Bob Gaglardi School of Business and Economics

Human Resource Major/Minor

The Human Resource Management (HRM) Major is a challenging program that prepares students to become more effective managers and leaders. HRM professionals, are the "employee relations" specialists in an organization, managing employee planning, recruitment, selection, compensation, training and development, health and safety, and evaluation. They are also active in labour relations taking the lead in union contract negotiations, grievance handling, including mediation and arbitration, and all other employee-related legal matters such as wrongful dismal, personal harassment, or privacy.

Upon graduation, more and more students are deciding to earn their Chartered Professionals in Human Resources (CPHR) designation reflecting the rising level of professionalism in the field. After acquiring some needed work experience, students will be well prepared to complete a graduate degree in either human resource management or labour relations on the path to a position in senior management or to pursue a career in teaching and research at the college or university level. Earning a law degree with a specialization in labour law is also an option.

For those students wanting only an exposure to HRM, an HRM Minor is also available.

 Learning objectives

Upon completion of this program, students are able to:

  1. Depict the psychological influences of individual, group, and organizational interaction on unit performance.
  2. Recommend policies and procedures to manage an organization’s workers including; resource planning, recruitment and selection, socialization and deployment, and retention.
  3. Describe provincial and federal labour relations legislation in Canada as a basis for supporting unionized and non-union organizations.
  4. Apply legal principles and statute law relating to the employer-employee relationship to hiring, compensation, workplace practices, performance measurement, disciplinary and termination decisions.
  5. Explain how organizational strategy, legal compliance, and business ethics are pillars for all human resource programs and practices.
  6. Develop reward systems to attract, motivate and retain workers, both individually and collectively in groups and teams.
  7. Determine employee training needs through a comparison of their skills with their role requirements.
  8. Apply learning theory fundamentals to assist organizations in designing appropriate training and development methods.
  9. Discuss how organizational structure and the integration of human resource systems and metrics contribute to organizational effectiveness.
  10. Formulate plans to improve organizational effectiveness and deal successfully with change.
  11. Recommend ways to support a safe and healthy workplace environment.
  12. Apply human resource management principles in a professional capacity.
 Major requirements
ORGB 3810 Organizational Theory and Design
HRMN 3830 Human Resource Planning and Staffing
HRMN 3840 Employee and Labour Relations
BLAW 3920 Employment Law
HRMN 4830 Total Rewards
HRMN 4840 Organizational Learning, Training and Development
ORGB 4870 Organizational Development and Change
HRMN 4890 Selected Topics in Human Resource Management
 Minor requirements
At least four of:
ORGB 3810 Organizational Theory and Design
HRMN 3830 Human Resource Planning and Staffing
HRMN 3840 Employee and Labour Relations
BLAW 3920 Employment Law
HRMN 4830 Total Rewards
HRMN 4840 Org. Learning, Training and Development
ORGB 4870 Organizational Development and Change
HRMN 4890 Selected Topics in HR Management