5 Classes Central to Earning an MBA Focused in Human Resources
- Labor and Employment Law
- Talent Acquisition
- Talent Management
- Rewards, Compensation and Benefits
- Employee Training and Development
If finding a management position in human resources is your career goal, you’ll want to prioritize taking 5 specific courses that are typically offered in a Human Resources MBA Program. Because employers in every industry value human resources (HR) professionals, these classes will prepare you well for careers in virtually every industry.
Resource: Top 10 Best HR MBA Programs
In general, earning a master’s degree will make you more competitive when it comes to getting hired for leadership roles in HR, according to U.S. News & World Report. HR is a field where employers tend to place a high value on education. The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Handbook states that a bachelor’s degree is the minimum academic requirement for securing an HR management role, but many candidates competing for the top HR management jobs hold a master’s degree. An MBA with a concentration in human resources is a smart choice of degree programs, as it would make you highly employable and attractive to hiring organizations in a broad variety of industries.
If you enroll in a Master of Business Administration degree program, you’ll learn about more than just HR. You’ll also have the opportunity to take other related classes in topics that cover business management, marketing, finance, accounting, economics, law and ethics. Business school graduate degree programs are likely to require each student to complete a capstone project or a final thesis as one of the final courses. The following 5 classes are typically an integral part of an HR concentration in a business school graduate degree program:
1. Labor and Employment Law
There’s an ever-changing labyrinth of labor laws, regulations and requirements that employers must be mindful of. As a future HR manager, it will be up to you to ensure that the hiring organizations is compliant with all these laws. A course in labor and employment law will be essential for enabling your understanding of the laws you’ll need to comply with.
2. Talent Acquisition
It is true that good help is hard to find and the difficult task of finding good help will be all yours as a future HR manager. This course will be one of the most important classes you’ll take. Not only will you learn recruiting and interviewing techniques, you’ll learn the secret tricks top HR managers use to recruit superstar employees.
3. Talent Management
Once you’ve found the right people for the job, it’s essential that your team manages them well. In this course, you’ll learn the secrets for empowering the managers on your team to lead their subordinates in ways that will maximize their skills and talents. Topics covered typically include employee engagement, motivating employees, handling conflicts and others.
4. Rewards, Compensation and Benefits
Salary and benefits are the primary reason your employees will show up at work every day; yet they’ll also be one of your employer’s primary expenses. Because payment is such a critically important topic, any HR manager will need to have a thorough understanding of this aspect of the job. Aspiring HR managers will learn how to negotiate pay with prospective employees to arrive at payment packages that are win-win for both employees and employers. Another important point of discussion is the legal environment that governs employee compensation and benefits.
5. Employee Training and Development
Even if you hire well-educated employees, they’re likely to need training to do the specific tasks your hiring organization needs. It’s important for any HR manager to have an understanding of how employees will acquire this training. In this course, you’ll learn how to implement and manage employee training programs that empower employees to do their jobs while achieving organizational goals.
Classes like these are typically the cornerstone for earning a business school degree with a concentration in HR. If you’re serious about a career in HR management, these are the types of courses you’ll want to be sure of enrolling in to make the most of your time spent in a Human Resources MBA Program.
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