Developing Professional Practice and Using Information in HR - Research Paper Example

Using Information in HR Overview The CIPD 2012 Annual Report on Learning and Talent Development has exposed several of attention-grabbing facts regarding these major areas of concern in Human Resource Management (HRM). The report shows an effective change in the process of learning and talent development that took place in the recent years. In-house approach of learning and development has made a great impact on the employees. The approach has provided increased cost effectiveness and also facilitated with positive measures such as increased knowledge level and adaptability regarding organisational change (CIPD, 2012) The approach of in-house development is concerned with the aspects such as e-learning, coaching and mentoring internally, tailored development and knowledge sharing. In the recent years, change management and the approach of coaching and mentoring have made a major impact as a few of the employees have a trend of developing their own soft skills to maintain their technical abilities (CIPD, 2012) Learning and Development The endeavour of the survey of learning and talent management by CIPD is to track alterations in the place of work regarding learning and development. The figure 1 shows the learning and development programmes conducted by the organisations. Effectiveness of Learning and Talent Development Practices The effectiveness of the learning and talent development practices has changed in the past few years. The in-house learning approach and coaching and mentoring approach (as shown in Figure 1) are mostly practiced programmes by the employees in the organisation. However, these approaches have declined slightly in the last two years as 2/5th of the employees preferred on-the-job training as the most effective approach of learning as well as development in the organisation (CIPD, 2012) Figure 1: Three Most Effective Learning and Development Practices Source: (CIPD, 2012) In-house and on-the-job learning approaches are the two most effectual development approaches as compared to that of the external development such as educational background, workshops and various other practices which include visual and audio practices that have not made such impact. The previous survey carried out in 2011 regarding e-learning reports that the use of the approach is increasing in a few specific departments of training and development (CIPD, 2012) A survey done among the employees regarding the effective learning and development approach in the organisation provides a report that coaching and mentoring as well as performance management are the most preferred approaches to organisational change as shown in Figure 2. Figure 2: Major Organisational Change Affecting Learning and Development in Organisations over the Next Two Years The organisations are making decisions more cautiously towards developing the elements such as learning and development, organisational development and performance management to ensure organisational success. The utilisation of the e-learning approach among the employees of public sectors was more than that of the other learning and development approaches as shown in Figure 2. Source: (CIPD, 2012). Talent Management The figure below (Figure 3) shows the status of talent management approach and its effectiveness in the organisation. Talent management approach attracts the highly productive employees the most in private sector. Public sector does not include the middle managers to put them in this approach. The objectives of the talent management are to develop efficient workforce and to develop as well as educate them to be the future managers and leaders in the organisations. The talent management is considered effective by very few organisations. Around 50% of the organisations consider talent management as reasonably effective. Figure 3: Groups of Employees Covered By Talent Management Activities (%) Source: (CIPD, 2012). Figure 4: The Most Effective Talent Management Activities (%) Source: (CIPD, 2012). The figure 4 depicts the fact that coaching and in-house development programs have become the most effectively used talent management practices in the organisations. Conclusion and Recommendations The report of the survey depicts that the in-house development approach such as e-learning and mentoring process are gaining more attraction and are very much effective regarding employee development and organisational success. Regular review of the learning and talent development of the employees is recommended for the success of the organisation. Whereas, in-house learning approach and e-learning approach of development are considered to be very effective for the employees to learn and to develop the knowledge and the skills in the organisation, talent management is considered less or ineffective among the employees. However, there is a slight change in the consideration regarding the talent management in the public sector organisations. The ratio has increased as the public sector organisations as they are now implementing talent management initiatives in the previous few years (CIPD, 2012) An Analysis of the Contribution That CPD Can Make To the Performance of the HR Professional Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the activity a skilled professional is engaged with for the development in a continuous way. By CPD, a professional can maintain his/her skills as well as can gather knowledge regarding his/her profession. CPD also helps in developing new skills as well as knowledge among the professionals. CPD has a wide range of activities of self learning, gathering experience of the work a professional is engaged with and many more activities by which a professional can develop the technical as well as non-technical skills (Construction Industry Council, 2012) CPD is needed for ensuring development of the HR professionals regarding their skills as well as knowledge and also for the experience that they gather working in the organisation. CPD helps to build confidence in a HR professional that results in maximising potential among the staff with the help of action learning and theory to follow by which the HR professionals support the management to prevent discrimination. It helps in linking objectives regarding business requirements very closely in terms of abilities as well as achievements that provide well-timed and accurate inputs before the deal, during the deal and after the deal. CPD provides training and development that helps the HR professionals to accomplish their career objectives by continuously updating the skills and the knowledge which they use to cope up with the changes in the organisation (Maven Training Ltd, n.d.). CPD is a process by which HR professionals get motivated and it also facilitates to improve the morale to promote development of the staff and also motivate the staff by the process of performance appraisal. HR professionals can apply the learning, knowledge and the experience they gain from CPD to work efficiently and effectively in the organisation. Workforce shortage has emerged as an important issue in many of the industries today. Lack of quality that comprises the standard of performance of the HR professionals is improved and maintained by CPD. CPD is important to the HR professionals for the professional duty of relating the skills with the work, to be updated with the knowledge in the environment of the organisations, to understand the problems in the specific department and to get alert about the changing environment in future. HR professionals should update their skills and knowledge on a regular basis to progress in the respective career. The HR professionals should generate a plan of the action to be taken place which will determine the areas of improvement and the skills relating to the specified roles. The Continuing Professional Development for HR professional is required to match the professional fields where the HR professionals are working. CPD can help a HR professional to maximise the expectations of the organisation by the various ways such as opportunities, needs and interests (Megginson & Whitaker, 2003). Personal Development Plan Personal Development Plan (PDP) is a flexible and powerful method to relate employees and professionals with the development of the organisation. PDP is a short and definite document which determines the skills and the techniques to be developed during the job. PDP enhances the commitment of an employee to increase (Rughani, 2001). Being an HR professional, I would desire to use a simple and normal PDP. I would create special questionnaires for special roles in the organisation. I would keep in mind that the questions are related to each and everyone irrespective of the position. This way I will adopt a consistent approach that will help me gain knowledge and facilitate in solving the important issues. The questionnaire which I would make will include questions such as what I want from my work, the areas of strength and the areas for improvement, the factors that are preventing me from growing and developing, the abilities I want to develop, learning of skills and knowledge for improving my work and the process of learning. I would keep a copy of organisation’s objectives and plans to make it easier for me to develop myself. The demand of the organisation should be clear in my mind. I will obtain knowledge from a skilled manager to improve in the organisation. Formal training is an important tool for developing skills and gathering knowledge that I would like to gain as every employee in the organisation. I would consider the resources that are needed to the employees. I will avail the training and mentoring facilities for my development in the organisation. The reviewing system I will follow includes: Setting up PDP meeting according to the timescale given in previous PDP meeting I would intend to set up PDP meetings every 6 months as the organisational environment changes rapidly I would provide myself with the self-assessment form that is concerned with the training and development that I need to develop in the areas of concern After the PDP meeting, I will take a positive feedback to motivate and encourage myself and the areas to improve and develop in the future A clear PDP approach can help the organisation to achieve the objectives conveniently. A review process would track my progress in attaining the objectives. I will always try to be abreast with my organisation to ensure quality of work and to win the trust of the organisation. I will help the organisation in accepting their objectives as the resources are inadequate. Therefore, personal development plan is intended to be carried out in correlation with the organisational objectives, which would ensure benefit for both me and the organisation. Competencies and Contribution of HR Professionals The deficiency of certain competencies while performing a strategic role in the organisation is a significant barrier to HR professionals regarding their ability to perform the job. The bar has been raised for the HR professionals. New competencies should be displayed by HR professionals to adapt the fast changing business environment today as the previous competencies may not be helpful. The values, abilities to perform strategic roles and the knowledge are known as the competencies of the HR professionals. Development and depiction of appropriate competencies is a key tool of a HR professional to perform better and to engage the employees to serve the customers more and by doing this they can generate shareholder’s intangible wealth. HR competencies determine the consideration and perfection in the quality needed for the HR professionals in the organisation. Competencies enable to reorganise the roles of the HR professionals in the organisation (Heisler, 2012). The key HR competencies are: Knowledge of the Business: The knowledge of the business and the operations must be clear in the mind of the HR professionals which transcends the process of technology the organisation is using and the primary objectives of the organisation. For the understanding of the above mentioned objectives, the HR professionals have to develop the knowledge in the fields of marketing, operations, finance and the general management. Developing knowledge in the concerned fields helps the HR professionals to work effectively and efficiently according to the strategy of the organisation (Heisler, 2012). Knowledge of “Best Practices” in HR: HR professionals should develop the skills and the knowledge of best available processes or practices in the field of development, performance management, recruitment and other functions related to HR to deliver the effective performance. Change Management Skills: HR professionals are responsible for providing knowledge and skills about the transforming environment to the line managers and the methods to adapt the changes to face the new and upcoming challenges. For this reason, the HR professional himself/herself should develop the skills of solving the problem, leadership quality, innovative mindset and make improvement of performance. The requirement for the skills is of immense significance which needs to be developed to adapt the changing business environment and for the success of the organisation (Long, 2009). Personal Credibility: The HR professionals should behave in a proper way to earn the respect as well as the trust of the employees. The quality of the behaviour earns credibility and develops a good relation among the employees of the organisation (Ulrich & et. al., 2009) HR professionals are specialist in the field of their work. Strategic and advisory skills should be developed among the HR professionals to provide effective services to the organisation. As HR professionals are comprised of leadership skills they are recommended as the leader even if there are no official leadership roles assigned. The HR professionals perform various kinds of roles to contribute to the organisation’s success (Cooper, 2000). Technical Roles: The HR professionals act as a technical specialist to solve and to maintain the needs of the business. Advisory Roles: Advisory roles of a HR professional deal with the critical issues of the customers to attain the business objectives. Strategic Roles: Strategic roles can be defined as the high level strategic objectives and the HR issues that are to be concerned in the long run. Leadership Roles: Leadership roles deal with the management of people, projects or the objectives in the organisation and it can be integrated in any of the above roles (Holbeche, 2012; Boselie, 2011). HR professionals are generally responsible for the activities such as recruiting, managing, training, customer relations and development. Other functions such as increasing the productivity as well as the performance of the employees in the organisation are also the job of the HR professionals (Ulrich & et. al., 2009) The Basic Skills and Roles of HR: Recruiting and Staffing: Recruiting and staffing both are of great importance to the HR. The HR professionals’ job is to recruit new candidate for the organisation when there is a new or existing position is vacant in the organisation. This includes activities such as skills required by the new candidate, determining job descriptions, finding appropriate candidates and conducting interviews (Kandula, 2004). Compensation and Benefits: These HR professionals are in-charge for providing assistance to the financial department regarding the salaries and the budget of the organisation (Kandula, 2004). Training and Learning: In the training and learning process, the HR professionals provide training and develop the new as well as the existing employees of the organisation through certain classified programs such as on-the-job training and in-class instructions among others (Kandula, 2004). Labour and Employee Relation: The HR professionals are also responsible for the relation between the employees and the labour. They deal with the contracts of the union and do the negotiation with the unions. The HR professionals and the union both work together when needed (Kandula, 2004). Organisation Development: The organisation development is a new field where the HR professionals monitor the infrastructure, teamwork and improvement scope which helps the organisation to develop. The HR professionals in this field should be specialist in determining the behaviour as well as the psychology of the employees (Kandula, 2004). Health and Safety: Health and safety issues are concerned with the machines, and the infrastructure of the organisation. The HR professionals look out for the safety issues of the employees and the organisational conditions they are working in (Kandula, 2004). References Bernardin, H. J., 2008. Human Resource Management 4E. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Boselie, P., 2011. Strategic Human Resource Management: A Balanced Approach. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Cooper, K., 2000. Effective Competency Modeling and Reporting. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. CIPD, 2012. Annual survey report 2012. Learning And Talent Development. [Online] Available at: http://www.digitalopinion.co.uk/files/documents/CIPD_2012_LTD_Report.pdf [Accessed July 05, 2012] Construction Industry Council, 2012. Continuing Professional Development. Best Practice Guidance. [Online] Available at: http://www.cic.org.uk/activities/cpdguidance0706.pdf [Accessed July 05, 2012]. Heisler, W. J., 2012. Competency Requirements for Today’s HRM Professional. HRA-NCA [Online] Available at: http://www.hra-nca.org/downloads/1341402018.99476600_d80262f010/heisler.pdf [Accessed July 05, 2012]. Holbeche, L., 2012. HR Leadership. Routledge. Kandula, S. R., 2004. Human Resource Management in Practice: With 300 Models, Techniques and Tools. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. Long, C. S., 2009. Human Resource Competencies: An Empirical Study on the HR Professionals in the Manufacturing Sector in Malaysia. E-Journal of Business and Economic Issues. Vol. III Iss. III. Maven Training Ltd, No Date. Introduction To The Structure And Benefits Of CPD. Individual Benefits. [Online] Available at: http://www.maventraining.co.uk/media/19/619-introduction-to-the-structure-and-benefits-of-cpd.pdf [Accessed July 05, 2012] Megginson, D. & Whitaker, V., 2003. Continuing Professional Development. CIPD Publishing. Rughani, A., 2001. The Gp's Guide to Personal Development Plans. Radcliffe Publishing. Ulrich, D. & et. al., 2009. Human Resource Competencies: Responding To Increased Expectations. Competencies Increased Expectations. [Online] Available at: http://marino72.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/hr_competencies_increased_expectations.pdf [Accessed July 05, 2012]. Bibliography Armstrong, M., 2008. Strategic Human Resource Management: A Guide to Action. Kogan Page Publishers. Cascio, W. F. & Nambudiri, R., 2010. Managing Human Resources (Sie) 8E. Tata McGraw-Hill. Slide Share Inc., 2012. Managing the Role of HR. Managing-Change. [Online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/ezendu/managing-change-the-role-of-hr [Accessed July 05, 2012]. Society for Human Resource Management, 2007. New Competencies for HR. Articles. [Online] Available at: http://uexcel.com/resources/articles/HR%20Magazine_New%20Competencies%20for%20HR.pdf [Accessed July 05, 2012]. Streeter, W. T., 1994. Personal Development Plan: A Guide to Accomplishing Your Dreams. Baypointe Publishing. Read More