Developing Professional Practice and Using Information in HR - Essay Example

?Developing Professional Practice and Using Information in HR "What is the organization without its employees? There is nothing in the absence of human resources; eventually, a lot of expensive equipment. If all employees of different companies were dismissed What will be left? Not much! " (Decenzo and Robbins, 1993) 1. Human resource-people are the most important asset of a company, although not included in the balance sheet or in the accounting statements, as they supports the use of the other existing resources of the organization, giving the measure of its performance. The first indications referring to the importance of human resources (HR) are provided by the utopian R. Owen (1820-1850). The interest for HR management appeared at the confluence of psychology, sociology, legal sciences, operational research and statistics. Nowadays, events succeed rapidly and the information moves with a dazzling speed so the business arena needs individuals capable of change, adaptation, creative and extremely skilled, with strong experience and know how. According to Adler and Bartholomew (1992) vision on the importance of human resources within an organization, the prerequisites for a competitive company are the traditional purposes, transnational representation and cross-border activities. HR development is one of the strategic options of any structure interested in its growth. The company’s ability to adapt to environmental changes and evolve, largely depends on how it selects and trains the employees, taking into account their aspirations and potential (Radu et al. 2003). Performance assessment should not only indicate how well the staff works, but also how to influence and improve its results in terms of labour productivity, social climate, stability and efficiency level. McGregor (1972) argued that there are three main reasons for the assessments of the organizations performance: 1. They offer systematic arguments to back up wage increases, the promotions, transfers and sometimes the demotions and dismissals; 2. They are a means of informing subordinates about the effectiveness of their activity and to suggest future changes in their behaviour, attitudes, qualifications or knowledge required by specific tasks; they allow employees to find out how they are perceived by the “boss”. 3. They provide a useful basis for guidance and counselling. Performance improvement as a result of continuous development increases motivation (Damian, 2010). Organization’s employees will enhance their efficiency if they understand that based on a higher quality of their activity the chances of being promoted and gain higher salaries will significant grow. Investing in education and permanent training and thus embracing every single new market challenge is vital. The new economic realities and opportunities emphasize the need to adapt and improve skills and qualifications based on research and previous experience. Continuous professional practice, whether in a formal system, at work or informally is the key for a strong career and personal development. Training is important to facilitate workforce transformation, as it supports the adaptation to market requirements, thus enhancing mobility between different sectors. Knowledge and competencies can strengthen the market position and lead to increased productivity. Rapid changes in all fields translate in a much more dynamic spectrum of needs for new skills. Investment in training benefits both the individual and the society. In this light, one of the major challenges of the new era is the development of networking which can bring significant benefits to the businesses that seize its true potential. Social networks now have a high growth rate. What a quantum leap from the first century newspapers published in the Venice of the sixteenth century, to the present digital media and online world. From a specialized platform destined to certain restricted areas, Internet has become the most important and widespread communication service on the planet. Networks have a few dominant characteristics: they coexist in an environment with enormous communication possibilities, blend simplicity and creativity, and provide fast interaction with a high efficiency; physical borders become irrelevant and linguistic boundaries decrease in importance as a result of an international accessible language. Currently, there are hundreds of relevant active networks of different sizes. Facebook, Twiter, MySpace, Netlog, Linkedin, Hi5, Neogen, and not to mention blogs, are just a few examples of major networks offering inter alia, hundreds of business links, head hunting, personal development, leadership, new relationships. The business world has reached a point that allows it to paraphrase "I am online, so I exist". A simple search with a specialized engine will tell you who you are and your place within the network. Figure 1: Potential benefits of networking Source: Mitrutiu, M., 2005. Social networking analysis, Banat Business, p. 9 Considering networking advantages for the business arena, a recent study showed that 32% of the Romanian companies use online resources to enhance their operations and increase profitability (Sacalean, 2010, p.83). Implied benefits are various. From a commercial perspective they include advantages of online advertising, increased ongoing brand-consumer interaction, easier, faster and cheaper communication, higher number of participants, crossed feedback. On the other hand, the networking drawbacks are related to the limitations of the digital platform, identity theft, spam or adaptation problems to the real environment. Although companies are fond of technology, the of use social networks for business development is still in its infancy. Despite significant opportunities implied, social networks are not fully exploited yet. A mix of elements is probably the most effective way to promote a business, but existing trends point out the increasing importance of the online environment. Of course, the concept is governed by a set of rules and there is also a very fine line between success and failure, particularly because of the positive or negative market reaction. Another essential issue is related to the target comfort zone; reformulated, to the manner the message is received. Under current conditions, networking is a necessity and the best part is that almost anyone can do it. Even if initially companies don’t have an extensive contacts list, it can be created. Irrespective of the size, the business network continues to grow, supported by the business’ efforts. Practically, any public appearance is a networking opportunity. Even if some contacts cannot be immediately benefited from, a viable network means a lot in business development and one’s career. The basic rule is to maintain a fair and consistent approach. Networking offers new opportunities, increases interaction and, in most cases proves to be an effective response to current needs of sustainable development. Having in mind all that, in order to optimally met market demands in a knowledge society, the rationale for continuous development of human resources to gain new skills and accept occupational mobility. The outcome is a mentality change of training, in terms of raising awareness about the importance of lifelong learning, motivations to broaden the expertise fields and refining techniques. All these elements support the creation and implementation of permanent extensive training programs that would help prevent shortages of skilled employees/skills for certain domains and related occupations. In a fierce competitive space, continuous development and performance and is a fundamental requirement (Novac, 2006). Investing in people has proven to be the best way to guarantee the survival of an organization or to ensure its competitiveness and its perspectives. Based on providing resources as a strategic element of modern management, worldwide researchers and practitioners agree in the near future, competition will not focus on products, but on human resources. 2. A reflective review on the competencies and contribution of HR professionals Academic literature and empirical experience have showed that human resource practices enhance firm performance and provide significant competitive advantages (Wright et al., 2001; Brockbank et al., 1999; Becker et al., 2001; Ramlall, 2006). The new economic realities pose additional challenges to the HR function in terms of creating added value, increasing profitability levels and enhancing the overall activity. The HR professionals must have the necessary competencies and knowledge from concept understanding, language, logic thinking, to research and HR procedures. In order to support the reshape of the HR function, HR professionals must develop and put to practice a new package of competencies to optimally respond to their changing roles and responsibilities (Yeung at al., 1996). Brockbank et al. (1997) emphasize five major competencies that HR professionals must possess plus strategic HR performance management, as suggested by Becker et al. (2001) (the light blue colour in figure 2). Figure 2: The six competencies expected of HR professionals Source: Brockbank, et al. (1997) Trends in human resource competencies. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan School of Business and Becker et al. (2001) The HR scorecard: Linking people, strategy and performance, Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Becker et al. (2001) competency of strategic performance management supports the idea that HR professionals must have different vision on the HR. The authors argue that its core dimensions include critical thinking, strong understanding of good measurement principles, the ability to estimate causal links and informing senior line managers on the HR strategic performance. The society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the University of Michigan Business School and the Global Consulting Alliance have established a toolkit which is extremely useful in evaluating and improving worldwide HR professionals skills (Brockbank and Ulrich, 2004). HR professionals are key actors in ensuring employee health and safety, as they are familiar with the workplace conditions, the employees and their job demands (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, 2011). Even though they are not requested to know the technical aspects of the workplace health and safety, they must have the proper answer all employees’ concerns based on existing resources. They also have a vital role in helping companies to achieve their corporate social responsibility (CSR), alongside the employee involvement. The latter is critical for the CSR performance, as they prefer to work with companies sharing the same values; thus, incorporating CSR into the employee brand can facilitate selection and retention, especially in tight labour markets (Strandberg, 2009: 2). There is a large body of literature providing evidence that, if effectively implemented, CSR has a strong impact on staff motivation, continuous development and retaining (Skinner, 2002; SHRM, 2007; Lockwood, 2004; Redington, 2005). HR competencies have evolved from being a niche application to a leading method to diagnose, frame and improve main HR features. Moreover, Brockbank et al. (1999) argue that profile activities increase business performance by almost 10% (considered as financial result of the last three years against major competitors) while strategic contribution accounts for 43% of the total impact, more than twice the effect of any other field. All the above explain the interest of researchers and practitioners in HR competencies as source of creating competitive advantages. After a long time, the educational stage is again marked by the prominent rise of the concept of competence (Klink and Boon, 2002). Many other studies (Losey, 1999; Baill, 1999; Wright et al., 1998) have emphasized the positive correlation between HR competencies and the profitability levels, as the international nature of competition forces companies to throw in the economic game all available resources in order to survive and be leaders. HR moving towards a more important role in the management space translates into an increase of its contributions expectations. This is challenging because the requirements are not only changing, but also growing. Added to their traditional HR attributions, the building of organizational models and managing major transformations to enhance competitiveness require new skills and knowledge. 3. An analysis of the contribution that CPD can make to the performance of the HR professional The features of a HR professional reflect a combination of academic and professional education (Dassanayake, 2011). The academic dimension offers the conceptual framework and skills for analytical thinking and conducting research, while the professional HR education provides the context for individuals to obtain the required ability for managing people, exposing them to a whole plethora of organizational experiences and HR practices. Hayton (2003) findings support the idea that a firm’s human capital CPD is a main source of competitive advantage, especially for those organizations activating in a dynamic, innovative area, where the ability to assimilate new market realities and information is the key to significant advantages over competitors. If we analyse the growing need for HR professionals to significantly improve the organization strategy, the core competency in this area in lacking. Ulrich (1998) study showed that strategic contribution is attributed a large share of the overall HR impact on business performance. In this light, domains like accounting or marketing have proven an extensive participation to increasing strategic contribution. Thus, the necessity of a higher level of technical competence becomes obvious. This can be achieved through continuous development, job training, professional organizations or formal HR education. Irrespective of the source, existing studies indicate a strong correlation between CPD and strategic contribution. The experience of giants like Nordstrom, General Electric, Starbucks, Target or 3M demonstrated that HR professionals’ continuous development improves their ability to innovate and the cope with the ever changing clients’ requirements. Such skills- result of a permanent training and life learning- are one of the most important intangible assets, making all the difference in the worlds when it comes to market position. The ongoing development of their capabilities and competencies to optimally respond to customers’ needs ensure the survival of the company and maintain its competitive advantages. In today’s global economic space, HR professionals are continuously searching for methods to enhance their ability to create value added. Thus, they place much emphasize on continuous training that would improve their skills and made them successful in transforming the company in a market leader. Strategic contribution, personal credibility, business knowledge, HR delivery and technology, all increased by CPD are pivotal for turning HR professionals into effective business partners and important players within the organization (Ramlall, 2006). All these elements brought to the light the weight of graduate degrees and other methods to achieve higher levels of technical competence, seizing the aid of accounting, marketing, finance, statistics and other various functional fields in refining and increasing their contribution to the company’s market value. By understanding the impact of CPD on different organizational procedures, there could be a higher interest in developing expertise among HR professionals-subsequently enjoying a more satisfactory function and an increased compensation level. 4. A personal development plan The building of a personal development plan (PDP) is essential for success. Richard Bandler once said “My self-esteem doesn`t need to be high or low, but purposeful!” Similarly, as for PDPs, it is important to be useful not necessarily to have a particular shape! Personally, along with the plan that I’ve written at the beginning of each agenda, I have a wall drawing, a kind of map titled "point of focus" including my short and medium-run targets. Figure 3: Main steps to create a personal development plan Source: authorial calculation As presented in figure 3, my PDP has the following architecture: 1. SWOT analysis; 2. Guidelines; 3. Skills; 4. Personal mission; 5. Plans, roles, statuses, areas; 6. Final remarks. The last three chapters are grouped into a separate document, my declaration of principles. Step two consists of a short series of quotes- mostly reflections of personalities from different fields- I felt that somehow transmit what defines me. Let’s paraphrase just a few examples: We need to explore endlessly and at the end of our exploration we get to the point where we started and know the place for the first time (T.S. Eliot); Without an interpretation, reality has no meaning (St. R. Covey); In human relationships, the effect is all that matters (St. R Covey); Imagination is more important than knowledge (A. Einstein); I'm here to live out loud (E. Zola); A prayer for those whose wild hearts are held captive (T. Williams). The skills part is basically a synthesis of a way of life and action that I always follow. It is strongly related to the ideas that Stephen Covey presents in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (a life changing reading). The personal mission part seems particularly important and is the result of many sleepless nights in my teenage years, personal life experiences and many hours of introspection. Personal mission: Effective and provident living under the sign of creativity, continuous personal development and fulfillment of personal potential and the beneficial contribution that can be brought to the world and people around me; Interpretation of life experiences in terms of learning possibility and of making a difference; Observing and understanding the laws of nature, valid principles and their logical consequences. To think and act in accordance. Lasting and strong relationship with my partner, based on unconditional love, compatibility and complementarity, which make us feel fulfilled and happy, confident in our ability to make our dreams come true; Infinite gratitude and deep respect for my parents and their permanent efforts. The PDP has two results; first, it improves self-awareness of personal strengths and weaknesses to support change (it helps me understand the added value of life learning process) and second, it increases the accountability towards continuous training by keeping a record of learning experiences and achievements, personal reflections and self-development plans, providing a unique resource for each individual. References 1. Adler, N.J. and Bartholomew, S. (1992) “Managing globally competent people”, Academy of Management Executive, 6, 52-65. 2. Baill, B. (1999) “The changing requirements of the HR professional-implications for the development of HR”, Human Resource Management, 38(2), 171-176. 3. Becker, B., Huselid, M. and Ulrich, D. (2001) The HR scorecard: Linking people, strategy and performance, Boston: Harvard Business School Press. 4. Brockbank W. and Ulrich, D. (2004) Competency Toolkit 5. Brockbank, W., Ulrick, D. and Beatty, R. (1999) “The professional development: Creating the future creators at the University of Michigan Business School”, Human Resource Management, 38(2), 111-118. 6. Brockbank, W., Ulrick, D. and James, C. (1997) Trends in human resource competencies. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan School of Business. 7. Damian, M.L. (2010) “Human resource management-The role and the importance of human resources in international management”, In A. Tripon and V. Vasile, (eds.), Sustainable human resource development. Challenges for Romania-Selection of studies and research. Targu-Mures: “Petru Maior” University Press. 8. Dassanayake, S. (2011) “The emerging role of human resource professionals in Sri Lanka: An anatomy”, [online], Available from: (accessed 26th April, 2012). 24. Ulrich, D. (1998) “A new mandate for human resources (analysis of the functions of the human resources departments in increasing productivity and profits)”, Harvard Business Review, 76(1), 124-135. 25. Wright, P., McMahan, G., McCormick, B. and Sherman, S. (1998) “Strategy, core competence and HR involvement as determinants of HR effectiveness and refinery”, Human Resource Management, 37(37), 17-31. 26. Wright, P.M., Dunford, B. and Snell, S. (2001) “Human resources and the resource-based view of the firm”, Journal of Management, 27, 701-721. 27. Yeung, a., Woolcock, P., and Sullivan, J. (1996) “Identifying and developing competencies for the future”, Human Resource Planning, 19(4), 48-58. 28. ***Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (2011) Health and Safety guide for human resource professionals. Hamilton: CCOHS Read More