University of Bedfordshire

BSc (Hons) in Human Resource Management

What will you study?

Studying our Human Resource Management BSc (Hons) course will equip you with expert knowledge and skills in the combined areas of social sciences and business management. As a human resource (HR) professional, it is important that you actively understand organisational issues from staff to management. This is where our Human Resource Management Foundations unit will develop your knowledge to demonstrate the skills and behaviours you need to meet professional standards in the industry. In other core areas of study, you will explore key concepts, theories and practices of human resource management (HRM) such as recruitment and selection, training and development and employee relations in our HR and Work in Organisations unit. Moreover, with technology becoming a prevalent tool in businesses, you will explore The Role of HR in The Digital Age and discover how human resource management has evolved and is developing with changes in technology.

As a fundamental skill, our unit in Applied Numeracy for Business will give you the confidence to develop the mathematical and numerical skills used for decision-making and problem-solving for businesses. In your second year, our unit in Innovative Practice in HRM and Human Resource Development (HRD) will equip you with the knowledge and skills to implement creativity and innovation in the workplace and understand how this contributes to organisational performance, competitive advantage and employee engagement. You will also be introduced to The Strategic Context of HRM where you will unpack theory around strategic HRM approaches in different business contexts while learning to make informed judgements in Employment Relations as a crucial skill in the HRM sector. Another fundamental part of HRM is resourcing and developing people, and this is where our unit in People Resourcing and Development will expose you to how organisations manage resourcing and development activities in the most effective way using key operational tools, techniques and practices.

In addition, you will be introduced to the principles and norms of Employment Law. You will move on to address Contemporary Issues in The Workplace and how HR functions should respond to them while considering the implications for policymaking and practice for people management. As an essential skill, our Management and Leadership unit will also introduce you to theories and practice in this field alongside persuasive communication techniques so that you are equipped to solve problems and contemporary organisational issues. HR Analytics and Data unit will expose you to the fundamentals of HR analytics, how data is used in the HR environment, and the ethical issues and limitations that arise from this. With accreditation from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), this course will also prepare you for an organisational role in the HR profession with our unit in Developing Professional HRM Practice. This will develop your understanding of the skills required to work in the sector against the CIPD Profession Map and support you in creating your own personal development plan.

Finally, you will conduct a thorough piece of academic research and/or a practical project in our Business Project unit and to support you with this, our unit in Data and Research Methods for Business will provide you with the knowledge and skills to conduct research and analyse data in a business context. To prepare you for your career, our unit in Beginning your Professional Business Journey will help to ease your transition into the workplace and provide an insight into professional business environments. At the University of Bedfordshire Business School, we prioritise your employability and hope to equip you with skills you can take with you into the next stage of your career. This is where our Planning Careers and Employability unit will support you with practising and preparing for a range of interview scenarios while also allowing you to get involved with local employers to gain insight on your own employability and prepare yourself to become a business-ready graduate.

How will you be assessed?

In line with the Business School's commitment to practice-based education, a large part of the assessment will relate to the demonstration of your ability to do HRM in practice. We will want to see that you understand the theory and have developed critical thinking skills which help you evaluate the relevance of what you have learned. All of this comes together in being able to demonstrate rigorous human resources practice for an organisation.

To assess this range of integration of theory and skills into sound practice, we use a range of methods. You will encounter many different kinds, including the ones listed below, some of which are used in combination, for example, a report might be required as an outcome of a time-limited assessment task.

• Reports: you analyse a business problem and propose solutions.
• Presentations: present proposals as if to your boss, a board or a client.
• Time-limited tasks: on a set day, you will be given a task which you will need to complete in a set time, such as 48 hours or five days.
• Academic writing: used to demonstrate clear, critical thinking, you might be asked to write an essay or a short summary of a theoretical debate.
• Appraisals: just as in business, you use appraisals to assess your own learning and to set your personal and academic development objectives.
• Projects: these are assessed in a number of ways depending on the task defined by our business partner. Typically, you will need to prepare an analysis, report or presentation which is suitable for the business partner and a longer piece of work which sets out the behind-the-scenes' work which underpins the output for the business. It is in the longer work that we expect to see explicitly your application of theory and critical thinking which underpin good HRM practice. You will usually also prepare a project review.
• Project reviews: you analyse and evaluate the way you worked on a project and set out how you would work more effectively on a similar task in future.
• Exams: as well as conventional exams using set questions and case studies, exams can be the outcome of a group task. You might work on a large task together and then sit an exam to show your individual learning from the task.
• Portfolio: you will plan and record your CPD activities using the CIPDs HR Profession Map as a guide to the knowledge, skills and behaviours you need to develop to be ready to work in HR.

For all assignments, you will have an assignment brief which clearly sets out what is required and you will be given the criteria which your tutors will use to mark your work. All units have a form of non-graded formative assessment which feeds into the summative methods of assessment; this may come directly from tutors or from your peers and self-assessment. You will receive feedback on all your assessments. If you use this feedback, you will be able to improve your learning and your grades on future assignments.

You will be equipped to start a career as an HR professional, with all the knowledge and experience to hit the ground running in an HR practitioner role within a variety of organisational contexts. Equally, your skills would enable you to excel in a range of more generalist people-management roles.

A human resource management (HRM) degree can be applied to almost any organisation in any sector. It is a versatile qualification for dealing with hiring, training, development and general people skills

Careers directly related to your degree include:

• Human resources Officer
• Office Manager
• Occupational Psychologist
• Training and Development Officer

Careers where your degree would be useful include:

• Business Adviser
  Careers Adviser
  Data Scientist
  Higher Education Lecturer
  Life Coach
  Management Consultant
  Mediator
  Operational Researcher
  Recruitment Consultant
  Risk Manager
  Sales Executive
  Talent Agent
  Trade Union Research Officer

The careers listed here are for information and guidance purposes only. Many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject. By completing your degree, you have demonstrated skills which are transferable to a range of careers.