St Mary's University College was pleased to host the 2011 Human Resource Management International (Humint) conference on diversity in the workplace.
In total 37 delegates, all studying Human Resource Management (HRM) as part of their degree, attended. The students came from Saxion University of Applied Sciences in Deventer, Holland, the University of Applied Sciences, BFI Vienna, and the Katholieke Hogeschool, Leuven. These students were joined by 2nd year Liberal Arts students from St Mary's.
Students from all four countries formed international groups to analyse case studies which focussed on many aspects of diversity within the workplace. Most of the cases were based on real events. The international groups presented on the final day, identifying not only the major problems and issues within the cases, but providing bespoke HRM solutions for each case.
The keynote speakers included Mrs Clodagh Hanna, Human Resource Manager in St Mary's, who discussed the importance and work of an HRM department in Northern Ireland, while Mr Rory Galway, Equality Officer at Bombardier, provided a 'real-life' scenario of how equality in Northern Ireland is being pursued.
The students did of course have some free time to see the wonderful city of Belfast, described by the Financial Times as one of the top ten places to hold a conference in the world, while the National Geographic traveller magazine listed Belfast as one of the top ten destinations to see in 2012. Particularly popular with the delegates was the Christmas Market in the grounds of the City Hall.
Many St Mary's students have found employment in a human resource capacity in the past and will continue to do so in the future. This conference not only increased students' knowledge of HRM as a discipline, it also allowed students to work in teams, finding innovative and creative solutions to real problems. These employability skills should prove attractive to prospective future employers.