People management skills are an essential part of effective management, as people make the difference between an organisation's success or failure. Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management (often combined as Employment Relations) provide the tools people management specialists need to effectively manage people within organisations.

With the introduction of the WorkChoices reforms Employment Relations has become a major issue for all organisations. As a result, professionals who are skilled in negotiation and dispute resolution, HR strategy, Australian industrial relations regulations, workplace industrial relations and Equal Employment Opportunity practice and law are in high demand.