Continuing Professional Development - Assignment Example

Assignment 1 ACTIVITY A CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD) The main objective of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is to improve one’s personal capabilities and professional knowledge. Essentially, there is need to enhance continuous learning and improvement in order to update yourself in the job you deliver. Consequently, you are likely to achieve greater job satisfaction and increased professional recognition. I have undertaken a number of Continuing Professional Development endeavours, which I believe are highly essential in my career development. These include undertaking courses in employee motivation, employee labour law and effective communication. During the CHRP course for example, we met other HR Professionals working in different companies and had an opportunity to brainstorm various issues related to HR. These can be classified in terms of knowledge, skill and behaviour (KSB). Knowledge The knowledge required in HR function includes labour law, policy and procedure, market information organization culture and HR function background. These are highly important in ensuring that functions within the firm are handled professionally and diligently. These can be related to various professional areas in the HR professional Map. Firstly, HR function background is desirable in order enhance leading and managing the human resources function. The knowledge would also come in handy in enhancing organization development and resourcing and talent planning as identified in the HR MAP. Skills The most important behaviours in HR include communication, service mindset, setting priorities, decision making, problem solving, interview skills and time management. These ensure that HR professionals can effectively address the needs of employees. In the HR MAP, these skills would be important in enhancing learning and development, employee engagement and addressing employee relations. Behaviour A HR professional needs to have patience, confidence, loyalty and ability to work in a team. This will enhance organizational development, service delivery and information. Introduction to the CIPD HR Map The HR Professional Map by CIPD plays a significant role in the HR profession. This Map details what all HR practitioners must know and what they need to do and deliver during their career. The CIPD developed the HR Map with an objective of setting a HR excellence benchmark for individuals and organisations. The Map would play a significant role in defining the HR role. The HR Map is structured into three bands, often represented in the form of layered rings within a circle as shown in the figure. Some of the professional areas are discussed as follows: Performance and reward This aims at measuring employee achievement with an objective of rewarding them. Among the activities that are measured include the employee’s commitment towards meeting organization goals and achievements for that particular year. Employee relation This is of great importance and the management must strive to maintain good relationship between the employees and the organization. Building a link between employees and the organization through the application of policy will ensure that employee needs are well addressed. An example is including employees in the organisation’s decision process so that they fee appreciated. Organisation development There is need to ensure organization development through undertaking strategies aimed at improving the organisation’s activities. The organization hierarchy must also be well aligned to the organization strategy. The 8 behaviours The HR Map includes a list of eight behaviours that HR professionals need to exhibit in order to promote organisational success. These are classified into Stewardship, Insights and Influence and Operational excellence. The behaviours are effective in guiding the HR process and as indicated in Annex B, it is highly essential for HR professionals to demonstrate CPID’s eight behaviours so as to ensure competency. Words: 587 ANNEX A: Summary of KSB Knowledge Skill Behaviour Labour law Policy and Procedure Market Organization Culture HR Function Background Communication Service mindset Setting priorities Decision Making Problem solving Interview skill Time Management Patience Confidence Team work Loyalty ANNEX B: THE 8 BEHAVIOURS OF CPID Curious Highly concerned with the internal and external environment and has dire willingness to learn and enquire. Attempts to learn from other companies (organizational thief). Decisive thinker Effectively understands and analyses information to make relevant decisions for the company. His decisions are often quick, wise and defendable. An example is dealing with conflicts within the organisation such as sharing of duties. He should divide the duties effectively through considering important information. Skilled influencer Has the ability to convince and persuade within the organisation. People listen to him and he therefore uses this strength to gain support, consensus and commitment among stakeholders. Such a HR professional can effectively lead the organisation in adopting a new HR strategy to promote the company’s efficiency. Driven to deliver Highly accountable and has a strong desire to deliver consistent results. Will do anything within his capability to ensure desired results are delivered. An example is a HR who is very strict in ensuring that every employee performs his or her role in order to enhance the outcome. Collaborative Ability to work inclusively with colleagues, stakeholders, customers and teams. The HR makes a lot of consultations before implementing major strategies. Personally credible Highly responsible and endeavours to promote reliable and valued delivery using the technical expertise and experience possessed. Major characteristics of this behaviour include integrity and objectivity. Courage to challenge The HR is confident about his ideas and therefore challenges the status quo despite the resistance that is likely to be present within the organisation. An example is a HR professional who challenges the idea of promotion based on the number of years at the company as opposed to education qualification even if stakeholders oppose the move. Role model A great source of inspiration to the employees due to the ability to conduct himself in a dignified and admirable manner. An example is a HR who urges employees to work hard in order to attain goals and shows commitment in doing the same e.g. through coming to work early, solving issues calmly and cooperating with fellow employees among other acts. ACTIVITY B The role of the HR within the organisation is highly imperative, mostly because the effectiveness of a company is largely determined by the performance of employees. There are various users of users of HR activities. I will refer to the normal employee, line manager and senior manager for the purposes of this discussion. Notably, each of these users of HR services have different needs, which the management must aim at identifying and satisfying in order to enhance effectiveness within the organisation. Normal employees The needs of this group of employees include learning and development, promotion, fair treatment, fair remuneration, guidance (coaching), motivation and increased involvement in the organisation. Notably, this group makes up the highest percentage of employees within the organisation and satisfying their needs would play a significant role in improving productivity within the organisation. As noted Cabrera and Cabrera (2003), employees are likely to perform better if they believe that they are appreciated by the management hence the need to promote fair remuneration, recognition, learning and development and involvement in the organizational decision making. Line managers The line manager needs adequate resources, training, strategy, fair remuneration and adequate staff members. The line manager plays an imperative role within the organisation because he or she ensures that duties are performed in accordance to the company’s objectives. It is therefore important to ensure that the line manager is served with adequate resources and staff members to perform various duties so as to ensure they are carried out to completion. The manager also needs to be effectively trained so as to equip him or her with skills necessary for enhancing efficiency within the firm (Bannerman, 2003). Finally, motivation through fair remuneration is highly necessary. Senior manager The senior manager’s needs include a focus on strategy, profit, organisational competitiveness, shareholder satisfaction, fair remuneration and learning and development. The senior manager is responsible for the overall performance of the company such that he or she must strive to satisfy the company’s stakeholders including the customers, directors and shareholders. This is done through implementing workable strategies enhancing profits and competitiveness of the firm. Due to the demanding role of the senior manager, it is highly important for the HR to ensure that the manager attends managerial seminars and attends management courses in order to improve his or her management skills Prioritising conflicting needs      The needs of different parties within the organisation are likely to conflict from time to time and these must be effectively addressed in order to avoid major rows within the organisation. Prioritising needs is therefore highly imperative in order to avoid conflict. According to Fernandez, Junquera and Ordiz (2003), understanding the specific needs forms the core basis for prioritising needs. This does not merely involve studying written reports but is a process that requires the manager to be intimately involved in the company’s day-to-day operations in order to enhance effective prioritisation. Urgent needs are then given the first priority over less important ones. The same criterion is used in prioritising resources for use by different departments. In prioritising conflicting needs, it is important to conduct a cost-benefit analysis in order to determine needs that are likely to benefit the company in a significant manner so that they may be addressed. It is also highly imperative for the HR to understand the business objectives so as to ensure that the actions taken do not conflict with the objectives. It will also enhance prioritisation through differentiating value adding activities from non-value adding activities. Additionally, awareness of the significance of Employee Brand protection and the organisation values is also highly imperative in enhancing effective prioritisation. Methods of communication     Employees at different levels within the organisation require different forms of communication as deemed appropriate by the top management. For normal employees, face to face communication is highly effective because it helps to address issues conveniently and with immediate response. It also denotes empathy and respect for employees, who are considered highly important in HR. Other methods of communication that may be used include memos, emails and telephone conversations. The communication methods appropriate for line managers include reports, summaries, emails, memos and face to face communication. Given that line managers are responsible for supervising others, reports and summaries of work are quite common. Further, communication between them and normal employees and the senior management may be conducted through email and face to face communication. For senior managers, the form of communication must be highly efficient in order to keep up with the busy schedules. Dashboard and KPIs (Key performance indicators) communicate effectively because they are not only fast but help the managers in keeping track of the achievement of business objectives. This is mostly in the analysis of market trends, profitability and progress of the firm. The use of emails and presentations is also effective. Components of effective service delivery The effectiveness of a firm is dependent on service delivery as this determines whether the company’s stakeholders are satisfied or not. Furthermore, failure to address the needs of the company’s stakeholders could lead to deleterious effects. Service delivery’s key components include the building and maintenance of good relationships, handling difficult customers, resolving complaints, enhancing timely service delivery and continuous improvement (Broedling, 1999). In order to maintain strong and reliable relationships with stakeholders, the management must effectively meet stakeholder needs including customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, shareholder satisfaction and supplier satisfaction among others. Words: 895 ANNEX A: HOW TO ESTABLISH GOOD RELATIONSHIPS WITH STAKEHOLDERS Stakeholder How to establish good relationship Customers Delivering quality products at reasonable prices, responding to customer demand, listening to customers, handling customer complaints Suppliers Treating them equally, paying within agreed time. Employees Learning and development, increased involvement, motivation, fair treatment. Shareholders Enhancing continuous improvement and profitability. ACTIVITY C Self assessment of capabilities Associate membership at CIPD requires an assessment of capabilities that are based on three areas namely; Activities, Knowledge and Behaviours. My capabilities can be analysed as follows: Activities I have been working as a consulting professional analyst in Abu Dhabi municipality since July 2009. I work in the scholarship unit, which is vetted with the responsibility of managing employee scholarships, early departure arrangements, work placement and summer training. I have greatly participated in the performance process of our entity and therefore developed my skills adequately. Knowledge The position of a consulting professional analyst is highly demanding and requires the acquisition of significant knowledge in order to effectively serve the intended purpose. Our unit mostly deals with employees who need to obtain scholarships, training and work placement such that there is need to practice effective human resource management knowledge. These must be done within the organisation culture requirements and the labour law (Lipiec, 2001). Knowledge of conflict resolution is highly essential because employee conflicts are expected to occur frequently. Key Knowledge Human resource management Policies and procedures Conflict resolution Organisation culture Labour law Behaviours In order to effectively carry out my responsibilities, I strive to enhance a high level of commitment and transparency due to the nature of my work. I seek to ensure that I treat all employees fairly and that their queries are addressed adequately. I ensure that I conduct my duties with confidence such that there is little room for error. Since the unit consists of a number of professionals performing different duties, there is a significant level of interdependence such that roles may need to involve different people at various levels. Key behaviours Decisive thinker Collaborative Fair treatment Transparency Team work Patience Development needs identified Throughout my career, I realise that there is so much that I have achieved. My attendance of various HR seminars, group brainstorming sessions and reading various HR resources including the CIPD website have made me realise that there is so much that I need to learn. Three of the most important development needs that I have identified are as follows: Improve knowledge on labour law: This will ensure I do not violate employee rights Increase knowledge on human resource management Need to improve team participation: I tend to be intolerant with imprecise or casual people. Delegation: As a complete finisher, I often find it difficult to delegate such that I end up doing all the work. Personal Development Plan Development item Actions/Options available Resources Completion dates Success criteria Outcome/benefit Knowledge on human resource management especially in conflict resolution and employee learning and development Join CHRP to study employment law at work Take an additional course in HR Learn from fellow HR professionals Published work on HR management and experience as narrated by other HR professionals. Important books include Human Resource Management by Robert L. Mathis and John H. Jackson; A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice by Michael Armstrong; and Human Resource Management: Contemporary Issues, Challenges and Opportunities by Ronald Sims. April 30, 2011 Improved ability to handle customer complaints and enhance effective learning and development Effectively deal with various aspects of HR in the course of my duties Team participation improvement Read teamwork publications Interact with people working in groups by choosing projects that require teamwork Undertake a training course HR publications, teamwork publications and sharing experience from colleagues. Examples of resources to be used include: Team Building: Proven Strategies for Improving team performance by Gibb Dyer and Jeffrey Dyer; and Analysis for improving performance by Richard Swanson. April 30, 2011 Increased team participation e.g. through joining the Corporate Social Responsibility team. I will then embark on participating actively, providing suggestions and insights for the team and taking assignments so as to become a better team player. Effective completion of tasks through teamwork Delegation ability Seek advice from other HR professionals Increasingly work on jobs that require delegation Split responsibilities such that delegation is possible Experience from other HR professionals in different companies through attending conferences and establishing rapport. I will also seek to read Delegation and Empowerment: Leading with and through Others by Michae E. Ward and Bettye MacPhail-Wilcox, in order to gain more insights on the same. March 1, 2011 Adequate delegation of duties Ability to complete more assignments with the help of colleagues The new capabilities gained after the development exercise above are bound to be of great benefit in my career. These however are bound to change over time such that I must device new ways of improving my capabilities. In future, I may need to improve my knowledge on labour law in accordance to changes in the constitution; which may give employees additional rights. As a HR professional, I will need to undertake additional training in order to help me serve the employees efficiently. New developments in the HR domain are also expected to emerge as the modern organization continues to change. I will be expected to learn these new aspects of HR and thereby blend effectively with the rest of the HR professionals. As noted by Buckingham, M., & Vosburgh (2001), professionals must keep updating their skills in order to ensure that they stay up to date with new developments in their area of practice. Words: 898 ANNEX A: ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT LEARNING ACTIVITIES Learning/Development activity Strengths Weaknesses Join CHRP to study employment law at work Ability to learn online Increased knowledge in HR CHRP are professionals thus making the experience highly effective Requirement to undertake courses which may collide with work schedules Relatively expensive Little interaction with fellow students thus limiting discussions Take an additional course in HR by going to college Qualified lecturers will give me better knowledge Professional training hence add to my qualifications Opportunity to learn new concepts in HR Limited time for classes due to work Highly expensive Readings on HR Increased knowledge in HR Convenience and flexibility because there are no classes to attend Less costs Poor level of commitment because there are no rules No guidance from professional References Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development website www.cipd.co.uk Bannerman, B. (2003). Making HR a profit center. Financial Executive, 19(4), 60-61. Broedling, L.A. (1999). Applying a systems approach to human resource management. Human Resources Management, 38(3), 269-278. Buckingham, M., & Vosburgh, R.M. (2001). The 21st century human resources function: It's the talent, stupid! Human Resource Planning, 24(4), 17-24. Cabrera, A., & Cabrera, E.F. (2003). Strategic human resource evaluation. Human Resource Planning, 26(1), 41-51. Fernandez, E., Junquera, B., & Ordiz, M. (2003). Organizational culture and human resources in the environmental issue: A review of the literature. International Journal of Human Resources Management, 14(4), 634-657. Lipiec, J. (2001). Human resources management perspective at the turn of the century. Public Personnel Management, 30(2), 137-146. Read More