Before we know it, we’re reaching the end of the year and it’s that time again to reflect on how far we’ve come and to set goals for the following year. HR has been pulled left and right dealing with the various urgent issues that transpired this year: supporting the business and employees through the pandemic, coming up with ways to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace, and assisting the business to prepare for Brexit. Like many others, HR professionals have had to adjust to lots of changes, which meant that working on your own personal career development may have been put on hold.
But 2021 is a new year and a good opportunity to rethink what your next steps will be. Whether you’re looking to get a refresher of basic HR concepts, or hope to gain further insight into a specific topic, we’ve put together a list of online courses that might help you in your HR career journey. Please note that we do not have affiliation with any of the below suggestions.
1. CIPD Qualifications – certified online program providers
If you’re determined to throw yourself into study mode, this is a no-brainer. With thousands of student members across the globe, the CIPD is the certification body for HR and L&D education in the UK. In order to adapt to the ongoing pandemic, many approved study centres for CIPD qualifications have taken their teachings online. The CIPD courses aim to help students apply theory into practice and get them on to the next rung of the career ladder. These courses do require a high level of commitment due to the time and expenses involved.
2. HR Fundamentals by CIPD – FutureLearn
If a CIPD certification is too much of an expense to commit to for the moment, but you still want to have a better grasp of HR basics, this course is worth taking a look at. CIPD has partnered with online learning platform, FutureLearn, to provide this introductory course on key HR practices and aims to help learners develop the skills essential to an HR profession. The course covers the context behind the HR profession, the importance of people strategies and workforce planning, how to get the best out of people through engagement, and more. The course lasts for five weeks and it can be accessed free for seven weeks. This is great if you’re just starting out in your HR career.
3. People Analytics by Josh Bersin – LinkedIn Learning
Having the right data and understanding it is extremely important for business decision-making. This is the case for HR, too. Thanks to data insights, we can now have more of an understanding of what motivates people, their stresses and factors that can help them succeed in their work. In this advanced course, global industry analyst and HR thought leader, Josh Bersin, explains what people analytics is, how it can be used to help the business, and how to find the right tools like HR software systems to gather and store this data. The online video course is a short one, just under 40 minutes, and it can be accessed by buying the course or through a LinkedIn Premium membership. If you’re looking for more in-depth courses from Josh Bersin, make sure to check out the Josh Bersin Academy.
4. Digital HR Transformation – AIHR
Although not in the way we envisioned it to be, 2020 has been a year of digital transformation. Many companies have had to quickly implement remote working and digital tools into their strategies to ensure business survival. And this shows no signs of stopping. HR is at a good place to lead this transition by transforming its own HR processes. This course provides practical tips on building an HR digital toolkit and tracking key HR metrics and analytics, along with case studies to see how they can be applied in practice. AIHR also offers other courses on HR management and HR technology.
5. Equality & Adversity – Acas Learning Online
Another great resource for learning about HR processes is the online learning platform by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas). While the conversation was already ongoing, D&I has rightly become a hot topic for many organisations this year. This course breaks down what equality and diversity mean and why they’re important, the laws you should be aware of, and putting D&I strategies into practice. This course is free to take once you’ve created an Acas account and can be done at your own pace. The e-learning platform also covers other topics, such as managing absence, performance management, pay and reward. These are great to check out when you’re looking for a quick refresh on relevant laws and regulations.
Hannah Mandapat
Marketing Executive
Hannah has over five years of experience in the technology space, having worked in various marketing roles involving copywriting, social media management, and email marketing.
