are executive education programs different from the regular MBA programme?

While MBA is a more general programme, executive education is geared towards equipping managers transform into business leaders. Quality executive education focuses on challenges of leadership and provides perspectives on emerging as a leader .Executive education and MBA are different in their approach, content and expected results. As an executive moves up the organizational hierarchy he acquires some experience and know-how of the work place; and he develops specific skills and knowledge gaps that need to be taken care to keep the career graph growing. Executive Education fills this gap. MBA is more generic whereas Executive MBA /PGDM programs are meant for executives who want to learn new skills and move up the hierarchy.

2. What are the new trends in the executive education space? Are there any major changes taking place in this area?

Indian conglomerates / MNCs, especially those with large workforces use executive education with part-or-full sponsorship both as a development and incentive/loyalty tool for senior management. What are changing dramatically in this education space are the content and pedagogy and more customization especially in the advanced management programs. Around the world as the capital flows to India and China, people are moving to alien environments and cultures to take up challenging assignments in existing and emerging sectors. As the socio-economic scenario becomes more and more challenging, there is a stronger need to educate senior managers who operate in this era of fast paced change.

3. Does a MBA or PGDM course have more weightage for working executives?

From an employer's perspective - the nomenclature of the course: PGDM/MBA does not matter - what matters are the standards set by the B School which must translate into tangible results; quality learning in the participant. There is a unique concept of ‘Design thinking ‘introduced in each of our PGDM programs that sets our students on the path of creativity and innovation. As WeSchool believe in nurturing thought leaders and practitioners, the academic content of each of the PDGM programs, including that of Executive PGDM is revised every year by its respective academic advisory council. Due to the Innovative education offered at WeSchool ,corporates do encourage executives/managers to take up the Executive PGDM at WeSchool.

4. What challenges do you foresee in executive education in today's world?

Quality is the biggest challenge for executive education. The student of this course is not a novice, he is educated as well as experienced and if the program fails to inspire ond/or does not lead to new learnings then its nether good for him nor to his sponsor nor the institute.

While numerous Indian Bschools are offering Executive PGDM programs, the foreign Universities/Bschools trying to set up bases on Indian soil have also entered this space in large numbers by establishing a good rapport with Indian corporates as well as MNCs. As the number of players in this space increases, the competition is going be fierce and eventually the institute offering quality education with creativity and innovation as its core values will be able to set up the benchmark.

5. What will be the right time for a working professional to take up an Executive PGDM program?

If you already have a degree /MBA with just 2-3 years of experience, it is better to wait for a few more years to have enough middle management level experience. Then select the highly specialized course that is in sync with your aspirations, compliments your skills and competencies that will help you to move into senior management role. Education is a life time investment and timing is as important as choosing the institution. Select the institute which provides face-to-face access, mentoring, projects, etc. so that you come out with tangible learnings.

6. Would you elaborate on some of the salient features of the Executive PGDM at WeSchool?

The Executive PGDM course offered at WeSchool is AICTE approved, full time course spanning over eight trimesters that are followed by field work for three months .To handhold the executives and managers coming from diverse walks, WeSchool offers a pre-term orientation program of three modules comprising of Quantitative Methods , Business statistics and Accounting methods that makes the transition to an academic environment easy .

The Executive PGDM at WeSchool aims at preparing a genre of T-shaped professionals - persons with domain expertise coupled with appreciation for the broader perspective of the organizational goals along with leadership qualities. The program promotes an innovative approach, creativity and a design way of thinking in all aspects of business, in sync with the demands of the industry. The intensive curriculum with specializations like Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, IT & General Management compressed in the short duration enables an impactful second stint of their career.

7. What is your advice to employees who wish to pursue an executive MBA but who feel that such courses are meant only for the high-fliers from the corporate world?

There are examples like that of Ratan Tata, the doyen of Tatas and others, ’going back to school’ to attend the Comprehensive Leadership Program offered by HBS Executive Education .Remember, this was a very highly specialized and exclusive course meant only for the global corporate stalwarts of his stature. But Executive PGDM education is not only for the high-fliers, it is meant for those who are ready for a change in the career trajectory and will use the opportunity to gain and use new knowledge differently to meet personal and organizational goals.