By Lujia Feng, MSc Human Resource Management Programme Director

At the beginning of this academic year, students on our MSc Human Resource Management (International Development) programme took part in a social session and event to get to better know their peers and to share their learning experience within GDI.

The MSc Human Resource Management Enhancement Programme (HRMEP) has developed over the past eight years, with support from Heads of School and Faculty, to offer closer student engagement. The MSc HRM Social Session and Event aimed to give students an opportunity to exchange insights on their study after the first three weeks and to gain a sense of belonging, especially for those students who are from international backgrounds.

Working together with our administrative colleagues in the school, students took this opportunity to enhance their communication with colleagues, to explore different cultural contexts, and to improve their group collaboration in the Global Development Institute.

Feedback from MSc HRM students show the positive and valuable impact of this social session and event, especially on the enhancement of their learning experience while adapting to a new environment.

 

 

Students of the MSc HRM (ID) Programme reflected on their experience of the social session and event as below:

I treat this HRM social session and social event of our HRM program as a great opportunity to spend some informal time together with my colleagues. During the social session, we have elected our 5 reps, who are all excellent and generous to share their experiences and thoughts. All the student reps show their willingness to support their colleagues in the coming academic year. Then we worked together to listen, discuss and give advice on challenges and difficulties that our colleagues have faced so far. It was a great opportunity to target to our problems and be heard by everyone so that we could solve it together, it was very useful.

I absolutely enjoyed the buffet in Tops! I made many new friends and had interesting conversations sharing our thoughts. It even helped in team up for our group work in our modules! The food was various, and the environment was nice, that was really a pleasant evening! I can’t wait for our next social event.

– HRM Student Rep, Yuqian Li

 

I believe the HRM event last Thursday was very successful. From a communication perspective, the 30min-workshop makes students have opportunity to meet their representatives and discuss the various challenges they face in their studies, helping them realize that they can seek help when encountering problems. Regarding the specifics of the event, the buffet in Tops not only allowed students to enjoy local cuisine and cater to diverse dietary needs but also provided a casual setting for interaction. This facilitated easier communication between students and teachers, enhancing students’ sense of belonging to the HRM program. From a practical standpoint, the social event made it clear that human resource management is not just about performance management; it also focuses on understanding people’s inner needs. Engaging activities can effectively boost individuals’ identification with the organization.

– HRM Student Rep, Yixin Hao

 

Overall, such social events are essential and helpful, as they enhance communication and enrich students’ lives. I am really appreciative of the events and the efforts that you have made to make this happen. I am looking forward to our next event!

 

– HRM Student Rep, Abhilasha Tyagi

 

It was great to meet Lujia and the HRM Colleagues during our social event. Thank you for the giving me the opportunity to be the Student Representative and it was nice to meet the other Reps and be a team for the future endeavours. Dinner was amazing and more social events like this in future would help us to socialise more as the social activity was a great success, providing not only a rare opportunity to relax but also strengthening our team cohesion. All five student representatives have excellent academic backgrounds or work experience, and I believe that we will be able to do a great job for the year!

Throughout the group dinner, everyone shared their hopes and goals for the future. Thanks again to our school and teachers for giving us such a great platform and I look forward to the next activity!

– HRM Student Rep, Miao Gong

 

Many thanks to our administrative colleagues, Rachel Challinor and Shayna Ablett on their support on the budget and payment for this event and to colleague, Francesca Prinzi on her help on the venue booking.

I’m very glad to have been able to work together with all of you this year, and the students have said that they are very lucky to have had this session and event this year.

I look forward to further cooperation with you in the future.

 

Note:  This article gives the views of the author/academic featured and does not represent the views of the Global Development Institute as a whole.

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