What it’s about:

Majors in human resources (HR) management study employment-related issues that affect men and women at work. You study topics such as recruitment, staffing, training, performance management, compensation, labor relations, and health and safety, in order to support the goals and strategies of business organizations.

What the study of this major is like:

This major prepares you to work with employees in business and nonprofit organizations. The field of human resources management is exiting because it is continually evolving. Frequent developments in the law, in judicial rulings, in technology (forexample, the Internet), and in research in many specialty areas of the field require that HR professionals constantly “reinvent” themselves.

As a major, you beginwith a sound foundation in the humanities, fine arts, mathematics, and social sciences, including philosophy, psychology, and sociology. In your third and fourth years, you mix business administration and HR management course work. Business administration courses include marketing, finance, accounting, statistics, information systems, and organizational behavior. Human resources management courses include the following:

Employment law. Your study of laws dealing with civil rights, pay, benefits, and health and safety, as well as important court rulings on employment relationships, will help you advise employees of their rights and obligations at work.

Recruitment and staffing. You learn how to attract potential employees and how to decide which ones to hire. Tools in decision-making include interviews, psychological and performance tests, reference checking, and screening devices to identify the most-qualified candidates.

Training and development. You learn how to create and evaluate programs designed to enhance the skills and productivity of individuals and teams.

Compensation and benefits. You focus on designing and putting in place improved systems of pay, benefits, and incentives. Key topics include social security, unemployment and workers’ compensation programs, pensions, and life and health insurance.

Employee and labor relations: You examine the history and legal framework of labor-management relations, including collective bargaining, strikes, and dispute-resolution mechanism (such as arbitration) in union and non-union companies.

International human resources management.You examine the role of HR management in international business.

The chief difference among programs is in their emphasis on quantitative (numbers-oriented) study. For example, engineering colleges that offer the HR management major tend to require a background in mathematics. A familiarity with statistics can be a big help in courses like compensation and benefits. Staffing can also be highly quantitative, especially if professors assign readings in the research literature. Liberal arts colleges generally require fewer math courses.

Career options and trends:

Human resources manager; management consultant; compensation consultant; labor lawyer; office manager; pension manager; recruiter.

Employment in this field is project to grow at an above average rate through 2018, although subject to fluctuations in the economy. Any HR responsibilities are outsourced (the work is contracted to be done outside the organization), especially such tasks as benefits administration and claims processing. Some other responsibilities may be handled by computerized human resources information systems. There will also be some job growth due to increased demand for specialists with experience in international human resources management and information systems.

To remain relevant and in demand, professionals in the field need to build HR systems that “fit” the business strategy of their organization. Doing so will demonstrate the value of their services in quantifiable terms.

Source: CollegeBoard 2012 Book of Majors