Preparing to Manage Human Resources (Coursera)

Preparing to Manage Human Resources (Coursera)

One way or another, all employees are managed. But approaches to managing employees varying from employee-to-employee, job-to-job, manager-to-manager, organization-to-organization, and country-to-country. This course provides a foundation for developing your own approach to skillfully managing employees by illustrating alternative human resource management (HRM) strategies, introducing the importance of the legal context, and thinking about what motivates employees.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

This will then give you the factual and conceptual basis for developing specific, critical HRM skills in subsequent courses on hiring employees, managing performance, and rewarding employees.
Don't know anything about HRM? That's OK! Leave this course with a new-found understanding of the range of options available for managing employees, a grasp of what makes workers tick, and the readiness to develop your own HRM skills.
Course 1 of 5 in the Human Resource Management: HR for People Managers Specialization.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Alternative Approaches to Managing Human Resources
Welcome to the first week of this course! This section starts with an introduction to the course, and then we'll spend two lessons looking at alternative ways of managing human resources. After completing this module, you will be able to… • Explain why managing people is important. • Compare strategies for managing human resources. • Evaluate the fit between an organization’s HR strategy, a manager’s style(s), and the business environment. • Recommend strategies and styles for managing people in a particular situation.

WEEK 2
What Makes Employees Work? Money, Of Course!
Welcome to the second module of this course! We'll be focusing on the monetary reasons for working, and the lessons for managers that result. After completing this module, you will be able to… • Explain how money can motivate some workers. • Identify key managerial concerns if workers are self-interested and view work economically. • Develop strategies for addressing these key concerns using insights from economics.

WEEK 3
What Makes Employees Work Revisited...Non-Monetary Motivations
Welcome to the third module of this course! We'll be focusing on the non-monetary reasons for working, and the lessons for managers that result. After completing this module, you will be able to… • Explain at least four different reasons that people work not related to money. • Identify key managerial concerns when workers work for different non-monetary reasons.• Develop strategies for addressing these key concerns using insights from psychology and sociology. • Justify the (in)application of insights from economics, psychology, and sociology in different situations.

WEEK 4
The People Manager as Part of a Complex System
Welcome to the fourth and final module of this course! In this section, we'll finish laying a foundation for managing human resources by looking at the constraints faced by managers, especially the legal environment. After completing this module, you will be able to… • Explain at least four constraints that influence how human resources are managed in a particular organization. • Compare the ways in which the law does and does not see employment as a typical contractual relationship. • Create a list of legal and illegal HRM practices in your country. • Judge when to use strategies for managing people that go beyond what the law requires.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Self Awareness and the Effective Leader (Coursera) Coursera
Rice University

Self Awareness and the Effective Leader (Coursera)

Part of being an effective leader is learning how to play to your strengths and overcome characteristics that don't lend to good leadership practices. During the course, you will examine your own strengths and learn ways to use them in a leadership role. Learn to manage stress and solve problems creatively. Throughout the course, you will also build a tool kit of useful techniques that you can begin using right away in your engineering career.

Sep 28th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Colaboración dinámica (Coursera) Coursera
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Colaboración dinámica (Coursera)

¿Quieres desarrollar habilidades para el trabajo colaborativo? ¿Tienes un proyecto o emprendimiento y deseas gestionar un equipo? ¿Deseas organizar las labores de tu grupo de trabajo? Este curso te permitirá desarrollar habilidades para la planeación del trabajo colaborativo, el desarrollo de planes de comunicación en tu organización o proyecto, asumir un enfoque de liderazgo para la colaboración y la adaptación al cambio, y establecer una estrategia de trabajo basada en soluciones.

Oct 5th 2026
4 Weeks
Liderazgo de equipos (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Liderazgo de equipos (Coursera)

En este curso, aprenderá cómo construir su equipo, mejorar el trabajo en equipo y la colaboración, y mantener el desempeño del equipo a través del aprendizaje y la mejora continuos. Específicamente, aprenderá las mejores prácticas para componer un equipo y alinear los objetivos individuales y del equipo. También aprenderá a establecer roles, construir estructuras y administrar la toma de decisiones para que su equipo sobresalga.

Oct 5th 2026
4 Weeks
Leadership & Organization Design (Coursera) Coursera
Illinois Tech

Leadership & Organization Design (Coursera)

To succeed in today’s knowledge intensive organizations managers need to understand how individual differences in personality, learning style and cultural values, group dynamics, organizational culture, and human resource management policies shape employee attitudes and behaviors. This course teaches managers creative problem-solving and ethical decision-making, change management, leadership techniques for enhancing social capital and influencing other organizational members, and management tools for multicultural and geographically dispersed teams.

Oct 5th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Conversations that Inspire: Coaching Learning, Leadership and Change (Coursera) Coursera
Case Western Reserve University

Conversations that Inspire: Coaching Learning, Leadership and Change (Coursera)

Coaching can inspire and motivate people to learn, change and be effective leaders, among other roles in life. Although most attempts are “coaching for compliance” (coaching someone to your wishes or expectations), decades of behavioral and neuroscience research show us that “coaching with compassion” (coaching someone to their dreams and desires) is more effective.

Sep 28th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Liderar equipes (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Liderar equipes (Coursera)

Neste curso, você aprenderá como construir sua equipe, melhorar o trabalho em equipe e a colaboração e sustentar o desempenho da equipe por meio de aprendizado e melhoria contínuos. Especificamente, você aprenderá as melhores práticas para compor uma equipe e alinhar as metas individuais e da equipe. Você também aprenderá como estabelecer funções, criar estruturas e gerenciar a tomada de decisões para que sua equipe se sobressaia.

Oct 5th 2026
4 Weeks
Liderazgo para el Siglo XXI: proyecto final (Coursera) Coursera
Universidad de los Andes

Liderazgo para el Siglo XXI: proyecto final (Coursera)

Este curso está diseñado para acompañarte en seleccionar un desafío personal de liderazgo y aplicar herramientas con las cuales realizarás experimentos y evaluarás el ciclo de diagnóstico y acción en tu tema. Asimismo, serás consiente de cómo en el proceso, el fracaso y la resiliencia te ayudarán a avanzar en tus restos de liderazgo. Al finalizar este curso estarás en capacidad de: Utilizar herramientas de diagnóstico y acción para avanzar en un proyecto de liderazgo propio; Practicar y profundizar el uso de narrativas y otras herramientas de comunicación (con uno mismo y con otros) para fortalecer el ejercicio personal de liderazgo; Desarrollar resiliencia, una habilidad que permite perseverar en proyectos de liderazgo.

Oct 5th 2026
4 Weeks
Inspirar el liderazgo a través de la inteligencia emocional (Coursera) Coursera
Case Western Reserve University

Inspirar el liderazgo a través de la inteligencia emocional (Coursera)

La inteligencia emocional, la esperanza, la atención plena y la compasión ayudan a una persona a revertir el daño del estrés crónico y a construir excelentes relaciones de liderazgo. Los atractores emocionales positivos y negativos inspiran cambios y aprendizajes sostenidos y deseados en muchos niveles.

Oct 5th 2026
5-12 Weeks
La gestión de personas y equipos (Coursera) Coursera
IESE Business School

La gestión de personas y equipos (Coursera)

En una ocurrente frase, Peter Drucker, pionero en el campo de la gestión empresarial, afirmó en una ocasión que las personas tienen una tendencia perversa a comportarse como seres humanos. Con ello quería señalar algo que es evidente: que las personas no somos máquinas y, por ello, no somos programables. Sin embargo, sí que tenemos unas necesidades que satisfacer, y unas características comunes. Y conocerlas - qué motiva a las personas en el ámbito laboral, qué necesidades buscan satisfacer, y por qué - ayuda a entender mejor el comportamiento en las organizaciones.

Sep 28th 2026
4 Weeks
The Manager's Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Managing People at Work (Coursera) Coursera
University of London,Birkbeck, University of London

The Manager's Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Managing People at Work (Coursera)

The aim of this course is to give you a practical guide to managing people at work. It does not matter whether you are a first time manager in a shop or a middle manager in an office environment; the same skills apply to every work place. In the course you will engage with some HR theories and then see how they translate into every day working life.

Sep 28th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Human Resources Analytics (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Human Resources Analytics (Coursera)

With advances in technology and cloud computing, there are now numerous data sources available to guide decision-making and drive organizational success. Harvesting the right kind of data requires that HR teams possess strong analytical skills; high-performing HR teams know that their function is to leverage data as a “decision science” by identifying metrics and data sources that deliver organizational insights. In order to do so, HR must ensure that metrics and measures are used effectively to achieve strategic goals.

Oct 5th 2026
4 Weeks