Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) Learning System Certificate

Certificate Modules

The SHRM Learning System certificate program includes six course modules, a final exam review an prepration session, as well as one-on-one tutoring session.

1. Orientation & Strategic Management (2 class sessions)
2. Workforce Planning (2 class sessions)
3. Human Resource Development (2 class sessions)
4. Total Rewards (2 class sessions)
5. Employee & Labor Relations (2 class sessions)
6. Risk Management (1 class session)
7. Review & Final Exam (1 class session)
8. One-on-One Tutoring Session (1 class session)

Module 1 - Orientation & Strategic Management

1. The Role of Human Resources in Organizations: discusses the emerging role of HR professionals as strategic business partners as well as their relationship to other functions within the organization.
2. The Strategic Planning Process: considers the short and long-term goals of the organization when forecasting and budgeting for human resources and the benefits of this process.
3. Scanning the External Environment: explains the purpose of environmental scanning while providing factors to consider and exploring future developments.
4. Organizational Structure and Internal HR Partners: describes the key functions of a business and how HR can contribute to a successful organizational system.
5. Measuring Human Resources Effectiveness: identifies a variety of methods for researching and analyzing the effectiveness of the HR function.
6. Ethical Issues Affecting Human Resources: discusses the role and impact of ethics in the HR function and introduces the organization’s role in social responsibility.
7. Human Resources and the Legislative Environment: covers how laws are introduced and passed, their impact on the profession and how practitioners should influence the legislative environment.

Module 2 - Workforce Planning

1. Key Legislation Affecting Employee Rights: addresses concepts such as employment-at-will, common law tort theories, job-as-property and non-compete agreements.
2. Key Legislation Affecting Privacy and Consumer Protection: discusses how this legislation impacts the HR function.
3. Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action: identifies the anti-discrimination requirements for implementing EEO and affirmative action plans as well as how to reduce discrimination vulnerabilities.
4. Gender Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace: describes various types of harassment, background on related legislation and appropriate employer responses.
5. Organizational Staffing Requirements: provides techniques for anticipating skills and labor needs.
6. Job Analysis and Documentation: identifies methods and uses for job analysis, discusses the writing of job descriptions and specifications and addresses job competencies.
7. Recruitment: explains how to determine an organization’s recruitment strategy and select appropriate internal and external sources that match it.
8. Flexible Staffing: explores alternative staffing methods to meet the needs of today’s workforce.
9. Selection: explains how to design appropriate selection strategies including the use and analysis of application forms, interviews, pre-employment testing, drug screening and medical examinations. Introduces realistic job previewing and job orientation.
10. Employment Practices: describes common practices such as medical examinations, relocation practices, employment offers and employment contracts.
11. Organizational Exit: discusses key factors to consider when an employee leaves an organization including downsizing, exit interviews, outplacement, wrongful termination and employer defenses against litigation.
12. Employee Records Management: explains which records must be kept and describes methods for managing them.

Module 3 - Human Resource Development

1. Key Legislation: describes the impact of federal laws and regulations affecting HRD.
2. Human Resource Development and the Organization: defines the functions of HRD and the importance of strategically aligning with the organization and introduces the learning organization.
3. Adult Learning and Motivation: introduces how to incorporate adult learning principles into HRD programs and how to apply various motivational theories.
4. Assessment of HRD Needs: explains the ADDIE model for designing instruction and discusses needs assessments.
5. HRD Program Design and Development: discusses how to design and develop various performance improvement interventions.
6. HRD Program Implementation: defines the steps required to implement HRD programs including pilot programs, content revision, scheduling, marketing, and launching the final program.
7. Evaluating HRD Effectiveness: covers various models and methods for evaluating the bottom line impact of HRD initiatives.
8. Career Development: explains how to accommodate both organizational and individual needs when designing career paths for employees and explores common challenges in career development.
9. Developing Leaders: identifies successful leadership styles within an organization and discusses issues affecting leadership.
10. Organizational Development Initiatives: explores organizational development as a function of HRD while discussing intervention strategies and examples.
11. Performance Management: defines performance management and methods; addresses criterion problems in performance appraisals, performance appraisal methods and rating errors, and legal constraints and documentation issues.

Module 4 - Total Rewards

1. Key Legislation: describes the impact of federal laws and regulations as well as tax and accounting treatment of compensation and benefit programs.
2. Total Compensation and the Strategic Focus of the Organization: explains how an organization’s total compensation system promotes external competitiveness and internal effectiveness.
3. Pay Administration: discusses methods for analyzing and determining a job’s worth as well as the payroll function.
4. Compensation Systems: explores various methods of pay including base-pay systems, pay variations, pay adjustments, variable or differential pay, incentive pay, pay plans for select employees, and controlling costs.
5. Introduction to Benefit Programs: describes assessing benefit needs and defines indirect compensation programs.
6. Government-Mandated Benefits: covers benefits the organization is required to provide such as Social Security and Medicare, Unemployment Insurance, Workers’ Compensation, COBRA, and FMLA and their impact on the organization.
7. Voluntary Benefits: considers non-required benefits such as deferred compensation plans, health-care benefits, disability benefits, flex plans, and other voluntary benefits as well as tax treatment of benefits.
8. Compensation and Benefit Programs for International Employees: discusses issues of comparability of compensation and benefits for expatriate employees.
9. Evaluating the Total Compensation System and Communicating It to Employees: explains the benefits of evaluating compensations systems, determining their effectiveness and communicating it to employees.

Module 5 - Employee & Labor Relations

1. Key Legislation Affecting Employee and Labor Relations: lists federal laws and regulations and their impact on the organization.
2. Employee Relations and Organizational Culture: discusses the influence of a positive organizational culture on the effectiveness of the organization.
3. Employee Involvement Strategies: defines characteristics of employee involvement and provides strategies to support HR’s role in immersing employees to contribute to the organization’s long-term success.
4. Positive Employee Relations: describes measurement, results analysis, interpretation, feedback, and intervention issues related to employee satisfaction.
5. Work Rules: explains HR’s responsibilities in coordinating workplace policies, procedures and work rules whether in a union or non-union environment.
6. Effective Communication of Laws, Regulations and Organizational Policies: considers the employee handbook as a legally binding vehicle for communicating laws, regulations and organizational policies to employees.
7. Discipline and Formal Complaint Resolution: describes workplace behavior problems and addresses the importance of their documentation; identifies union-management grievance process and procedures; illustrates the normal procedure for alternative dispute resolution.
8. Union Organizing: describes the unionization process and how union contracts are negotiated as well as union de-certification and de-authorization.
9. Unfair Labor Practices: identifies both employer and union unfair labor practices and remedies for each.
10. Collective Bargaining: explains collective bargaining, types of contract negotiation, elements of labor contracts, National Labor Relations Board administration and enforcement provisions, and collective bargaining trends.
11. Strikes and Secondary Boycotts: identifies strikes and secondary boycotts and when they are likely to occur.
12. Public-Sector Labor Relations: discusses labor relations within the public sector and the differences between collective bargaining in the public and private sector.
13. International Employee and Labor Relations: explains special employee and labor relations considerations for local nationals.

Risk Management

1. Key Legislation: describes the impact of key federal laws and regulations on occupational health, safety, and security.
2. Safety: identifies practices that can maintain and/or improve workplace safety and keep employees and employers free from danger, risk, or injury.
3. Health: focuses on the overall well-being of employees, both on and off their jobs by explaining health hazards, health-related programs, policies, employer liabilities, and cost-effectiveness of health programs.
4. Security: discusses how to reduce or eliminate the risk of loss of an organizations’ assets through various organizational security techniques; addresses workplace violence and workplace privacy issues