Human resources professionals are the point people within a company when hiring a new employee becomes necessary. Staffing courses teach students the philosophy and techniques behind hiring new employees and retaining the old ones. Retaining employees is as important as hiring the right ones, due to the costs of advertising in the newspaper or online classified ads, lost productivity in the related job, and man hours spent reviewing resumes. Students will learn tips and tricks for finding and keeping quality workers, such as how to develop career development programs and scheduled training programs.
Employee and labor relations courses cover topics such as counseling, employee complaints and grievances, disciplinary actions and collective bargaining. It is the responsibility of human resources to aid managers and employees in disciplinary actions or address grievances. In industries or businesses where workers have formed a collective bargaining union, HR must participate in negotiating the terms of new labor contracts. As part of negotiations, the company may experience strikes, walkouts or boycotts until an agreement is made between the company and union. Courses in labor relations will cover each of these actions.
Many human resources programs include psychology courses that provide a basis for understanding the development of different personality types and the issues that are associated with those personalities. Psychology courses also include counseling courses that provide a richer exploration of counseling techniques and approaches. Topics may include self-awareness and the fundamentals of the therapeutic relationship.
Courses on ethics and law in the human resources field largely delve into the ethical issues that are confronted by human resources workers and the laws that govern the workplace. Ethical issues faced by human resources workers include illegal activity that is knowingly ignored by managers or staff. Several laws govern the workplace, including the Civil Rights Act of 1965, the American Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Human resources professionals must be well-versed in employment law issues in order to recognize violations and act to protect the firm from liability exposure for not taking corrective action in time.
Benefits and compensation packages are a continuous issue between employees and employers. Human resources students learn different techniques for developing benefits and compensation packages, linking pay to performance and offering compensation-based incentives to motivate employees.