Curriculum

Online Human Resources Certificate Curriculum

Penn Foster’s online Human Resources Certificate curriculum consists of five courses that will cover HR basics with an overview of business. Discover how to plan training methods to bring out the best in employees, understand salaries, benefits, and bonuses, and gain a foundational competency of management skills.

Human Resources Management Essentials

Certificate 8 months As low as $49/mo

Full Program Overview

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Online Human Resources Certificate Curriculum

5 courses
52.2 continuing education units (CEUs)
21 exams
2 submitted projects

Estimated completion time:

Fast track = 8 months
Average time = 12 months

With Penn Foster, you can learn at whatever pace works best for you. Some learners will be more comfortable moving faster, and dedicating more time, and the fast track estimate will apply to them. The average track will apply to most learners who can dedicate a few hours per week to completing their coursework.

The Starting Your Program course is designed to help you make a smooth transition to Penn Foster, including learning how to use all the tools and resources that are available to you. The goal is to help you become a confident, independent learner.

By the end of this course, you'll be able to:
- Further express your goals and expectations
- Navigate the Penn Foster learning environment, including your Student Portal
- Describe what it takes to be a successful online learner
- Identify your preferred study aids and learning styles
- Determine personal financial goals
- Practice some important study and time management skills
- Access and use helpful resources, such as the Penn Foster Virtual Library, and various help features
This course will familiarize you with both the business environment and the manager’s role within it. It covers decision making, planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, as well as developing an ethical perspective.

By the end of this course, you'll be able to:
- Summarize the functions of management and the basic steps in various planning processes
- Explain how to make effective decisions as a manager and a leader
- Describe the fundamental elements of an organization’s structure and the components of an organization’s competitive environment
- Explain principles for setting goals that motivate employees, why companies develop control systems, and why teamwork is beneficial
- Analyze why diversity is a critical organizational and managerial issue, and describe the criteria for technology decisions and managing change
This course is designed to introduce you to the human resource field. You’ll learn basic concepts, theories, and perspectives related to effective human resource management. There are case studies and features that will help you understand practical problems and applications of human resource management principles.

If you’re seriously thinking about a career in human resource management, you should take advantage of these extra features, even when they aren’t assigned.

By the end of this course, you'll be able to:
- Describe the elements of human resource management, including labor considerations, regulation, and management of workflow
- Explain how companies should prepare for and implement HRM to hire new employees and create training programs
- Identify the aspects of employee, career, and turnover management
- Summarize how employees are paid, including legal requirements, performance-based pay, commissions, salaries, and benefits
- Describe other HRM functions including collective bargaining, labor relations, global HRM, and building a high-performance organization
- Explain key aspects of the field of human resource management
This course highlights important points of compensation in contemporary work environments. Throughout your studies, you’ll learn about different forms of pay, compensation strategies, competitive pay models, and performance evaluation and management techniques. You’ll also learn about different laws surrounding compensation and global pay systems.

At the end of this course, you’ll complete an essay that asks you to take all you’ve learned throughout your studies and analyze a number of different job postings that cover these concepts.

By the end of this course, you'll be able to:
- Explain the factors and methods included in compensation strategies
- Describe how to evaluate employee performance and motivate workers using compensation strategies
- Explain how unions, laws, and special groups affect compensation
- Discuss labor regulation locally and globally
- Compare job postings for different pay models
This course will introduce you to the many different elements that comprise employee benefits. The knowledge you gain from this course will help your career as a benefits specialist. It will also help you understand the history, and many of the governmental issues, concerning benefit programs today. When you complete this course, you’ll understand the full employee benefit-planning process.

By the end of this course, you'll be able to:
- Analyze the fundamentals of employee benefits
- Point out the types and purposes of group insurance
- Categorize the benefits and purposes of group medical insurance
- Distinguish the purpose of group dental insurance and other group insurance benefits
- Differentiate the various types of plans associated with retirement
- Categorize the types and benefits of profit-sharing plans and other similar plans
- Apply your knowledge on employee benefits for evaluating the benefit packages of three similar companies

Note: We reserve the right to change program content and materials when it becomes necessary.