THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

University Homepage
DRPS Homepage
DRPS Search
DRPS Contact
DRPS : Course Catalogue : Business School : Common Courses (Management School)

Postgraduate Course: HR/People Analytics (CMSE11589)

Course Outline
SchoolBusiness School CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryTechnological advances and cloud computing provide an opportunity for HR professionals to guide their organisation's human resource strategies. HR professionals can derive value from data when they develop strong analytical skills and the ability to utilise data science by identifying metrics and data sources. Currently organisations are struggling to capitalise on the data they have and are often unsure of the utility of these data sources. Developing the knowledge and skills within HR/People analytics can improve evidence for decision making and help derive value from data.

This course focuses on identifying pertinent data sources, developing and assessing valid and meaningful metrics, and designing long-term measures to assess the impact of different HR practices to increase both organisation performance and employee wellbeing. This course builds on compulsory HR courses in MSc IHRM and MSc HRM programmes including: Core Competences for HR Professionals, Methods of Research in HR, and Organisation Behaviour.
Course description The course examines the background and breadth of the application of HR/People analytics in HR practices. Students will learn about the types of challenges that HR departments face when utilising data from the increased digitisation of HR practices such as recruitment selection, performance management, learning and development, and employee retention. We will explore the unique challenges that result from increased data volume, variety, validity, and velocity. These challenges include ethical considerations around inherent bias in algorithms, employee fairness and wellbeing.


A wide range of topics will be covered include including that focus on the implications of the rise of evidence-based HR and increasingly data-driven HR departments. Students will develop and apply a variety of psychological and statistical tools, including specialist software and psychometric instruments, and will learn the purpose and outcomes of advanced analytics in machine learning and artificial intelligence. These analyses will focus on many types of quantitative and qualitative data. Finally, students will gain skills in how to interpret and visualise data, to use these insights for helping decision-makers and making suggestions for improving performance.

Outline Content:

1. Introduction to HR/People analytics.
2. Exploring data-driven Human Resource decisions.
3. The role of HR data strategy in Strategic HRM.
4. Philosophy of science behind HR Analytics.
5. Operational reporting: Descriptive analytics, dashboards, and visualisation of data, which includes interrogating the veracity of data.
6. Predictive models.
7. Prescriptive data analytics examples
9. Working with qualitative data.10. Debating the future of HR/people analytics.

Student Learning Experience:

Students are expected to come to each class session having read the materials and reviewed posted slides to ensure class interaction. Two of the sessions will take place in a computer lab to work through different aspects of data management and analytics.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites Students MUST also take: Core Competencies for HR Professionals (CMSE11380) AND Methods of Research in HRM (CMSE11555)
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 15, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 83 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 100% Coursework (individual) - Assesses all course Learning Outcomes
Feedback Formative: Feedback will be provided throughout the course.

Summative: Feedback will be provided on the assessment within agreed deadlines.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Identify the components and implementation process for an HR data strategy within the context of strategic HRM.
  2. Utilise tools to assess an organisation's readiness for HR/People analytics .
  3. Identify ethical issues, scientific debates, and potential problems in the application of HR/People analytics.
  4. Develop working hypotheses and relevant analytics techniques to provide relevant answers from various data sources across all HR practices.
  5. Apply the tools and techniques develop in the course to analyse cases in which organisation are challenged in implementing data-driven decision making. 
Learning Resources
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Communication, ICT, and Numeracy Skills

After completing this course, students should be able to:

Critically evaluate and present digital and other sources, research methods, data and information; discern their limitations, accuracy, validity, reliability and suitability; and apply responsibly in a wide variety of organisational contexts.

Cognitive Skills

After completing this course, students should be able to:

Be self-motivated; curious; show initiative; set, achieve and surpass goals; as well as demonstrating adaptability, capable of handling complexity and ambiguity, with a willingness to learn; as well as being able to demonstrate the use digital and other tools to carry out tasks effectively, productively, and with attention to quality.

Knowledge and Understanding

After completing this course, students should be able to:

Demonstrate a thorough knowledge and understanding of contemporary organisational disciplines; comprehend the role of business within the contemporary world; and critically evaluate and synthesise primary and secondary research and sources of evidence in order to make, and present, well informed and transparent organisation-related decisions, which have a positive global impact.

Identify, define and analyse theoretical and applied business and management problems, and develop approaches, informed by an understanding of appropriate quantitative and/or qualitative techniques, to explore and solve them responsibly.
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserProf Susan Murphy
Tel: (01316)51 5548
Email: Susan.Murphy@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Ellen Hunter
Tel:
Email: Ellen.Hunter@ed.ac.uk
Navigation
Help & Information
Home
Introduction
Glossary
Search DPTs and Courses
Regulations
Regulations
Degree Programmes
Introduction
Browse DPTs
Courses
Introduction
Humanities and Social Science
Science and Engineering
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Other Information
Combined Course Timetable
Prospectuses
Important Information