Online courses for brushing up HR skills

The recent pandemic has undoubtedly altered people's lifestyles in drastic ways. Companies are part of this rapid shift too. Alongside people acquiring new hobbies and skills to spend time, organisations, both nationally and internationally, have also adopted work from home method to ensure the safety and security of their stakeholders. During such a difficult time, it all comes down to effective and efficient people management for the best performance output. This is where Human Resource Management (HRM) comes in.

With the ever-changing competitive landscape, it has become difficult to retain employees' attention and motivation in a workplace. Several companies are offering attractive work packages to capture the best minds of the nation. Meanwhile, the head hunters are always out there, constantly trying to divert suitable candidates employed elsewhere to business positions in other companies. In order to remain at the top of this nail-biting contest, the role of HR professionals has become more crucial than ever before.

Hence, with ample time in hand right now, this is the suitable time for individuals to brush up their HR skills by participating in many free online courses on the mentioned subject. The below only names a few.

HR for People Managers' Specialisation

If an individual's institute has a collaboration with Coursera, one can easily avail this course for free. This is a specialisation course under University of Minnesota that spans over five modules. The names of the modules are: Preparing to Engage Human Resources, Recruiting, Hiring, and Onboarding Employees, Managing Employee Performance, Managing Employee Compensation, and Human Resources Management Capstone: HR for People Managers.

Through this course, one will be able to understand the alternative approaches to managing human resources and appreciating the array of factors that motivate employees. Additionally, one will obtain comprehensive learning about applying the best practises for hiring and rewarding employees, and for managing employee performance and avoiding the primary blunders in managing human capital in an organisation. It is a six-month long course which one can complete at their own pace and there are no prerequisites to obtain this course.

This course comprises five lectures among which the majority is from the Carlson School of Management.

HR (Short Course) through Oxford Home Study based in UK

This course consists of three topics in total- Introduction to HR Management, Recruitment and Selection, and Staff Training and Development. This is a twenty-hour course and provides the overview of the basics of both HR as a concept and the role of the HR manager. The course is ideally suited to existing HR workers and newcomers in the industry. With no prior knowledge or experience required, no deadlines to worry about and with the amount of free time at hand right now, this course is definitely worth the time and efforts of a HR aspirant or professional.

HR Fundamentals via Future Learn

In this course, one will get introduced to what it actually feels like working for HR. Besides experts from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), one will discover how HR professionals help organisations achieve their business goals and strategic objectives and develop their HR and employee engagement skills. One will further get the opportunity to explore the concepts of workforce planning, employee retention, recruitment and performance management. This exciting fifteen-hour course is divided into five modules named as What HR means; HR practise; People and strategy; Performance, engagement, reward and recognition, and finally Recruitment.

The most enthralling aspect of this course is not only the fact that no prerequisites are requisites but also the perfect mix of theory and practicality which will undoubtedly guide any individual to become the amazing HR employee one aspires to be.

International and Strategic Human Resource Management by Alison.com

Provided by the National Programme of Technology Enhanced Learning, this three-hour course will deliver an all-encompassing detailed lecture of internationalisation of companies, managing diverse workforces, and international labour laws. One will also get an adequate glimpse of the challenges that international human resource management professionals face and the future roles he/she will need to take on. Tackling a global organisation and handling a diverse workforce takes a great deal of effort and understanding of humans on an intimate level. If one is aspiring to become an international HR professional and wants to boost his/her career as a professional human resource manager, one will find the sustainability and coping strategies taught in this free online course extremely beneficial.

Managing Social and Human Capital through University of Pennsylvania

One can easily avail this course for free if one's institution has a collaboration with Coursera. The course will begin from May 04, 2020 and will continue for four weeks. Award-winning authors and renowned management Professors Mike Useem and Peter Cappelli of the Wharton School have designed this course to introduce the interested candidates to the key elements of managing people. Based on their famous course at Wharton, this four-week course will enhance one's knowledge in motivating individual performance and designing reward systems, designing jobs and organising work for high performance, making good and timely management decisions, and finally designing and changing an organisation's architecture. By the end of this course, the candidate will have developed the necessary skills to begin motivating, organising, and rewarding people in his/her organisation.

The situation that the entire world is in right now has both ups and downs. Unarguably there are several negatives, however one of the best positive aspects to the current situation is the enormous amount of time that people have in their hands. Hence, people can utilise this time by availing the free courses mentioned above and strengthen their knowledge about the HR-world.

The writer is a third year student of BBA programme at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka. She can be reached at [email protected]