9 Human Resource Courses You Want to Take in College
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Human resource departments are growing into strategic arms of company operations and are firmly up top of the organizational hierarchy. No longer are these professionals simply tasked with heading up social committees and planning anniversary celebrations. Human resources is becoming a more technical profession charged with numerous responsibilities that are vital to a company’s life blood, such as building and maintaining a strong workforce through recruitment and retention efforts, supporting employee relations by facilitating effective communications between managers and employees, maintaining corporate ethics in all company dealings, generating effective workplace compensation plans and more.
And, because of the growing complexity of the field, education requirements are becoming more strenuous for professionals seeking entry into the realm of human resources. For would-be human resource generalists, a college degree is a necessity to prepare them for the rigors of the field. You can earn your human resource degree online from Concordia University, St. Paul. Take a look at some of the core courses you will complete as part of the curriculum at Concordia.
Managing in Organizations: Management is a central function of human resource departments. And, while you may not be directly managing people, you will most likely manage processes and projects that require a grasp of best practices and field applications. This course will discuss management concepts such as motivation, self-directed work teams, systems theory and more to develop your leadership capabilities.
Advanced Human Resource Management: The human resource professional serves in a variety of supportive roles in a company’s hierarchy. This course will explain these roles in detail as well as how they align with the changing nature of the workforce.
Survey and Research Methods: Basic survey and research methodologies are employed in human resources to gauge a more complete understanding of your workforce, including culture and benefits to assist in retention and recruitment efforts. This course will discuss tools and methodologies that can be used by HR generalists.
Legal Issues in Human Resource: Employment law is a critical component to our curriculum, as it is an essential piece of a HR generalist’s wheelhouse. This course will discuss the history behind labor management and the law’s application to today’s workforce. Topics discussed include wrongful discharge, harassment, interviewing, selection, compensation and benefits. This course will also cover negotiation and mediation strategies in the work setting for HR professionals.
Staffing the Organization: Building a strong workforce is important to a company’s overall productivity and profits. Hiring the right employees to fit your established company culture is also central to maintaining positive and efficient work environments. This course dives into talent management by covering concepts such as recruitment, forecasting, selection, orientation and retention.
Compensation, Benefits Systems and Theories: Employee compensation is a hot topic around the water cooler as workers seek to earn a salary that aligns with their perceived value to a company. Human resource professionals often work closely with managers to ensure pay scales match up with regional averages and are an accurate representation of an employee’s value. Learn more about compensation theories, including salary administration variable pay, performance management, position evaluation and monetary and non-monetary reward systems through this course.
Organizational Development and Change: The human resource department is often tasked with improving overall organization processes to bolster efficiency and productivity. Often, these professionals are called in during times of major change to ensure efforts are aligned with new organizational goals and capacity. This course will give you a foundation for navigating corporate change, performing and assessing organizational needs, and identifying options for training employees.
Strategic Human Resources: Gain confidence in your role as a HR generalist in the organizational hierarchy through looking at case studies and readings that support the value of human resources in corporate business environments. This course will take a deeper look at human resource professionals as partners in strategy with their organizations.
Business and Personal Ethics: The human resource department is often the ethical conscience of a company that aligns corporate decisions with business ethics. Through the examination of case studies and group discussion, you will establish your own ethical positions on corporate issues.
Concordia University, St. Paul prepares you for a new career in human resource. Gain a broader understanding of human resource and its role in corporate business environments. New students as well as adult learners returning to earn this specialized degree will benefit from its comprehensive approach to a growing field.