MA Human Resource Management (Work Psychology) with Advanced Research

University of Hertfordshire

The module is designed to develop professional and consultancy skills. The curriculum was prepared in consultation with employers, to reflect what they seek from today's professional entry-level graduate. It includes a critical examination of leadership styles and management techniques, negotiation and change management skills, the ability to design projects from inception to completion, and liaising with internal and external clients to identify requirements, and achieve outputs within the optimum timescale. The commitment to reflexive practice encourages students to reflect on their knowledge and experience as they look at different aspects of professional performance, and to identify areas for change and enhancement to achieve career goals.

To address the module aims, indicative content includes an analysis of labour market trends, changing demographics regarding diversity and ageing population and skills gaps; the impact of digital working and flexible working on working lives; the ways that flexible employment, the gig economy and non-standard, atypical contracts affect working lives; how developments in public policy and societal pressures affect people practice; the impact of technology and new organisational forms and ways of working on the way people experience their work; and equity and distributive justice in organisations.

The module examines the development of contemporary people management with reference to relevant theory of HRM and strategy models. It considers the benefits and challenges of aligning people management with organisational strategy, culture and values, the integration of different components of HRM practice and application of systemic thinking. The module also looks at the impact of people management practices on organisational performance and employee experience, whilst considering the key issues and debates concerning the contribution of people management to organisational success.

In this module students will discover how to answer important people related questions using business research. The module content will reflect contemporary practices and lay the foundation for exploration of future developments in people-related business research. Students will learn about the importance of context, data quality, ethical considerations, data analysis, developing insights and communication with data. The course will cover quantitative approaches, including descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics and qualitative research techniques to gather and analyse people practice data.

The module provides an overview of the main principles and behaviours that support personal effectiveness and leadership key skills such as valuing people, ethical practice, professional courage, critical thinking, team-working and evidence based decision making. Through an exploration of the CIPD profession map students develop their reflective practitioner skills to become more insightful of their own influence and effectiveness in areas such as influence, decision-making and leadership.

The project provides the opportunity for students to develop and apply postgraduate level skills of independent research, analysis, evaluation, writing and presentation; and to deepen students' knowledge and understanding of a specific subject and its location within the HRM discipline as a whole. Further, it is to provide the student with the opportunity to concurrently prepare a management research report containing costed recommendations based on their research and an appropriate action plan for a specific organisation(s).

Success at university requires a full understanding of institutional expectations as well as the development of key academic skills needed to enable students to fulfil their potential. This module will provide a structured step-by-step guide along the student journey to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to best achieve their goals. Using engaging and interactive content, this module aims to provide students with all the tools and a strong foundation upon which to build successful academic and professional experiences.