HRMG213 - Sustainable Staffing and Remuneration

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Nil

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

The development and implementation of sustainable staffing, remuneration and benefits strategies is fundamental to the competitiveness of organisations and a key role for human resource practitioners. This unit focuses on the challenges faced by organisations in terms of staffing, remuneration and benefits for retaining their workforce. The starting point of the unit examines the internal and external environment faced by today's organisations in terms of domestic and global competitiveness, technological change and industrial transition. Likewise, the unit examines the central elements of a strategic approach to contemporary staffing, remuneration and benefits that attempts to manage the workforce to effectively and efficiently deal with the complexities and strategic priorities of modern organisational environments. 

The aim of this unit is to provide students with an analytical skills of how organisations design, implement, and review (update) staffing, remuneration and benefits practices and systems in a complex, dynamic world. The unit also reinforces the acquisition of practical skills in the key HR processes of job analysis and design, selection tools and practices, and remuneration systems that are necessary to support the achievement of organisational outcomes.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Explain and analyse key concepts and theories of staffing, remunerations and benefits, and how they aid businesses to meet their strategic objectives. (GA5)

LO2 - Design effective and efficient staffing processes, remuneration and benefits strategies, incorporating job analysis and design, recruitment techniques, selection tools, remunerations and benefits systems while also ensuring the human dignity and the legal obligations for these processes. (GA3, GA5)

LO3 - Examine the impact of a well designed and implemented staffing, remuneration and benefits strategies and practices that take into accounts workers’ rights, ethical perspectives and quality of work life to add value for organisations and society. (GA1, GA5)

LO4 - Critically evaluate contemporary staffing, remuneration and benefits practices with sustainability characteristics for different positions and roles within organisations. (GA4, GA5)

LO5 - Apply effective written and oral communication skills in the context of staffing and remuneration (GA5, GA9)

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Content

Topics will include:

• Introduction to sustainable staffing and remuneration
• Analysing and designing Jobs: Traditional and emerging, Job analysis, developing position and role descriptions
• Recruitment Techniques and practices: Legal, ethical and diversity issues, traditional recruitment methods, contemporary and innovative recruitment methods, developing recruitment ads, and employer branding
• Employee selection aligned to business strategy.
• Joining the Organisation: Employment offers, employment conditions, and onboarding/induction processes 
• Introduction to employee remuneration and benefits
• Theories of remuneration and benefits. 
• Analysing and designing remuneration and benefits systems
• Interrelationships between staffing, remuneration and benefits systems
• Contemporary practices and trends in staffing, remuneration and benefits systems with sustainability characteristics.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit takes an enquiry-based learning approach to guide students in the development of knowledge associated with staffing, remuneration and benefits. Students are able to explore the knowledge base underpinning the management of contemporary staffing, remuneration and benefits strategies and practices in a series of on campus workshops. These workshops are designed to support students to actively participate in the development of this knowledge both individually and in groups. By participating in these workshops, students will systematically develop their understanding of the critical aspects of management of staffing, remuneration and benefits strategies and how to design solutions to challenges faced by HR practitioners. This unit takes an experiential approach to support students in developing the skills required to effectively manage staffing, remuneration and benefits with sustainability characteristics by sharing stories and insights and reflecting on experiences. This approach is designed to interest students who prefer to learn within a social environment and builds in expert support for HR skills development. The rationale is to encourage deep learning instead of surface or rote learning, as deep learning will develop critical thinking skills and prepare you for competitive business and non-business environments.

A variety of learning materials (real-life examples, case studies from current issues relating to the theory and practice of consumer behaviour, journal articles, videos, lecture capture) will be used. Deep learning is likely to be fully realised as students are exposed to this variety of learning tasks.

Mode of delivery: This unit is offered in different modes. These are: "Attendance" mode, "Blended" mode and "Online" mode. This unit is offered in three modes to cater to the learning needs and preferences of a range of participants and maximise effective participation for isolated and/or marginalised groups.

Attendance Mode

In an attendance mode, students will require face-to-face attendance in specific physical location/s. Students will have face-to-face interactions with lecturer(s) to further their achievement of the learning outcomes. This unit is structured with required upfront preparation before workshops, most students report that they spend an average of one hour preparing before the workshop and one or more hours after the workshop practicing and revising what was covered. The online learning platforms used in this unit provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for students to prepare and revise.

Blended Mode

In a blended mode, students will require intermittent face-to-face attendance determined by the School. Students will have face-to-face interactions with lecturer(s) to further their achievement of the learning outcomes. This unit is structured with required upfront preparation before workshops. The online learning platforms used in this unit provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for students to prepare and revise.

Online Mode

In an online mode, students engage in asynchronous learning and participate in the construction and synthesis of knowledge, while developing their knowledge. Students are provided with choice and variety in how they learn. Students are encouraged to contribute to asynchronous weekly discussions. Active learning opportunities provide students with opportunities to practice and apply their learning in situations similar to their future professions. Activities encourage students to bring their own examples to demonstrate understanding, application and engage constructively with their peers. Students receive regular and timely feedback on their learning, which includes information on their progress.

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to pass this unit, students are required to achieve an aggregate mark of at least 50%. Marking will be in accordance with a rubric specifically developed to measure your level of achievement of the learning outcomes for each item of assessment. You will also be awarded a final grade which signifies your overall achievement in the unit. The assessment strategy for this unit allows students to sequentially develop their knowledge and skills of staffing, remuneration and benefits of organisations to the point where students can develop a sustainable recruitment and selection strategy for a case organisation. To develop this level of capability, students will demonstrate their knowledge of sustainable staffing, remuneration and benefits through engagement-led discussions and other activities focusing on the trends related to the unit, further develop their understanding by undertaking a remuneration related case study and then apply their knowledge and understanding by presenting recommendations in the final assessment task.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Brymer, R. A., Chadwick, C., Hill, A. D., & Molloy, J. C., 2019. Pipelines and their portfolios: A more holistic view of human capital heterogeneity via firm-wide employee sourcing. Academy of Management Perspectives, 33(2), 207-233.

dos Santos, J. R., & Pedro, L., 2020. Reinventing Human Resource Management to Increase Organizational Efficacy. In Entrepreneurship and Organizational Innovation (pp. 23-36). Springer, Cham.

Goldstein, H.W., Pulakos, E.D., Passmore, J. and Semedo, C., 2017. The Psychology of Employee Recruitment, Selection and Retention. The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Recruitment, Selection and Employee Retention, John Wiley and Sons Chichester

Jewell, D. O., Jewell, S. F., & Kaufman, B. E., 2020. Designing and implementing high-performance work systems: Insights from consulting practice for academic researchers. Human Resource Management Review, 100749.

Kanapathippillai, S., Mihret, D., & Johl, S., 2019. Remuneration Committees and Attribution Disclosures on Remuneration Decisions: Australian Evidence. Journal of Business Ethics, 158(4), 1063-1082.

Kaufman, B. E., Barry, M., Wilkinson, A., & Gomez, R., 2020. Alternative balanced scorecards built from paradigm models in strategic HRM and employment/industrial relations and used to measure the state of employment relations and HR system performance across US workplaces. Human Resource Management Journal.

Mariappanadar, S., 2020. Characteristics of Sustainable HRM System and Practices for Implementing Corporate Sustainability. In Sita Vanka, Madasu Bhaskara Rao, Swati Singh,

Martocchio, J., 2017 Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource Management Approach, 9th Edition Pearson

Nankervis, AR Baird, M Coffey, J& Shields, J., 2017, Human resource management: strategy and practice, 9th Asia-Pacific edition, South Melbourne, Vic. Cengage Learning

Park, T. Y., & Shaw, J. D., 2017. Compensation Systems and Pay Practices in Asia. In Routledge Handbook of Human Resource Management in Asia (pp. 201-221). Routledge.

Rahman, S., & Singh, T., 2019. Dimensions of employee satisfaction with compensation: scale development and validation. International Journal of Business Excellence, 19(2), 223-242.

Tosi, H. L., Werner, S., Katz, J. P., & Gomez-Mejia, L. R., 2000. How much does performance matter? A meta-analysis of CEO pay studies. Journal of Management, 26(2), 301-339.

Journals

• Human Resource Management Review
• Human Resource Management Journal
• Journal of Business Ethics
• Journal of Management