Aims

At the end of the class, students should be able to
- Identify main orientations of human resource management policies in relation with the strategic and organizational context of each company or administration.
- Understanding and taking critical distance about the different models, tools and indicators used to anticipate and manage evolutions and needs in human resources.
- Understanding the internal social dynamic generated by all project of strategic restructuring or organizational change. Identify adequate strategies for managing organizational change.
- Analyse human resource planning and forecasting practices of a Belgian private or public organization, in both strategic and operational dimensions.

Main themes

This will be based on the contextualist theoretical framework for studying human resources management practices in the three following dimensions.
Fist of all, we will analyze the context which gives meaning to these practices, focusing on four articulated parameters: (1) the characteristics of external environment, (2)the company's strategic finalities and positioning in this environment, (3) the forms of work designing and organizational structure, (4)the models of human resource management.
Second, this course will examine the content of different models of planning and forecasting historically used by human resources managers. These models aimed sometimes at anticipate needs in human resources (eg. Manpower planning, succession planning, competencies-based management), sometimes at enhance adaptability of the human factor to an unpredictable environment (eg. Learning organization).
Finally, a third part of this course will focus on the process of change dynamic inside organizations. We will present a systemic approach of change management and will distinguish top-down and bottom-up change models.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Prerequisite : introductory courses in human resource management and in organizational analysis

Other credits in programs