Profound changes in societies and organizations affect the way in which the management of people within an organization can be done. The Master in Human Resource Management is designed for future professionals in human resource management who will have to work in a changing world and new contexts. Instead of providing them with techniques and tools which would become rapidly obsolete, this programme aims to equip students with the following skills:

•          a capacity to assess the current situation by the mean of rigorous and critical analysis, by identifying different kinds of HR management and organization and by clearly understanding the constraints and opportunities offered by HR management and the way it relates to other forms of management;

•          the capacity to identify the ways to bring about improvement and change and implement them appropriately for each particular context and the objectives to achieve.

The Master in Human Resource Management is centred on managerial aspects of organizations, rather than personnel administration techniques with emphasis throughout on the twin requirements of precision and operationality. It is designed to develop professional expertise in understanding and taking action in the human resource field of management.  For this reason, various disciplines are brought together: management, public sector administration, law, psychology and collective labour relations.

It intends to train professionals who can work in the HR field, in consulting, in training departments or on the board of different organizations, in private or public companies and in market and non-market organizations.

The programme is made up of 120 credits and includes :

• optional subjects from relevant disciplines (management, work and organizational psychology, public sector administration, collective labour relations and HR  management), for a total of 60 credits;  
• a foreign exchange programme for a semester (30 credits), including at least 15 credits for subjects in the area of HR management in organizations
• an internship of at least three months which is the subject of an individual thesis (28 + 2 credits). The internship and the report are part of the core subjects.

The optional subjects are arranged in modules allowing students to select certain subjects from the different groupings while ensuring that they have at least 10 credits in each area.

• Advanced Masters : none
• Doctoral programmes : doctoral school in management science ; doctoral school in political and social science

The programme is a multidisciplinary one which combines elements from management, psychology, public sector administration and law.

The teaching methods are closely connected to the skills that future HR professionals will require : ability to listen and to summarize, to understand an organization, to work in a team, to express themselves both orally and in writing, and to work independently and with responsibility. Against this background, the teaching methods bring together :

• classes and lectures ;
• real situations and practical cases ;
• team work ;
• exchange of views with professionals, especially through the teaching sessions of the Chair in HR ;
• introduction to a multicultural environment through the foreign exchange programme ;
• experience of professional practice in the internship, together with analysis in the thesis.

 International outlook (for UCL students)
The programme includes an exchange programme lasting one semester in a foreign institution.  This exchange is worth 30 credits, of which at least 15 credits should be for courses on advanced human resource management or the analysis of organizations.

• International appeal (for non-residents)
The programme provides multidisciplinary training combined with an exchange programme and an internship. The main language of instruction is French ; the language of instruction of the exchange visit will depend on where the exchange takes place.

The internship may be done in a language  other than French. The same can apply to the final thesis, as long as the details are agreed with the Institute of Labour Sciences and the academic supervisor.