Introduction
I am interested in becoming a Human Resource Manager. I have identified the different types of competencies largely determined by the roles that I shall be playing as an effective Human Resource Manager. Excellent communication and negotiation skills, proper knowledge of the jobs to be managed and external conditions, critical and analytical thinking, leadership and excellence in building relationships are some of the competencies needed for human resource management.
A good human resource manager is a good communicator and negotiator. A good manager must be able to communicate with everyone at the workplace. S/he ought to be a pivotal link between senior management and the junior staff. Moreover, the manager communicates with prospective employees, government officials, some public relations entities interested in human resources and union leaders (Ulrich, 2008). As such, a good human resource manager must be able to adapt and communicate with different people. He must show proper body language to avoid passing off inaccurate information. Clarity in spoken and written words is also critical for human resource managers (Ulrich, 2008). Human resource managers ought to apply respectful communication and appropriate choice of words when communicating with wage employees and casual labourers as they do to executive leaders.
Leadership is a critical skill for a human resource manager. A good manager is able to make decisions effectively, raise his self esteem, manage conflicts and lead other people to pursue organizational goals with a motivated and united team. Blunt, et al. (2014) notes that good leaders act decisively, use negotiation and consensus to build effective teams, resolve conflicts before they escalate and optimize the available resources. In all, a good human resource manager uses leadership skills to arouse self-interest in his subordinates in order to have them act under minimal supervision as they pursue personal and organizational goals.
A good human resource manager has excellent knowledge of the jobs and people he ought to manage. He has technical expertise on policies and human resource laws. He has a deep knowledge of information technology and how it can be utilized to enhance the human resource function say by managing schedules, monitoring employees, and handling employee salaries in an organized manner (Gupta, 2011). Moreover, the manager understands his role perfectly and those of the other job groups that he manages. For instance, he should avoid ambiguities in the roles of the subordinates or the conflicting of roles between different subordinates (Gupta, 2011). In addition, the manager ought to forecast the future of the human resource field in line with labour laws, compensations, influence of technology on human resources among others.
Analytical and critical thinking skills come in handy for human resource managers. Human resource managers need to exercise proper judgement because they make critical decisions that have huge impacts in the success or failure of organizations. For instance, a decision on outsourcing some HR functions hinges on the decisions made by the human resource manager and it is important that the decisions resonate with the current as well as future strategies of the organization (Ulrich, 2008). At times, the HR manager will be required to make critical decisions on the suitability of certain candidates during recruitment, promotion or changing employees from one department to another. Moreover, HR managers represent the organization whenever it is involved in employment and labour litigations (Gupta, 2008). The decisions of HR managers can justify a company’s actions or put it into problems in issues such as hiring, alleged discriminations, firing and other dynamics concerning Human capital.
I have developed some of the competencies considerably, but I need to intensity my attendance to trainings and exposure to gain more competence in my weak areas. I feel that through my current training, I can communicate effectively and I rate myself highly on this competency. I also feel that I have developed my leadership skills to a significant extent and I can start at a junior HR management level and acquire more competency in leadership as i go on. I have gained a lot of competency in the usage of information technologies to handle HR issues. I believe that I can create great employee management systems using the IT skills that I have acquired in the course of my learning.
I have some significant ground to cover in gaining competency to hone my analytical and critical thinking skills. In the next one year I plan to have secured an internship under a senior and experienced HR manager to learn methodologies of decision-making. I will also gain more knowledge about my roles and how to be an all-round HR manager, who is adept with labour laws, employee management, hiring processes and other on-the-job dynamics such as understanding the job descriptions of various job groups.
I will attend all the seminars, workshops and conferences open to students and entry-level HR managers. I believe in such forums ,I will acquire practical skills such as firing and recruitment dos and don’ts which shall be vital in my career. I will become more sensitive to the needs of other people by listening more attentively and thinking critically on how I can provide a solution because I will be dealing with people on a day-to-day basis. I believe that exposure to a multicultural society can help boost my awareness of other cultures and how they stand to affect issues at the workplace. I also plan to take a short course in conflict management to hone my skills in handling conflicts that may arise at the workplace. I should take the course within the next one year.
Conclusion
Human resource management is an exciting but demanding career which I am prepared to pursue. Some of the core competencies required of me shall be excellence in communication and negotiation skills, proper knowledge of the jobs to be managed, critical and analytical thinking, leadership and excellence in building relationships. I have developed my communication, leadership and IT competency skills to a great extent. However, I need to attend seminars, get mentors, and attend short courses among other activities in order to get practical competencies in several areas such as knowledge of the jobs to be managed and critical thinking skills.
References
Ulrich, D. (2008). HR competencies: Mastery at the intersection of people and business. Alexandria, VA: Society for Human Resource Management.
Gupta, B. L. (2011). Competency framework for human resources management. New Delhi: Concept Pub. Co.
Blunt, A. et al. (2014) Human Resources Professional Competency Framework. Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA).
