Reflective Essay: HR's Role in Business - Acacia Learning, CIPD DHRM

This essay is a reflective account of learning across several units related to Human Resource Management (HRM). It covers topics such as business issues and the context of HR, managing and coordinating HR functions, developing professional practice, using information in HR, resource and talent planning, improving organizational performance, implementing coaching and mentoring, and employee engagement. The reflection demonstrates an understanding of HR roles, strategy formulation, internal and external environment analysis, and the importance of employee satisfaction. It also highlights the development of professional skills, understanding of team dynamics, and the application of learning styles in future HR leadership roles. The essay emphasizes the significance of talent management, succession planning, legal compliance, organizational culture, and employee engagement in driving business success.

Reflective essay

Unit 1: Business Issues and the contexts of HR
Human resource management plays a critical role in the success of any organization. In this unit,
we learnt about various business issues that organizations face. We learnt about various HR roles
as explained by David Ulrich. These roles can be divided into that of a strategic partner, change
agent, employee champion and administrative expert. We applied different theories learnt in this
course to KSUMC which is a leading hospital. We conducted internal and external environment
analysis which helps us in evaluating different stakeholder interests. We also learnt about steps
of strategy formulation and implementation.
As a future HR manager, these learnings would help me become better aware of the human
resources required for the business. If the organization is undergoing a change, then hiring would
be focused on people who can act as change agents. On the other hand, senior level employees
would be hired as strategic partners. Conducting an internal or external environment analysis
including Porter’s model and SWOT would also help in assessing what my competitors are
doing. The step by step analysis would also help me formulate and implement strategies for the
growth of the firm as an HR manager.
Unit 2: Managing and coordinating the human resource function
In this unit we learnt about various human resource functions and how can managers work
towards managing and coordinating between the two. We also learnt about the pros and cons of
outsourced HR and in-house HR service. Another important learning of this unit was
understanding various functions of small and medium enterprises as well as large multinational
organizations.

As an HR manager, it is also important to evaluate the contribution of various HR functions in an
organization. In order to accomplish the same, we learnt about benchmarking, balanced score
cards, service level agreements and key performance indicators. I am sure as a future HR
manager, these parameters will largely help me in understanding the impact of different HR
functions in the organization.
A critical learning from this unit was the importance of employee satisfaction. I learnt different
strategies that can be adopted to ensure and measure employee satisfaction. These include
employee satisfaction surveys, one on one reviews and focus group discussions. A basic
understanding of these measures will help me as an HR manager to ensure employee satisfaction
in the organization and hence ensure increased levels of employee retention.
Unit 3: Developing professional Practice
This was an extremely important unit and helped us understand what it means to be an HR
professional and what are the career stages than an HR professional goes through. We also learnt
about ten professional areas, eight behaviors and four bands of professional competency in the
field of human resources. This model personally helped me identify a large number of skills and
behaviors that I possesses and will help me in my HR career.
Different stages of team work were also identified and analyzed in this unit. This understanding
helped me gain deeper insight about what different team members go through while working in a
team during different stages. As a future HR manager, this unit helped me understand how to
effectively lead a team during its different stages in order to ensure maximum output from all
team members.

We also conducted several activities to understand my learning style in order to enhance my
knowledge. My learning style is ‘Theorist’ wherein I tend to learn from models, conclude from
experience and logically analyze different ideas. This learning at this stage of my life will guide
my future role as an HR manager by tracking my learning and focusing deeply on training and
development.
Unit 4: Using information in human resources
In this particular unit we learnt about several issues, challenges and practices in the HR of
various organizations. Findings from different interviews, surveys and literature were thoroughly
conducted. As future HR leaders we learnt about the importance of leadership in succession
planning for any business. A great leader would always plan his or her succession in an effective
manner. I also specifically learnt about various factors that might hamper the succession
planning process. These factors include resistance, foot dragging and demand for performance
management. Therefore, as an effective leader I will make sure that I work towards creating a
positive environment for growth of employees in the business. I also learnt that as leader it is
essential to recognize potential future leaders and mentor them in order to enable them to take
future responsibility. I also learnt the importance of preparing future leaders for the roles that
they are about to embark upon. Specifically it is crucial that the entire succession planning
process is linked with organizational goals. As an HR executive I will consider efficient use of
available resources and personal as well as organizational goals of the business in order to make
the succession planning process a massive success.
Unit 5: Resource and talent planning

Resourcing the right candidates for several jobs in the organization is highly essential to manage
talent in an effective manner. The primary step in ensuring effective talent management involves
recruiting the right candidates for the right jobs in the business. Employment contracts of
different employees must also be efficiently framed and designed to legally bind employees and
employers together. These contracts are aimed at safeguarding employee as well as employer
rights and prevent each other from exploiting each other.
We also learnt about conducting a gap analysis between the existing human resources and
required human resources for the successful and efficient functioning of any organization. The
role of the HR is to make sure that appropriate number of employees are associated with the firm
at any given point of time. As a future HR leader I understood the importance of recruiting and
how it forms the backbone of every successful organization.
Lastly, this unit also helped us gain insight about several laws that bind organizations and its HR
practices. These laws like UK’s Equality act and Data protection act have been designed to
safeguard the rights of employers as well as employees and hence an HR executive must possess
sufficient information about the same.
Unit 6: Improving organizational performance
As an HR manager, a critical role that needs to be played involves improving overall
organizational performance of the business. We have learnt that establishing a high performing
organizational culture is the responsibility of the HR manager. Organizational culture directly
impacts employee performance and employee’s levels of satisfaction. Therefore HR executives
must make sure that employee performances are effectively managed and organizational culture
is motivating and performing.

As a future HR leader, I also understood various strategies that can be adopted to improve
organizational culture. These strategies include setting a clear vision, creating transparent
channels of communication and ensuring effective levels training, induction, appraisals and
development sessions for employees. These strategies would help me in my role as a future HR
leader in effectively managing employee performances. This proficient performance
management strategy will also ensure a fair working practice and help me remain ethical in the
performance evaluation process.
This improved organization culture is what will give rise to high performing teams and in turn
high performing organizations. As a leader I have learnt about several steps that can be taken to
improve organization culture and lead to the creation of high performing teams. I will make sure
that I apply these strategies while evaluating performance of my team members.
Unit 7: Implementing coaching and mentoring
Coaching and mentoring are process and strategies that are adopted by businesses to collaborate
with their employees in an effective manner so as to make sure that these employees perform to
the best of their abilities. This unit helped in learning that personal growth and development of
employees is also the responsibility of the HR. Coaching and mentoring process will help the HR
of a business in guiding employees towards setting and attaining their personal goals in line with
those of the organization.
This would lead to increased employee satisfaction and improved employee performance. Such
steps would also create a positive relationship between employees and employers and hence help
them both in creating a culture of mutual growth and respect.

I also learnt how coaching and mentoring are different from each other while I also learnt how
both of them can be mutually adopted by organizations in order to improve employee
performance. There are different types of coaching in the business. This includes performance
coaching, career coaching and executive coaching. As a future HR leader, I learnt the importance
and the correct timing for each of these types of coaching and I am sure that the learnings from
this unit will help me in creating a better learning environment for the employees of the
organization.
Unit 8: Employee engagement
Employee engagement has gained importance in the recent years after organizations have
understood the importance of keeping employees engaged in the business in order to retain them
in the longer run. Employee engagement creates a sense of belongingness for employees which
is highly crucial in order to keep them motivated in the business. Increased sense of employee
engagement will also create an additional level of commitment among employees and hence
create a sense of ownership towards the business. This sense of ownership is highly important in
order for employees to perform to the best of their abilities.
Increased levels of employee engagement can be achieved by building trust, commitment,
motivation and loyalty. This improved the overall working culture of the organization. There are
various drivers for an engaged workforce. This includes regular trainings, meetings and other
forms of improved communication. As a future HR manager, I would make sure that I put the
required efforts in increasing levels of employee engagement within the business. The unit and
this entire course has been extremely helpful and will help me understand and identify my
responsibilities as an HR leader of a future business.