Course description
This course offers interesting and challenging modules and options. It will suit graduates intending to work in HR, as well as those already working in the field and wanting to advance their careers. Building on your understanding of the theory and practice of HRM techniques, it provides a professionally focused and research informed blend of academic and practical information, encouraging critical reflection on current HRM approaches.
Westminster Business School is a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) approved centre. The course has been accredited by the CIPD as meeting the 'knowledge criteria' for professional membership. This means that once you have successfully shown the CIPD relevant evidence of your practice in the workplace, you will gain professional level of Chartered Membership, with the joining and membership fee paid for by the university.
In addition, as a student on this course you will receive a student membership to Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and access to the CMI professional network, opportunity to attend events and get the latest news from the sector of leadership and management.
Course content:
The emphasis in the classroom is on blending theory and practice, problem diagnosis and the selection of managerial tools to provide the best fit with the situation. Classes are often run on a workshop basis, giving you the opportunity for to pool their experience, as well as drawing on the expertise of the tutors. You will also have the opportunity to develop essential HR practitioner skills by attending a series of practical workshops.
Modules
The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course. For more details on course structure and modules, and how you will be taught and assessed, see the full course document.
Core modules:
HRM in a Business Context
You will examine the working environment of HR practitioners by analysing the impact of economic, political, social and technological factors.
Managing Human Resources
You will explore different approaches to the management of human resources and the implications for organisational success.
Project
The aim of this module is to enable you to develop or evaluate, on the basis of empirical or conceptual research and analytic rigour, a specific area of human resource knowledge.
Research Methods and Project Preparation
This module aims to develop your knowledge and competence of the research process, and the application of research methods in the area of human resource management.
Skills of the Manager/Consultant
You will develop the interpersonal management skills and techniques you need to work both as an internal and external consultant to organisations.
Option modules:
Choose two of the following CIPD modules:
Employee Relations
This module encourages you to develop and reflect on your knowledge of UK employee relations from a number of different theoretical perspectives.
Learning and Development
This module provides you with the theoretical underpinning necessary to critically evaluate both individual and organisational learning processes.
Organisational Analysis, Design and Development
This module examines the ways in which organisational effectiveness is influenced by structures, technologies, culture, power and attitudes. You will use concepts and modes of analysis to critically evaluate, organisational design and development.
People Resourcing
You will develop your critical awareness of the links between an organisation's need to achieve corporate objectives, and its need for people.
Reward Management
This module focuses on the management of reward systems, critically analysing the links between reward systems and employee behaviour, through the use of theory and case studies.
You will also choose two from the following additional option modules:
Assessment and Individual Differences at Work
This module focuses on a critical exploration of good practice in assessment at work.
Contemporary Issues in Strategic HRM
The module focuses on the evolving role of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) in an environment of unprecedented economic uncertainty and intensification of competition driven by advances in globalisation.
Designing and Delivering Training
The module provides you with the theoretical underpinning necessary to understand the processes of designing and delivering effective training.
Employment Law for HR Practitioners
You will develop your knowledge of, and ability to evaluate, UK employment law requirements.
International HRM
This module concentrates on the international context of HRM, and the policies and procedures that organisations need to devise when designing international human resource strategies.
Management Development
The module provides you with the ability to critically appreciate the philosophies, theories, models and techniques underpinning the management development processes at both the corporate and individual levels.
Managing Culture and Change
You will examine the ways in which corporate cultures impact on the management of organisational change. Through a critical analysis of relevant concepts, models and methods, you will develop the skills to manage change within different organisational environments.
Managing Diversity and Equality in Employment
This module explores and considers the structure and implications of difference and inequality within the employment relationship by examining the historical, sociological, economic and psychological basis of discrimination.
All modules are subject to the CIPD and University of Westminster approval.
