CIPD Level 7 – Advanced Diploma in Strategic Learning & Development (Postgraduate: Masters Equivalent)

Mandatory modules:

Work and Working Lives in a Changing Business Environment

This unit will broaden your understanding of the interaction between the commercial business environment and future developments in the world of work, employment and the management of people. You will learn how to assess social, demographic, and economic trends and how developments in public policy affect people practice. You will also learn about effective leadership of change, innovation, and creativity, including the key interrelationships between ethics, sustainability, diversity, and well-being. You will critically evaluate policy, practice and corporate social responsibility and the ways in which people professionals can apply and promote them for organisational productivity.

People Management and Development Strategies for Performance

The role and influence of people professionals is a key part of your learning in this unit. You will explore how people professionals create value and deliver outcomes for organisations and employees, and how contributing to the success of business objectives improves performance and enhances the employee experience. You will study the advantages and benefits of aligning people practice strategies with organisational goals and learn about the ways in which organisations integrate people practice with culture, brand and values. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to critically evaluate the practical and ethical challenges presented by data analytics and technological developments and assess how these elements affect your role.

Personal Effectiveness, Ethics and Business Acumen

The theories and concepts you will learn in this unit and essential for promoting inclusiveness and influencing others through fair and transparent behaviours. You will learn to critically evaluate different ethical standpoints in the people profession and how ethical behaviour maintains high standards and contributes to the well-being and integrity of both employees and the organisation. You will also learn how to achieve and maintain challenging business outcomes through an understanding of the business, self-awareness and improvement to support your career progression. Finally, you will validate the benefits of maintaining a passion for learning, evaluate the need for continuing professional development and the merits of evidence-based critical thinking, effective influencing, and networking.

Business Research in People Practice

In this unit, you will learn to define, design and undertake a business research project in people practice and learn how to present an integrated report based on evidence, and your own recommendations and critical reflection. Your project will examine themes that would add value to the organisation, and as you build your project, you will learn to distinguish between primary and secondary data, conduct cost and benefit analysis, and research ethical issues around data collection with a focus on how you could improve future project design and delivery.

Organisational Design and Development

This unit focuses on the principles of organisational design and development to achieve strategic goals and support organisational success. You will learn to critically assess theory and concepts in relation to organisational design and development to understand the general principles and key issues that support them. You will explore the role of people professionals in the creation of new organisational forms, as well as examine responses and approaches to change, including strategies for employee engagement and reflection on personal skills and behaviours that influence successful execution.

Leadership and Management Development in Context

In this unit, you will review the differences between leadership and management in different contexts, evaluating the roles of leaders and managers and their typical knowledge, skills and behaviours. You will discuss the advantages of adopting strategic approaches to leadership and management development and learn how to compare metrics and evaluation models and how they can be applied. You will also gain a better understanding of how the development of international leaders and managers in a global context affects cultural and geographical boundaries, including issues faced by micro multinationals and SMEs operating globally.

Designing Learning to Improve Performance

In this unit, you will learn to analyse how organisational approaches to learning are impacted by different contexts and the external environment and determine the ways in which strong learning strategies and policies are developed. You will evaluate how learning data may be obtained and how it related to learning needs while discussing the key differences between a learning gap and a development gap and the various approaches on how to close them.

ELECTIVE Course Modules: (CHOOSE ONE)

Technology-Enhanced Learning

In this unit, you will review the diverse range of technologies within learning and development and their role within the organisation. You will analyse how technology enhanced learning methods are used in design, development, impact measurement and assessment and evaluate how organisations blend technological and non-technological approaches to learning. You will also examine learning analytics and the advantages of data in improving the overall effectiveness of learning delivery.

Advanced Diversity and Inclusion

In this unit, you will develop an enhanced understanding of the concept of diversity and inclusion, discussing a range of visible and non-visible dimensions that characterise the UKs working population. You will analyse key trends and changes that have shaped labour supply in recent decades, evaluate the concept of vertical occupation and time segregation, study economic theories and data sources, and provide evidence-based examples of disadvantage and inequality. You will also cover the legal, moral, and business cases for managing diversity and developing a culture of inclusion and the effectiveness in the workplace using varying approaches.

Wellbeing at Work

In this module you will explore the vital links between work, health, and wellbeing. You will learn how wellbeing connects with wider people management and organisational strategy and understand how it can be managed to support business goals. You will evaluate the main theories and issues surrounding wellbeing at work and identify the stakeholders that are required to maintain wellbeing initiatives. Finally, you will have the chance to develop a plan for your own workplace wellbeing programme.

Advanced Employment Law in Practice

In this unit, you will develop a comprehensive understanding of UK employment law and the legal framework for employment regulation in the UK. You will study the major elements of employment law and its evolution, the role and function of the courts, and the principles of law in the fields of precedent, vicarious liability, and continuity of employment. You will also analyse the Equality Act, the principles that underpin contracts of employment, and debate the principles of wrongful, constructive and unfair dismissal. Finally, you will study the law in relation to health and safety at work and personal injury, regulation on hours and wages, maternity and parental rights and the regulations relating to confidentiality at work.

Managing People in an International Context

This unit will teach you the different ways in which organisations operate, trade, and expand overseas and provide insight into the ethical issues in the field of international and management and employment. You will learn about how and why people management practices vary between different countries and regions around the world, focusing on the staffing of international organisations in particular. You will also examine the elements associated with managing people in an international context, specifically in the fields of performance management, diversity and inclusion, reward management, communication and employee voice, talent management and development and flexible working practice.