MA Human Resource Management (Work Psychology)

Professional Accreditations

The MA Human Resource Management is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) approved centre. Successfully complete the MA and you’ll receive the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD’s) Associate Membership, meaning you can use the designatory letters Assoc CIPD after your name. You can apply to upgrade to Chartered Member if you have the relevant experience. Upgrading to Chartered Membership enables you to use the designated letters CMCIPD further enhancing your employability.

Why choose this course?

• You want relevant and key skills to develop your career
• You want learn about psychology and how to apply this to the workplace
• You want to understand human behaviour
• You want to help people reach their potential
• You want to add value to organisations and make a positive impact on society
• You’re looking for inspiring course content, with a range of optional modules to tailor your studies to suit your interests
• You value a fresh approach to teaching and learning, which focuses on real-life application of theory
• You’re looking to study alongside a diverse and inspiring cohort. We expect you to be studying alongside personnel and human resource managers, line managers, trade unionists and equal opportunity officers from a variety of backgrounds. This will be a valuable opportunity to learn from the experience and perspective of your peers
• You want to become a member of the CIPD. At Herts, we pay for your CIPD joining fee and the first-year student membership.

What will I study?

We offer a problem-based learning approach to our teaching so you can gain real life skills for the workplace. Together we’ll explore complex issues arising from research, practices and current debates. You’ll analyse HRM at an individual, organisational, national and international level. We’ll teach you how to recognise ethical dilemmas and corporate responsibility issues to ensure that the organisations you work with are sustainable. You’ll develop an inquiry practice-orientated mindset, showing expert problem-solving, decision making and evaluation skills The psychology pathway provides an overview of the application of psychological theory and research to understanding, predicting and influencing behaviour at work. You’ll gain an understanding of how work psychology theories can inform contemporary business issues. By identifying and exploring these issues in relation to psychology, you’ll be equipped to find innovative solutions. We offer a blended learning approach, including individual and group work, one-to-one sessions, workshops, study trips, guest speakers and live projects/case studies. Formal lectures will be kept to a minimum (and available online if you can’t be with us in person or want to review later). We value our students as HR practitioners in training. At Herts, you start or continue your professional development in the classroom. To reflect this, our teaching, learning and assessment share this core value. For example, our tutors will facilitate and role model HRM practice. Plus, we’ll encourage you to apply your learning to HRM problems and issues in the class and during assessments. Our focus is on experiential real-life learning, where you’ll be immersed in activities that bridge the gap between theory and practice. You’ll be assessed in this way too, with each assessment having two sections: a critical review of theory and application of that theory to practice. For example, you could carry out small consultancy work, deliver a presentation or write a brief to the board of directors to evidence your knowledge. The world of human resource management is complex and unpredictable. By studying at Herts, you’ll gain the personal development, skills and strategies you need to help individuals, organisations and your own career thrive.