BALH3100 Strategic Human Resource Management Course description

This course is an introduction to Strategic HRM (Human Resource Management). HRM is critical for the survival of all types of organizations. Strategic HRM includes all activities concerning managing people and work within a company. Good leadership of human resources promotes effectiveness and profits organizations. This course introduces basic theories relevant for HRM, specifically focusing on core activities such as recruitment, performance management, human resource development and the employee-organization relationship. This course also introduces evaluation tools and methods used within the HR field. Strategic HRM will both be discussed and analyzed on an international and national level, with specific issues such as international recruitment and diversity management at the fore.

Language of instruction is English.

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After completing the course, the student should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student has

• broad knowledge about the strategic significance of HRM
• broad knowledge concerning relevant HRM activities, specifically selection, performance management and human resource development
• insight into the different stages within the recruitment process starting from job analysis to hiring procedures
• knowledge about systems and methods for performance management and human resource development in organizations
• insight into the significance of managing diversity
• insight into how national culture may affect HRM practices
• knowledge about methods commonly used to measure human resource and performance development
• knowledge about how to conduct employee appraisals and how to utilize appraisals for career development

Skills

The student can

• prepare a job analysis and plan the different steps of a recruitment process
• interpret different tests commonly used to measure human resource and performance development
• actively contribute to the implementation, follow-up and conclusion of a recruitment process
• use relevant methods to analyze human resource needs of an organization
• use relevant methods to follow-up employees regarding performance and competence development

General competence

The student has

• understanding of ethical issues regarding recruitment processes, performance management and career development

Different emotional and relational problems effect on mental health and are often at the core of art therapy. This course focuses on clinical art therapy practice with clients who have different mental challenges or diagnoses. Art therapy takes place in triangular relationship and interaction between client or group, art and therapist. The working alliance consists of the client’s emotional bond to the therapist and art as well as the negotiation of art therapeutic tasks and goals. This course focuses especially on the emotional and relational aspects that effect on the quality of working alliance, the group dynamics and outcome of art therapy. Students will develop self-reflective skills and learn to reflect emotional and relational aspects of the therapeutic bond. They will learn to recognize and repair ruptures within the therapeutic relationship.

The students’ own art therapy practice and its reflection from the emotional and relational viewpoint is at the core of learning during this course. It includes supervision of the student’s art therapy practice training. Students will learn to use different tools for measuring the quality of working alliance in art therapy. They will learn principles of systematic reporting and presenting of practice cases. The course includes supervision of students’ art therapy practice.

The following coursework requirements must have been approved in order for the student to take the exam:

• Coursework: The students are required to, in groups of 2-4 people, give a presentation of an assigned topic. The group will present to another group with a similar topic. You will critically discuss, ask questions, provide feedback, and compare each other’s presentations. The whole session lasts 45 minutes.

The goal of the coursework is for students to familiarize themselves with various topics in the field and gain experience in providing feedback and presenting in front of other people.

All required coursework must be completed and approved by the given deadline in order for the student to take the exam. If the coursework requirements has not been approved, the student will be given the opportunity to submit an improved version one time by the given deadline.

The exam in the course is a term paper written in groups (min. 2 students per group). The term paper must have a scope of 10 pages. The term paper must be written in English. Font and font size: Arial / Calibri 12 points. Line spacing: 1.5

Students awarded a fail grade are given one opportunity to submit an improved version of the assignment for assessment.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

The course is combining campus seminars with distant learning. Teaching and learning methods include lectures, seminars and skills training. The course includes 60 hours practice.

Skills training takes place in workshops. In professional experiential workshops, the focus is on simulating art therapeutic interaction to enable learning and reflection from the therapist perspective. In personal experiential workshops, students will explore and reflect art making and their own creative process from the client’s perspective.

The course includes minimum 60 hours of art therapy practice. Depending of the context of the practice and client group, it can be conducted both as physical or distant meetings. The practice can include individual or group art therapy, and if the context is relevant, it can also take place at own workplace. For a more detailed description of the practical training, look at the separate plan for practice.

The following coursework must have been approved in order for a student to take the exam:

• participation in seminars, compulsory attendance of 80 %
• participation in the practice, compulsory attendance of 90 %
• individual self-evaluation of the practice on a given evaluation sheet
• 4 individual artistic response images based on the practice experiences with traditional or digital tools

The course requirements can be conducted using English or Scandinavian language.

Individual oral exam, either at the campus or distantly, which consists of:

Poster presentation of the practice case 10 min and 15 min discussion

The exam answer can be given in English or a Scandinavian language.