Developing yourself as an effective practitioner

1. Activity A

Summary of the CIPD HR Profession Map

Activities and Knowledge specified within 1 professional band

2. Activity B

Report on how HR practioner should ensure service they provide is timely and effective:

Understanding customer needs

Effective communicating

Effective service delivery

3. Activity C

My HR Map

4. Activity D

Performance

Activity A

Summary of the CIPD HR Profession Map

The CIPD HR map has been designed to provide a standard for professionals within HR to measure their progress and assess their standards against a marker that is recognised all over the world and in diffferent sectors.

It covers 10 professional areas, looks at 8 behavious and provides a banding structure, starting at Band 1 right through to Band 4 for those leaders in HR, as a measure of competence.(Diagram below)

Diagram of HR Professional Map

The behaviours describe in detail how an HR professional needs to carry out their activities. Each behaviour is described at four bands of professional competence. There are eight behaviours which have been shown in the diagram above.

The Eight Behaviours of an HR Professional

Curious

Is future-focused, inquisitive and open-minded; seeks out evolving and innovative ways to add value to the organisation.

Decisive Thinker

Demonstrates the ability to analyse and understand data and information quickly. Uses information, insights and knowledge in a structured way to identify options, make recommendations and make robust, defendable decisions.

Skilled Influencer

Demonstrates the ability to influence to gain the necessary commitment and support from diverse stakeholders in pursuit of organisation value.

Personally Credible

Builds and delivers professionalism through combining commercial and HR expertise to bring value to the organisation, stakeholders and peers.

Collaborative

Works effectively and inclusively with a range of people, both within and outside of the organisation.

Driven to deliver

Demonstrates determination, resourcefulness and purpose to deliver the best results for the organisation.

Courage to challenge

Shows courage and confidence to speak up skillfully, challenging others even when confronted with resistance or unfamiliar circumstances.

Role Model

Consistently leads by example. Acts with integrity, impartiality and independence, balancing personal, organisation and legal parameters.

Band 1 – the band one person delivers the essentials to the organisation, meeting deadlines and targets, providing support and processing data, efficiently and accurately and does not rely on others to get things done.

Activity B
A Timely and Effective HR Practioner

Customer of HR within an organisation

Employees

Payroll

Managers

Employees within an organisation need HR to provide advice regarding policies, such as Maternity/Paternity Leave, Job Evaluation, Equal Pay Claims, Statement of Particulars, Pay queries.

Payroll need accurate information from HR regarding new employees who start within the organisation, resignations, changes to contractual hours

Managers seek advice from HR regarding employee relations, grievance advice and recruitment, vacancy filling.

Understanding Customer Needs

Often there can be many different types of queries in a day in an HR role. How would we prioritise over different tasks? An effective practitioner would evaluate what task we thought should be given priority and then we would discuss with the Line Manager to see if they agreed with this.

Most decisions are down to experience, top priority for HR is to make sure that people are paid correctly and indeed paid. If a employee had not been paid, or paid incorrectly, we would view this is as something that would need to be acted upon quickly. Other matters such as general queries regarding policies could wait and be dealt with effectively in a day or so, and of course this timescale should be conveyed to the customer, in this instance the employee.

If for example two matters, both with the same level of urgency came to the fore at the same time, then it would be wise to seek advice from Manager and ask him which task he would like dealth with first and find out if another member of the team could perhaps deal with the other one.

Effective communication

There are various methods of communication we can use as a HR Professional, and which method we choose will be dependent on the circumstances.

Listed below are three methods and their pros and cons.

Method of Communication
Advantages
Disadvantages
Verbal (Presentation)
Persuasive
Presentation – two way communication
Powerful – to sell decisions
Unlikely to sell a large idea without written evidence as back-up E-Mail
Timely
Cannot be recalled in error

Telephone
Personal, Warm and Timely
No paper trail
Can be open to misinterpretation

If for example we were trying to sell an idea of a change that we would like to implement, a report would indeed be factual, perhaps issued to Managers, who may not have the time to read it and would be your key influencers as to whether your idea would be approved or not.

It would be to your advantage to give a verbal and lively presentation, which would enable you to persuade your audience of the idea and also provide a two way conversation, with any questions Managers may have that may not not be immediately answered in the report format.

Telephone is a quick, warm and effective way of communication also, but regarding key decisions and action plans, conversations can be forgotton and also misinterpreted.

Effective Service Delivery

Delivering service on time and budget

Effective service delivery means that best practice guidelines have been followed, key time-scales have been met and customer is satisfied.

Handling and resolving Complaints

Resolving complaints requires a number of skills to provide a good outcome. On many occasions emotions can run to the fore and a good starting point is to state that you are here to listen effectively and try to help solve the problem.

Empathy with people can help to calm down high emotions and advice and practical help can also be very effective.

Dealing with difficult customers

Preparation is key for most types of difficult conversations and if possible it may be an idea to get the background of the complaint before responding. In the conversation, tone of voice and acknowledgement of the other person’s feelings can help to calm down emotion and get to the key facts of the problem.

Try to see clearly what the problem is and think ahead as to how you are able to solve the issue. There may be situations where in a public building the
difficult customer could be moved to a quieter area of the premises and assertive behaviour would have to be used on this occasion.

Activity C

My HR Map

Development Areas

The HR Map gave some practical suggestions and recommended pointers for me to develop. In relation to my current post, I plan to:

Study the fundementals of training needs analysis at both an orgnaisational and individual level. Apply my own knowledge of training needs analysis to your own team and make recommendations to your Manager. Apply my knowledge of training needs analysis to an individual by working with a colleague to identify their specific needs and training priorities.