In the final block of your second year, you will choose a specialist module from one of the below.
Employee relations in a digital workplace
This module introduces you to how advances in AI, digital technologies, and automation are reshaping work, job roles, and organisational expectations. It blends theory with practical skills, equipping you to understand and manage shifts in the employment relationship as the future of work evolves, including developments such as algorithmic management, digital surveillance, remote work and platform鈥慴ased labour.鈥痀ou’ll also get to examine workplace conflict, and how digitalisation transforms employee-relations institutions by shifting authority, altering participation structures and challenging traditional forms of representation. There’s a strong focus on applied learning – you’ll work directly with conflict鈥憆esolution processes and develop the practical skills needed to manage disputes in a fast鈥慶hanging, technology鈥慸riven work environment.鈥�
Reward and performance management
This module is about important HR functions鈥痶hat鈥痵it at the heart of contemporary people management practice, and draws rom employment law, behavioural economics and HR analytics.鈥疘n this鈥痚ra of digital transformation, AI and evolving employee expectations, the design and implementation of reward and performance systems have鈥痓ecome far more complex and strategic for organisations to navigate.鈥�
You’ll be equipped with the theoretical foundations, practical tools and critical perspectives necessary to understand, evaluate and design effective reward and performance management frameworks. It recognises that AI and鈥疕R鈥痑nalytics鈥痑re rapidly reshaping how organisations set targets, monitor鈥痯erformance, allocate鈥痯ay and deliver feedback.鈥痀ou’ll examine the design of performance management, and gain a critical understanding of the performance review process that combines challenge and support and places a focus on learning and accountability. You’ll also look at how reward and performance strategies interact with broader organisational goals, employment relations, workforce diversity and ethical obligations.
Managing equality, diversity and inclusion
This module is designed to explore and debate the concept of equality and inclusion in the workplace against a backdrop of diversity, and it begins with the nature and causes of discrimination and disadvantage in employment. You’ll explore both visible and non-visible dimensions of diversity including race, ethnicity, religion and belief, gender and gender identity, age,鈥痙isability鈥痑nd sexual orientation. You’ll be encouraged to assess the measures put in place by organisations to manage equality and diversity, and to consider the merits of introducing an equal opportunities policy along with practices aimed at managing diversity.鈥�