Analysis of HR Skills, Attributes, and Development in Large MNCs

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes HR skills and practices at Royal Dutch Shell.

Skills and Attributes of HR – Professionals
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SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES OF HR PROFESSIONALS
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Scenario for LO1.............................................................................................................................3
Skills and Attributes of HR executive:........................................................................................3
» Knowledge and Expertise:................................................................................................3
» Presentation Skills:............................................................................................................4
» Ability to Multi-task:........................................................................................................4
» Be Able to Deal with “Grey” Areas:.................................................................................4
» Strong Sense of Ethics:.....................................................................................................4
» Strong Communication Skills:..........................................................................................4
» Leadership Abilities:.........................................................................................................5
» Strong Motivator:..............................................................................................................5
» Strong Conflict Management Skills:.................................................................................5
» Courage:............................................................................................................................5
Personal SWOT Analysis............................................................................................................6
Personal Development Plan:........................................................................................................6
Reflective Statement....................................................................................................................6
Scenario for LO2.............................................................................................................................7
Introduction to Royal Dutch Shell...............................................................................................7
Continuous Professional Development (CPD)............................................................................7
Difference between Organisational training and CPD...........................................................8
Analyze the need for CPD.......................................................................................................8
Learning Cycle Theory – Klob’s Learning Cycle.......................................................................9
Stage 1 Concrete Experience:..................................................................................................9
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SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES OF HR PROFESSIONALS
Stage 2 Reflection....................................................................................................................9
Stage 3 Conceptualize:............................................................................................................9
Stage 4 Plan:............................................................................................................................9
A CPD plan Shell.......................................................................................................................10
Applying Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in Shell.............................................10
Scenario for LO3...........................................................................................................................10
High Performance Working Model...........................................................................................10
HPW and Shell..........................................................................................................................11
Scenario for LO4...........................................................................................................................13
High Performance Culture.........................................................................................................13
HPW & HPC in Shell................................................................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
References......................................................................................................................................15
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SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES OF HR PROFESSIONALS
Introduction
The role of the HR executive in any company is crucial in the growth of the organisation. The
first and the foremost job of the HR is recruitment. Just as the supplier provides the raw material
to make products the HR job is to provide the human resource for the organisation. After having
provided the human resource this must be nurtured so that they continue to grow in the company
and remain loyal. The HR is expected to monitor the progress of the individuals and create an
environment where people get promoted, earn incentives and add to the growth of the
organisation. S/he needs to also weed out those who do not confirm with the company polices.
This is just the bare bones of the HRs job description. In today’s competitive environment, there
are many opportunities for people to flourish. The HR must control attrition and ensure that the
people are happy with in the organisation. Today an HR just does not manage the recruitment
and payroll function of any organisation but is a Talent Manager of the company.
This paper will pen down the skills and attributes required by the HR professional. What is the
required skill set and how does one become a good HR.
Then apply the same to any large MNC. The paper will see what the HR practices are followed
by Royal Dutch Shell. It will see how Shell utilizes learning and development to support people
and team members to help operate in High Performance Working (HPW).
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SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES OF HR PROFESSIONALS
Scenario for LO1
Skills and Attributes of HR executive:
Successful HR managers are those individuals who can fulfil a wide variety of role and who can
comprehensively motivate the staff to do their best. According to Mencl, Wefald and van
Ittersum,, 2016 when the HR function is considered any HR must be endowed with the following
skills. They are:
» Knowledge and Expertise:
Apart from having degree in HR, an HR manager must understand that learning is a
continuous process, s/he must always be ahead of the learning curve by staying updated
with the latest trends, ethics and the best practices of the profession. This requires both
discipline and dedication.
» Presentation Skills:
A better part of the HR’s job is downloading management goals and targets with all the
employees of the organisations. It is therefore necessary for the HR to be able to present
them in such a manner that is lively and engaging.
Apart from the above, a HR needs to conduct induction programs for new employees and
present a wide variety of information about the management to them.
A HR also needs write effectively and there should be no grammatical or spelling
mistakes in his/her written communication. S/he must be able to write a concise message
that holds the reader’s attention.
» Ability to Multi-task:
A typical day in the HR department will have to deal with many small problems that
come up from time to time. It may be something trivial as processing someone’s
maternity leave or dealing with a sexual harassment complaint. Each issue raised by the
employee is important to them and they have to solve them. It is very important to
understand the priorities and the needs are constantly evolving and shifting.
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SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES OF HR PROFESSIONALS
» Be Able to Deal with “Grey” Areas:
The HR has to take a call on the many grey areas that come up from time to time. Such as
is it harassment? Was there discrimination? Often this information is incomplete and s/he
needs to take the advice of the legal experts, fellow HR professional or counsellors. It is
necessary to take these tough calls and not sit on the issue.
» Strong Sense of Ethics:
The HR is the conscious of the company. When following company policies and
maintaining confidential information the HR must follow ethical principles. Honesty and
discretion are critical components of an HR professional.
» Strong Communication Skills:
An HR is often the link between the management and the employees. An HR must be an
effective in both written and oral communication. S/he is often called upon to negotiate
between the management and employees. It is the job of the HR to find the middle
ground and negotiate a compromise. Communication should be concise, clear and
effective.
» Leadership Abilities:
HR is a leadership position and it is upto the manager to take the initiative and the risks to
ensure that the employees are taken care of. HR must be in the forefront of the activities
of the company.
» Strong Motivator:
An HR must understand what are the factors that motivate and the factors that do not
motivate the employees, because workforce to be effective they need to be motivated.
» Strong Conflict Management Skills:
Dealing with conflicts is not a pleasant task, but unavoidable. Conflicts either resolve
themselves or are blown out of proportion. It is the HRs job to see that they do not fall in
the latter category. S/he needs to see which need involvement by getting the information,
formulate possible solutions and affect a compromise. Conflicts are natural, but it is the
HRs job to see that the office is smoothly functioning.
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SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES OF HR PROFESSIONALS
» Courage:
There will be a time when the HR manager has to take a firm stand in the face of
opposition. It could be on account of layoffs or in opposing poor ideas of the
management. In the face of unpopular decisions, it is necessary to stand firm in your
beliefs and convictions and do what is the best for the organisation.
Personal SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Weaknes
s
Good Education Introvert
Strong Academic record Lack Confidence
Work Experience Do not like to read or write
Peoples Person
Opportunitie
s Threats
Employable Competitive job market
Have a job profile that Recession in the country
matches industry standards Brexit uncertainty
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Personal Development Plan:
Though I’m a people’s person, I’m also an introvert. I do not initiate contact, I wait for people to
come to me and then I start talking and can be friendly. I also need to be more well-read.
As a HR professional, it is necessary to be an effective communicator; I will join a
communication class that will make be more articulate and forceful. This class will be for
duration of 1 month.
To work in any large MNC I need to learn at least one foreign language. Spanish is the most
spoken language in the world and I would like to learn that language in the next 6 months. It will
also add to my resume and make myself more employable.
By learning Spanish, my self-confidence will also increase.
Reflective Statement
For any person to be a success, that person should love his/her job. I’ve wanted to be an HR
person, because I’m interested in people. I like to be a part of a team that can bring about change
in the human beings. When one is recruiting someone we are opening the door of opportunities
for another human being. When a person gets promoted, it is the HR who is taking care of that
person’s career. An HR executive binds the organisation together. There are so many facets to
this job and all of them affect the growth of another human being. This altruistic aspect really
fascinates me and encourages me to do well in my profession.
Scenario for LO2
Introduction to Royal Dutch Shell
Commonly known as Shell, this company was incorporated in UK and has its headquarters in the
Netherlands. It is one of the 6 oil and gas supermajors. It is also the world’s 5th largest company
and the largest company of Europe. It is into the production of petroleum, natural gas (LNG),
lubricants and petrochemicals, power generation. It has also into renewable sources like biofuels,
wind and hydrogen.
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SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES OF HR PROFESSIONALS
It is operational in 70 countries and produces 3.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent per day. Its
revenue in 2018 was US $388.4 billion, Operating income was USD 35.62 billion and the net
income was USD 23.9 billion.
It employees 86000 people worldwide (Kedzierski 2016).
Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
According to (Manley 2018) CPD is a process of tracking and documenting knowledge, skills
and experience that an employee acquires while he is working. This goes beyond what is taught
in the college or during induction program of the organisation. The term also refers to the
physical folder or document that shows the professional growth. CPD is not just a training
program, but goes far beyond that.
The most important facet of CPD is that it is driven individually; i.e. the motivation must come
from the inside. Key features of CPD are:
» Documentation: This is a physical document that tells how the person has acquired new
skills.
» Not directed by the employer, but internally driven.
» It focuses of learning through experience, reflection and reviewing
» It help you set individual goals and objectives
» Inclusion of both formal and informal learnings
By practicing CPD an employee:
» Gets an overview of the professional development till date
» Keeps the person on track by reminding them of their achievements and the progress
made so far
» Where they are and where they need to go (goals)?
» Where are the gaps in the skills and capabilities?
» What needs to be done – or further development needs?
» Finds out professional standing with clients and employers
» Helps you with career development or even suggest career change.
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SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES OF HR PROFESSIONALS
Difference between Organisational training and CPD
The main difference between CPD and organizational training is the former is internally driven
and the latter is externally driven. Organisations train their employees for specific tasks that the
employees have to perform within the organisation. The employees are trained so as to achieve
organizational goals only, personal goals of the employee are not considered in the
organizational training. CPD is the initiative taken by the employee to find where his/ her
shortcoming are and trying to overcome them. These shortcomings may be emotional or they
may be professional. For example an employee may be hot-tempered and prone to get angry, the
organization can only reprimand him and order him to attend an anger-management course.
However in CPD the employee may learn how to meditate and control temper tantrums that were
possibly ruining his/ her career.
Analyze the need for CPD
Bengtsson and Carlson (2015) suggests that CPD ensures that you remain competent in your
profession and do not get obsolete. They stress that it is an ongoing process and continues
throughout ones career. It ensures that the employee capabilities are on par with the current
standards of others. It ensures that you owe a professional service to your customers, clients and
so it is important to keep one updated. They continue to argue that changing trends and
directions are always going to happen, and so it is necessary to keep up with the change. In fact
the pace of the change is rapid and the currency of the knowledge and skill get outdated very
fast. CPD helps to make a meaningful contribution to the team, that one remains effective. It
assists in the movement of your career and allows a person to move into new positions of
leadership, mentorship or a coach etc. CPD keeps you to remain interesting and interested. Often
people fall back upon experience and do the same things over and over again. CPD helps to
break that chain and allows exploration of new ways of doing things. It gives a person a greater
appreciation of the impact/ implications that his/ her work has. Depending on the profession –
CPD helps towards having a better work-life balance, taking up environmental issues,
sustainability and other sensitive issues that have lately cropped up on the management agenda.
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SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES OF HR PROFESSIONALS
Learning Cycle Theory – Klob’s Learning Cycle.
According to (Smith 2016) states that Kolb’s learning theory consists of 4 steps:
Stage 1 Concrete Experience: There are countless experiences both in home and in the office
from which we can learn from.
Stage 2 Reflection: It comes from watching or thinking about what we have learned or
experienced. Some people are good at this while others need to train themselves.
Stage 3 Conceptualize: When we conceptualize, we are actually interpreting and forming an
hypothesis about the meaning of the experience.
Stage 4 Plan: It is then we plan and test our above mentioned hypothesis. It will either repeat
itself or become more concrete or it will lead to a new learning.
Just having an experience is not sufficient, it is also necessary that we go through above
mentioned stages it will lead to explore our feelings, your instincts and what could have been
done differently and finally if the occasion rose again what would a person do differently.
A CPD plan Shell
Shell has 86000 employees spread over 70 countries across the world. They have employees
form different ethnic backgrounds, cultures, races and religions. Shell has taken concrete steps to
employee disabled people and those from the LGBTQ community. As a modern HR they seem
to have ticked all the right boxes.
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SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES OF HR PROFESSIONALS
Applying Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in Shell
Performance appraisals happen once a year and then the employees learn how they have fared
over their peers. In a large MNC such as shell every employee has so many competitors. At the
start of the year the management gives out employee goal sheets to all employees and they have
to adhere to it for promotion, incentives and bonuses.
If management were to track the personal goals of the employees than it will be a much better
option.
Normally CPD is internally driven and not enforced by the management. If employees were
asked about their personal gals and the time it will take them to achieve it; then the ownership to
achieve that goal will come from the employee. Instead of following a top-down goal sheet the
employee will be chasing his/her dream. Management will also be able to task them in a different
manner, because for the first time the employee will be emotionally connected to that goal.
This is not as impractical as it looks because Unilever has the same program for its employees
according to its website "HRM practices at Unilever", 2019. Unilever also has 176,000
employees and Unilever being an MNC just like Shell has the same employee profile.
Scenario for LO3
High Performance Working Model
According to Shin and Konrad (2017) HPW is an approach to stimulate more employee
involvement and commitment to get high levels of performance. It is a series of practices,
processes and policies that can be put together to achieve maximum performance.
Ogbonnaya et al. (2016) believes that to achieve HPW it is necessary to have open lines of
communication, building trust and creating transparency. It recommends doing away with the
hierarchical structure and creating a flatter structure. The target is to keep employees happy,
motivated, engaged who share and understand the vision of the organisation.
HPW practices fall broadly into 3 areas:
» Employee Involvement
» Human Resource Practices
» Reward and Incentives Practices.
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