Nature And Role Of HR Professionals: A Report For Managers

Importance of HR Professionals

The CIPD HR professional map is considered as the building blocks of HR and L&D (Ulrich et al. 2013). It gives an in-depth idea regarding the behaviours as well as knowledge of the HR professionals. These qualities are mandatory in HR personnel, as they would deliver higher organisational performance.

An HR professional is one of the most important job responsibilities of an organisation. The quality of the human resources determines the level of organisational accomplishment. The HR person is responsible for hiring the best labour that would make the organisation successful in the market (Ulrich et al. 2013). An ideal human resource person is responsible for establishing, maintaining, developing and managing the policies of the company so that there is a benefit for both the employer and the employee (Prikshatet al. 2018). An HR professional is responsible for creating a smooth bridge between the employers and the employees. He should not comprise on any of the company policy matters and should try to resolve any possible conflicts that might arrive in the workplace.

The roles and the contributions of the HR professionals should be well understood within an organisational context and CIPD profession map should be used for this purpose. It provides a framework for the various people management practices that should be employed by the HR professionals in their day to day functioning (Higgins Roper and Lo 2014). It is important to understand the fundamental behaviours of the human resource professionals, which are common in every profession.

One of the most important roles of the HR professionals is resource and talent planning of the organisation. The HR professionals are instrumentals towards the fulfilment of the vacancies that are generated in the organisation (Coetzer et al. 2017). It is important that the person with the right fit be employed in the organisation at the right point of time. The HR professional should understand the current strategic requirements of the organisation and its values so that they can employ the right candidates for the job (Davies 2017). For example, I worked in Emirates National Bank Dubai, Riyadh branch, I witnessed the fact the HR professionals in the organisation need to have proper skills such as confidence, communication skills, and they must be good at multi-tasking. They not only need to be good listeners but they also need to present strong analytical skills.

The HR person is responsible for employee engagement in the organisation, which is important for the fulfilment of the organisational objectives (Burnes and Cooke 2013). They are responsible for connecting the employees, organisation and the colleagues so that they can contribute to the organisational work in a greater way (Ulrich et al. 2013). For example, when I worked with Airbus Defence and Space, I observed the fact that HR persons are important in engaging the employees in the organisation in a positive manner. They focused on collaboration as well as working together with its members. They also made sure that the employees are interacting with each other so that they can do better teamwork.

Understanding the Role of HR Professionals

The role of HR team is of immense value in an organisational setting. This can be demonstrated by the Lewin’s 1943 theory. Lewin postulated that group behaviour is characterised by the interactions between the group members, which affect the individual behaviour as we as group structures (Rudolph, Toomey and Baltes 2017). The individual behaviour is considered as a subset of the group behaviour, which is liable for changes in due course of time. The theory also specifies the fact that if an individual is able to identify the change forces then they would be able to understand how the individuals behave in a particular manner.

When I worked as a personnel manager in Emirates NBD, Riyadh, I realised that I needed the skills of a decisive thinker, curious and should have the courage to challenge the existing norms.  This is important in the matters of recruitment and selection where I needed to focus on selecting the best candidates for the job opening (Nicholas and Steyn 2017). I also need to analyse critically the performance of the employees and hence I need to have critical thinking skills. I need to be curious to challenge the existing norms of the organisation; especially they are unfair and unjustified. I also need to have good knowledge regarding the learning and development aspect, as I need to formulate the best method for enhancing the learning of the employees. I also should have the knowledge of maintaining optimum employee relations in which I must strive to reduce the level of interpersonal conflicts between the team members. In my professional endeavour, I strived to focus on the organisation design, which would benefit the overall organisational development.

When I was employed in Airbus Defence and Space as an HR Business Partner, then I realised the fact that I need to display behaviours that reinstalled employee engagement in my organisation. During my work tenure, I have made an adequate number of policies for improving the inter-personal relationships between the employees of the organisation. I have focused on games such as Tambola, hitting bull’s eye, teamwork, free eye check-up, stress-managed seminars and others, which encouraged the employees to bond with each other.

These skills, knowledge and the behaviours of HR shape the overall organisational policies and are responsible for organisational success. A good learning and development activity provides opportunities for the employees to have updated knowledge concerning their job role. This allows them to employ only updated methods to carry out their job responsibilities (Rudolph, Toomey and Baltes 2017). I also understood the fact that strategic human resource management is all about capturing the human potential. HR is responsible for enhancing the human talent on behalf of the organisation so that they are able to fulfil organisational objectives.

Resource Planning and Employee Engagement

The project management is the discipline of the initiation, planning, execution, controlling and the closure of team’s work so that specific goals are being accomplished (Ong, Wang and Zainon 2016). A project is unique and it is not a routine operation since specific operations set needs to be formulated for the specified project goals. Project management is essentially the application of the skills, tools and knowledge techniques to the various project activities so that the project requirements are being met (Ong, Wang and Zainon 2016). The basic challenge of the project management is the application of the management skills as well as technical skills.

The Gantt chart is one unique form of the bar chart in which the project schedule is being illustrated (Sharon and Dori 2017). They demonstrate the start as well as finish dates of the elements of the project and specify the person responsible for the individual tasks. The terminal elements, as well as summary elements of a Gantt chart, demonstrate the work breakdown structure of the project. These kinds of charts are useful as they show the dependency relationships between multiple project activities (Ong, Wang and Zainon 2016). The stakeholders of the organisation would be able to understand the multiple tasks of a project along with the timelines at a glance, which helps them to plan their schedule accordingly. They would also be able to understand the progress of the team and the factors that are exactly lacking in the tasks. They give clarity to the understanding of the independent elements of the project.

A Gantt chart is also used in my organisation to achieve better project outcomes. It is used to understand how the individual tasks are inter-related and how the work would be completed. When I worked in Airbus Defence and Space, I found out that Gantt chart is used to schedule various tasks for big projects. The projects in the defence sector are big, use sophisticated instruments and have strict deadlines (Boulmetis and Dutwin 2014). This is the reason that the big projects need to be broken down into smaller components. Gantt chart is also used to demonstrate the communicating and consulting function in the project management.

There are considered as the several tools that are used in the project management. One of the most important techniques is the program evaluation and review technique (PERT), in which the critical path of the project is being identified (MacCrimmon 2016). This tool is helpful in the planning and the scheduling of complex projects in which realistic estimates regarding activity duration can be created. Another tool used in the project management is the work breakdown structure (WBS), which is delivery oriented work decomposition.

Behaviour and Skills of HR Professionals

The planning and action plans in project management are important as the action plans defines clear goals as well as a clear allocation of the resources (Ong, Wang and Zainon 2016). The action plans can be done by using a simple planning template in order to collect tasks, assignments and deadlines. All the critical information needs to be collected before making the action plan.

The critical path analysis of Gantt chart helps one to illustrate all the important tasks that are part of the overall project. This would help in better management of the project, which would help the manager to keep a track of the accomplishment of the project goals (Ong, Wang and Zainon 2016). The identification of the deliverables is the first step that is different from the determination of the cost structure for the project.

The role of HR in project management is immense as it focuses on the recruitment of a project, management and organisation, monitoring of the project till its completion (Kerzner 2013). HR also motivates the project team so that they can complete the project in a better manner (Kerzner 2013). HR also acts in the team building by mapping diverse individuals and like-minded people in the project management team. I have involved myself in the use of Gantt chart in analyzing the key HR functions and it has proved to be quite helpful.

Various problem management tools are used in HR domain. Two of the most effective problem management techniques are determined below-

• Brainstorming- Whenever there is a problem, it is important to list down all the possible solutions that you can undertake (Goetsch and Davis 2014). You should also strive to determine innovative ideas in solving your problem. When I was working as HR professional, I have made small sessions of brainstorming with multiple teams, which has helped us to choose the best possible options.
• Positive thinking- It is important to incorporate positive thinking when trying to solve problems in the workplace (Goetsch and Davis 2014). This would not only help the individuals to arrive at a conclusion but it would also help to improve interpersonal relationships. For example, while working with a team, I had encountered problems relating to language. As the team was a mixture of people from diverse backgrounds, it became a problem to understand their language. However, the positive factor form this was the fact that business done with the local people of this region can prove effective as the team members can be used for sealing the deal.

The group dynamics is considered as the study, analysis as well as understanding of the different psychological behaviours concerned with group interactions (Levi 2015). The whole process of group dynamics is more complex and it is important to motivate the team at regular intervals. The balance theory of the group dynamics is concerned with the fact that the groups are formed when the individuals are being attracted to each other (Goetsch and Davis 2014). This attraction is caused due to a result of the identical attitudes towards the common goals or objects (Beauchamp and Eys 2014). When there is positive group dynamics, then there is positive teamwork, which leads to greater accomplishment of the organisational outcomes. For example, when there is a group meeting, then it is expected that all the group members would present themselves in an amicable manner (Goetsch and Davis 2014). If there is a good presentation of each other’s views, then there would be overall organisational productivity.

Learning and Development Activity

As compared to the balance theory, the Tuckman/Lewis theory specifies that there are several stages of the team formation in which the team cohesion is being built on. There are several stages of the group dynamics such as forming, storming, norming and performing. The group dynamics encourage relationship building and leader incorporates different styles of leadership (Giddens et al.2016). This is being advanced in cases when the team is able to produce another successive leader and the earlier leader can proceed towards making a new team.

The conflicts are an inevitable part of the team and the individual differences usually aggravate in conflicts in due course of time. Conflict is seen in every workplace and it is not true that all conflicts are destructive (Auhet al. 2014).The healthy conflicts are one of the characteristics of effective teams, which helps them to gain constructive consensus. The three methods that can be used to minimize the conflicts in my organisation and their subsequent effectiveness is identified below-

• Counselling- There are instances in my organisation where there is a large number of conflicts in the workplace. In such situation, the concerned parties are not eager to listen to each other. Counselling on one to one basis can be done in such a situation where the counsellor should do careful listening to the different complaints made by the concerned person (Auhet al. 2014). This is effective in scenarios where the individuals feel that their point is not being listened.
• Active listening- There are instances when the concerned parties are not being able to express their opinions. A person who would be able to do active listening to the problem and identify the characteristic behaviour of the agitated person would go a long mile in resolving the conflict (Barsky 2016). The active listening also concerns with asking different questions, which would help in the understanding of the main issue. This technique is effective in responding to the actual content of the grievance would help the agitated person to lower down his anger.
• Negotiation- This process comprises of giving several options to the agitated parties, which would provide the best solution to their conflicts (Auhet al. 2014). This process demands little time but it is one of the most effective ways of resolving conflicts in a group (Pruitt 2013). The negotiation process is effective since this gives the concerned person options to solve the matter.

I have a good number of years working in the corporate field. There are many situations in which I was being forced to influence and negotiate with the people. In times of promotion, I have persuaded my seniors that I have given good performances all the year due to which I should be given promotion. It is not that I am making false statements, but there are wicked colleagues who try to hamper my progress by jeopardising my tasks. Hence, I influenced my seniors by showing them actual samples of my work and proof of my work. This made me realise that I have actually done good work and hence made them eligible for promotion.

Once there were issues with two members of my staff in my workplace belonging to different cultural backgrounds. I was from Saudi Arabia while one of my colleagues was from Europe. My colleague said that it is fine for the girls to wear short dresses while I see that as an obscene gesture. This resulted in an argument to which I negotiated with him stating that in his country, it may be all right, but in Saudi, girls are expected to cover themselves and expose as little as possible. I gave him options such as do you want to go back to his own country, continue working in Saudi or change his mindset when he is abroad. This made him realize his mistake and he chose the third option of altering his mindset according to the country he is working.

Applying Project Management Techniques in HR

I need to develop my HR professional skills by the month of July so that I can pursue a successful career in the department of HR based on my speciality.

Requirement to learn	Steps required to achieve it	Resources needed	Success criteria	Time line
Identify proper way to mitigate conflict	Read more on conflict management technique and witness conflict management system in a practical manner	Books from libraries and scenarios from the internet	Success criteria will be after a conflict has been mitigated successfully with each of the party fulfilling their aim	March
Analyse team problems in an effective manner	Be a part of a team and try to find out the basic problems within a team	A under developed group consisting of people from multi-cultures	Getting each member to trust one another while undertaking a project	May
Make proper plan for managing projects	Develop a project and try to complete it on time	Support from co-workers and peers	Completion of the job within the deadline and challenging myself to undertake more difficult tasks	July

Table 1: Self-assessment HR professional development needs

(Source: Created by author)

Month	Requirement	Reasons	Experience gained	Utilisation of the experience
March	Developing a proper conflict management technique	Conflict management in these days are important so that peace in the organisation can be maintained by satisfying the concerned parties	Based on this I can understand the easy method by which I can solve the problems related to work and pay	I can use the experience to mitigate any conflict situation that demands my expertise
May	Develop a team that supports and maintains good coordination with one another	Team work is essential for the success of an organisation as an individual cannot be enough to meet all the requirements of an organisation	Management within a team can be understood and I can interact with people possessing different thoughts, opinions and cultures	The experience can be used to maintain cohesion among team members
July	Be involved in a complex project to test the managing abilities	Completing projects on time can help an organisation save resources and finances	Time management can be learned from this experience along with the ways to manage resources	This experience can be used while being in a project

Table 2: Personal Development Plan

(Source: Created by author)

I wish to undertake HR training courses, which would help me to become successful in this career domain. I have decided that I would take active steps when I am faced with conflict situations and I would try to resolve the conflicts. I aim to join some professional group development courses where I can actively enhance my decision-making capabilities.

Conclusion

It is important to implement the skills that are required to be a successful HR manager. I have identified different important dynamics in organisations such as conflict resolution methods, group dynamics, problem management techniques and others. I have also identified my shortcoming as becoming a successful HR professional. This assignment made me realise the most important factors of the human resource management and the ways by which I can become a successful professional.

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