Human Resource Management
We are seeing both government and business opting for fewer staff, fewer management layers and more flexible work practices. Their business strategies are, to a large extent, human resource management strategies; and they have given human resource management a considerable degree of recognition and influence as a key element of business management.
In addition, human resource management is no longer regarded as the sole responsibility of a special department, which advises from the sidelines. The work is more and more being integrated into mainstream managerial responsibilities within an organisation so that an understanding of human resource management, and an involvement in it, is now a requirement of management generally throughout an organisation.
There is a strong demand from employers, human resource practitioners and the relevant professional body, the Australian Human Resources Institute, for degree-level education in human resource management. Graduates may obtain employment as HR generalists or in many of the specialist areas of human resource management including training and development, human resource consultants, or in general management.
Student Profile
Living in WA and studying at Deakin didn't phase Jamie Craigie one bit. 'My qualifications are a mix of TAFE and Deakin,' he says. 'I tell my TAFE students that their career will take them to places they never dream of. If someone had told me five years ago that I would be doing this job, I would never have believed it.'
Jamie's list of professional roles is as long as that of his qualifications. He has been an administration officer, accounting officer, payroll officer and payroll manager. After entering the HR industry, he performed as an adviser, senior adviser, manager and director, before taking up his current position as HR lecturer in 2009.
