BA (Hons) Human Resource Management

Human resource management (HRM) plays a vital part at every level of all organisations. An organisation will only succeed if its people are well managed, motivated, committed and engaged. Our Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) approved BA (Hons) Human Resource Management responds to current and future demands placed on the HR profession; exposing students to the rhetoric’s and realities of people management - past, present and future.

The course is developed in line with the 2018 CIPD Professional Standards and in consultation with CIPD members, business leaders, industry experts and partner organisations from around the world. Therefore, the very skills, behaviours and core knowledge demanded by the HR profession are those which you will develop during your studies, making you desirable to future employers.

Year one: Contemporary Management Challenges

People, Work and Society
This module introduces students to the sociology of work in the contemporary economy, the links between people’s experiences and perceptions of work and the impact that it has on them as individuals and the wider society.

Economics, Law and the Business Environment
This module will enable students to develop an understanding of the business environment (externally and internally) and its analysis with particular reference to economic and legal factors and business frameworks used for environmental analysis.

Becoming a Professional; Critical Enquiry
During this module students will develop their critical thinking skills which will underpin the rest of their academic journeys. Students will develop their ability to find and interrogate relevant information and how to present their interpretation of research in meaningful ways.

Principles of Supply Chain Management
Provides a broad introduction to the principles and practice of logistics, procurement operations and supply chain management.

Marketing and Consumer Behaviour
Introduces students to a range of core marketing and consumer behaviour concepts that will enable them to perform key marketing functions and processes.

Becoming a Professional; Enterprise Project
The aim of this module is to increase students’ awareness and appreciation of the subject of entrepreneurship, and the  entrepreneurial mind-set which has been identified as a key attribute for the future-proof graduate.

Year 2: HRM in Practice

HRM in the Workplace; Policy, Practice & Law
Delivered in the first term of the specialised HRM year, this module introduces students to the fundamental legal imperatives which inform HR policy and practice and sets the scene for the legal dimension of other modules which follow.

Resource and Talent Development
This module provides a holistic view of the employment lifecycle and introduces the key operational tools, techniques and practices that organisations use to resource their organisations effectively and the strategic approaches that organisations (of different sizes) take to position themselves as employers in the labour market with an ability to meet current and anticipated skills needs

Business Analytics for Management and Financial Decision Making
The module will support students in developing business analytics, financial interpretation and numeracy skills for business in readiness for a career in their chosen field, placements, and develop skills required when collecting, interpreting and analysing their primary data in their final year research projects/dissertations.

HRM context and challenges
Examines HR’s role in strategy formation and implementation in both national and international contexts; enabling students to explore and understand institutional differences across domestic and international settings, and of internal and external differences.

Developing HR Professional Practice
The module lays down the underpinnings of the requirements for achieving and maintaining membership of the CIPD, by setting HR theory firmly within the realms of HR practice and delivery, drawing on the CIPD Professional Standards.

This module is designed to enable the student to develop a sound understanding of the knowledge, skills and behaviours required by Human Resources professionals, whether in a generalist or specialist role, drawing from the CIPD Profession Map (2018), and reflect upon their own skill-sets and development needs in light of their experiences during the employment experience module (see below)

Employment experience
This module aims to provide students with a substantial workplace experience, in an environment where they can explore their current levels of competence in regards of the required professional skills and behaviours identified within the new CIPD professional standards.

Year 3: Critical perspectives and emerging themes

HRM 4.0 and the future of work
During this module students will critically engage with and develop opinions around the future of work, exploring issues such as:

Will robots replace HR jobs?
It so, will HR ‘invent’ enough new ones?
Does the rise of the robot present an opportunity to liberate society from the drudgery of work?
is HR on the cusp of catastrophic job losses and economic misery for the masses (digital dystopias), or will these new technologies supercharge productivity, leading to a rise in living standards and an abundance of good quality jobs (digital utopians)

Developments in Employee Relations
This module aims to develop a critical understanding and appreciation of the nature and context of employment relations in contemporary settings. Students will be required to make informed and effective judgements about existing and emerging models, processes and practices of employment relations in local and international jurisdictions.

Employee Engagement: Rhetoric's and Realities
This module provides students with a broad understanding of what is meant by employee engagement and draws attention to the relationship between this and other HR concepts and theories from a critical perspective covered in other modules on the course.

Strategic Management
Provides students with a holistic (strategic) understanding of organisations and their interaction with their environments. Students will analyse information and environmental factors in the context of the HR Function to enhance abilities of informed decision making.

HRM Critical Enquiry Project
The module will provide the opportunity for students to showcase the ability to investigate and diagnose a (potentially) live or complex business issue from an HRM perspective during a self-directed, supervised reseach project.

Assessment

Accreditations

Careers

The BA (Hons) HRM is underpinned by the CIPD professional standards 2018, developed and designed in order to create ‘job ready’ ‘future-proof’ graduates.

Students will benefit from engagement with the established practitioner relationships South Wales Business School has developed over the past decade. These relationships have provided excellent opportunities for direct student engagement with practice via practitioner-led guest lectures, field visits, career development events, observational and practical research, student short-term and long-term placements and scenario-led assessment.

All students will undertake a minimum of 10 weeks in industry as a core part of their study where they will be embedded in the HR function during the second year of study with a range of fantastic employers in the region and maximising their employability.

Through ‘The Business Clinic’: personal development opportunities are offered to students across all three years through engagement with the South Wales Business Clinic where students can become trainee business analysts engaging with a range of businesses in the region to provide evidence-based responses to contemporary business challenges. The Clinic aims to create triadic business relationships that encourages students, academics and organisations to collaborate.

These opportunities further underpin the employability prospects of our students and provides them with a safe environment to develop key skills in decision making, leading projects and taking risks.

Currently 98% of our HRM Graduates are in employment or further study within 6 months of graduation (DHLE 2016/17).

Some examples of possible careers include:

• Human resources officer
• Recruitment consultant
• Employee relations adviser
• Training and development officer
• Management consultant
• Occupational psychologist

Our Careers and Employability Service

As a USW student, you will have access to advice from the Careers and Employability Service throughout your studies and after you graduate.

This includes: one-to-one appointments from faculty based Career Advisers, in person, over the phone or even on Skype and through email via the "Ask a Question" service. We also have extensive online resources for help with considering your career options and presenting yourself well to employers. Resources include psychometric tests, career assessments, a CV builder, interview simulator and application help. Our employer database has over 2,000 registered employers targeting USW students, you can receive weekly email alerts for jobs.

Our Careers service has dedicated teams: A central work experience team to help you find relevant placements; an employability development team which includes an employability programme called Grad Edge; and an Enterprise team focused on new business ideas and entrepreneurship.

*Scholarship Available for 2023 January Intake students up to 2500 pounds*