Reflective Journal on Human Resource Management Course

This reflective journal provides a comprehensive overview of a student's learning experience in a Human Resource Management (HRM) course, focusing on the Australian context. The journal explores key HRM concepts, including the importance of HRM in organizations, strategic human resource management (SHRM), recruitment and selection processes, and the significance of managing diversity and work-life balance in the workplace. The student reflects on the evolution of HRM, the impact of SHRM on organizational goals, the core functions of recruitment and selection, the importance of legal aspects, and the challenges of managing a diverse workforce. The journal highlights the importance of work-life balance and the need to understand cultural diversity for conflict-free workplaces, emphasizing the practical application of HRM principles and its impact on future professional endeavors.

Running Head: Reflective Journal
Human Resource Management
Reflective Journal

Reflective Journal 1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Human resource management in Australia......................................................................................1
Strategic human resource management...........................................................................................2
Recruitment and selection................................................................................................................2
Managing diversity and work-life balance......................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4

Reflective Journal 2
Introduction
Human resource management is one of the most important factors necessary for the effective
functioning of any organization. In this course, we learnt various aspects of human resource
management and its importance in our professional lives. The HR department of every business
is weighed with a lot of responsibilities relating to the company’s employees (Hendry, 2012).
This reflective journal consists of my learning experience in the HRM unit of my Bachelor’s in
business course. The lessons covered through this course have deepened my understanding about
the various functions of the human resource management. The teachers have put sufficient
efforts in explaining us the subject by relating it to real time experiences. This is largely expected
to help us in our careers ahead.
Human resource management in Australia
The unemployment rate in Australia has recently declined from 5.6% to 5.5% last quarter which
is the lowest in the last four years (Trading Economics, 2018). Organizations in the country are
actively seeking competent human resources. In order to satiate that need, both public as well as
private sector firms need effective human resource managers which would assist in seeking the
right candidate for the right job. This unit helped me understand the importance of HR managers
in the industry today. In the course of these lessons I came to understand that the functions of HR
are not limited to simply recruiting people for an organization, but they rather expand to ensuring
that the employees are satisfied, their personal goals are aligned with those of the business and
their performance is regularly evaluated. I learnt that initially HR was simply an administrative
function but now HR is a strategic and influential part of the business. In the class, we discussed
how the human resource management function across different Australian companies is growing
and expanding its horizons towards various HR perspectives. The efficiency of the HR
management is also evident from the increasing job satisfaction and retention among employees
in Australia.
In Australian firms, Human resource department fulfills many roles and have a vast span of
functions. These begin with recruiting and selection of the right employee, aligning
organizational goals and personal goals of employees, designing all the jobs in the business,

Reflective Journal 3
ensuring effective performance, evaluating performance of employees at regular intervals,
resolve conflicts within the firm, let go of non-competent resources, adhere to the legality of the
business, ensure fair and timely compensation along with managing work life balance for
employees.
Strategic human resource management
Strategic human resource management is different from human resource management as being
more planned and tactical in nature (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014). The aim of the SHRM is to
ensure that organizational goals are met through effective HR strategies in place. In this course I
learnt that rather the importance of appropriate hiring policies. SHRM involves evaluating how
many vacancies are required to accomplish targets and how many of those positions are currently
fulfilled. Then the manager of SHR department identifies whether the business needs more
employees or the business has an overflow of employees (Storey, 2014). Aligning employees
personal goals with the goals of the organization are also functions of strategic human resource
department. This course made me realize the importance of finding the right candidate for the
right job is a two way process. Firstly the employee must be competent enough to perform the
job and secondly the job must be challenging and rewarding enough to motivate employee and
help in their growth and development.
This class made me aware of certain policies that have been adopted by the Australian
government in order to ensure fairness in recruitment. These form the legal aspects of the HR
department of all Australian organizations. I learnt that in the country, every citizen has the right
to an equal employment opportunity and that all the organizations are bound by various laws
which protect employees from being bullied or harassed and their occupational safety is ensured.
Recruitment and selection
Recruitment and selection are definitely the core functions of every HR department in Australia.
This function forms the base of the business as it ensures that the organization has competent
human resources which will work together to achieve organizational goals. Through this course,
I learnt how HR managers find candidates for a particular position in the company. Job
interviews are something that everyone has experience at some point of other in their lifetimes.

Reflective Journal 4
However, in this course, the recruiter’s perspective was highlighted in the process of an
interview which was an entirely new learning experience for me. It made me aware of the
various qualities upon which interviewer’s judge applying candidates and this information is sure
to help me in my future interviews. Dressing appropriately, maintaining a good body language
and assertiveness are all important aspects in a job interview.
I also learnt that in the selection process, company’s often contact previous employers and take a
feedback from them about the candidate’s performance. Therefore, it is important to always
leave any organization in a highly ethical and truly professional manner (Dandaro, Silva &
Carvalho, 2017). Absconding of any kind will lead to problems in future job opportunities as
well. During the class discussion, we were also told the importance of having a well-designed
and neat CV while applying for a job. Our teacher informed us that a CV should be impressive
and it should neither be too short nor too long.
One very important thing that our teacher told us during this course is how people often over
promise during an interview because they need a job and upon recruitment they are unable to
fulfil those requirements. This leads to wastage of time and other resources of the organization as
well as the candidate applying. On the other hand, often organizations over promise in order to
attract a competent candidate but then neglect of those high expectations leads to employees
being dissatisfied. Therefore the transparency and openness of communication during an
interview is very crucial.
Managing diversity and work-life balance
In the era of globalization and digitization, it has become much easier for employees in any part
of the world to be working with an organization located in a different part of the world.
Therefore Australia experiences a high number of very diverse workforces that has gathered
from different parts of the globe. This has largely impacted the learning growth and development
of employees. The flow of information has been much easier and the knowledge about different
cultures in consistently on a rise.
Moreover, anytime a group of people comes to work together, it is only natural for them to differ
in opinions, viewpoints, working styles, decision making abilities as well as personal goals. This

Reflective Journal 5
may often lead to unnecessary conflict (Morris, 2016). Hence, it is the responsibility of the
human resource management of the company to make sure that they are able to effectively
manage this diversity without hampering the organizational goals. It helped me realize the
importance of understanding and knowing different cultural diversities. The course made me
realize that rather than taking offense about someone’s behavior I should put efforts in
identifying and understanding the cultural diversity they belong to.
Work life balance plays a very crucial role in every individual’s life. I have seen many people
working over 12 hours a day that they do not have time for their families or friends. This causes
stress and also eventually diminishes their efficiency at work (Kirby, 2017). I learnt that an
important role played by the human resource management department is to ensure a work life
balance. In the era of increasing competition everyone is focusing on work but hardly finding the
time to enjoy it. Our teacher told us that it is important to focus on other aspects of your life as
well like your family, friends and other social gatherings. It is important to balance this with
work only then can it lead to effective productivity in an individual. On the other hand, excessive
focus of family and social gatherings and contributing less to work and fulfillment of
organizational goals will eventually lead to reduced productivity, hampered discipline and slow
professional growth.
Conclusion
This course has been an enlightening journey. I have learnt various aspects of human resource
management through this course and worked at understanding the many roles played by human
resource management department of Australian firms. The course structure has helped me
improve upon my skills as a future employer of any organization. I have also learnt various laws
that are drawn to protect employees. The most important lesson was that was managing diversity.
Hence I will make sure that I put my efforts in understanding different cultures and lifestyles of
people to ensure a conflict free workplace.

Reflective Journal 6
References
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Kirby, E.L., 2017. Work–Life Balance. The International Encyclopedia of Organizational
Communication.
Hendry, C., 2012. Human resource management. India: Routledge.
Morris, B., 2016. Human Resources’ Role in Avoiding Conflict in the Workplace (Doctoral
dissertation).
Dandaro, F., Silva, A.C. and Carvalho, D.O.D., 2017. Human Resources: The Process of
Recruitment and Selection in Small Businesses. Weber Business Management.
Storey, J., 2014. New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals).
Routledge.
Trading Economics, 2018. ‘Australia unemployment rate’.
https://tradingeconomics.com/australia/unemployment-rate, retrieved on 13 January, 2018.