MSc Strategic People Management

University of Suffolk

This module aims at providing introductory knowledge for the application of useful academic and professional skills needed to excel at higher education (HE) level of study. The module will be essential for new students enrolled on the MSc Strategic People Management programme with little or no prior educational experience or have not engaged in any higher education learning for a long period of time.

This module is a one-day induction designed to introduce new students enrolled on the MSc Strategic People Management programme to essential areas of the course, including the CIPD professional standards framework and membership engagement benefits as well as explore Suffolk Business School and University of Suffolk support systems available to students throughout the duration of your course.

Contemporary people management skills are essential for effectiveness in organisations. Student will explore application of these transferable skills as integral to ensuring increased employee engagement in businesses, leading to sustained employee performance as a key predictor of improved customer relations and satisfaction in these organisations. Through insight into skills development and application via a series of practical individual and team-based activities.

This module focuses on the dimensions of people leadership by exploring various leadership models and evaluate the implication of their application to people leadership in organisations. Various leadership traits and skills will be identified and analysed to understand how these influences decision making in contemporary businesses including managing diversity and innovation in the workplace and; understand the nature, context and management of change situations effectively in organisations.

The module provides an in-depth exploration of the factors and complexities involved in terms of the strategic management of the employment relationship within the context of a continuously evolving environment, with a particular focus on the ever-changing employment regulatory environment. The module focuses on different perspectives of employment relations and the cooperation and conflict that varies between workplaces. In addition, learners will be encouraged to analyse and critically evaluate the role of the state, along with associated institutions and representative worker and employer bodies that shape both the employment relations and legal environment.

This module explores how to identify and apply relevant people data analytics and financial planning techniques. It will help to gather informed insights from organisational data sets through the use of case studies and real-life organisational scenarios to understand relevant business information, make useful decisions and plan for future organisational needs. There will be a focus on specifics of applying these generated insights in managing people effectively within organisations.

This module explores the subject of strategically resourcing and managing people as talents within the organisational contexts, through the complete lifecycle of an employee or worker within the organisation from induction to employment cessation or succession planning where relevant. Exploration of the need to understand specialist labour market skills offering will also be discussed, to include how organisations can flexibly and responsively adapt to changing resourcing needs of their businesses when presented with varied situations, influenced by both internal and external factors such as issues surrounding legislation and ethicality of resourcing decision making.

This module provides an informed background to understanding the various types of organisational structural models? businesses operate with emphasis on emergent contemporary types and how innovation and evolving generational nuances is shaping organisational strategies and managerial approaches to achieve sustainable competitive advantages. It will also provide an insight into how understanding people psychology from a business perspective can lend value to how our perception about self and other people personalities can be understood to effectively manage people in alignment with set organisational strategic objectives.

The Understanding Research for Organisational Development module fulfils two important purposes. It serves to support students as they prepare to undertake their Final Project as part of the MSc qualification, and it supports the development of important knowledge and data skills for senior HR professionals.