16.1 Positions within human resources
It is important to note that you may work in one or more of these positions based on where you are working and the industry you are working in. If you work in a large organisation, you may only be responsible for one or two of the below duties, but working in a smaller company, you may be required to carry out all of the below.
Recruitment managers
As a recruitment manager, you will be required to source potential applicants from adverts, colleges, and competing companies. You will be involved in the search process along with interviewing potential applicants after screening has taken place. You will be involved in the final hiring decisions. Others may be involved in the internal placement transfer. As a recruitment manager, you may find yourself working as an employment manager, college recruiter, interviewer, head hunter, and test administrator.
Training and development specialist
A training and development specialist is a human resources manager who focuses on developing and coordinating training and development within the company. You will be responsible for the orientation of new team members and ensure that employees have the necessary tools and skills needed to complete their jobs to the highest standard at all times. You will also be requires to create procedures, training aids, and manuals for the company. You will handle all training programmes. In this role, you may find yourself working as a junior training specialist, a career planner, a recruiter, a technical recruitment specialist, or even an orientation specialist.
Compensation specialist
A compensation specialist is responsible for evaluating job systems, writing descriptions, implementing incentives, managing salaries, and more. You will need to be able to executive various programmes. If you work as a compensation specialist then you may work as a salary administrator, a compensation manager, a compensation analyst, or an EEO administrator, to name a few.
Benefits specialist
A benefits specialist is responsible for providing counselling and information to employees focusing on benefits. This means analysing the benefits currently provided to ensure that they are effective in your retention programme. A benefits specialist usually works as a group insurance manager, benefits administrator, or even an employee assistance programme manager.
Labour relations supervisor
This position will have you ensuring that employee and employer relationships are maintained to the highest standard at all times. You will work on employee grievances and union contracts, you may be involved in the negotiation of agreements, and you will be required to handle all labour relations issues within the company. Your job if you are a labour relations supervisor may be an employee counsellor, an arbitrator, mediator, or a labour relations specialist.
Health and safety specialist
Every company is responsible for ensuring that their health and safety standards are met and adhered to. This falls under the description of human resources where you will need to develop programmes and conduct inspections in order to protect employees at all times. You will also be required to collect accident reports and report any incidents. Your job in this sector will include security specialist, employee welfare manager, or even a safety specialist.
16.2 Human resource jobs based on skills and abilities
As you increase your knowledge and experience within the human resource industry, you may want to consider branching into other aspects of this challenging and yet rewarding career. Learn as much as you can about each position along with skills needed to identify which is the right choice for you.
Training and development manager
Boost employee performance through ongoing training and development. Create, manage, and evaluate training programmes within the company.
Skills you will need to have include:
-Creativity
-Problem solving
-Presentation skills
-Being a people person
-Non-profit HR professional
Manage a number of employee programmes including arts and education. For this role, you will need the following skills:
-You will need to be resourceful
-You will need to be passionate about the cause
-Excellent project management skills
-IT recruitment specialist
Recruit, interview, and place in this fast paced environment that is always changing and, therefore, very challenging and exciting. Skills needed include:
-Communication skills
-Excellent negotiation skills
-Understanding of the latest technology and IT needs. Global HR specialist
Manage international employees from sourcing to recruiting to managing and maintaining. Skills required:
-Linguistic skills
-Legal knowledge
-Business insight
-Be interested in diversity.
Executive recruiter
Find senior executives for job openings in companies of all sizes and in all industries. For this high level position, you will need:
-Networking skills
-Negotiation skills
-Business experience
-Competitor knowledge.
16.3 Duties
A human resource manager is responsible for a number of duties that are diverse, interesting, and exciting, such as:
-Coordinating the company's employees based on their skills and abilities
-Administration of employee services
-Linking the company's management with the employees
-Giving the manager advice and directing them in terms of equal employment opportunity, discrimination, and harassment, to name a few
-Supervising support staff
-Overseeing recruitment, interviewing, hiring, and selection
-Managing any issues regarding employees, from handling disputes to managing disciplinary procedures
Every company, no matter their size, focuses on attracting and retaining the best staff based on their position. It is the duty of the HR manager to achieve this, which is why there is so much career growth within this industry, as it is a full time position managing employees and overseeing them on a daily basis. As a HR manger, you will need to ensure legal considerations are met at all times. You will oversee payroll, training, new employee hires, and so much more.
You will work with the company to identify the best employees who are going to drive the company forward in the future. The HR manager is responsible for communicating with the executives of the company on strategic planning. They work on ways to improve the employee value and ensure all employees are being used effectively. Depending on the size of the company, you may also be responsible for the payroll, training and development, hiring and retention of staff, and more. In 2012, there were more than 100,000 human resource managers in almost every single industry.
The most common industries included:
-Company management
-Government
-Manufacturing
--Technical and professional services
Health care
These days, human resource managers can either work in a company within their own HR department or they can work for an independent company which provides an outsourcing service to save companies time, energy, and money in the long run. Which one you decide will be based on your own personal preference. A human resource manager will usually work on a full time basis Monday through to Friday for 40 hours a week.
16.4 Understanding career development
Career development is a host of activities in order to develop a career. This means either within the same company or within a number of different companies. Often, career development means training in new skills, making a change in career within the same company, or taking on more responsibility in the long run. Career development is usually linked to the individual's goals, which means that this needs to start with self-assessment based on their interests and capabilities. Their interests should be matched with the positions and duties currently available or the training possibilities to help them get the skills needed to boost their career prospects moving forward.
The career ladder
The career ladder is the vertical growth of any employee within the company. This means various positions held by the employee in order to achieve their goals within the company. An employee is likely to move up vertically as they take on more duties and roles within the company and their department. In order to assist your employees and yourself, it is worthwhile drawing up a career ladder for employees, helping them see their career development opportunities in front of them if they work for it. This will give them an indication of the possibility of promotion and job responsibilities in the future. Every employee has the ability to grow and this will also help the HR department in
identifying what training is needed based on future growth.
Career path
The career path is based on the employee's growth within the company and the path they are going to have to take in order to reach their goals. The path is a chart of their movements within the company. They may move vertically or laterally and even from one job role to another to reach their goals.
Career counselling
As a HR manager, it is worthwhile providing employees with career counselling, helping them identify their goals, and giving them the coaching and mentoring they need to achieve those goals moving forward. As a career counsellor within your HR role, you will work on keeping the employee with the company by working on their career path, development, and changes they may have to make in the future. You will assist them with self-analysis and assessments, giving them the tools to help you identify what jobs will suit their interests and skills.
Career mobility
Career mobility is the movement of employees when it comes to positions and grades within the company. This means they can move across, down, or even up, changing their occupation as they go. Career mobility is a choice made by the employer and the employee. An employee may choose career mobility due to an increase in pay or a new job. It is possible for this to be forced by the company as a merger agreement, rather than losing the staff member altogether. It may be part of their restructuring process. Career mobility relates to career development, job
advancement, and personal satisfaction, ensuring employees change roles to meet their ever changing needs and new skills they have gained over their time with the company.
16.5 Career development plan
It is important to keep in mind that there is a significant difference between a performance appraisal and a career development plan. The two should not be confused at any stage. Performance appraisals focus on the manager's perception of an employee's contribution to the company. Career development, on the other hand, is a future-focused plan of what you want to learn and how you want to contribute to the company. In order for any employee to feel happy and satisfied in their job role, they need to have their professional and personal growth taken into consideration to ensure that their career is constantly moving. The career plan should be discussed between the HR manager and employee to ensure both parties are satisfied moving forward. The employee will need to complete a self-assessment, which is often available on the intranet as part of the HR toolkit. The HR department should provide employees with a unique user name, enabling them to identify the results to help them put a career development plan together.
Ask employees to take the following into consideration as they complete their self- assessment:
-Their skills and talents
-What skills they enjoy using the most
-Do they want to expand their ability to contribute towards the company's success?
-What parts of their job interest them the most?
-What do they want to learn about?
-Where do they feel they could add more value?
-What could they do to increase their job satisfaction moving forward?
When creating the career development plan, it is important to consider:
-The results from the self-assessment
-Previous performance appraisals. Trends in the future which could impact your skills and knowledge
-Letters of appreciation and customer feedback
-What is holding the employee back from achieving their goals.
It is important when developing a career development plan that you focus on the short and long term. This means setting time frames for each plan which will vary from employee to employee. Some employees will thrive on a short-term plan which covers the next three months, while others will need more time and manage a longer term plan a lot better, giving them time to get the certification they need and obtain that promotion they have been working towards. The development plan must be completed as a joint effort with the employee. It is a road map to their career future, after all. This means setting goals and getting them started on training to reach milestones and objectives.
Career development is a planning process which should also be focused on the company's needs, goals, and objectives. It is important the company be happy with the employee's performance. This is why career development should be a plan from both the HR and the employee side, making sure both are working towards the same goals.
All career development plans need to:
-Provide recognition to employees who have unique abilities and needs
-Motivate employees to reach their goals
-Help employees grow and move given the right guidance and encouragement.
16.6 Techniques
Career planning isn't a quick exercise to complete. It requires information which must then be used to develop procedures and programmes to help employees achieve success through planning, performance, and commitment. The procedures to use in order to ensure career development planning is effective include mentoring, personal development planning, career counselling and training, and management development. The career development planning process may fast track those considered as “rising stars.' It will accelerate promotion deliberately to provide these employees with a chance to showcase their talents.
Career counselling
Career counselling is part of a performance management process and focuses on sessions held between the employee and their manager. During this session, they should discuss their goals, their aspirations, and how they want to progress within the company. Career development proposals should be put forward.
Personal development planning
This is a process which is done by the employee under guidance from their HR department. The plan sets out what they want to learn and how they wish to develop within the company. The aim of this is to put a learning framework in place to help them realise their dreams moving forward.
Management development
Management development is a formal approach which includes the development of a position through monitoring, coaching, feedback, and counselling from the managers on a regular basis. This is part of the performance management process and is used to identify the progress of certain employees. This management development is conducted through work experience such as job rotations and action learning, for example. It may also include some internal and external courses.
Mentoring
Mentoring is a process used in thousands of companies around the world to help train employees and provide them with guidance to develop their careers. Mentoring is learning on the job and helps employee gain the skills and knowledge they need to progress in the future. This type of training complements formal training, giving employees on the job work experiences and training to help them grow and gain essential skills to achieve their goals. Mentoring is when an employee is given another employee to work with. The employee will help them, guide them, and provide them with skills to complete a new job within the company to the highest standard. The best time of day to ask your boss for a pay rise is first thing in the morning. Always avoid times when they are hungry or about to leave the office, as you will never grab their attention for very long!
FACT
The best time of day to ask your boss for a pay rise is first thing in the morning. Always avoid times when they are hungry or about to leave the office, as you will never grab their attention for very long!
Source: dnaindia.com
16.7 Career development process
The career development process is a general map to boost career opportunities for employees moving forward. It gives a clear understanding on technical and behavioural competencies needed to perform certain tasks and to use in their career planning exercises moving forward. The career development plan is a reference document to be used by the HR manager and employee to identify developmental opportunities. Career development is not a once off process, it is ongoing.
This is because:
-It explores employees' abilities and interests on a regular basis
-It helps employees plan their career goals for the future
-It creates a working environment with learning and action, pushing employees to reach their own goals on a daily basis.
Career development requires employees to constantly be reminded of their goals and what they want to achieve. It also reminds the HR department of what learning needs to be implemented in order to help the employee reach their full potential in the future.
Career development is meant to:
-Enhance the employees performance
-Help employees get promotions within the company
-Help employees meet the company's goals
-Create an effective and dynamic work force.
Unfortunately, the employment market has not been very stable in all industries in the UK for some time now. This means that employees want to feel valued and they need to be loyal to the company. Helping them develop a career development plan and working towards that plan will aid in the retention of that employee for years to come. In order to ensure the employee continues to be successful at work and be productive daily, it requires careful career planning. The employee is responsible for their own career development, but it is HR's duty to help them make it happen and provide them with the assistance they need to reach their goals.
Career development actions
-From the employee
-Identify what they expect from their chosen career
-Take action to identify what areas they want to develop
-Develop their career development plan with the HR department
-Work with their supervisor to ensure they are given on the job training opportunities and education.
From the HR manager
-Identify the employee's abilities, skills, knowledge, and experience
-Help the employee determine long and short term developmental plans
-Show you support the development plan by providing steps to help the employee reach their goals.
From the company
-Provide a compensation structure that supports the company's goals and allows employees to grow
-Provide a training budget
-Use employee abilities to support the company's objectives
-Develop an effective approach when it comes to staffing needs. 16.8 Career development plan / employee development plan
This is part of the performance management system and should be revisited regularly by employees, managers, HR managers, and supervisors to identify personal learning goals of employees within the company. This will help you identify the right steps and resources needed to put an effective plan together to help the employee achieve their goals in the next few months to a year. The employee development plan or EDP should cover short and long term goals, along with any education, training, and learning needed to achieve those goals. In order for the EDP to work, it needs to have clear communication, information, willingness to succeed, and decision making between employee and HR manager.
Information
The information for the EDP will be the employee having a good understanding of their own career goals, preferences, and strengths. They should have some opinion on what they expect for their career progression within the company. This helps to create an effective career development plan to be managed and monitored by the employee and their manager. Incorporate the use of career maps to show the employee the route they need to take to reach their end goal, along with the skills, knowledge, and experience they will need moving forward.
Communication
An employment development plan does require communication between the employee and their HR manger to identify their goals. Today, companies are changing quickly and projects start and end, budgets go up and down, and skills needed can change from one day to the next. This means that it is your responsibility to ensure the EDP is kept up to date and that the needs of the company are anticipated to ensure the employee gets the best career development and training experience.
Joint decision making
EDPs and career development plans are different from one employee to the next, but they need to be decided on jointly in order to work. An employee needs to focus on their current work load, any funding available, and how they want to progress in their career. The HR manager needs to focus on their employees' goals while focusing on the company's larger goals and objectives. They also have to focus on what training funds are available.
Willing to learn
No one can force an employee to learn and advance. Good employees are often expected to move up the career ladder automatically without being taken through the career ladder process. A willingness to learn by the employee is a sign that they are worth the effort and money and this is essential to their career success in the long run.
Employees need to be creative when it comes to building their careers. Managers need to be aware of employee development needs and make the opportunities available to those employees, assisting them in achieving their career goals moving forward.
Every employee is unique
It is important to keep in mind that you cannot put one career development plan in place for all employees, as each employee is unique. Employees have different values, skills, goals, and interests, and they want different things in their chosen careers. This must all be taken into consideration. In some instances, you will come across a job that has similar descriptions, but they are different to how the company achieves its own goals moving forward.
As an employee works their way through the ranks, keep in mind that not all jobs are the same and in order for them to be successful, they will need to develop the knowledge and skills needed to achieve their goals and assist the company in achieving its goals.
Module summary
This module provided you with information on career development opportunities within the human resources sector along with the skills you need to progress in your own career. It also provided you with valuable insight on career development plans and how to work with your employees to help them grow within the company and achieve their own goals in the future.
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