Developing Yourself as an effective HR Practitioner Essay

Introduction The intention of this report is to address the following learning outcomes:- †¢to understand the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to be an effective HR practitioner; †¢know how to deliver timely and effective HR services to meet users’ needs and; †¢be able to reflect on my own practice and development needs and maintain a plan for personal development. For the purpose of this report I will use research journals, books and internet searches, in particular, help and guidance from the CIPD website in order to reflect on my own personal experience and skills to constructively align with the assessment criteria. Career in brief Throughout my career I have had a diverse range of roles including the recruitment and selection of employees, carrying out inductions with new staff, issuing contracts of employment and job descriptions, carrying out appraisals and arranging training if needed. I have also been responsible for the implementation of annual budgets and setting sales targets. Activity 1 HR Profession Map The HR Profession Map is a model designed specifcally by HR professionals to help HR practitioners identify the knowledge and skills demanded by the profession. The Map describes what to do, what is needed to know and how to do it. Essentially the Map provides a widespread overview on how, within an organisation the HR department functions. It also shows what is expected within the role of an HR practitioner from all levels based on the individual’s qualifications and experience. The Map has also been designed to support HR professionals at every stage of their career and sets out the global standards for HR. The clear and flexible framework has been developed  for career progression in recognition that HR roles and career progression can vary. The Map contains three key elements: †¢10 Professional areas – what HR practitioners need to do and know †¢8 Behaviours – how to carry out activities †¢4 Bands and transitions – how to develop from one role to another, split into four bands of competence which illustrate the hierarchy of the profession. The main purpose of the Map design was to highlight 10 professional areas at four different bands of competency and then eight key behaviours at which all HR professionals need to operate. The 10 professional areas set out what a practitioner needs to do and know for each area of the HR profession listed below: †¢Organisation design †¢Organisation development †¢Resourcing and talent planning †¢Learning and talent development †¢Performance and reward †¢Employee engagement †¢Employee relations †¢Service, delivery and information †¢Leading HR †¢Insights, strategy and solutions What is considered the two core professional areas sit at the heart of the professional map – Leading HR and Insights, strategy and solutions which are applicable to all HR professionals regardless of their role and are explained in more detail below. The core: Insights, strategy and solutions This core area describes how HR professionals within Human Resources can help optimise their organisation’s performance using insights to create HR strategies and deliver solutions that stick, staying agile and innovative. An HR specialist actively develops an understanding of the organisation’s  goals and how HR actively contributes to their delivery by knowing how the organisation is structured and how the teams work together. They understand the product or service that their organisation provides and who the customers are and they understand the goals of the organisation. As an HR specialist they are also expected to guide their team to create solutions that deliver value in line with the organisation. Table 1 shows how I am able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding relating to this particular core area. Table 1Personal knowledge and competency relating to insights, strategy and solutions Business Knowledge1.18.2 The vision and purpose of the organisation and how this relates to your role.I researched and created the business’s Vision Statement. It was important to create a vision statement at the outset to assist with future planning and where we wanted to the see the business in the future. Creating the vision statement impacted immediately upon my role as Owner/Director as I had invested my own money to fulfil the ambitions I had of building the business. The core: Leading HR This are relates to HR professionals being active, insight-led leaders: owning, shaping and driving themselves, others and activity within their organisation, not just observing or facilitating. The model suggests that an HR specialist leading HR services acts as a role model to help develop their teams’ goals The model also suggests that they know how to engage people with different backgrounds by utilising their experience and skills and by developing their team’s knowledge of the operational plan of the organisation and helping their team to drive forward whilst supporting and mentoring other HR team members. Table 2 shows how I am able to demonstrate my knowledge and understanding of this core area. Table 2Personal knowledge and competency relating to leading HR Personal leadership2.1.2 Seek feedback and coaching to continually learn and develop as a professional. Use HR processes as appropriate for own CPD (e.g. through My HR Map)As Managing Director of my own reta il business it was essential that I had proven skills to continue my own professional development. I therefore sourced various courses which would lead to an appropriate qualification which augmented my current skills and qualifications. I gained a Management qualification in 2011 and am now seeking my CIPD  foundation Certificate a Level 2. The 8 behaviours within the map describe how work activities should be carried out and make a contribution to the organisation’s success and are detailed below: †¢Decisive thinker – demonstrates an ability to analyse and understand data and information. †¢Skilled influencer – demonstrates an ability to influence to gain necessary commitment & support from diverse stakeholders for organisation value. †¢Personally credible – builds & delivers professionalism by combining commercial and HR expertise to bring value to the organisation. †¢Collaborative – works effectively and inclusively with a range of people both within and outside the organisation. †¢Driven to deliver – determination, resourceful & purpose to deliver best results. †¢Courage to challenge – shows courage and confidence to speak skilfully – challenging others if confronted with resistance. †¢Role model – consistently leads by example. Acts with integrity, impartiality and independence, balancing personal, organisational and legal parameters. †¢Curious – future focused, inquisitive, seeks out evolving and innovative ways to add value. Finally, the 4 bands of competence range from Band 1 to Band 4. Band 1 covers the early stages of an HR career, culminating in Band 4 for the most senior leaders in HR and each band defines the responsibilities required by HR professionals at every stage of their career. Personal competency at Band 2 within one professional area: For the purpose of this particular section I have chosen the following professional area; ‘Learning and talent development – Capability assessment 6.21.2 How to work with an individual to assess their learning and training needs’ Whilst being self-employed, I was responsible for the supervision and management of sales staff. In particular there was one staff member who was identified as requiring further additional training as she wished to continue with her own professional development. I therefore undertook the following procedures to identify the appropriate learning and training: Following the employee’s initial induction, risk assessment and 3 month  appraisal, it was identified that she would like to achieve her NVQ 3 in Business Administration, having successfully completed her NVQ 2 in her previous employment. WHY she wanted further qualifications Following on from the appraisal, I researched appropriate course material to see what the NVQ 3 entailed to ensure that the employee’s current job role would be sufficient to fulfil the requirements of the NVQ 3 as she intended to progress within the industry. WHAT learning opportunities are there I contacted Sunderland ITEC as the employee had previously completed a training course with them and I knew that ITEC would still be able to offer the apprenticeship at level 3. I therefore requested that a representative come out to see us in order to identify the relevant information to enable her to complete the NVQ level 3. WHERE In house training and monthly day release & monthly visits from her training adviser The NVQ level 3 in Business Administration can be completed in-house with day release once a month to the training facility for the employee to go through their portfolio with their training advisor. The training advisor attended the business once a month to give a progress review on the employee and to gather evidence. HOW I identified, with the help of the Training Adviser that there was funding available for under 25’s to enable them to complete NVQ training under my mentorship. Activity 2 For this activity I am required to identify 3 users of HR services, establish one need for each and explain how conflicting needs would be identified and prioritised; to give examples of three effective communication techniques, outlining the advantages and disadvantages of each and finally; effectice  service delivery to include delivery service on time, delivering service on budget, dealing with difficult customers, handling and resolving complaints. There are many users of the HR services within my organisation but I have chosen the following three users for the purpose of this assignment and set out what their need may be and how the conflicting element of each user is identified and prioritised by the HR Department: †¢Line Managers †¢Employees †¢Potential Employees (Applicants) Line Manager The Line Manager has the sole responsibility for their team. They therefore need their team to be productive and motivated to meet the demands and targets of the organisation. They should ensure that absenteeism is kept to a minimum and that all workers are skilled professional workers. Conflict may arise if employees fail to meet expectations or targets to a point where the Line Manager’s own professional career may be under threat. Employees One of an employee’s main goals is to gain financial reward and training for the commitment they give to the organisation. A conflict may arise if the employee is de-motivated in their job role due to not being sufficiently qualified or lacking in certain skills which could easily be identified and rectified by further training and support. Potential Employees It is commonplace in many professions that potential employees are better qualified and trained than most long standing employee’s of the organisation. However, it is often the case whereby there are many applicants for each potential vacancy with many applicants being well qualified with respect to the vacancy. Conflict may arise as the HR practitioner will be required to shortlist from numerous applications for one vacancy therefore they need to be able to quickly and accurately assess each application and CV for precise key specifications required on the job description. How conflicting needs are met As can be seen, the needs of the employees, potential employees and the line managers are different but similar. The conflicting needs of the three users of the HR services are identified by their working behaviour and the motive behind doing their job. The varying conflicts can be prioritised by firstly understanding the needs of the employees as they are the backbone of the organisation and arranging further training or negotiating pay increases with the Line Manager based on the employee’s work ethics, commitment and qualifications. Further training can be a motivating influence on any employee thus fulfilling the needs of the organisation and maintaining a happy yet professional relationship with their line manager as he will have fully qualified and skilled staff, therefore the conflicting priority with the Line Manager is that his concerns are fulfilled by having motivated staff. The final priority is the potential/new employees as it would be envisage that any new employee would be fully qualified and experienced to do the job correctly. Methods of Effective Communication, the advantages and disadvantages of each The three methods of communication I have chosen for this assignment are: †¢Oral/Face to Face An advantage of this communication style is that it is immediate and you gain an immediate response. It makes giving an instruction to an employee simpler as you are able to express the requirements expected of them using intonation, hand gestures and examples. Body language is also important in this type of communication both on the part of the communicator and receiver. A disadvantage could be that an employee could misinterpret or forget the instruction once the conversation is finished and time has lapsed. †¢Electronic ie. email/telephone An advantage of this communication is that it is also immediate. A ‘read receipt’ or ‘delivered’ acknowledgement is gained in sending an email  therefore the sender is aware that the recipient has received the message and again when calling somone on the telephone you can immediately relay your message. The disadvantage of a telephone call may be that the receiver is not at their desk and therefore a voicemail message may be left and there would be no timescale as to when the receiver would pick up their messages. Again the disadvantage with an email is that the intonation can be easily misinterpreted. †¢Written ie. memos/minutes An advantage of written communication is that it eliminates the risk of the recipient forgetting the task as it has been written down and given to them therefore reports, letters, memos, etc can be read again and again if anything is not understood and minutes can be changed if something is omitted. The disadvantage with written communication is that it may take time to reach to the desired destination. Also minutes or letters may get a late response if management need to call upon a face to face meeting to clarify any uncertainties within the report/minutes. Effective Service Delivery Effective service delivery is vital to any organisation as the reputation of the business is dependent upon it. In my role as owner of a bridal business it is imperative that we maintain high standards of service delivery to customers at all times. Delivering service on time is vital as there are often occasions when brides inform us that their wedding date has been set for a matter of weeks ahead. If a new bridal gown needs to be ordered there is a rush service available at a minimal cost to the customer as it guarantees 8 weeks delivery rather than the usual 16. Many customers are also working to a tight budget therefore we always have a range of lower cost bridal gowns and sale gowns available. There have also been times when we have encountered difficult customers and have had to handle and resolve complaints. Although the first thought is to be defensive, it is imperative that you listen intently to the complaint as losing a customer and receiving negative recommendations for yo ur business is detrimental. After listening  to the customer’s complaint which is often said in anger, you need to go back over the question – â€Å"Let’s go over what’s happened so we can resolve this† and apologising without sounding patronising but depending on the nature of the complaint it is sometimes necessary to reinforce the shop policy. On occasions, it is also considered appropriate to offer refunds or exchanges in order to resolve a complaint. Activity 3 I have self assessed against the Associate Membership criteria, electronically via the CIPD website and I have used the findings to identify 2 development needs at band 1 which I have h on my Personal Development Plan (attached) where I require further training to meet the criteria and are mentioned below in summary: †¢Insights, Strategy and Solutions Support the organisation development specialists in delivering organisation development interventions and associate change. †¢Employee Relations The fundamentals of employee relations. Definition of CIPD One definition of continuing professional development states that CPD is â€Å"part of lifelong learning; a means of gaining career security; a means of personal development; a means of assuring the public that individual professionals are up-to-date; a method whereby professional associations can verify competence; and a way of providing employers with a competent and adaptable workforce. † Friedman, A. & Phillips, M. (2004) ‘Continuing professional development: developing a vision,’ Journal of Education and Work, 17(3) pp361-376. CPD is important as it ensures you continue to be competent in your profession, it shows a commitment to lifelong learning and may also be a requirement of a professional role or membership to a professional body. It is an ongoing process and continues throughout a professional’s career. The ultimate outcome of well planned continual professional development is that it safeguards the public, the employer, the professional and the professional’s career. Explain at least 2 of the options I considered for meeting my development needs against my plan for  future development. One of the options I chose for further development was ‘The fundamentals of Employee Relations’ as this is an area I feel I can grow exponentially. The outcome of this module is to enable me to understand the impact of employment law at the start of the employment relationship; understand the main individual rights that the employee has during the employment relationship and; understand the issues to address at the termination of the employment relationship. I wish to build my knowledge around these areas as I would like to progress into a more managerial position with my current employers as they currently have no senior HR personnel and it is therefore important to have sound knowledge of employee and employer rights. Another area I wish to extend my knowledge is ‘Resourcing Talent’. The organisation is currently under redevelopment and I wish to move into a more senior position therefore gaining further knowledge and expertise is prerequisite to my future growth within the organisation.

Cwts Experience

Hard to believe that that was the last session for our tutorial. Everything will fall back to where they used to be. No more Saturday bondings in the jeep with my fellow blockmates, no more exhaustion due to the long smoke-full travels to the location, and sadly, no more one on one moments with our tutees. Time really is passing in a fast pace. During that particular session, we were assigned to give our tutees an assessment test to make a conclusive report with regard to the improvement of our tutees.I prepared a compressed exam for Ar-ar which was composed of three different subjects: Math, English, and Reading. Ar-ar is very much having a diifficulty when it comes to reading. Well, a grade four student is commonly expected to have the capability of reading a simple passage. However, in Ar-ar’s case, his reading ability is not well-suited to the grade he is in. I am very much worried that he will have a hard time as he advances in the learning process due to his incompetency in reading. Comprehension is also his waterloo.This comes after reading so Ar-ar has a difficulty in understanding the meaning of sentences because his vocabulary skills is insufficient to supply him the meaning of words. Reading and comprehension are two of the most basic things that one must master because they are basically the groundwork of education. Mathematical problems will require reading and comprehension skills as scientific concepts and principles also do. But I believe that with great determination, he will still be able to improve his reading and comprehension skills.It’s never too late. Next week will be a culminating activity that will serve as a farewell activity for all of us. Though it will be a relief for us to have free weekends, I’ll miss this Saturday sessions without a doubt. Not only did my tutee learn from me, but I also learned from him. I learned so much about teaching as well. Patience, determination and confidence are three of the most im portant ingredients in teaching. It does not only entail the effort of one person.Effort must come from both the student and the teacher in order for a successful learning to come in. I am so much anxious with the last exposure next week. It really is saddening that everything is to come to an end. I wish I could guide Ar-ar all throughout his venture in learning however that can’t be a forever case because he has to learn things on his own. My only hope is that he will always put in mind everything that I taught him and that he will continue to possess the same passion for learning.

Black House For David Gernert and Ralph Vicinanza

You take me to a place I never go, You send me kisses made of gold, I ‘ll place a crown upon your curls, All hail the Queen of the World! -The Jayhawks. Right Here and Now . . †¦..RIGHT HERE AND NOW,as an old friend used to say,we are in the fluid present,where clear-sightedness never guarantees perfect vision. Here:about two hundred feet,the height of a gliding eagle,above Wisconsin's far western edge,where the vagaries of the Mississippi River declare a natural border.Now:an early Friday morning in mid-July a few years into both a new century and a new millennium,their way-ward courses so hidden that a blind man has a better chance of seeing what lies ahead than you or I.Right here and now,the hour is just past six a.m., and the sun stands low in the cloudless eastern sky,a fat,confi-dent yellow-white ball advancing as ever for the first time toward the fu-ture and leaving in its wake the steadily accumulating past,which darkens as it recedes,making blind men of us all. Below,the early sun touches the river ‘s wide,soft ripples with molten highlights.Sunlight glints from the tracks of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad running between the riverbank and the backs of the shabby two-story houses along County Road Oo,known as Nailhouse Row,the lowest point of the comfortable-looking little town extending uphill and eastward beneath us.At this moment in the Coulee Country, life seems to be holding its breath.The motionless air around us carries such remarkable purity and sweetness that you might imagine a man could smell a radish pulled out of the ground a mile away.

McKinsey 7-S applied on Qatar Cinema Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

McKinsey 7-S applied on Qatar Cinema - Essay Example the employees and managers to ensure high satisfaction rate and meet objectives of the company and employees is evident in the analysis of Qatar Cinema. However, Qatar Cinema is more focussed at meeting the needs of the general public through offering low pricing for its products showing that despite the lack of a clear-cut strategy, focus on producing for the average to low income earners is evident. The human resource system at Qatar Cinema is not living up to its billing owing to the low motivation, dissatisfaction with their environment, and the lack of task rewards at the company assessed through the respondents by the employees. Qatar Cinema comprises of male and female employees, but the management and administrative positions are predominantly men reducing the gender diversity in leadership that could negatively hamper decision-making and access to diverse ideas. From the primary research, 60% of the employees are not satisfied with the environment in which they work with 65% not satisfied with the salaries they receive at Qatar Cinema pointing to human resource inefficiency. Further, 50% of the employees answered to disagree with receiving any motivation with 20% strongly agreeing, and 30% agree on the receipt of motivation at the company. The data revealed that 55% of the employees disagreed on the presence of task rewards with 45% of them strongly disagreeing employee handling by supervisors showing the lack of enough measures for employee welfare at Qatar Cinema. Centralized decision-making is used in running the daily operations of Qatar Cinema with little to no involvement of the staff in the decision-making process (Lewis et al., 2006). A strong leadership has however allowed Qatar Cinema to access a high market share and cement its place as an affordable cinema for the consumers in Qatar. Qatar Cinema make use of skilled and semi-skilled personnel with the skilled personnel undertaking management and administrative positions at the company while

Promoting healthy life style Choices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Promoting healthy life style Choices - Essay Example The girl needs to be educated and informed about total effects of smoking and why it is important to quit smoking, thus the reason for choosing smoking cessation. Tobacco smoking is a major healthcare issue around the world. In the U.S., Canada and some first world developed nations, it has been identified as the leading cause of preventable mortality. One out of five deaths in the U.S. has been attributed to tobacco. Annually, it is estimated that there are almost 440,000 deaths in the U.S. alone. Individuals inhale tobacco through various means such as pipes, hookahs and kreteks. Smoking poses adverse health consequences such as cancers of the throat, lung, and larynx. Additionally, ailments such as stroke and heart diseases can be attributed to smoking tobacco. The effect is widespread even to non-smokers they inhale the smoke through involuntary smoking. In the U.S. alone, it is approximated that there are close to 7,500 lung cancer deaths annually among non-smokers. The addictive substance in the tobacco is as nicotine. A typical cigarette contains about 13.79 to 22.68 milligrams of nicotine. If inhaled consistently it becomes easily absorbed in the blood and eventually becomes addictive to the consumer. From that point onwards an individual is termed as a tobacco addict. After a number of years, one may choose to quit smoking. However, it is not an easy task. Some individuals experience short-term effects such as; anxiety, difficulty in reacting to situations, craving nicotine substances and increase in weight. In a recent survey, 7 out of 10 smokers in the U.S. indicated that they wanted to quit smoking. For smokers aged 18-24 years, an estimated 5 out of 10 wanted to stop smoking. Quitting is a process that can be undertaken through inpatient or outpatient techniques. Also, various methods have been applied to assist smokers quit. Among them include; counselling, therapies and replacing

Public Relations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Public Relations - Assignment Example This is a professional organization comprising of professionals from different walks of life who are interested in developing their careers within this field. I am confident that if I jouin this organization, I will immensely benefit since I wil get an opportunity to interact with other people with a wealth of knowledge in this particular field. This will also give me exposure to other pertinent issues that often shape the profession of integrated marketing communication and public relations. Above all, networking This organization fits with my goals because it is designed to enlighten all the members about the paths they can follow in as far as their career development is concerned. This association will also help me to interact with other professionals in the same field where we can exchange information and other relevant ideas that can contribute towards the generation of knowledge in our field. The organization has upcoming events and conferences that are meant to boost our knowledge in the field of marketing communication and public relations. For instance, the association has upcoming conferecnces that include the following: Ameerican Marketing Association’s 2014 Annual Conference, Brand Manage Camp as well as the 2015 Analytics with Purpose Conference among

Domestic Violence as Social Misogyny Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Domestic Violence as Social Misogyny - Essay Example Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone[they include] physical abuse (physical abuse also includes denying a partner medical care or forcing alcohol and/or drug use), sexual abuse, emotional abuse, economic abuse, and/or psychological abuse (ES 1)." As indicated, domestic abuse is not pick-pocketing. It is not a crime whose adverse effects can typically be righted by insurance payments or trials. Many domestic abuse victims suffer throughout their entire lives, and are severely compromised as human beings as a result of their abusive experiences. 11 percent of murder victims are said to have been killed by an intimate; additionally "Female murder victims are substantially more likely than male murder victims to have been killed by an intimate (ES 2)." The same calculations continue: "In recent years, Additionally, "it is very difficult to estimate the rate of domestic violence because the majority of victims never disclose that they are involved in partner violence. It is estimated that, regarding violent behavior toward females within the context of an intimate relationship, only 20% of all rapes, 25% of all physical assaults, and 50% of all stalking are ever reported to the policeThe following statisticsshed light on the prevalence of domestic violence (statistics are for the U.S. only): 20-30% of American women will be physically abused by a partner at least once in their lifetimes 1.3 million women and 834,732 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually 201,394 women are forcibly raped by an intimate partner annually 11% of women in homosexual relationships and 23% of men in homosexual relationships report being raped, physically assaulted, and/or stalked by an intimate partner 503,485 women and 185,496 men are stalked by an intimate partner annually 1-25% of all pregnant women are battered during pregnancy 30-40% of women's emergency room visits are for injuries due to domestic violence 30% of women killed in the U.S. are killed by their husbands or boyfriends 50% of men who assaulted their female partners also assaulted their children 3.3 million children witness domestic violence each year (ES 3)". As the data clearly shows, domestic violence is primarily a problem of violence against women. To ignore this problem is to ignore a problem whose primary impact is upon the women of this society, and as such, is a sexist and misogynistic action. The National Center for PTSD goes on to note "There are also many psychological effects of domestic violence. Depression remains the foremost response, with 60% of battered women reporting depression. In addition,