Page last updated 15 July 2024
Introduction
This flexible, part-time online course allows you to study anywhere in the world while gaining sought after skills, knowledge and industry connections. It reflects the latest trends and best practice in human resources management, preparing graduates for in-demand HR careers across all industries.
Accreditations and partnerships:
Why study HRM?
Imaginative and expertly designed human resource management (HRM) is considered by today's global leaders as central to an organisation's success. HR practitioners around the world are an integral part of that success, and as recognition of the distinctive contribution of HRM grows, it is increasingly valued, both as a career, and as a foundation for careers in other branches of management.
Why UWE Bristol?
Teaching expertise
Bristol Business School has been a leading provider of professional HRM education for nearly 50 years with one of the largest and most diverse teams of HRM subject experts of any British university. Many of our MSc Human Resource Management tutors are active in HR-related research and have worked in the industry across a diverse range of sectors globally. Most tutors are CIPD members.
Comprehensive curriculum
Our course offers a comprehensive range of modules that cover the breadth and depth of current global human resource management best practice, from strategic HRM to specific issues such as international HRM, employment law, and people analytics. This broad-based approach provides a well-rounded education that prepares you for a variety of HR roles globally.
Personal approach
This HRM master’s is designed to target the needs of practitioners, with education that is intellectually stretching, practically relevant and up-to-the-minute. A particular feature is the personal interest we take in your development. Using people analytic and behaviour development tools, along with a range of practical activities, we'll profile your unique attributes, develop your strengths, and offer feedback on your progress throughout.
Flexible online learning
The course’s online format and part-time structure offer maximum flexibility. You can study from anywhere in the world while balancing your studies with existing commitments.
Where can it take me?
Our intensive course prepares you to immediately contribute to an entry level people profession role, or (if you're already employed within the field) to take your career to a more senior level, either locally or globally. Recent employers include Avon and Somerset Constabulary, British American Tobacco, Barclays Bank, Colgate Palmolive, Deloitte, KPMG, L'Oréal (Paris), the National Health Service, Nestlé, and Towers Watson plc. Employers approach us directly to fill HR vacancies.
Structure
Content
This course is ideal if you are looking to change career or want a professional qualification that will help you resume working after a break. Contact the Programme Leader for more details.
The course provides an introduction to the theory, practice and context for human resource management and consists of the following compulsory modules:
- Change - considers the causes and nature of change, issues of structuring for change, the cultural and political contexts for change, how to lead change as well as the more practical considerations of designing, planning and implementing change.
- Critical People Analytics - explores the needs and purpose of critical people analytics, searching and evaluating data suitable for critical analytics, evaluating analytical methodologies, as well as addressing ethical issues in critical analytics.
- Culture and Behaviour - explores the role played by organisational systems/processes (including organisational culture and leadership) and individual differences in achieving organisational success and employee well-being. Topics include personality and work performance, motivation, leadership, understanding individual differences, organisational and national culture.
- Employee Relations and Employment Law - considers how people professionals are expected to successfully respond to, if not anticipate, opportunities and challenges underlying the transformation of work. Plus, how contemporary processes such as organisational fragmentation, individualisation, internationalisation, digitalisation and juridification have profound implications on the management of the employment relationship.
- HR Professional Portfolio - evidences the core behaviours which, along with core knowledge and specialist knowledge, comprise the CIPD 2020 Profession Map. The core behaviours are relevant to all people professionals, and the Profession Map sets the international benchmark for the HR profession. There is a focus on ethical and evidence-based decision-making, the portfolio reflecting the CIPD's stance that certain ways of thinking and acting should be universal and consistent, even in changing situations.
- HRM in the Business Environment - considers how human resources contribute to the organisation's business strategy that both reacts to external influences in the environment and identifies future changes that provide opportunities for advantage in an extremely competitive world. It provides a wider understanding of the context in which business decisions are taken and the major influences on those decisions, critically analysing the role of HR professionals in these processes.
- Learning and Development - aims to blend theory with practice and focuses on the key elements of the theories of learning and skills development. These elements inform an understanding of how individuals learn, and how that affects what individuals choose to do long term in their employment.
- People Practice - analyses the theoretical and conceptual frameworks relating to people practice and the link between HRM strategy and practice and organisational effectiveness. It explores the cornerstones of HRM in practice through reviewing how concepts such as people resourcing, rewarding effort, learning and development and employee relations are applied in an organisational context.
- Research in Human Resource Management - If you wish to complete the full master's course, you'll need to complete this module, which is designed to develop your applied understanding and research skills and prepare you to conduct research from a range of qualitative and quantitative perspectives.
The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved, we'll inform you.
Learning and Teaching
You’ll study in your own time with no timetabled lectures allowing you to balance your personal and professional commitments. Content will be delivered through a mixture of online videos, activities and discussions as well as other collaborative approaches and independent reading. You’ll have opportunities to collaborate and network with working professionals across the globe alongside a curriculum informed by the latest advancements and best practices in human resources management.
Study support
We welcome students from a range of backgrounds and acknowledge that some students may be returning to study after some time away. We therefore provide a range of sources of support to help you throughout your master's level study.
See our glossary of teaching and learning terms.
Study time
You'll complete the course over two years. This involves self-directed study and participation in online activities (12-18 hours per week) with the support of an online tutor.
Assessment
We use a range of different forms of assessment throughout the course, including written assignments, tests, online exams, a reflective log, presentations, and group exercises. Assessment of skills and competence also forms part of the overall assessment strategy.
Learn more about our assessments.
