Developing Professional Practice
Developing Professional Practice
1. Professionalism
The Oxford English Dictionary states the following meanings of the word ‘professional’:
1. ‘a person engaged or qualified in a profession’
2. ‘a person competent or skilled in a particular activity’
In other words, an HR professional needs to have the necessary ability, knowledge and skills in the field of people management. However, that is not enough. One also has to be able to apply them in a consistent manner, i.e. one has to be professional at all times, at the same, high, level. This means that it is important for a professional to continue to develop his/her competence, taking into consideration the continuously changing environment and demands.
The CIPD has developed a core set of knowledge, skills and behaviours that an HR practitioner needs to possess and develop in order to be competent. This core set is incorporated in the CIPD Professional Map and covers the following professional areas:
These areas are the key aspects where HR can contribute to the organisations’ performance and support the overall organisational strategy. Because ultimately HR is only a small, yet important, part of a much bigger body that makes up the organisation. Therefore HR needs to be aligned with the organisational goals and the HR professional needs to be fully engaged with them. This is the ‘Performance’ part of the ‘People/Performance Partnership’.
In addition, the CIPD believes that the HR professional needs to display the following behaviours:
As reflected especially in the behaviour part of the HR professional map, professionalism is about more than just performing well. It is also about the ethical dimension, in other words the ‘People’ part of the ‘People/Performance Partnership’, which focuses on compliance. The HR professional needs to continuously demonstrate the highest level of personal integrity, in the form of equity, transparency and fairness. This is
1. Professionalism
The Oxford English Dictionary states the following meanings of the word ‘professional’:
1. ‘a person engaged or qualified in a profession’
2. ‘a person competent or skilled in a particular activity’
In other words, an HR professional needs to have the necessary ability, knowledge and skills in the field of people management. However, that is not enough. One also has to be able to apply them in a consistent manner, i.e. one has to be professional at all times, at the same, high, level. This means that it is important for a professional to continue to develop his/her competence, taking into consideration the continuously changing environment and demands.
The CIPD has developed a core set of knowledge, skills and behaviours that an HR practitioner needs to possess and develop in order to be competent. This core set is incorporated in the CIPD Professional Map and covers the following professional areas:
These areas are the key aspects where HR can contribute to the organisations’ performance and support the overall organisational strategy. Because ultimately HR is only a small, yet important, part of a much bigger body that makes up the organisation. Therefore HR needs to be aligned with the organisational goals and the HR professional needs to be fully engaged with them. This is the ‘Performance’ part of the ‘People/Performance Partnership’.
In addition, the CIPD believes that the HR professional needs to display the following behaviours:
As reflected especially in the behaviour part of the HR professional map, professionalism is about more than just performing well. It is also about the ethical dimension, in other words the ‘People’ part of the ‘People/Performance Partnership’, which focuses on compliance. The HR professional needs to continuously demonstrate the highest level of personal integrity, in the form of equity, transparency and fairness. This is
Bibliography: & Sources • Oxford English Dictionary • Marchington, M., Wilkinson, A. (2008) Human Resource Management at work • CIPD website: www.cipd.co.uk • Sung, J., Ashton, D. (2005) High Performance Work Practices: linking strategy and skills to performance outcomes • EEF (2003) Maximising employee potential and business performance: the role of high performance working • CIPD survey (2007) The changing HR function • VARK website: www.vark-learn.com