Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
This course covers practices traditionally referred to as "hard" human resources management"-that is, the decisions and mechanisms that govern, regulate, and organize the employment relationship.
The course is structured around two central themes:
- Contractual Relationship Management: the legal framework of the employment contract, contract selection and content, contractual clauses, the organization and flexibility of work schedules, changes in the employment relationship, and managing employee departures.
- Compensation management: legal framework, development of a compensation policy, fixed and variable compensation, non-statutory benefits, fairness and transparency, payroll calculation, and oversight and digitization of the payroll process.
These practices will be analyzed through the frameworks of Hard HRM (control, optimization, regulation, performance) and Soft HRM (engagement, development, autonomy, well-being), in order to understand their complementarities, tensions, and consequences for employees and the organization.
The course combines conceptual and legal content, insights from professionals, exercises, and case studies to help students move from simply knowing the rules to applying them in HR decision-making.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Understand and apply the distinction between "hard" and "soft" approaches to HRM in order to analyze practices related to contracts and compensation.
- Identify and explain the main legal frameworks, principles, and tools that govern the management of contractual relationships, the organization of work time, and compensation.
- Analyze a contractual situation and identify the associated legal and HR choices, constraints, and risks.
- Calculate and explain the main steps involved in converting gross pay to net pay, and then apply this reasoning to situations involving specific working hours, employment status, or compensation packages.
- Analyze and compare compensation schemes, taking into account, in particular, their legality, internal equity, external competitiveness, costs, and potential effects on employee behavior.
- Critically evaluate the organizational and human impacts of contractual and compensation schemes, integrating both "hard" and "soft" dimensions.
- Formulate and defend well-reasoned HR recommendations in response to a concrete situation, drawing on the concepts, legal framework, tools, and lessons learned from the professional scenarios studied in the course.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
/
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
- Theoretical presentations (introduction to concepts, legal frameworks, academic models).
- Case studies and practical exercises: contract analysis, payroll calculation, work schedule development.
- Preparatory scientific readings (academic articles) discussed in class.
- Testimonials from HR professionals (to be confirmed) followed by critical analysis in groups.
- Homework: preparation of reading summaries, hard/soft analysis grids applied to testimonials.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Further information:
Some additional materials will be available via the LOL@ platform.
In the event of an unexcused student's absence, any test organized as part of the continuous assessment will be marked as zero.
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Platform(s) used for course materials:
- LOL@
Further information:
Course materials (slides) available on LOL@.
Required reading (scientific articles, gray literature) indicated throughout the course.
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire, open-ended questions ) AND oral exam
Continuous assessment
Further information:
First session:
The assessment will take the form of a written exam covering all the material covered in class, divided as follows:
- Multiple-choice questions.
- Open-ended case study questions.
The assessment will take the form of a written exam covering all the material covered in class.
During the second session, points earned during the continuous assessment will not be carried over.
The assessment methods for the second session will vary depending on the number of students enrolled:
- If the number of students is less than or equal to 30, the exam will be oral and will cover all of the material.
- If the number of students is greater than 30, the exam will be written and will also cover all of the material.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
Contacts
Before contacting the teacher regarding the content or terms of the course, students are invited to follow the following steps independently:
1. Consult the course materials and their own notes to check if the answer to the question is already there.
2. Exchange with fellow students via the discussion space on the course page (Lola) to benefit from peer collaboration.
3. Ask their question during class sessions so that the entire class can benefit from it and the exchanges can enrich collective learning.
For any individual request by email, a response time of five working days should be expected. If no response is received after this period, students may consider sending a follow-up.
Pr. Frédéric NAEDENOEN,
LENTIC / HEC Liège, Ecole de Gestion de l'Université de Liège,
Bâtiment N1d (HEC) / LENTIC,
Tél.: + 32 4 366 30 70,
E-Mail: FNaedenoen@uliege.be