Career Management Theory and Practice - Essay Example

Career Management Theory and Practice

Entering a new field of occupation or career is immensely important things, which need to be paid a lot of attention. To become a real professional and master some particular field or career, it is exceedingly important to constantly work on improving personal skills and abilities, constantly gain new knowledge and experience in order to meet the requirements of the employer. Therefore, despite the fact that the majority of the people do not pay additional attention to developing a personal action plan, this step is important for gaining the entry-level role, which addresses by a number of barriers that individuals can experience. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to properly analyse a career area I am going to enter and develop an appropriate action plan to accomplish this goal.

To start with, there is a need to mention the main area I am planning to enter – Human Resources Management. Talking about this job, it is worth mentioning that this particular area of occupation is of a high importance to me. The explanation of this lies in the fact that I like to work in a team, cooperate with other people, motivate and inspire them. Hence, from my point of view, this work is the most suitable for me. Defining the main responsibilities and duties of the Human Resource Management, it is worth to be mentioned that the essence of the HR manager’s work lies in “ensuring employees receive the proper compensation and benefits, overseeing workplace safety, directing the maintenance of employee records, and managing overall employee hiring, evaluation, as well as labour relations” (Rodriguez, Patel, Bright, Gregory & Gowing, 2002). Apart from those above-mentioned, an effective HR manager also develops, implements, and oversees training programs or procedures. According to Business Dictionary, the profession of HR manager can be defined as “the individual within an organisation responsible for hiring new employees, supervising employee evaluations, mediation between employees and bosses as necessary, and general overseeing of the personal department” (NA, 2016).

To properly understand the importance as well as a significance of being HR manager, it is necessary to comprehend what are the qualifications of being a Human Resources Manager. To be more specific, “given the wide range of responsibilities for which HR managers are held accountable, they need a wide range of skills, abilities and qualifications” (Mayhew, 2015). Apart from this, the position of HR manager requires the interaction with every level within the organisation, from the top-management to the production staff. Hence, the range of necessary qualifications is broad and encompassing.

To become a qualified professional in every area, there is a need to pay a lot of attention to personal as well as professional development. Talking about HRM area in particular, it needs to be pointed out the most important steps or stages to become a Human Resources Manager. Those above-mentioned stages or components include education, certification, experience, core competencies, and promotion. According to this list, the first and foremost is the education. To be more definite, “academic credentials have not always been required for human resources managers” (Mayhew, 2015). Despite this fact, in 1980s the personal administration approach to managing the employees has notably changed and as a result of the changes evolved into Human Resource Management. Therefore, nowadays “employers seek HR managers with formal education and academic credentials” (Minter, 2010). Apart from this, it is worth mentioning that the education level may vary from “two- or four- year degrees in HR management to professional degrees, such as MBAs and law degrees” (Johnson, 2016).

The second component of being professional HR manager is certification. This means that “the growing movement toward HR certification means higher numbers of HR managers with Senior Professional Human Resources certification from the SPHR certifying body, the Human Resources Certification Institute” (Mayhew, 2015). Furthermore, according to HRCI’s (Human Resource Certification Institute) 2010 survey, “more employers are requiring HR certification and more that half of employers in the United States of America and three-quarters of employers globally place a high value on HR certification of the workers” (Becker & Huselid, 2006). The other fact, which is worth to be mentioned in terms of the certification, is the three major levels of Human Resources Management. These level are PHR (Professional Human Resources), SPHR (Senior Professional Human Resources), as well as GPHR (Global Professional Human Resources).

The third aspect, which makes the difference between a good HR manager as well as professional HR manager, is the experience. It is a well-known fact that sometimes “experience has been the best teacher, and many seasoned HR managers have several years’ experience in different areas of the HR department” (Johnson, 2016). Therefore, “when an HR manager has taken advantage of these professional development and learning opportunities, he/she may have begun working as a coordinator and then moved up to an HR generalist or an HR specialist before transitioning into a management role” (Rodriguez, Patel, Bright, Gregory & Gowing, 2002).

The last but not least qualification of HR managers is the process of constant promotion. To be more specific, the importance of the promotion impacts professional skills and abilities of the HR manager. In addition to this, “HR managers who aspire to executive-level roles are expected to develop skills that enable them to chart strategic path for the organization’s workforce” (Becker, Huselid, Pickus & Spratt, 1997). Therefore, such an attitude implies more frequent interaction with upper or top-management. To sum up all those above-mentioned qualifications of the HR manager, it should be told that only the best HR managers “have a combination of education, certification and experience, as well as core competencies that enable their effective performance” (Johnson, 2016). Apart from this, such managers are also involved in both company’s strategy and its implementation leading to obtaining good communication skills. Despite the fact that each of those above-mentioned qualification components is equally important for being a professional HR manager, “some aspects of HR are best learned by doing, such as processing new hire paperwork, developing affirmative action plans and outreach methods to improve recruitment and selection processes” (Minter, 2010).

Personal Action Plan

As it has already been mentioned in the previous paragraphs of this paper, a personal action plan is of high importance to become the professional in any field of occupation and HRM in particular. Since, my main objective is to gain the knowledge and experience to be an effective HR manager, there is a need to develop personal action plan. So, my personal action plan to pursuing the job in HRM consists of ten major steps. These steps include to learn about Human Resources, decide is HR right for me, research HR careers, consider an HR education, get into an HR program, research industry trends, consider HR certification, expand the network, get hired, and continue learning process. Therefore, in the next paragraphs we will discuss each step more detailed.

Talking about the first steps, it is worth to be mentioned that I have been thinking about HRM as my main field of occupation for a quite long time. Fist of all, I prefer communication and work with people to work with computers. Secondly, I have good communication skills and abilities, which will be useful and profitable in such type of occupation. Apart from all those above-mentioned, more and more companies are starting to consider an effective Human Resource Management within the organisation as one of the most effective ways to gain a notable competitive advantage over the rivals and improve company’s performance. So, “this growing strategic role means HR now has a place at the table where real business decisions are made, and that offers unprecedented opportunities for those offering the field” (Rodriguez, Patel, Bright, Gregory & Gowing, 2002). In addition to this, I perfectly know that the main objective of all the Human Resource Managers is to “ensure employees receive the proper compensation and benefits, oversee workplace safety, direct the maintenance of employee records, as well as to manage overall employee hiring, evaluate the labour relations within the organisation” (NA, 2010).

Also, one of the most important thing to pursue the job of HR manager is to known the career requirements and meet them. Therefore, I have been analysing the current state of affairs in this particular industry for the last few years and know all the requirements and necessary skills. The other reason why I want to become a professional HR manager is the salary. Frankly speaking, despite the fact that money does not the most important thing in our life, a decent salary is a great aspiration to become better and more skilful. For example, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics, “the median salary for all human resource managers in May 2016 was $104,440 per year” (Johnson, 2016).

Talking about the first step in my personal action plan, it is worth mentioning that a Bachelor’s Degree is probably the most important requirement for me. Such programs are “usually available through a school’s business or management department” (NA, 2010). Therefore, I am planning to get one of the common Bachelor’s Degrees in HR in a few years. Those above-mentioned common degrees include a Bachelor of Business Administration in Human Resources and a Bachelor of Science in Human Resources. I suppose that the Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration is more appropriate for me due to the fact that I am planning to be a practicing HR manager. Apart from this, I am currently looking for internship to complete it and gain a real world experience. Therefore, I am planning to connect the internship as a part of an academic program to enhance the learning experience by means of “providing a practical context for concepts learned in the classroom” (NA, 2010).

The second step of my personal action plan is to gain work experience. To be more specific, “graduates of human resources bachelor’s degree programs generally are prepared for entry-level positions, such as HR assistant or HR specialist” (Mayhew, 2015). Therefore, after graduating from the university and getting mu Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, I am going to obtain the position of HR assistant to gain the experience and improve my skills. The general responsibilities of such a position are “assisting with keeping records of employee benefits, work performance and compensation” (NA, 2010). Also, working on the entry-level human resource position will help me to gain an extensive background in assisting employee orientation, training and development.

After this step I am planning to apply for a manager position. Since, the majority of manager positions require some experience in the field, it would be appropriate to apply for this position after up to 5 years “of work experience as an HR generalist or assistant” (Becker & Huselid, 2006). To apply for a Manager Position, during my internship and work as an HR assistant I will do my best in order advance my leadership, communication as well as interpersonal relations skills.

As it has already been mentioned in the previous paragraphs of this paper, “some employers look for certified individuals” (Mayhew, 2015). Since, I want to be an excellent specialist, one of the steps within my action plan is to obtain certification. To be more specific, to enhance the knowledge and abilities obtained during the career, I will do by best to get the certification of the Professional of Human Resources. It needs to be pointed out, that the PHR exam consists of “testing in 6 areas, including employee and labour relations, risk management, and workforce planning and employment” (Johnson, 2016). This certification will provide me with the opportunity to become a professional in the HRM area and accomplish my personal goal.

To sum it up, pursuing the job of the HR manager and accomplishing my personal action plan I will set a number of short as well as long-term goals. As a result of this, I will obtain the Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, find the internship, work as an HR assistant and become a professional HR manager. After developing action plan, it is safe to claim that such plans help to appropriately set the major objectives, define short and long-term goals, as well as to choose the direction where to move. So, it can be concluded that personal action plan significantly alleviates the process of pursuing something and makes the objectives more clear and vivid.