LHR 305Human Resources Fundamentals

3 credits · Labor and Human Resources · Penn State

This course will provide students with an opportunity to understand and apply important concepts concerning human resources in the workplace. Students will learn to think of the issues in the class from both the employees' and organizations' perspectives. The course begins with a description and analysis of the role human resource managers play in supporting employees' personal needs as well as an organization's strategic objectives. The discussion traces the changes in that role historically, as well as the contemporary understanding of HR's part in helping stakeholders succeed. Against this backdrop, students will study three critical variables affecting HR's involvement in management: the individual; the organization; and, the law. Each of these foci illustrates variables with which HR managers must contend. The course presents these variables through a variety of lenses: law, psychology, sociology, history and literature. Students will also spend considerable time studying the various functions HR plays in recruiting, selecting, training, evaluation, compensation, labor relations and safety. In these portions of the class, students will learn to understand the functions not only from the organization's, but also from the employees' perspective. The discussion of functional areas will end with application of the concepts studied to the global business environment in which HR increasingly operates. Throughout students will not only learn the mechanics of, for example, the selection process, but how processes support an organization's and individual's pursuit of their unique purposes. Consistent with the liberal arts environment in which LHR students enroll, the final project requires students to apply the concepts learned concerning the HR function to their everyday lives, helping students to reflect on the difference HR processes can have on both the organization but equally important on the employee. As a Gen Ed course (GS), the course qualifies as a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) course consistent with the B.A. Fields category.