Human Resource Management

HRM in its Business Context (20 credit points)

The aims of this module are to provide learners with an understanding of:

• The principal internal and external environmental contexts of contemporary organisations, including the managerial and business context, within which managers, HR professionals and workers interact in conditions of change and uncertainty.
• Managerial decisions which have shaped different organisations’ differing responses to these dynamic environmental contexts.
• The extent and limitations of managers’ and HR professionals’ decision making in an uncertain and changing environment.
• Current HR practices in their managerial, organisational and external contexts, and how they shape the present HR agenda.

People Resourcing and Talent Management (20 credit points)

Theoretically, the module will engage students to consider how future developments may affect people resourcing processes. This may be reflected in the increased use of proactive diversity management, employers branding, work-life balance initiatives and innovative approaches to job design. The module also introduces learners to major debates about theory and practice in the specific fields of flexibility and change management.

Learning and Talent Development (20 credit points)

This module explores the related aspects of learning and development – firstly as a driver of economic, social and cultural change at governmental, organisational and individual level and secondly as an enabler of these changes. The module examines critically the meanings of ‘talent’ in the context of organisational effectiveness; learning and development policies and strategy. It also explores the extent to which learning and development professionals can influence the organisations they work within, having regard to ethical and professional standards of competence. The module develops skills of team working, critical analysis, problem solving and decision  making through exploration of theoretical frameworks relevant to espoused and in-action learning and development strategies and policies. The module requires students to reflect critically on theory and practice based on their own experiences and upon case studies from a range of organisations. Students will be provided with opportunities for applied learning and continuous professional development.

Business Research and Professional Skills (20 credit points)

The aims of this module are to enable students to develop specific skills that are pivotal to successful management practice and effective leadership. By providing opportunities to put theory into practice, this module encourages students’ critical thinking and problem solving skills, develops their team working and interpersonal skills, gives them the opportunity to enhance their IT proficiency, and interpret financial information and financial resources. By harnessing these skills, the module enables students to improve their credibility at work.

Applied Management Research Report (20 credit points)

Key elements of professional competence are strategic awareness, a business orientation and a concern with adding value through HR practice. Qualified professionals should be able to research relevant topics and write reports that can persuade key stakeholders in the organisation to change or adopt a particular policy and practice. This module provides the opportunity for learners to demonstrate the ability to diagnose and investigate a live, complex business issue from an HR perspective, to locate the work within the body of contemporary knowledge, to collect and analyse data, to derive supportable conclusions and to make practical and actionable recommendations for change, improvement or enhancement of current practice. The applied nature of the report requires a critical evaluative approach, empirical investigation and analysis and a combination of academic research and business report writing skills. It requires reflection on the implications for professional practice from an ethical, professional and continuous professional development standpoint.

Employee Relations and Employee Engagement (20 credit points)

This module will provide learners with a comprehensive understanding of employment relations perspectives and debates, both national and international, from a theoretical and behavioural competency perspective. Notions of participation, involvement, commitment and engagement will be explored for their utility in enhancing employer/employee relations. Upon completion of the module learners will be aware of and able to critically appraise approaches, practices and skills associated with employee relations and employee engagement. They will also have had an opportunity to appreciate and evaluate an interdisciplinary perspective as a way of beginning to understand the employment relationship.

Performance Management (20 credit points)

The overall purpose of the module is to provide knowledge and understanding of the role of performance management in supporting organisational objectives, the core concepts and processes of performance management and the approaches adopted in different organisational contexts.

Employment Law (20 credit points)

The amount of regulation covering the employment relationship and the workplace has grown substantially in recent years as have the number of claims made to employment tribunals. Employment law continues to expand both in terms of volume and complexity, while additional duties actively to promote equality have been placed on public bodies. Whilst organisations can source specialist advice on more difficult and unprecedented issues from their legal advisors, senior HR managers need to be in a position to give basic advice which is accurate, timely and appropriate. Furthermore, they need to be able to anticipate legal problems associated with proposed decisions or plans before they are implemented and are often called upon to lead an organisation's response when a formal legal claim is contemplated or pursued.

Finally, HR managers need to be sufficiently aware of major, current and coming developments in the regulatory environment so as to ensure that their organisations are fully prepared. The purpose of this module is to provide learners with the knowledge, understanding and skills required to fulfil each of these requirements to a professional standard. Because this module forms part of a management qualification and not a legal one, it is focused on enabling learners to grasp fully the key principles which underpin employment law rather than to demonstrate advanced knowledge of legislation or case law. Moreover, the focus is on situations which occur relatively regularly in workplaces rather than on more uncommon or obscure legal scenarios.