module specification

The module relates, in the main, to the CIPD level 7 unit module Resourcing and Talent Management but also brings in elements from CIPD’s Employee Engagement and Learning and Talent Development. The module design and purpose is to provide the student with a good grounding in key aspects of recruiting, retaining, developing effective performers as well as acknowledging the need to, at times, manage people out of the organisation.

The module focuses on these fundamental HR activities, focusing not just on practical aspects of these professional areas but their strategic importance within a local, national and global context.  Topics such as diversity, employee engagement, ethics, employee development and social responsibility will be (re)viewed from a resourcing perspective.

The module aims to locate the organic development of people management within the context of the changing environment both within and outside the organisation. It questions the contribution of the function and HR professionals, where they can add value and what is needed to fully integrate the function within the business. To this end it will look at the current and changing nature of workforce mobilisation, resourcing, retention, engaging and managing organisational people-related activities. The module will look at how effective organisations develop (or need to develop) a strategic approach to attracting, retaining, developing and shedding staff, with due consideration of key and evolving employment markets including changing demographics. This will be achieved through reflecting on theory and practice from an ethical and professional standpoint for both the seasoned and not so seasoned people practitioner.

Syllabus:

1. Introduction - Context of HR
2. Role of HR - strategy, culture and the politics of the organisation
3. Ethics, Social Responsibility and diversity
4. The search for talent - context of recruitment, employment markets & changing demographics
5. Traditional and changing nature of attracting, developing (nurturing) and retaining talent
6. HRD, planning & developing tomorrow’s talent for long-term organisational performance
7. Understanding careers (an organisation and individual perspective)
8. Performance Management - assessing and encouraging engagement
9. Retention, Development and Reward - the link to Performance Management
10. Managing underperformance and 'survival'
11. Managing natural or forced employee turnover legally, ethically and within codes of best & professional practice
12. Evaluation of HR Performance - options for future HR management and practices.

Reflecting our view of learning and teaching as a collaborative process that involves your active contribution and participation, this module is based on a combination of class-based and independent study. The former encompasses formal and informal methods of exploring given areas of talent management and maximisation, drawing considerably on student experience. Class activities serve as a broad mapping of the area of study, which are to be developed, starting from weekly guided reading, through independent study. The emphasis here, as throughout the module, is on exploring and evaluating the principles and practices of talent management and maximisation and the ways in which HR practitioners can seek to influence organisational processes and outcomes.

On completion of the module you will be able to demonstrate:

• The capacity to contribute to the effective development, implementation, review, improvement and manipulation of appropriate HRM and people management methods and policies in specific organisational contexts;
• The ability to analyse and evaluate the major features of different employment markets from which organisations source staff and how these markets evolve or change with time;
• Knowledge and understanding of the relations between business strategy, structure and culture and the management of people, and their particular implications for HR  managing the organisational need for talent and the ways in which HR may contribute to organisational performance;
• The ability to provide advice on the use of ‘best practice’, ‘benchmarking’ and related measures to guide and assess the contribution of HR policies to organisational performance with particular reference to recruitment and selection, performance management and reward policies;
• An understanding of the importance of a systematic approach to people management, the role, benefits and drawbacks of HR Planning and the integration between this and other HR policies, notably recruitment, selection, performance management, retention and release with a view to building long term organisational performance;
• The ability to critically analyse and evaluate the formulation and implementation of processes of learning and talent development strategies for defining and achieving current and future effectiveness at national, organisational, group and individual levels;
• Competence in the range of functions for which a HR professional is responsible and accountable together with knowledge and understanding of the relevant legal and ethical considerations in this area, and ensure compliance with these requirements;
• An understanding of the need to act ethically and professionally with a demonstrated commitment to equality of opportunity and diversity in learning and talent development and to continuous personal and professional development;
• An appreciation of the role and importance of context and contingency in influencing the nature and effectiveness of HR initiatives and within this to work sensitively and effectively with other stakeholders, including line managers, in the development and implementation of HR policies.

There are two assessments for this module:
Assessment 1: Critically appraise a given article from an academic journal. Outline the implications for managing talent. 1,500 word briefing paper (30% weighting) (week 7)
Assessment 2:  3,500 word essay. Choose one from a given choice of topics. (70% weighting) (week 14)

Key texts:
• Taylor, S. (2014) Resourcing and talent management, (6th edition), London, CIPD
• Marchington, M. & Wilkinson, A. (2012) Human Resource Management at Work, (5th edition), London, CIPD
• Stewart, J. & Rigg, C. (2011) Learning & Talent Development, London, CIPD

Other reading:
Bach, S. & Edwards, S. (eds.) (2012) Managing Human Resources: HRM in transition, f5th edition, Oxford, Blackwell.
Beardwell, J. & Thompson, A (eds.) (2010) Human Resource Management: A Contemporary Approach, (6th edition), Harlow, FT/Prentice Hall.
Boxall, P., Purcell, J. & Wright, P. (eds.) (2007) The Oxford Handbook of Human Resource Management, Oxford, Oxford University Press
Bratton, J. & Gold, J. (2012) Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice, (5th edition), Basingstoke, Palgrave.
Claydon, T. & Beardwell, J. (eds.) (2010) Human Resource Management: A Contemporary Approach, (5th edition), Harlow, FT/Prentice Hall.
Kersley, B., Alpin, C., Forth, J., Bryson, A. Bewley, H. Dix, G. and Oxenbridge, S. (2006) Inside the Workplace: Findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey, London: DTI/Routledge (www.berr.gov.uk/er/inform.htm)
Leopold, J. & Harris, L. (2009) The Strategic Managing of Human Resources, (2nd edition), Harlow, FT/Prentice Hall
Legge, K. (2005) Human Resource Management: Rhetorics and Realities, Anniversary Edition, Oxford, Blackwell
Moynagh, M. and Worsley, R. (2005) Working in the Twenty-First Century, Burnham Norton, Tomorrow Project
Pilbeam, S. & Corbridge, M. (2010) People Resourcing, (4th edition) Harlow: FT/Prentice Hall
Torrington, D., Hall, L. Taylor, S & Atkinson, C. (2014) Human Resource Management, (9th edition), Harlow: FT/Prentice Hall