The MSc Human Resource Management Enhancement Programme (HRMEP) has been developed over seven years, with support from Heads of school and faculty, to offer closer student engagement with a wide range of organisational contexts in the field of HR practice, with a focus on the professional, cultural and social dimensions of their experience. HRMEP aims to equip learners with a robust theoretical framework for careers in human resource management and at the same time to provide students with an opportunity to gain insights into practice-focused human resource practices across a wide range of management contexts and sectors.
As we slowly recover from the pandemic, 2022-23, marked a return to in-person lectures. Guest speakers included Kashif Taj from IBM on Thursday, 27th October and Martin Banks and Jenny Knights, the People & Organisational Development (OD) Partners at The University of Manchester University on Thursday, 10th November 2022. Our previous cooperator, JCB have also reopened their factory and museum tours and we visited their headquarters in Rocester on Thursday, 1st December. Special mention to Alison Dennis, the Resourcing Manager of JCB and Lynda Bloor, the Events Project Manager of JCB, for organizing these visits.
Student Feedback
Students from the MSc HRM (ID) Programme gave feedback and reflection on their experience of the lecture sessions and visit to JCB.
Feedback on lecture by Kashif Taj in IBM.
Hongyu Zhang from MSc HRM (ID):
The lecture was excellent, and I like it so much. It gave me a lot of new thinking about human capital, especially on the recruitment and selection. Maybe many students would like to be a HR recruiter in a multinational corporation like IBM in the future. This is a great initiative to introduce us to the Apprenticeship Programme, which has listed good practices and great values in IBM. Those made IBM a Benchmark as a technical giant globally. The examples are specific, and some interview videos may also be provided in the session. I’m glad that I have the opportunity to know more about IBM through this lecture.
Junzhu Liu from MSc HRM (ID):
I’m very interested in the UK apprenticeship in IBM. I agree with the guest speaker that the digital skills and new technology have become more and more important in the future. Kashif gave us a very thorough introduction about the IBM. Also, I have learned about the apprenticeship programme, which gives everyone in the society an opportunity to get access to such a great organisation, like IBM. As a student in the major of MSc HRM (ID), I’d like to know more opportunity to become an apprentice in a company like IBM, especially on what kind of knowledge or capability we should develop, if we plan to target such a company. Overall, I really enjoy this session and I look forward to having Kashif to give us another lecture!!!
Feedback and reflection on lecture by Martin Banks and Jenny Knights, the People & OD partners, The University of Manchester
Zongmin Fan, the MSc HRM (ID) student representative:
I think this is a well-structured session. It is impressive and detailed. The challenges are up-to-date combined with a comprehensive set of approaches to address, e.g., the examples on internal and external recruitment. The lecture helps us know the HR department of the University of Manchester and how to operate it. I learn from Martin and Jenny on some relevant working experience in HR, which may play a role in my future career planning. It also helps me sort out the theories and content in other modules on HRM. Thus, the lecture is very useful.
Feedback and reflection on the organisational visit to JCB on Thursday, 1st December
Jinxuan Zhang from MSc HRM (ID):
I had a great experience in JCB. The factory and museum tours are very interesting. I learned about the development of the company and the founder’s entrepreneurial experience, as well as some of its management strategies in the global market. It is my first time to visit a factory and it has a well-established operational system. The employee, who we met has worked for over 50 years in the organisation, which makes me feel the loyal in the corporate culture. It is a happy and successful visit for me to remember.
Many thanks, again to our colleagues Kashif Taj in IBM, Martin Banks and Jenny Knights in UoM, People & OD and Alison Dennis and Lynda Bloor in JCB. We are very glad to have been able to work together with all of you and this year, the students are very lucky to have face-to-face communication with you. We look forward to further cooperation in the future.
Dr Lujia Feng, Programme Director MSc Human Resource Management and Development (Distance Learning), Global Development Institute