Human Resource Management Certificate

Comprehensive List of Topics

The Human Resources Function--Planning, Recruiting & Selection

• Overview of role of the human resource professional
• Identify the basic composition of a human resources department
• Projected changes concerning tomorrow's workforce
• Recruiting and selecting the best candidates
• Job specifications and job descriptions
• Discussion of pre-employment and employment testing
• Principles of employee retention

Hiring and Firing

• Designing and conducting an employment interview
• Overview of the termination meeting
• Practice key steps through role-play exercise

Legal Perspective: Selection and Hiring Decisions

• Practical relevance of the law when advertising jobs
• Employment applications and screening
• Legal considerations of pre-employment and medical testing
• Interviewing and making job offers

Employee Orientation and Development

• The role of training and development in a human resources organization
• Principles of adult learning
• Conducting an effective new employee orientation program
• Assessment tools to determine training needs
• Methods for employee development and on-the-job training

Labor Relations

• Basic structure of employment manuals and pitfalls when drafting a manual
• Overview of the National Labor Relations Act, a mainstay of labor law
• Understanding collective bargaining relationships and negotiations
• Common terms and concepts in union contracts: grievance procedure, "just cause," arbitration
• The doctrine of termination-at-will

Legal Perspective: Managing Performance

• Overview of the regulation of workplace conduct
• A checklist for disciplinary action and how to document grounds for action
• Procedures for avoiding sexual harassment liability
• Handling internal investigations of misconduct and allegations of sexual harassment
• Prevention of discrimination claims and lawsuits

The Performance Management Process

• The purpose and scope of the performance management process
• Alignment of performance systems with company goals
• The criteria, components, and roles of an effective performance management system
• Designing performance management tools that add business value
• Conducting effective appraisals
• Strategies for managing poor performance

Performance Management: Content Issues

• Purpose of performance management
• Criteria for designing a valid appraisal system
• Legal aspects of appraisal
• Methods of appraising employee performance
• Evaluation of different approaches

Performance Management: Process Issues

• Steps in the appraisal process
• How to conduct an effective performance feedback session
• Preparing for the annual review
• Coaching for improved performance

Health and Welfare Benefits

• Requirements for a sound benefits program
• Establishing specific objectives concerning employee needs and expectations while benefiting the employer
• Contemporary trends and reasons for the growth in employee benefits
• Types of employee benefits: required by law, discretionary, supplemental, and employee services
• Functional approaches to designing and evaluating employee benefits
• Understanding and handling insurable risk as it relates to employee benefits
• Defined contribution approaches to managed-care programs
• Concerns and questions regarding employee benefits, managed care, and the associated terminology, such as HMO, PPO, and POS
• Employee benefits considered as part of an employee's total compensation
• Review of Web-based resources for health and welfare benefits

Compensation

• Objectives of a compensation program and compensation planning
• How to choose compensation strategies to minimize total compensation cost
• How to determine the internal value (job evaluation) and the external value (wage survey) of all jobs
• The compensation structure: pay grades, rate ranges, use of wage and salary surveys
• The relationship between relative worth of jobs and their wage rates
• Linking incentive plans to organizational objectives, such as executive compensation, group incentive plans, and profit sharing

Retirement Benefits

• An overview of plan design and terminology
  The purpose of employer-sponsored retirement plans
• How employer-sponsored retirement plans complement Social Security
• Distinguishing between various types of pension plans
• The differences between defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans
• An overview of services provided by outside vendors

Legal Perspective: Compensation and Benefits

• Review of the workers’ compensation statute
• Review of the Fair Labor Standards Act
• Review of the Family Medical Leave Act
• Review of the Americans with Disabilities Act

Note: Course content is subject to change.

This page last updated October 20, 2006.