Postgraduate Diploma in Strategic Human Resource Management

Purpose

The market needs people with management skills. A Postgraduate Diploma (Strategic Human Resource Management) will offer such skill development to qualified learners (in any field) seeking to augment their qualification(s) with core Human Resource Management (HRM) knowledge and skills (especially in Labour Relations) as well as to those seeking to examine the strategic application of the HRM function within a dynamic and competitive workplace.

The purpose of the qualification is to

• Strengthen and deepen the learner's knowledge in Human Resource Management,
• Enable working professionals and even those with no working experience,
• Undertake advanced reflection and development using a systematic survey of current thinking, practice and research methods in Human Resource Management.

The proposed curriculum contributes toward the intended outcomes by providing learners with a thorough knowledge base of Human Resource Management theory and practice. It enables the development of analytical skills to deal with business problems relating to the acquisition, retention and development of human resources. The purpose is the development of knowledge and skills in Compensation, Employment Law, Employment Relations, Human Resource Metrics, Human Resource Development and Coaching, Organisational Behaviour, Strategic Human Resource Management and Ethics, and Talent Acquisition.

Rationale

The current Bachelor of Commerce Honours in (Industrial Psychology) and Bachelor of Commerce Honours in (Human Resource Management) qualifications include a significant research component which consequently requires supervision capacity to be provided by the university. The feer number of learner is due to the professional nature of these qualifications and their specific training needs. Practitioners, academics and the professional board (South African Board for People Practices) indicated a need for a part-time postgraduate qualification for qualified learners (in any field) seeking to augment their qualification(s) with core HRM-related knowledge and skills (especially in Labour Relations) as well as for qualified learners seeking to examine the strategic application of HRM. The successful completion of the qualification will allow practitioners to exhibit a contextual understanding of HRM practices in general business areas and allow them to strengthen their ability to manage, reflect on current thinking and practice, and make decisions in a complex legal and business environment. The modular/blended nature of this qualification, thus the Information and Communication Technology mediated lectures and discussion groups, will allow for a broader target audience from inside and outside the country, and also from outside the borders of South Africa.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

The RPL and CAT Procedures for the Economic and Management Sciences Faculty at the University follows the University's Regulation for the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and Credit Accumulation and Transfer (CAT). Initial market analysis has shown that the majority of potential learners for the qualification will be between 30 and 50 years old, thereby making them ideal candidates for RPL given their professional work experience typically exceeding 15 to 20 years.

As per the faculty policy, the following regulatory provisions and procedures will apply

Regulation Provisions

• There will be exemption and credit transfer for a learner for the qualification.
• A specific set of learning on the grounds of which admission to any postgraduate qualification is granted under RPL, cannot also be used for granting exemption of credits within the same qualification.
• For admission to qualification, there is a need for a specific set of learning and a different set of learning for recognition/exemption of credits for the same qualification. However, a learner cannot present a specific set of learning for admission and exemption of credits within the same qualification. Evidence for both accounts of learning must be submitted separately for clarity.
• For postgraduate qualifications, credit exemption from/recognition of module(s), as RPL, can be granted on the strength of short course(s) in other words, non-credit-bearing completed by the learner, on condition that the course contents, duration and assessment of the short course (s) are at least similar to that of the module(s).

Recognition of prior formal, informal and non-formal learning is valid for one application year.

• The details for applications for postgraduate qualifications, as well as the specific criteria, application procedure and due dates, are given in the Economic and Management Sciences Faculty's Calendar and is thus accessible to all prospective learners.

Procedures of departmental RPL/CAT committees

• Departmental chairpersons are responsible for forming a departmental RPL/CAT committee for each application, taking into account the following guidelines:

> The committee must include at least two academic staff members.

> The relevant home department's chairperson and programme leader must be a member of the committee, and one of them has to act as chair of the committee.

• The committee reviews and assesses the evidence submitted by the applicant and reaches a consensus for each recommendation. If the committee cannot reach consensus, it should submit a report to the Faculty's Programme Committee. The report should give relevant facts and all the alternative views regarding the application. The Programme Committee then acts as the RPL/CAT committee for the particular application and makes a recommendation based on a simple majority vote of the members present.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is

• Advanced Diploma in Human Resource Management, NQF Level 7.
• Bachelor of Administration in Human Resource Management, NQF Level 7.

This qualification consists of the following compulsory modules at NQF Level 8 totalling 120 Credits

• Compensation, 15 Credits.
• Employment Law, 15 Credits.
• Employment Relations, 15 Credits.
• Human Resource Metrics, 15 Credits.
• Human Resource Development and Coaching, 15 Credits.
• Organisational Behaviour, 15 Credits.
• Strategic Human Resource Management and Ethics, 15 Credits.
• Talent Acquisition, 15 Credits.

1. Demonstrate knowledge of and engagement in an area at the forefront of the field of Strategic Human Resources Management; an understanding of the theories, research methodologies, methods and techniques relevant to the field; and an understanding of how to apply such knowledge in a particular context.
2. Demonstrate the ability to interrogate multiple sources of knowledge in the area of human resources management and to evaluate knowledge and processes of knowledge production.
3. Demonstrate the ability to use a range of specialised skills to identify, analyse and address complex or abstract problems.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1

• Describe how to align compensation strategy with business strategy; and how this contributes to human resource management objectives such as talent acquisition, retention, and performance improvement.
• Give guidance on the implementation and evaluation of a benefit qualification that will maximise the return on investment.
• Compare and apply motivational theories (including equity theories) that explain the influence of compensation on employee attitude and behaviour.
• Discuss the legal framework for compensation, including corporate governance considerations, and highlight compliance issues facing the organisation.
• Diagnose the condition of the employment relationship concerning its dimensions, objectives and possible environmental influences.
• Identify international trends in Human Resource Development (HRD) and indicate the relevance to the South African situation.
• Identify local trends in HRD with specific reference to Education, Training and Development (ETD) practices and legislation.
• Design a learning qualification to help HRD managers apply the principles underlying the development of ETD practitioners.
• Formulate an implementation strategy to conform to national ETD practices and standards. Integrate ETD within the broader framework of HRD.
• Differentiate between the activities the Human Resource (HR) function performs, the HR value chain and practical measurement tools for people management.
• Integrate HR Metrics within HR activities and the HR value chain.
• Distinguish between the essential characteristics of HR variables.
• Analyse global trends in Organisational Behaviour and derive cross-cultural challenges for organisations in South Africa.
• Define human behaviour in the organisational context and recognise the opportunities change creates.
• Analyse the nature and impact of individual and group behaviour as well as organisational structures and processes on the individual, group and organisational well-being and effectiveness within an organisation.
• Delineate the dependent variables of Organisational Behaviour and distinguish them from the independent variables.
• Identify specific personality characteristics and their influences on behaviour within organisations.
• Define social perception and explain how characteristics of the perceiver, the target and the situation affect it.
• Evaluate the accuracy of managerial attributions from the standpoint of attribution biases and errors.
• Discuss the definition and importance of emotions at work.
• Distinguish between organisational citizenship and workplace deviance behaviours.
• Describe the prominent theories of work motivation and indicate how workers can be motivated when applying these theories.
• Discuss contemporary organisation development interventions and recognise the opportunities that change creates for organisations.
• List the knowledge, skills and values that need to be acquired.
• Identify professional pillars and core human resource management competencies and capabilities required to ensure ethical people management practices in sustainable organisations.
• Discuss the role of human resource management in strategy formulation and describe human resource management issues and practices associated with various directional strategies.
• Identify critical components of useful corporate ethics qualifications and discuss the implications of ethics governance and the governance of ethics for the human resource management function.
• Describe an effective performance management process to ensure optimal functioning of employees and congruence between their activities/outputs and organisational goals.
• Determine whether an organisation is ready to introduce flexible work arrangements and describe ways in which the organisation can adapt the size, composition, responsiveness and cost of its people inputs required to achieve desired objectives.
• Apply electronic, human resource management to critical human resource management functions and describe an effective change management strategy when implementing electronic human resource management.
• Debate the duality raised by the simultaneous need for standardisation and localisation of human resource management and describe strategic approaches to international human resource management.
• Provide guidelines for managing HIV/AIDS in the workplace according to codes of good practice for South Africa, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
• Identify major causes and consequences of organisational stress and describe wellness initiatives to promote physical, mental and emotional wellbeing for employee and Organisational benefit.
• Identify the ethical dimensions of a strategic human resource management paradigm and apply key ethical decision-making frameworks to human resource management functions and activities.
• Describe the nature of various approaches to job design, highlighting the benefits & disadvantages of each.
• Identify methods of job analysis and construct relevant end-product documents.
• Explain the purpose and process of strategic human resource planning.
• Within the context of labour legislation, contrast the advantages & disadvantages of internal versus external recruiting, and evaluate the suitability of recruitment media for specific job advertisements.
• Within the context of the Employment Equity Act, describe and evaluate each step in the selection process, and construct related documents.
• Explain the purpose, value and process of orientation qualifications and design an orientation qualification and a supervisor's orientation checklist.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2

• Evaluate an organisation's compensation management system in terms of objectives, policy decisions and related techniques.
• Evaluate the sources of rights and obligations in the employment relationship.
• Evaluate and prescribe formalisation and trust for "good" employment relations.
• Evaluate contemporary issues in Employment Relations.
• Evaluate strategies; management can take to promote performance improvement as aligned with business objectives.
• Apply guidelines and standards of mentoring and coaching.
• Analyse the role of group dynamics and team commitment in team effectiveness.
• Compare the interpersonal and functional sources of power and identify symbols of power and powerlessness in organisations.
• Define organisational politics and distinguish between primary influencing tactics.
• Compare and contrast the different leadership theories.
• Analyse diversity management strategies in developing an active culture in organisations.
• Explain the relationship between organisational culture and performance.
• Apply methods of assessing organisational culture and explain actions managers can take to change organisational culture.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3

• Establish a pay structure through job evaluation and market salary surveys using simulated data.
• Establish the employment relationship through the appropriate application of relevant labour legislation in recruitment and selection.
• Apply the relevant statutory requirements relating to terms and conditions of employment when drafting employment contracts.
• Facilitate the effective management of misconduct by applying relevant labour legislation.
• Facilitate the effective management of capacity by applying relevant labour legislation.
• Facilitate the effective management of retrenchments by applying relevant labour legislation.
• Distinguish between an employment contract proper and an independent contracting relationship.
• Process labour disputes through the effective use of appropriate labour dispute resolution procedures.
• Design a pay-for-performance plan with consideration of the incentive effect, cost, and fit with business strategy, unintended negative consequences, and relevant motivational theories.
• Develop and implement an appropriate employment relations strategy.
• Develop and implement employee participation intervention.
• Plan and execute an effective management-trade union negotiation.
• Identify and evaluate possible Employment Relations and Human Resources Management interfaces.
• Execute data analysis of essential HR data using Excel.
• Calculate descriptive statistics for specific HR variables using Excel.
• Perform correlational and covariance analyses on relating sets of HR data using Excel.
• Link HR variables through regression analyses using Excel.
• Use excel for examining fit, error and residuals during regression analyses of HR variables.
• Compute global measures of fit, that is, R squared statistics and the ANOVA F- statistic during regression analyses of HR variables using Excel.
• Assess the impact of an HR qualification or event.
• Forecast HR variables during regression analyses using Excel.
• Analyse metrics related to talent acquisition and retention activities, for example, during HR planning, recruitment and selection, employee absenteeism and turnover.

Integrated Assessment

Exams and tests with scenario-based questions form part of the summative assessment. In-class case studies, quizzes, assignments form part of the formative assessment. The institution quality assures the assessment practices. Internal moderation involves a faculty member, who is not involved in the presentation of the module, to scrutinise the assessment assignment(s) and products to check whether there is alignment with the module outcomes. External moderation of assessment assignments also takes place following institution Policy. If a learner is not satisfied with the final grade that he/she received, he/she has the right to make an appointment with the examiner to discuss his/her assignments or tests. The learners receive the opportunity to discuss with the examiner in order for the learner to understand how the examiner assessed his/her assignment or script. At no stage may this discussion become a negotiation about grades. If after that, the learner still feels that the treatment was unfair, and the internal moderator confirmed the result, he/she has the right to request that an external examiner assesses the products of assessment. As per standard procedures for re-marking, the institution charges a non-refundable fee for this service.