Human Resource Management: Critical Thinking and Essential Skills

This essay reflects on the journey of developing essential skills in Human Resource Management (HRM), emphasizing the importance of critical thinking and soft skills for professional success. It discusses the significance of communication, interpersonal skills, empathy, and the ability to listen in the HR profession. The author assesses their critical thinking abilities using Linda Elder and Richard Paul's stage theory, identifying as a 'beginner thinker' and outlining steps for further development. The essay also touches on metacognition, highlighting the shift from unreflective thinking to a more self-aware and analytical approach. The author underscores the value of an open mind and continuous learning in mastering critical thinking within the field of HRM. Desklib provides a platform to access this document and other solved assignments for students.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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I was always interested in going into the Business school but it took me a long time to
finally decide on the specific major I was aiming towards. Something I heard from one of my
uncles as we were discussing my future plans after high school, he told me that I should look
into Human Resource Management (HRM) because every company, regardless of what they
are specialising in, will need to have a Human Resource (HR) department. The effective
management of human resource is essential to any business strategy (Stone et al., 2015). The
first few semesters I had taken were general business classes that were applicable to all the
students in the Business school, however when the path of my courses changed into HRM
specific classes, I was really able to get the feel of what I would be doing in the future. The
class materials and the teachings helped me in applying psychology into management terms
as we learned to develop various strategic approaches that go into recruiting employees, and
also in developing them throughout their tenure at the company.
Just a college degree is not enough when one is planning to succeed in their workplace,
neither is the number of years of experience one has. The most important skills that
employers are looking for are the soft skills, which are the intangible personal qualities that
enable one to work and interact better with people around them. Firstly, it is very important
for an HR professional to be able to speak in front of a crowd (Shen & Benson, 2016).
Making a presentation and speech in front of a crowd, it is important to remain confident so
that the audience listens to you. Many current professionals have said that the only way to get
better at it would be with time, and practice. Secondly, it is important to be able to read
people. Acquiring the ability to know when someone is lying is not going to be a class taught
in college, but interpreting body language is essential when trying to figure out the person
who they are talking to. Thirdly, it is important for an HR professional to have the strength to
not back down when intimidated by a controlling manger (Conway et al., 2016). This
confidence will only come when the individual is knowledgeable – knowledge of their craft,

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and what they specialize in. Fourthly, empathy is another soft skill that is essential in being
an HR professional. It is important for the professional to be able to see things from the point
of view of the other person they are interacting with and to understand the minute nuances of
the employee’s situation, so that the appropriate decision can be taken at the right time (Boon
et al., 2018). Lastly, the ability to listen and putting aside any personal agenda is also a very
important soft skill to have in this profession. To get good at this, it is important to have a
focused mind along with a disengaged mouth.
The article written by Linda Elder and Richard Paul (2016) on the development of critical
thinking through a stage theory aims to explain the theory of critical thinking through its
implications in everyday life (Paul & Elder, 2016). The article defines critical thinking as the
ability to improve an individual’s thinking by subjecting them systematically to assess
themselves intellectually. This article assumes that everyone is a critical thinker, and it is up
to them to display this ability in all dimensions of their life. According to the stages
mentioned in the article, I would say that I would fall into stage three, which is of the
beginner thinker. Based on this stage, the beginner thinker start modifying some of their
thinking but are limited to the knowledge of the deeper levels that are present for critical
thinking. The thinkers who are at this stage are able to recognise that what problems exist in
their thinking process, and are able to make attempts to better their understanding of how
they are able to take charge of the thinking and change it. The main challenge that comes for
the people who are in this stage is that they need to start identifying the importance of
developing their thinking skills. For me to be a successful HR professional, it is important for
me to reach the end of the stages mentioned in the article. At this stage, it will be important
for me to start monitoring my own thoughts; find out what is required to develop good habits
related to thinking.

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Metacognition is a theory that, in basic words, can be described as thinking about
thinking (Berger & Karabenick, 2016). In the beginning, I was not paying attention to my
responses, displaying characteristics of an unreflective thinker. However, as time went on
week after week, I could sense a change in myself, which was reflected in the answers I had
given. Initially, I had given responses according to the first thing that came to my mind
however, as weeks went on, I found myself having conversations in my head before I
answered anything. Before submitting my answer, I found myself re-reading what I had
written aloud to understand if there might be underlying messages that I have to take notice
of. As I began to implement the self-reflective sentence starters, I began to see my answers
becoming better since the sentence starter motivated me to think in that same way that I was
going to start writing my response. Continuing to use the sentence starters will help me put
my thoughts in order, and aid in me being able to utilize my innate skill for thinking
critically.
Critical thinking was never something that I had paid any attention to when it was being
taught to us in high school and that was my similar expectation from the course before I
started it. However, I was able to find out through this course that I can place myself as
someone who is a beginner thinker and that my thinking skills were actually not as bad as I
had assumed it would be. This gave me motivation to really pay attention in this course, and
make an active decision to implement this in my everyday life. My only advice for someone
who is joining this course would be to keep an open mind, and rid themselves of any
preconceived notion they may have about the course or critical thinking in general.

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References:
Berger, J. L., & Karabenick, S. A. (2016). Construct validity of self-reported metacognitive
learning strategies. Educational Assessment, 21(1), 19-33.
Boon, C., Eckardt, R., Lepak, D. P., & Boselie, P. (2018). Integrating strategic human capital
and strategic human resource management. The International Journal of Human
Resource Management, 29(1), 34-67.
Conway, E., Fu, N., Monks, K., Alfes, K., & Bailey, C. (2016). Demands or resources? The
relationship between HR practices, employee engagement, and emotional exhaustion
within a hybrid model of employment relations. Human Resource
Management, 55(5), 901-917.
Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2016). Critical Thinking–Concepts and Tools, 2006. The Foundation
for Critical Thinking, Dillon Beach, CA.
Shen, J., & Benson, J. (2016). When CSR is a social norm: How socially responsible human
resource management affects employee work behavior. Journal of
Management, 42(6), 1723-1746.
Stone, D. L., Deadrick, D. L., Lukaszewski, K. M., & Johnson, R. (2015). The influence of
technology on the future of human resource management. Human Resource
Management Review, 25(2), 216-231.