I will begin by introducing myself so that as you go along with the reading of this document, you can have my background embedded as clearly in your mind. I am a male who is married now. I started working in the year 2003 as an administrative assistance and quit the job in the year 2006. Then later in 2006, I got another job as an HR specialist in a reputed organization and since then I am committed to this job. I would say that my academic background and upbringing has helped me groom my personality in a better and professional manner.
Since childhood, I have been inspired by the charm of managers and leaders. In my spare time as a teenager, I used to listen to speeches of great leaders and used to imagine myself as one. Later, I gained ample inspiration from my father who used to work in a private organization as a manager. I used to ask him questions about managers such as:
Who is a manager?
What does a manager do?
What it takes to become a manager?
What qualities do I need if I wish to become one?
What are the main challenges faced by a manager?
How does a manager handle unstable situations?
What is the possible distinction between a manager and a leader?
Luckily, my father and an uncle who I look up to as my mentor answered all such questions with supporting examples. My family had the idea that I would turn into a brilliant manager so they encouraged me to study those subjects in high school which polish the analytical skills of an individual and help him survive in worst circumstance. So I gained knowledge on commerce, ethics, relationships, economics in my high school. Later, I got admission into a prestigious business school where I learned the essence of business, management and related subjects. I came to know the roles of operations, marketing, supply chain, finance and human resource during the course of my graduation. All these areas had their own significance but what really enthralled me was the subject of human resource management. I have always believed that an organization is never made of brick and mortar instead; the people who coordinate with each other by making use of the best skills for the achievement of certain goals and objectives are the ones who create an organization. The employees lie at the core of any organization’s success. If people in any organization are dedicated and motivated enough to attain their respective goals, then ultimately the goals of the organizations would be achieved in a more effective and efficient manner. So I decided to do my majors in the area of human resource management and build my career in it. I did my Masters in human resource management and in the year 2003, I got a job as an administrative assistant. I learned quite a lot about office duties as an administrative assistant. I got the idea that this job requires that an administration is responsible for ensuring that proper coordination exists between all department and the organization runs smoothly. The administration also ensures that employees’ compensation and benefits are dispatched on time and all kind of issues of personal and professional nature are addressed. Administrative assistance is also responsible for providing assistance to the management by ensuring that proper filing is done and employees’ records are maintained. Maintenance of office supplies and ensuring that the necessary equipment is all in order and performing their function well is the responsibility of the administration department. Arranging board meetings, conferences, and coordinating appointments for senior managers is also included in the function of administration. During my job as an administrative assistant, I learned quite a lot from my boss and colleagues. I learned that organizations run successfully when the administration is strong and cooperative. In the absence of proper administration, none of the organizational functions would be coordinated and the image of the organization would suffer. Employees might also experience low levels of satisfaction when they would notice that their concerns are not being addressed in a prompt manner and their productivity and efficiency would suffer. I have seen that employees prefer to associate themselves with organizations where things are organized and streamlined and strong communication and coordination exists. Becker and Gerhart (1996) also believed that poor administration would make the employees look for better and superior job opportunities. On a personal level, I learned quite a lot from my job and groomed my professional approach towards work. The realized that the knowledge of administration or human resource management I acquired from books was a bit different from reality because, in a practical work situation, one learns how to accomplish tasks in a useful manner. The rules and regulations mentioned in books are basically adjusted so as to fit the company’s mission and vision. Coworkers with unique personality traits exist which have a varying philosophy on work and attainment of goals. Good traits from peers are to be learned and negatives one should be avoided. Learning takes place in an environment where people of different approaches and skills sit down and discuss common issues. During my three year experience, I learned from my boss and colleagues a lot about decision making, commitment, and analytical skills. From the job, I learned how important it is to coordinate all sort of administrative activities so that the organization can run smoothly. Good administration guarantees that all systems and processes within the organization are well aligned with each other which are a sign of success.
Apart from the professional and formal learning, my personality is also influenced by my hobbies and personal interests. I am an avid reader and I like to read books and publications about business and management in particular. I also like to read about fiction which I view as a great way to improve imaginative skills. I have a huge collection of books related to the role of people part in the success of any business which serves as the foundation of my career. Besides, I also like to play football with my friends and sometime I still do when I find spare time from work. I have been a fine football player since I was in school. I believe the game has taught me a lot and the learning still helps me in my team player roles. In a game such as a football, the goal is to win by trusting your own skills and the planning of the team captain. The role of a leader is very important because the team members respect his decisions and analytical skills and look up to him for acquiring the right direction. Without a leader, the team members are not sure of their judgment and are likely to make moves which are in the benefit of the opposing team. So trusting the skills, experience and knowledge of the leader are mandatory in order to guarantee success (Yuki, 1981). In the organization where I work, I usually have to work on tasks which require me to take the role of a team lead and provide necessary guidance to my subordinates. Since I usually served as team captain in the football game, I know how to motivate my team and how to provide constructive and healthy feedback to keep them going. At business school, I have always volunteered as team leader for class projects which I consider as a valuable experience- It taught me how to define a goal for a project, write down tasks which could help in the accomplishment of goals, then ensure to have the right members in the team whose skills matches the requirements, assigning specific tasks to each team members depending on their interests and skill set and finally monitoring and controlling their progress and providing feedback where necessary. This learning is still with me and assisting me in managing my role as a team leader and ensuring that whenever a team project is being carried out, all members work in harmony and combine their knowledge and skills to achieve their goals in the best possible manner.
For the past decade, I have been working as an HR specialist. The responsibility of HR Specialist is broad in nature. As the term indicates, an HR specialist has to have a know-how of almost all sub areas of human resource management such as recritment and selection, training and development, labor relations, performance management, counseling, compensation and benefits (Ferguson, n.d.). The HR Specialist has to report to the HR Director. The primary role of an HR Specialist is in employment planning and recruitment. An HR Specialist is responsible for doing planning as in determining how many employees are required in every department for carrying out certain tasks. An Hr specialist suggests the right kind of vacancy announcement methods and gives a closer look at the applicants received from candidates in this regard. When candidates are shortlisted for interview, the HR specialists ensures that the step takes place under his supervision because the organization cannot rule out the best match in place of a less than satisfactory one(Cascio, 1986). I actively participate in the process of screening so that the organization can select the skillful people in an effective manner. I am also a member of the interview panel team where I have to analyze the candidate’s performance in the interview, his personality, his approach towards meeting objectives and his knowledge on various areas of human resource management. When I joined the job, I did not have strong analytical skills but now experience has taught me how to choose the best candidates from the interview sessions. I am also responsible for identifying the training needs of employees and suggesting the right kind of program for enhancing their knowledge and skills for performing their jobs in an efficient manner. \setting up the right compensation package for each and every employee along with benefits and rewards summary is also mandatory because money does serve as a motivator to some extent. \ensuring that none of the employees is dissatisfied due to the unpleasant working conditions and no conflict of interest occurs between teams is also a task which experience and knowledge on the mentioned topics have made me learn. It is important to understand that setting up a career development plan for every employee is mandatory which is then shared and discussed with him so that he can get a fair idea of what the organization holds for him and he can then decide whether to stay loyal to the organization or switch over to competitors for better opportunities. Managing the performance of employees and ensuring that all personal and professional hurdles in the way of their path can be reduced is also the duty of HR Specialist. Being the HR Specialist, I make sure that I interact with employees and managers on a consistent basis so that I can get a fair idea of everyone’s goals and objectives and guide them to the best of my capabilities. Finkelstein and Hambrick (1996) suggested that employees feel motivated when they know that a leader or mentor is there for offering guidance whenever necessary. During my role as HR specialist, I have come across a number of people who possess varying personal and professional characteristics and capabilities and this helped me improve my understanding of human psychology. Working with senior executives and directors, I have learned about the significance of human resource department and how each and every step of employment planning is essential in determining the success of an organization.
CIPD Professional Map
Woods (2009) believed that the introduction of CIPD professional map has changed the way we look at human resource management. The map allows human resource professionals to get an idea of their current performance and set goals for development in the future. The CIPD professional map is composed of three elements namely professional areas, behaviors and transitions and bands. The professional areas allow the HR professionals to get an idea of what they are doing and what they are required to do. Behaviours present a list of attitudes which HR manager needs to apply to reach leadership level whereas bands and transitions are based on the hierarchy of the HR profession and explain how one role transforms into another role which is more crucial to the development of HR (Peacock, 2009). There are about ten professions mentioned in the map which are basically the roles which HR professionals have to fulfill during the course of their job. These include resourcing and talent planning, employee engagement, employee relations, organization development and design, performance and reward and learning and development. The basic professions of HR are based on two headings namely insights, strategy and solutions and leading HR which cover almost every aspect of HR so as to generate awareness among the HR professionals about their responsibilities and significance of human resource management. Behaviors are composed of eight elements- this eight type of skills or behavior serve as guidelines for HR professionals. The HR professionals need to possess eight of these behaviors so that they can perform their duties in a rational manner. These behaviours include curiosity, having the courage to take challenge, decision making and collaborative skills, being skillful and credible, focus on delivery etc. The bands and transitions mention standards which are to be followed when moving up the career ladder. Bands clearly mention the time required to move from one level to another, the new skills required and old skills which need replacement (cipd, 2013).
The CIPD professional map has helped me identify my professional growth plans for the future. Based on my learning of three to five years of working as an HR specialist, I have gained clarity on behaviours which I already exhibit and what I need to exhibit in the future to attain better understanding of HR. Firstly, I am curious about new ideas and approaches in human resource management. Being curious, I find myself very open minded about accepting new ideas which help me broaden my vision for my professional growth as well as of my subordinates who are strongly linked to me. I prefer innovation which allows me to explore more deeply into the literature of human resource management. I ensure that whatever I have in mind on HR and its development, I pass them on my juniors so that they could also benefit from my thinking and shape up their learning. I believe that logical and quick decision making skills are required to ensure the smooth functioning of an organization. HR is responsible for many tasks and challenges and if rational decisions are not taken by managers, the productivity of employees and the overall organization will suffer (Mindtools, n.d.). Being an HR specialist, it is my duty to make sure that all employees deliver the best of their skills and knowledge. For this, I have to make use of several motivational techniques as well as intelligent approaches which allow them to put their capabilities to generate maximum profits for the organization.
During this job as HR specialist, I learned that in order to make others deliver results, I have to communicate my achievements to them so that they can be inspired and try to deliver their best. If I want my workmates to have strong relationship with customers, I have to demonstrate skills which lead to the achievement of the stated objectives. So guidance cannot be given from words only, the one imparted through actions has more impact. Although I have been a good team player but my development plan for future is based on my team based skills. I will have to exhibit a more collaborative and open minded approach towards working in teams with harmony as well as motivate the group members to feel free to share their skills and diverse knowledge with others.
Motivating myself and others around me also makes a part of my duties as an HR professional. I believe that when an employee is motivated, he would feel accomplished as a valuable part of the organization. This feeling would lead him to do perform his responsibilities in a productive way. Not only he would be able to achieve his personal and professional goals but he would also motivate his team mates to achieve their targets in a better way. I am motivate most of the times but sometimes, situations arise which lower down my motivation levels then I look at the exceptional performance I have been exhibiting in the past and the results I have achieved. Looking back, I feel motivated to do my current tasks in the right manner and pass on the same philosophy to my subordinates.
I believe that the role of leadership is very important to fulfill the objective of HR specialist. My job requires me to be an expert in every area of human resource. I have to make use of my previous learning and capabilities to make important decisions especially those related to the recruitment and selection. Recrtuiemtn and selection is considered as the most critical step in hiring because if wrong candidates get hired on permanent basis by the Hr team, then they will lack the potential to perform well in their job. Not only they will exhibit poor skills but also lower the morale of their fellow workers. Training needs have to taken good care of by the human resource team because it the key role of HR to ensure that the skills of employees belonging to all areas of the organization are upgraded so that they feel motivated, valued and skillful and show more loyalty towards the organization.
I wish to become a role model for my team members. For that I will have to acquire more knowledge on HR approaches which guarantee success for the organization as well as attend more and more training and development sessions to polish my current skills and acquire new ones. I want to develop healthy relationship with the employees and stakeholders within and outside the organization in the upcoming years so that my credibility is increased and people in the field of HR look up to me as their mentor and role model.
Personal Development Plan
CIPD Professional Map
References
Becker, B. and Gerhart, B., 1996. The impact of human resource management on organizational performance: Progress and prospects.Academy of management journal, 39(4), pp.779-801.
Cascio, W.F., 1986. Managing human resources. New york: McGraw-Hill.
cipd. (2013). How It All Fits Together. Available: http://www.cipd.co.uk/cipd-hr-profession/cipd-hr-profession-map/default.html. Last accessed 3rd May 2016.
Ferguson, G. (n.d.). What Are the Job Duties of an HR Specialist?.Available: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/job-duties-hr-specialist-44550.html. Last accessed 3rd May 2016.
Finkelstein, S. and Hambrick, D.C., 1996. Strategic leadership: Top executives and their effects on organizations. South-Western Pub.
Hersey, P. and Blanchard, K.H., 1993. Management of organizational behavior: Utilizing human resources . Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Mindtools. (n.d.). How Good is Your Decision-Making?. Available: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_79.htm. Last accessed 2nd May 2016.
Peacock, L. (2009). CIPD reveals HR profession map to replace old standards. Available: http://www.personneltoday.com/hr/cipd-reveals-hr-profession-map-to-replace-old-standards/. Last accessed 1st May 2016.
Woods, D.. (2009). HRD 2009: CIPD to introduce HR Professional Map to equip practitioners for tougher future role. Available: http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/hrd-2009-cipd-to-introduce-hr-professional-map-to-equip-practitioners-for-tougher-future-role. Last accessed 2nd May 2016.
Yuki, G., 1981. Leadership in organisations. Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
