Postgraduate Certificate in Professional HR

Change is not only likely, it’s inevitable.  As organisational change becomes the norm, HR professionals need an up-to-date overview and analysis of the diverse and complex issues they face.  Adopting a critical approach the module reviews theories, concepts and developing issues related to human resources and applies these principles to emerging issues that exemplify the dynamic working environment confronting organisations and HR professionals today.

The identification and analysis of themes is supported by examples and ‘real world’ cases to provide you with a functional knowledge and appreciation of current human resource issues.  The exploration highlights the challenges for HR professionals who are increasingly expected to provide leadership in the management of employees as a key source of organisational competitive advantage.

By exploring the strategic aspects of effective management of people and organisations, an understanding will be developed of HR’s role in shaping the overall strategy of the organisation and the decisions that flow from it in terms of human capital.

This module is to provide an understanding of the emergent strategic issues in Human Resource Management and the impact of these on organisation strategy and HR practice.

The skills needed in the HR function have changed rapidly since 2003, and as the above quote from the professional institute shows, the strategic role of HR is still evolving and becoming more integrated with core business strategies and drivers. The world itself has become more dynamic and complex requiring HR specialists to work far closer with their businesses to ensure HR policies, procedures and practices facilitate the pace of change and support the development and management of people.

This module initially examines how different organisations approach the development of formal or emergent strategies, exploring key strategic tools and a variety of external influences and drivers that impact on strategic choice. It then examines the support required from the HR function in shaping and realising business strategies, how HR is structured to provide that support and how its contribution to the organisation is measured. It also examines the important role of the HR practitioner as a change agent in the introduction of new working practices.

Throughout the module you will explore contemporary and traditional theories pertaining to this area of study and be invited to challenge, explore and develop alternatives as you assess the relevance of established academic theory in terms of practical application. Through the study of recent articles and research reports, you will gain an insight into the increasingly significant role that HR practitioners can play by combining an understanding of business drivers with their expertise in the area of people management.

The purpose of this core module is three fold: to introduce you to the array of information that Human Resource (HR) Practitioners utilise; knowledge management; and theory underpinning the practice of business research. Knowledge is critical for businesses to enable them to add value and gain competitive advantage; consequently, knowledge management has developed into an academic field. We will introduce you to the latest academic thinking on knowledge management and discuss the types of secondary information businesses use and data they collect to aid decision making in particular, HRM.

We will then introduce you to the theoretical principles underpinning business research and focus on refining your research skills to enable you to develop a research proposal on an emerging human resource management theme. Specifically, we will take you through the research process from: identifying, sourcing and synthesising literature; to selecting a research approach and design; formulating research questions and hypotheses; choosing appropriate research methods; and selecting a sample. As part of this we will discuss how different philosophical views influence your approach to research, from design to analysis and access and ethical issues that you may encounter during the research process.

By the end of the module you will have the knowledge, confidence and practical skills you require to be able to trace a range of academic and industry sources using electronic databases and critically evaluate the methodological approaches, reliability and validity of the data. You will also be able to plan your own research project making suitable choices drawing on your theoretical and practical knowledge of research methods. The module will culminate with you drawing this knowledge and skill set together in a research proposal that includes a literature review on an emerging human resource management theme.