2018/19 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

LUBS5342M People Analytics: Strategy and Practice

30 creditsClass Size: 150

Module manager: Andrew Charlwood
Email: A.Charlwood@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2018/19

This module is approved as an Elective

Module summary

The world of business, management and human resources becomes increasingly dependent on data. Data comes from different sources, capturing a variety of performance outcomes and determinants of human behaviour. It is indeed true that success in the contemporary HR profession hinges upon our ability to process and analyse data, and being able to translate quantitative outcomes into viable solutions to organisational problems.The module will provide you with a solid grounding in the fundamental principles of analytics in the context of human resource management, drawing on strategic human capital theory and other relevant perspectives. You will gain proficiency in pertinent quantitative techniques and software packages essential for developing analytical literacy. Using practical examples from the NHS and other large organisations, the module will help you to understand how HR analytics can be used to address organisational challenges.The module thus aims to ensure that every student is capable of analysing HR data and critically assessing outcomes of data analysis in light of practical HR problems.

Objectives

A prime objective of this module is to develop basic analytic skills with regard to datasets, quantitative techniques and the type of measurements used in human resource management. It is imperative to contemporary HR specialists to be able to navigate through data, rapidly growing in volume and variety, and to understand the rationale for appropriate modelling, with its merits and limitations. The module will nurture a critical outlook on actual HR problems and the ways by which they can be solved with the help of analytic skills.

Learning outcomes
Upon completion of this module, students will be able to:
- Evaluate the rationales, fundamental principles and theoretical underpinnings of analytics in the context of human resource management;
- Analyse the types and complexity of HR data including main data sources and their use
- Critically evaluate use and limitations of HR analytics
- Synthesise debates about the types of HR outcomes and common measurements in HRM;
- Gain proficiency in statistical software packages pertinent to analysing HR data
- Evaluate the use of data analytic skills in practice

Skills outcomes
Upon completion of this module students will be able to:

Transferable:
- work with organisation-level data, understand relevant quantitative techniques and software packages that can be applied beyond the area of human resource management.

- Subject specific: navigate through a variety of HR data sources and measurements, with subsequent application of analytical skills to real world organisational and business problems.

Syllabus

Indicative content:
Analytics in the context of HRM: what is analytics and how can analytics be applied to HR and human capital?
Strategy and analytics involving strategic human capital theory, strategic management, resourced based view of the firm and critical evaluation of these concepts
Understanding HR data: data generation and administration; classes of data involving attitudinal data, soft performance data and hard performance outcomes
Logic driven people analytics: theory building, solving commercial problems and developing models to understand the people dimensions of business challenges.
Understanding the potential and barriers to HR analytics in practice: balancing safe staffing and financial data, modelling safe staffing
From analysis to action: visualising results and storytelling
The future of people analytics: analytics as craft; analytics as software and products; machine learning and automation
HR and performance revisited: what works at work?

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	10	1.00	10.00
Practical	4	2.00	8.00
Seminar	6	2.00	12.00
Private study hours			270.00
Total Contact hours			30.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			300.00

Private study

Students are expected to spend significant time outside of lectures checking their learning of techniques introduced in lectures, reading suggested materials and practicing software packages used to read, visualise HR data and conduct relevant analytical procedures.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Formative feedback based on tutorial exercises

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Report	5,000 word project report	100.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

The resit for this module will be 100% by 5,000 words coursework

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 04/10/2019

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