HRM & Industrial Relations study guide
HRM & Industrial Relations · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The HRM & Industrial Relations exam is a multiple-choice assessment of the knowledge and judgement expected of practitioners who manage people and the employment relationship. It suits HR generalists moving into broader roles, specialists in rewards, recruitment, learning or employee relations who want to demonstrate breadth, line managers with people responsibility, and graduates of HR or business programmes preparing for professional practice. The HRM & Industrial Relations study guide has 9 sections and about 2,495 words.
01Strategic Human Resource Management
Strategic HRM aligns people practices with the organisation's competitive strategy so that workforce capability becomes a source of advantage. Candidates must know the vertical fit (HR practices matching business strategy) and horizontal fit (practices reinforcing one another) distinction, plus the classic frameworks: the Harvard model's stakeholder and situational factors, the Michigan/Devanna matching model, and the resource-based view with its VRIN test (valuable, rare, inimitable, non-substitutable).
295 words, about 1 min02Workforce Planning and Talent Acquisition
Workforce planning translates strategy into the number, type and location of people needed. Candidates should know demand forecasting methods (trend analysis, ratio analysis, managerial judgement, scenario planning, Markov modelling) and supply analysis (skills inventories, replacement charts, succession grids, turnover and wastage analysis).
289 words, about 1 min03Learning, Development and Performance Management
Candidates must understand the training cycle: needs analysis (organisational, task, person), design, delivery, evaluation and transfer. Know Kolb's experiential cycle, the 70-20-10 model, and Kirkpatrick's four levels (reaction, learning, behaviour, results).
284 words, about 1 min04Compensation, Benefits and Total Rewards
Total rewards combine base pay, variable pay, benefits, recognition and non-financial elements such as development and flexibility. Candidates must know job evaluation methods (ranking, classification, point-factor), pay structure concepts (pay grades, ranges, midpoints, compa-ratio, range penetration), and market positioning (lead, lag, match, hybrid policies).
274 words, about 1 min05Employment Law and Regulatory Compliance
Candidates should understand how employment law arises from statutes, regulations, case law, collective agreements and codes of practice, and how tribunals and courts interpret them. Know the employment relationship: contract formation, express and implied terms, employee versus independent contractor tests (control, integration, economic reality), and the distinction between wrongful dismissal (contract) and unfair dismissal (statutory).
285 words, about 1 min06Employee and Labour Relations
Industrial relations involves employers, employees and their representatives, and the state. Candidates must know the pluralist, unitarist and radical frames of reference, collective bargaining structures, recognition procedures, and the role of conciliation, mediation and arbitration.
271 words, about 1 min07Workplace Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Candidates should know the hierarchy of controls (elimination, substitution, engineering, administrative, PPE) and the risk assessment cycle: identify hazards, assess likelihood and severity, control, record and review. Understand the difference between hazard and risk, near miss and accident, and the duties of employers, employees and contractors.
264 words, about 1 min08HR Analytics, Metrics and Technology
Candidates must distinguish descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive analytics, and know the difference between a metric, a KPI and a dashboard. Core HR metrics include turnover and retention rates, cost per hire, time to fill, absence rate, revenue per employee, engagement scores, span of control and training hours.
268 words, about 1 min09Organisational Change and HR Ethics
Candidates should know Lewin's unfreeze–change–refreeze, Kotter's eight-step model, the ADKAR model and Bridges' transition model (ending, neutral zone, new beginning). Understand drivers of change, stakeholder analysis, communication planning and the difference between planned and emergent change.
265 words, about 1 min