Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/470545
MARCH | APRIL 2015 BizEd 47 THE MANY FACETS OF HRM Because there are so many different aspects to managing people, HRM is one of the few knowledge domains that truly transcends function. If the subject is to be thoroughly covered in the classroom, a wide number of topics should be ad- dressed. These include: n The role of HRM in organizations, including the ways it supports business strategy and workforce planning. n Demographic, economic, social, political, and legislative trends. n Global HRM challenges. n The legal environment, including equal employment opportunity laws; basic wage, hour, and benefits laws; employment at will; and safety rules and risk management. n Job/competency analysis and job descriptions. n All aspects of talent manage- ment, such as recruiting, interviewing, training, and compensating employees; measuring performance and offering performance counseling; and develop- ing and retaining employees, as well as disciplining or terminating them. It can take a significant amount of time to address those HRM topics ade- quately, and most business programs are already packed with required courses. Still, a school can introduce HRM into its core curriculum in a variety of mean- ingful ways. HRM AT THE CORE Business schools can adopt one or more of the following strategies to bring HRM into their programs. Each approach comes with some advantages and possi- ble drawbacks. Reduce elective hours in the busi- ness degree. While this option makes room for HRM courses in the business core, it does reduce opportunities for students to customize their degrees. Allow students to choose OB or HRM. Schools that place a high value on student choice could allow stu- dents to decide whether they take OB or HRM courses in the business core. Unfortunately, some students might not choose wisely, merely selecting the course that fits conveniently into their schedules. This option is also imperfect because, as previously men- tioned, there are significant differences between OB and HRM, and students who study only one or the other will learn only part of what they need to know to become effective managers. Reduce the credit hours for cours- es in the core. This option requires faculty to streamline their classes, as professors and administrators do the tough work of determining the es- sential skills, experiences, and con- tent that business graduates actually require. The result is likely to be a mix of two-, three-, and four-credit courses, which might be a challenge for administrators to schedule, but which will allow for valuable room to introduce new courses, such as HRM. Require HRM in a "department core." If faculty resist giving up core cours- es in their own disciplines, another option is to make HRM a requirement only in a single major, such as man- agement. The disadvantage is that students majoring in other disciplines, such as accounting and marketing, will not learn critical HRM skills. Combine HRM with an existing core course. If there's still no room for HRM in the business core, schools can consider combining it with other related core material, such as ana- lytics, information systems, or orga- nizational behavior. Unfortunately, this choice sends a weaker signal to students about the importance of HRM skills. Another downside is that most faculty will merely teach the content they are most comfortable with, and each domain might get only superfi-