Personnel Management I (21784)

Degree course: Degree in Labour Relations
Academic year: second
Term: first
Number of ECTS credits: 4
Student hours: 100

Syllabus

Personnel Management I forms part of the Degree in Labour Relations curriculum.

The course is taught in the first term of the second year of the degree and aims to present students with introductory aspects of personnel management within companies.

The course's objective is to present and analyse the challenges faced by personnel management departments so that students become familiar with them and acquire the abilities to analyse and synthesise basic staff management problems in an organization.

The teaching of Personnel Management I is divided into three sections:

• The first section analyses the human factor and its characteristics, the characteristics and needs of organisations in relation to the human factor and the organisational structure of personnel or human resources departments in companies.

• The second section analyses the organisational structure of companies in general and different jobs in particular. It studies the three techniques connected with analysing jobs: job description, specification and valuation.

• The third section looks at company remuneration structures. It defines pay policy, which is linked to the value placed on different jobs, and its management over time. It explores the different forms of remuneration: in money or benefits or services, fixed or variable, and looks at different ways of constructing viable and motivating variable remuneration.

Topic 1

The human factor in the organisation. Analysis of people and their motivation. Basic models of organisational behaviour. The personnel function in companies. Elements of the personnel function. Company personnel strategy and policy. Planning personnel policies.

Topic 2

Personnel department organisation. Organisational structure design. Functions. Tasks. Information systems in personnel management.  Information and staff communication.

Topic 3

Company organisational structures. Jobs, work relationships and procedures.  Analysis and description of jobs. Job profile.

Topic 4

Job valuation. Categories. Valuation criteria. Job valuation and company policy. Job valuation methods.

Topic 5

Defining company pay policy. Job valuation and pay structure. Company pay structure. Pay levels. Salary range. Overlap. Pay structure trend. Promotion and pay increases. Salary spread. Total salary bill.

Topic 6

Variable remuneration systems. Fixed price work. Bonuses and other incentives. Group incentives. Sales commissions.

Topic 7

Management by objectives. Bonus significance and calculation. Other forms of payment. Payment in kind. Social benefits.

Topic 8

The pay slip. Entries on the pay slip. Calculating the main items. Information systems for drawing up pay slips.