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Unit Title: Human Resource Management

Learning Outcome:
1. Understand the importance of a professional approach to HRM as an essential
means for optimising the performance and commitment of an organisations
employees.
Please note that the content of this Lecture Guide is listed in its recommended
teaching order, rather than in numerical order.
Indicative Content:
1.1.1 Definition of HRM:

The nature of the human resource in organisations.

The differences between personnel administration and human resource

management.

Tensions between the objectives of the employer and the employee.

HR practices at operational, managerial and strategic levels.

1.1.2 People as an organisations key resource the contribution of HRM to high
performance and organisational success:

The key contribution that people can make to organisational success.

The fact that the human resource is far less easy to copy, buy or create
than
any other resources.

The common features of high commitment, high performance organisations.

How high performing organisations bundle together HRM practices (horizon

integration).
How HRM supports higher level organisational objectives (vertical
integration).

tal

1.1.3 The history of HRM:

The welfare origins of HR practice and how it has developed through vari
ous
stages.

The journey from employee advocate to strategic business partner.

Likely future trends in HRM practice.

Examiners tips:
Introduction
Candidates often need to be helped to see employees as a manager would see them
- as a resource rather than something that needs to be kept in place by operatio
nal
administrative practices. Once this perspective is acquired it is possible to se
e that
people are an organisations way to differentiate itself from any other organisati
on
(machines can be bought, processes copied, finance raised etc. but people are mu
ch
harder to obtain, are more expensive and have much greater leverage on an
organisations competitive advantage or disadvantage!).

After this, candidates should study how successful organisations have bundles of
HR
practices and that these organisations have a number of best practice HR practices
in common (rigorous selection, wide-ranging induction, performance management
etc.). Where they are in employment, it is likely that candidates will be able
to
identify the presence or absence of these in their own organisations.
Candidates should have a basic picture of how HRM has developed to this relative
ly
sophisticated level from humble origins in providing services direct to employee
s,
sitting part way between the employer and the employee.
Seeing people from these managerial perspectives is essential. Candidates need
to
----------------------- Page 2----------------------come with more than an operational experience of personnel administration;
particularly if they are depending heavily upon their own experience of employme
nt.
This lecture shows the first benefit of good HRM to add value to the business.

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Unit Title: Human Resource Management
Learning Outcome:
1. Understand the importance of a professional approach to HRM as an essential
means for optimising the performance and commitment of an organisations
employees.
Indicative Content:
1.2.1 The professionalisation of HRM:

What is it to be a professional? This leads on from the previous lecture i

f
HRM has a major contribution to make to the organisation and requires
a
coherent approach that is integrated with both the objectives of the b
usiness
and within itself, what sorts of professional roles need to be taken b
y HR
professionals?
1.2.2 Ethics in HRM and the employers duty of care to employees:

Candidates are not expected to be experts in ethics or corporate social

responsibility, but they should be able to demonstrate how people
management needs to be underpinned by some ethical principles, e.g. no
t
taking advantage of applicants time in recruitment, diversity and antidiscriminatory practice, ethics in reward and in termination of contra
cts.

The stakeholders with an interest in people management and ways in which

their divergent interests can be balanced.

1.2.3 The law and HRM:

The law as one

employer (e.g.
the
employee (e.g.
.
Employment law
in
support of the

way to deal with the tension between the needs of the

to get as much done for as little cost as possible) and
to get as much reward for as little effort as possible)
as champion of the needs of society (e.g. for time off
family). The main areas covered by employment law.

Examiners tips:
The law and ethics in HRM
Whilst continuing the idea that good HRM practice makes sound business sense, th
is
lecture is the first of two that deal with the second and third drivers for good
HRM
practice to keep the organisation the right side of the law and to maintain high
ethical standards.

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Unit Title: Human Resource Management
Learning Outcome:
1. Understand the importance of a professional approach to HRM as an essential
means for optimising the performance and commitment of an organisations
employees.
Indicative Content:
1.2.4 The responsibilities of the employer and the employee for maintaining a sa
fe
and healthy working environment:

The key elements of health and safety at work. The roles and responsibil
ities
of both the employer and the employee. Risk assessment.
1.2.5 Work-related stress and work life balance:

The causes and symptoms of work-related stress. What employers can do to

reduce the detrimental effects of excessive pressure. The balance betw
een
work and non-work time and what ethical employers are doing to maintai
n a
healthy balance.
1.2.6 Equality and diversity and their significance for business success, legal

compliance and corporate social responsibility:

Who experiences discrimination, the characteristics that cause individua

ls or
groups to experience unfair treatment (sex, race, disability etc.), di
rect and
indirect discrimination and promoting diversity as a benefit for a bus
iness.
Actions taken by good employers.
1.2.7 Whistleblowing and whistleblowers:

The definition of whistleblowing and situations in which it might and migh

t not
be appropriate to resort to it. Whistleblowing policies and how to sup
port
whistleblowers.
Examiners tips:
The law and ethics in HRM
This session picks up where the previous one finished by applying ethics and the
law
to health and safety, discrimination and fair treatment.

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Unit Title: Human Resource Management
Learning Outcome:
1. Understand the importance of a professional approach to HRM as an essential
means for optimising the performance and commitment of an organisations
employees.
Indicative Content:
1.3.1 Psychological contract: nature, history, current significance and future
development:

The differences between the legal and psychological contracts.

Looking at the mutual expectations of the employer and the employee from
four different perspectives what the expectations might be, how they h
ave
changed over time, how important they are to both parties and how they
might be changing in the future.
1.4.1 The respective roles and developing relationship between the individual
employee, the line manager, the HR professional and other specialists car
rying
out people management activities:

The three roles that can be played by each of the four main parties invo
lved in
HRM are; to require others to perform, to enable them to do so and to
support
them by providing specialist services. Ways in which HRM may be organi
sed
e.g. strategic business partnering (Ulrich) and subsequent critiques o
f the
business partner model.

Examiners tips:
The psychological contract and the roles of each party involved in managing
people
There are many good overviews of the psychological contract in the textbooks or
on
Internet. Candidates would be helped by analysing the contract that exists or
organisations with which they are familiar. Likewise, such organisations can be
used
as case studies on how HRM is organised. It is useful for a candidate to imagine
him
or herself in the shoes of the HR Director and ask, what other way could we organ
ise
the management and development of our staff? What are the advantages and
disadvantages of each?

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Unit Title: Human Resource Management
Learning Outcome:
2. Understand the role of effective and efficient people resourcing (HR planning
,
recruitment and selection) in securing a workforce with the requisite knowledge,
skills
and attitudes, enabling them to contribute to organisational goals.
Indicative Content:
2.1.1 The definition, purposes and mechanics of Human Resource Planning (HRP):

This should include an analysis of the various labour markets from which
an
employer may be obtaining its labour.
2.1.2 Hard and soft HRP.
2.2.1 The importance of HR planning in a turbulent world:

The importance and difficulties of planning in an unpredictable business

environment and increasingly globalised labour market.
2.2.2 The definition, purpose and processes for handling redundancy situations.
Examiners tips:
HR planning and redundancy
The traditional processes of HR planning are clearly dealt with in most textbook
s.
However, very few organisations carry out planning in quite the way suggested by
models of the processes. Candidates should consider how HR planning is carried o
ut
in organisations with which they are familiar and compare their findings with th
ose of

other students. How can differences in practice be accounted for, and are there
common practices within sectors, e.g. within the retail sector or government bod
ies or
manufacturing organisations? It is not enough simply to draw a flowchart of the
stages of HR planning.

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Unit Title: Human Resource Management
Learning Outcome:
2. Understand the role of effective and efficient people resourcing (HR planning
,
recruitment and selection) in securing a workforce with the requisite knowledge,
skills
and attitudes, enabling them to contribute to organisational goals.
Indicative Content:
2.3.1 The meaning of recruitment and selection and the stages involved:

The order of stages and the point at which recruitment becomes selection
.

Selection as a two-way process the candidate judging the employer as muc

h
as vice versa.

The alternatives to recruitment (leaving a post vacant, filling from wit

hin,
reorganisation of work, abandoning that work etc.).
2.3.2 Defining the vacancy and job analysis - job descriptions and accountabilit
y
profiling - and specifying the people attributes, capabilities and atti
tudes
required (person specifications and competency frameworks):

The opening analytical stage of the process of filling a post. The disti
nction
between describing the job and describing the person who will be able
to do
that job. How to decide between a firm description, in which the candi
date fits
the job, and a flexible description, where the job can be adapted to t
he
successful candidate. The distinction between a job description (focus
sing
upon processes to be carried out by the postholder) and an accountabil
ity
profile (focussing upon the outputs for which the person will be held
accountable).
2.3.3 Advertising internally and externally:

Indentifying the target audience, how to get the message to them and in
what

form to present the message.

2.3.4 The application form:

Whether to use an on-line or paper application process or whether to ask

for a
curriculum vitae.
2.3.5 E-recruitment:

New electronic routes to the labour market to develop and sustain your
employer brand (branding) as well as selling a particular vacancy (adv
ertising).
2.4.1 Selection methods: the range of techniques available including e-selectio
n.
2.4.2 The significance of authenticity, reliability, sufficiency, validity and c
ost, with
special reference to selection interviewing.
2.4.3 Employee references and making a job offer.
Examiners tips:
Employee resourcing
Candidates tend to learn the stages of the recruitment and selection process (2.
3.1).
However, this knowledge is not enough to satisfy ABEs standards. ABE expects
candidates to be able to show a much deeper understanding of the issues behind
recruitment and selection.
For example, a candidate should understand:

How a competency framework might inform a person specification.

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How to decide when to be firm about the job description and person
specification and when to be flexible.
Advertising as a means of getting applications from only the right sort and
number of candidates.
The use of new technology (including the potential of Web 2.0) for both
advertising and selection.
The distinction between employer branding and advertising.
The criteria for assessing the methods used for finding out about candidates
(e.g. authenticity, reliability, sufficiency, validity and cost).

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Unit Title: Human Resource Management
Learning Outcome:
3. Understand the theory and practice related to the full range of HRM functions
(learning, performance management, reward/recognition and employee relations).

Indicative Content:
3.1.1 Learning theories and their use in helping to design and deliver learning.
How
adults learn and preferred ways of learning:

Theoretical approaches to learning.

The distinction between teaching and learning.

How adults learn (e.g. Kolb) and the different routes into the human min
d
(e.g. visual, auditory and kinaesthetic).

The Training Cycle (training needs, design, delivery and evaluation); it

s
application and its limitations.

The various models of individual learning styles and the limitations of

these
approaches.
3.1.2 The differences between learning, development, training and education and
the
adoption of these different approaches:

Practical approaches to learning adopted by individuals and organisation

s.
3.1.3 What learning is designed to change and its limitations:

Three domains of learning: increasing knowledge, developing skill and

changing attitudes.

The need to properly identify the underlying individual and organisation

al
issues beneath performance weaknesses rather than viewing training as
the
panacea for all problems.

Monitoring and evaluating learning.

3.1.4 The delivery of learning through different methods on and

The use of different delivery methods by employers e.g.

classroom learning, coaching, mentoring, the secondment
ted
learning.

Personal development portfolios plan, do, monitor and

off the job:

shadowing,
and self-direc
evaluate.

3.1.5 Employee induction:

The purpose of induction and the methods through which it may be deliver
ed.

Induction as a time when both parties are getting to know each other.
Examiners tips:
Learning and development
Candidates should be able to make real world recommendations underpinned by an
understanding of learning theory. Candidates may have a good understanding of th
e
theory from studying other ABE modules specifically about learning and
development. HRM emphases the practical responses an employer should take to
respond to individual and organisational learning needs.
Candidates should be able to steer a middle course between the dry theory only o
n
one side and personal experience only on the other.

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Unit Title: Human Resource Management
Learning Outcome:
3. Understand the theory and practice related to the full range of HRM functions
(learning, performance management, reward/recognition and employee relations).
Indicative Content:
3.2.1 Methods of performance management including objective-setting and
systematic performance and development review (appraisal):

The wide range of techniques that employers can use to direct and develo
p
the performance of their people.

Management by objectives.

The fundamentals of the techniques of individual and team appraisal.

3.2.2 360-degree appraisal

The benefits, methods and limitations of 360-degree feedback.

3.2.3 Methods of monitoring and controlling employee absence:

How the best employers maximise employee attendance, e.g. return to work
interviews, employee attitude surveys, absence monitoring and reward.
3.2.4 The definition, purpose and content of disciplinary and grievance policies
and
procedures. The principles behind them:

How an employer should respond to an allegation of misconduct or

incapability. Why such techniques work.

The constitution and practicalities of the disciplinary hearing.

How an employer should respond to an employee grievance. Why such

techniques work.
3.2.5 Gross misconduct, and formal vs. informal action:

The band of reasonable responses to allegations of misconduct or

incapability, from counselling to summary dismissal for gross miscondu
ct.

The nature of the disciplinary warning.

Examiners tips:
Performance management, discipline and grievance
This session deals with how an organisation manages the performance of its peopl
e
(to get peak performance) and what it does when there is a possibility of a seri
ous
deviation from the expected standards of conduct or capability.
Candidates should know about and be able to apply the range of performance
management techniques to various different sorts of organisations from objective
setting to dismissal. Candidates should be sensitive to the nature of each case
and
recommend action that fits the offence.

Grievance handling as the reverse of the misconduct and incapability process.

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Unit Title: Human Resource Management
Learning Outcome:
3. Understand the theory and practice related to the full range of HRM functions
(learning, performance management, reward/recognition and employee relations).
Indicative Content:
3.3.1 Employee reward and recognition:

The employers objectives recruitment, motivation and retention.

Incentives and the advantages, dangers and techniques of linking reward

to
performance or the attainment of competencies.

The basics of pay structures pay spines, job families, increments and pa
y
bands.

The characteristics of analytical and non-analytical job evaluation.

3.3.2 The mix of financial and non-financial rewards. The total reward package:

Rewarding employees through financial and non-financial means.

Total reward the complete mix of rewards given to employees.

Examiners tips:
Reward
This session is a brief survey of the fundamentals of employee reward.
All candidates will have some experience of the magnetic effect of being promise
d
and then receiving a reward for effort. Employers harness this basic human insti
nct to
attract, motivate and retain employees. But the motivational effect of reward qu
ickly
wears off and employees begin to see it as a right. So pay must be progressive.
Also there is more to reward than the promise of a simple sum of money people ar
e
looking for a range of different things from work (socialisation, learning, stat
us, job
satisfaction as well as money). The total reward package is important. The packa
ge
must be fair but also meet the wide range of desires of the different employees
in the
business. Pay itself must be structured (e.g. there will be different rates for
different
grades) and Herzbergs Two Factor Theory reminds us that, to stop people leaving
and to keep them motivated, we may need to keep the carrot moving in front of th
e
donkey by providing pay progression and cost of living rises.

Basic grading structures need to be determined by some system of evaluation

either analytical or non-analytical.

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Unit Title: Human Resource Management
Learning Outcome:
3. Understand the theory and practice related to the full range of HRM functions
(learning, performance management, reward/recognition and employee relations).
Indicative Content:
3.4.1 Methods promoting positive employee relations:

Upward and downward communication systems such as attitude surveys and

team briefing. The five stages of employee participation information,

communication, consultation, co-determination and control.

Fundamentals of the contemporary role of trade unions and other employee

representatives. Partnership working between employer and employee

representatives, as the objectives of both parties converge.
The trend away from collectivism and towards the individualisation of th

relationship between the employer and the employee.

Fundamentals of the contemporary role of governments in influencing the

relationship via legislation, codes of practice, employment courts (e.

g.
tribunals), resourcing and supporting, giving advice and being a model
employer, as well as indirect influence via economic action, e.g. nati
onal
wage policies and public funding of certain sectors such as education.

The role and nature of HR policy and procedure in promoting positive

employee relations.

Examiners tips:
The hygiene factors of employee relations
This session is an overview of the key elements of the relationship between the
employee and employer, and the environment in which that relationship exists, e.
g.
economic and governmental. A broad practical awareness is all that is required,
rather than an in-depth understanding of the academic perspectives on these
matters.
The psychological contract is dealt with under 1.3.1 and the ending of the relat
ionship
as a result of disciplinary action under 3.2.4. Grievance procedures are dealt w
ith

under 3.2.4 and employee engagement in 4.2.1.

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Unit Title: Human Resource Management
Learning Outcome:
4. Understand the content and significance of key developments in the HRM arena,
especially High Performance Working (HPW), employee engagement, employer
branding, and self-managed learning.
Indicative Content:
4.1.1 The

nature and importance of High Performance Working (HPW):

The key elements of High Performance Working.
High Commitment High Performance HRM (Pfeffer etc.).
Best practice vs. best fit HRM.

4.1.2 The application of HPW techniques to a range of different organisational

situations:

How HPW is adapted to suit the organisation and its context.

How it is put into action.

4.2.1 The nature and significance of employee engagement and methods for
promoting engagement. High engagement cultures:

Methods to promote employee engagement, e.g. devolution to self-managed

teams, quality circles and suggestion schemes. The employee voice.

High engagement as an integral part of creating the high performing
organisation.
Creating a single workforce, e.g. through the harmonisation of condition

s.
Examiners tips:
The motivating factors of employee relations
The hygiene factors of employee relations were dealt with in 3.4.1. This session
brings in the motivating HR practices present in high performing organisations.
Whilst the textbooks predominantly deal with US and European models of HPW and
High Commitment HRM, candidates in other parts of the world may well find they
have limited application in their different cultures and need to be adapted. Suc
h
candidates would do well to consider why this is. It is unlikely that one is rig
ht and the
other wrong. However, there is a tendency, under globalisation, for cultures to
merge
and such diversity to be lost. Candidates may have a personal view on this.
The UKs Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has researched and
published extensively on these topics.

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QCF
Unit Title: Human Resource Management
Learning Outcome:
4. Understand the content and significance of key developments in the HRM arena,
especially High Performance Working (HPW), employee engagement, employer
branding, and self-managed learning.
Indicative Content:
4.3.1 The nature and significance of employer branding:

The definition of employer branding, examples of strong brands, its

importance in attracting, motivating and retaining the right people an
d its link
to the organisations commercial branding.

Any differences between the internal and external perceptions of the bra
nd.
4.3.2 The factors which contribute to the authentic development of the organisat
ion
as an employer brand:

How an employer brand is created and sustained or damaged and even

lost.
4.4.1 The nature and importance of employee development in each part of the
workforce:

Continuous professional development (CPD) across the organisation.

The promotion of CPD by professions.

4.4.2 How to promote continuous (lifelong) self-managed learning by both the
individual employee and the organisation:

The rising importance of self-managed learning and its link to employabi

lity.

How individuals can develop themselves.

Organisational development.
4.4.3 Knowledge management and the learning organisation:

The importance of sharing know-how in contemporary organisations and the

techniques used to achieve it.

The theory of the learning organisation and how it operates in the real
world.
4.4.4 Career management and development:

The changing nature of the career and the job for life in some parts of th
e
world.

Career structures within each organisation, i.e. in the internal labour

market.

The respective responsibilities of the employee, the employer, career

management specialists and others (e.g. professional bodies) to develo
p
employability across an external labour market.
Examiners tips:
Organisational and individual development
This session picks up three remaining topics essential to an understanding of
contemporary HRM the employer brand, CPD/careers and organisation

development (including knowledge management and the learning organisation).