Human Resources In Context  – Critical Reflection and Personal Development Plan

Introduction

In this Human Resources in Context assignment I will complete the following: in the first section I will write a critical reflection on the Business and Human Resource Management course and process, identifying how the course has benefited me in year one – applying the CIPD map (CIPD 2018) and explaining how it has guided me. In the second section I will write a personal development plan, in which I will expand on why the employability events I did not attend would benefit me in my future career.

Business and Human Resource Management

During the process of the Business and Human Resource course, I believe I have developed my knowledge on understanding the role of a human resource professional, I have also covered an extensive number of topics over the first semester.

According to CIPD, the HR profession map “sets out the international standard for people professionals to make their greatest impact and thrive in a changing world of work” (CIPD 2018). Meaning that the map explicitly states the abilities that are required, and the steps needed to take to successfully and efficiently succeed in a HR career.

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I have used the CIPD map to assist me in determining which area of HR I want to have a possible career in, I am very intrigued in two professional areas; employee engagement and diversity and inclusion. Furthermore, there are four bands of professional competence included in the CIPD map (CIPD 2018). These state the contribution a HR professional is required to make during each division of their career, I have used these four bands to assess where I stand and to see how I can possibly make progression into the next band.

In the module Exploring Work Psychology, I have been informed of the role of psychology in Human Resource Management. For example, we touched on subjects such as the importance of assessing personality traits of future staff in the recruitment and selection process. I grasped how vital it is to assess personality traits to obtain the most qualified staff for specific roles such as a managerial or leadership role, moreover, this assessment can also assist with training staff. I learned about the importance of motivation in an organisation and the effects it has on staff performance. Perception and managing emotions and the other topics that had been covered in this module; personality and motivation, conflict and stress and leadership have aided me into understanding how staff talent can be assessed, improved and managed to be helpful to achieving organisation goals. This module was very challenging as we are required to read the topic chapter simultaneously to weekly group presentations. This, however, did help improve my group working and reading skills.

In the module Understanding Human Resource Management, I undertook studying topics such as; performance management, performance appraisal, equality and diversity and recruitment and selection, redundancy, and employment relations. Each topic is an essential aspect of human resources and coincides with the highlighted professional areas in the CIPD map, meaning it is essential to understand the nature of each of the topics. I increased my knowledge in each of these topics by reading chapters and writing theories so that I understood it well. This improved my understanding in the topic, my learning and supervision skills, it was crucial for me to keep up with the work as new topics were discussed weekly.

In addition, the module required working in groups in class and with international students in Finland. This was a unique opportunity for me as I have never worked with people internationally before. The task was challenging as there was a lot of miscommunication and it was hard to delegate responsibilities, however my group managed to overcome these obstacles with the help from the Finnish group too. This experience helped me in advancing many skills such as; teamwork, communication and IT skills. I believe that this group activity allowed me to develop on several of the behaviours that the CIPD map refers to, for example I was able to share my knowledge with both groups. In the project I was curious to find out about redundancy in Finland so that I could compare it to the United Kingdom. I was extremely motivated and driven to deliver the best results, so I assured that I researched several sources before coming to a conclusion on redundancy (my chosen topic).

Similarly, during the module Developing Human Resource Professionals, I was able to review the theories of teamwork, critical thinking and learning styles. All of which helped me understand the significance of developing them to achieve the greatest outcome in my career as a HR professional. During this module, I was also introduced to the CIPD’s HR profession map, which at first was challenging to understand but once explained I was able to understand how it could benefit me in deciding my likely career direction. Throughout this module, we were made to work in groups which proved a challenge at times as there were many disagreements, making it difficult to work with each other however we managed to put the issues aside so we were able to complete the task. I believe the minor conflict may have helped the group, as we were able to get the best results.

Personal Development Plan

A personal development plan is an element of progression for a HR professional, allowing goals to be established and achieved within a certain period. Personal Development Plan’s usually includes a statement of one's aspirations, strengths or competencies, education and training, and stages or steps to indicate how the plan is to be realised (Chinoperekweyi 2017). This shows the importance of a personal development plan, as strengths can be put into practice and weaknesses can be increased with training.

Below I have inserted my own person development plan as a HR professional:

• What do I want/need to learn?
• What will I do to achieve this?
• What resources or support will I need?
• What will my success criteria be?
• Target dates for review and completion.
• Keep up to date with weekly reading and my assignments.
• I will complete a to-do list, highlighting what task is most urgent. I will work out which reading is compulsory to be accomplished for the week and finish this first and then complete my assignments.
• I will need textbooks on Human Resource Management and will ask for support from my module leader.
• On time and completed weekly reading and assignments.
• Ongoing 2019-2021.
• Further research into possible careers available in HR.
• I have some idea of which areas I wish to work in however, I need to acknowledge exactly what is needed to attain a career in one of these positions.
• I will research careers in HR and how previous professionals progressed into their positions, this will help me get an understanding of how I could progress into a position I am interested in.
• Knowledge of the route I could possibly take after my degree.

Work placement

• I have limited amount of experience in an HR environment, meaning I need to find the best placement for me and within the area I am interested in.
• I can contact a work placement officer and find out where I could find a work placement in HR.
• Complete at least 6 months in a HR placement.
• Book an appointment with the work placement officer by February 2020.
• Presentations and public speaking
• I will become confident in speaking and presenting loud and clear in front of a large group of people.
• Practice speaking in front of a group of people such as family and friends asking for their feedback on how I can improve when presenting.
• To be able to confidently speak in front of a large crowd.
• Practice weekly in preparation for class presentations.

Employability Events

• For the completion of this assignment we were advised to attend two employability events

Conclusion

To conclude, throughout the process of Business and Human Resource Management course I have notably developed as a HR professional, my knowledge and experiences have advanced during the modules of this course, and they will continue to develop as the course continues. The CIPD map (2018) has supported me in understanding the roles and responsibilities in the HR profession and has enabled me to identify my areas of strengths and the areas I need to improve in as a HR professional. As a consequence of producing a personal development plan, I have been able to create goals to develop in certain areas.