Programme content

The majority of students undertake the four generalist electives of People Resourcing, Learning & Development, Employee Reward and Employee Relations. Employment Law can be chosen as an alternative to any of the four standard electives: 

People Resourcing

  • Covers HR planning, recruitment and selection, performance management, retention and release of staff, and encourages the student to review existing processes. Explores the need for pragmatism at times of change.


Learning and Development

  • Explores the integration of individual and organisational needs, and the development of learning and knowledge, building operational and strategic awareness of their importance. Examines ways to add value through learning and development.


Employee Reward

  • Focuses on the use of reward policies and practices to attract, retain and motivate employees. Includes financial and non-financial rewards, strengths and limitations of job evaluation, equal pay, and the role of reward strategies in supporting change.


Employee Relations

  • Examines techniques to gain employee commitment to organisational goals and the external and internal factors affecting the management of employee relations including the impact of organisational change. Looks at mechanisms to reconcile the interests of employers and employees within non-union and unionised environments, and the skills needed to handle conflict effectively.


Employment Law Elective (stand-alone or combined with three other Electives)

  • With HR management increasingly affected by developments in employment law, this elective enables students to competently apply their acquired knowledge to a range of workplace situations, not only in a reactive way, but by also anticipating and evaluating proposed changes in the law.

Further information on each of the modules can be found on the CIPD website under Specialist and Generalist Personnel Development Standards

For those with an interest or management need in the field of Training and Development, please select CIPD Trainer Electives / BPP Diploma in Training and Development (DTD) for further information.