Developing a Professional Development Plan for HR Managers

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PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND PRACTICE
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
LO1..................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Examining key benefits of ongoing professional development for stakeholders.......................3
P2 Employer Expectations Related to Skills and Competencies.....................................................4
M1 Skills and professional development.........................................................................................5
D1 Evaluating skills to meet expectations.......................................................................................5
LO2..................................................................................................................................................5
P3 Critical Self-Evaluation of Competencies and Skills.................................................................5
P4 Reviewing learning theories and approaches used for professional development.....................7
M2 Evaluating own skills and competencies for the role of HR Manager......................................7
LO3..................................................................................................................................................9
P5 Constructing a Development Plan to enhance the chosen skills................................................9
M3 Detailed development plan underpinnings from the development theory................................9
D2 Comprehensive plan in meeting the targets and training schedule..........................................11
LO4................................................................................................................................................13
P6 Undertaking a Job interview for the role of an HR Manager...................................................13
P7 Reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of the interview.......................................................14
M4 Reviewing the challenges faced in the interview process.......................................................14
D3 Detailed reflection of the interview process............................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................16
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Introduction
Professional identity and practices are defined to be the roles and responsibilities that are
associated with specific professional fields. In order to be successfully carried out the expected
functions, roles and responsibilities, individuals need to have professional and personal learning
capabilities, as well as, skills. Implementing and following professional development plans
enable individuals to enhance their competencies that increase their sustainability within their
professional fields. Professional development enables employees in terms of comprehending and
evaluating their own strengths and weaknesses and working on those areas to improve their
skills. The fundamental agenda of this report is to determine the importance of professional
development along with self-directed learning within the hospitality industry in terms of
allowing individuals to exploit career opportunities effectively and enhance their professional
identity (Nieves and Segarra-Ciprés, 2015). Additionally, this report defines key concepts such
as ongoing professional development, expectations of employers associated with skills and
professional standards and a professional development plan.
LO1
P1 Examining key benefits of ongoing professional development for stakeholders
The hospitality industry is one of the fiercely competitive sectors. Therefore, it may be stated
that in order to achieve success within this specific industry, it is required of the workers to go
through constant development processes in order to learn new skills frequently. Similar to the
number of competitor businesses, the number of individuals working in the hospitality industry is
increasing rapidly. This calls for consistent learning and development of skills as they allow
individuals in terms of improving their capabilities that allow them to have better positioning
than other workers (Nieves and Quintana, 2018). Being hired as an HR Manager at The
Vineyard, Berkshire, it is necessary in terms of comprehending the significance of the entire
Human Resource process in order to properly comprehend the professional identity. Ongoing
professional development entails the distinct responsibilities and roles that a person is supposed
to carry out which assists them in terms of developing and learning through an appropriately
organised structure and practical knowledge. It would help the individual in terms of analysing
the significance of their position within the organisation and would provide crucial assistance in
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terms of enhancing their professional and personal learning capabilities. Some of the roles of
ongoing professional development as per the current context include:
● It would enable the HR manager in terms of understanding the particular responsibilities
and roles that are associated with the function. A better comprehension of the
expectations of employers would allow the individual in terms of performing better
according to the desired professional standards.
● It would enable the individual in terms of self-evaluating their skills and competencies
that would facilitate the enhancement of skills, as well as, knowledge that would certainly
enhance their performance within the organisation (Gannon et al. 2015).
● It would also allow the individual in terms of being acquainted with the organisational
procedures, functions, and would facilitate training to learn the manner in which the
implemented technologies work within the organisation to sustain business performance
and interaction with the customers.
Consequently, employees will be able to more effectively carry out their roles within the
organisation and improve the current scale and range of the knowledge, skills and attributes.
P2 Employer Expectations Related to Skills and Competencies
It is common for employers to have high expectations from the hired employees in terms of
efficiently carrying out their roles and responsibilities. The key functions that the HR manager
would be carrying out within the organisation include communicating with the staff members,
hiring, recruiting and developing training plans for candidates, monitoring and evaluating the
performance of the employees, communicating and interacting with clients and guiding
employees for career advancement (Al-Refaie, 2015). Some of the key expectations associated
with the efficiency of the HR manager to the employers in the current context include:
Learning and Adapting Capabilities: It is a requirement of the employers that the hired individual
is open to learning and is adaptable to changing situations. Openness towards learning new skills
and abilities is important for HR managers to sustain a consolidated relationship and interacting
properly with both the consumers and the internal employees. Additionally, due to the rapid
transitions in the purchasing behaviour of the customers, the hospitality sector is subjected to
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rapid transitions that necessitate adaptability to changed or newly developed business processes.
Furthermore, consistent learning is also important for performance improvement.
M1 Skills and professional development
As HR managers are responsible for maintaining sustainable interaction and relationship with
clients and internal employees, it is expected of HR managers to have a positive attitude towards
their subordinates and the clients. In addition, positive attitude also entails being calm and
display critical analytic abilities to resolve complicated situations.
D1 Evaluating skills to meet expectations
The roles and responsibilities of the organisations within the hospitality sector are carried out by
individuals having different positions such as chefs, receptionists, front house managers,
restaurant managers among others. Therefore, in order to enhance customer experience and
business performance, it is expected of the HR managers to have excellent team working and
collaborative abilities (Prayag and Hosany, 2015). Teamwork and collaboration both are of
paramount importance in terms of sharing knowledge and information through the different
organisational segments, which enable staff members to have necessary coordination, and in
terms of making consolidated decisions due to better information flow.
LO2
P3 Critical Self-Evaluation of Competencies and Skills
In order to be able to properly carry out the expected job roles and responsibilities, self-analysis
of the skills and abilities is of paramount importance as it enables individuals to identify their
key strengths and weaknesses and facilitates the development of a strategic professional
development plan in order to work on those areas to improve their overall performance. In this
sector, self-evaluation of the skills and capabilities have been carried out as per the current
context.
Learning and Adaptation Capabilities: In concern to my learning and adaptation capabilities, I
would give myself 8 out of 10. Through critical thinking, I have identified that I am eager to
constantly learn new business processes and technologies that are being used within the
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organisation. In addition, I am willing to constantly adapt to the changing choice and purchase
behaviours of the clients. In order to successfully cope with the changing consumer demands, the
organisation implements frequent transitions in business policies and practices that necessitate
the willingness to adapt to new situations. As I am highly willing to learn and adapt, it would
provide me with sustainable development in the workplace.
Positivity: I am excellent in terms of coping with complicated situations and calmly analyse
strategies frequently in order to eliminate hurdles. Furthermore, I respect both my superiors and
subordinates, as well as, the clients. Furthermore, I have established clarified vision and
objectives for myself which help me maintain a positive attitude within the workplace.
Therefore, in terms of positivity, I would rate myself 9 out of 10.
Teamwork and Collaboration: I respect my colleagues, my superiors and subordinates.
Furthermore, I am a good listener and an excellent communicator that helps me to develop
interpersonal relations with my colleagues. I highly value teamwork and coordination, which
help me to share knowledge and information with the other staff members and consequently,
lead to performance enhancement. Therefore, in terms of teamwork and collaboration, I would
rate myself 8 out of 10.
Critical Problem Solving: I am quite good at solving personal and professional problems.
However, as a newly employed member, I am not adequately familiar with the issues that the
organisation has been facing. Therefore, I would rate myself 6 out of 10 in terms of critical
problem-solving abilities.
Customer Engagement: I am an excellent listener and communicator. Additionally, I treat clients
with respect and high value that helps me to develop excellent interpersonal relationships with
the customers and thereby, enable me to enhance their experience and obtain superior customer
engagement. Therefore, I would rate myself 8 out of 10.
Leadership Abilities: I am great at motivating people. However, due to the lack of experience, I
am not familiar with the roles and responsibilities I am expected to carry out as a leader.
Therefore, I would rate myself 6 out of 10 in terms of leadership skills.
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P4 Reviewing learning theories and approaches used for professional development
The ever-changing requirements and demands of the consumers necessitate the implementation
and development of new policies and practices within the organizational context. This calls for
professional and personal development of the KSAs of all the workers within the hospitality
industry to be able to serve the customers more proficiently. Two theories of professional and
personal learning may be applied in this context including the behaviourism theory and the
cognitivism theory.
Behaviourism Theory: As per this learning theory, knowledge exists outside of people
independently. The occurrence of learning, according to the theory, takes place when individuals
display a change in the behaviour or develop new behaviour. The development or transition of
behaviour is achieved by associating among responses and stimuli (Domínguez-Falcón et al.
2016). Within the organisational context, this theory can be applied by emphasising on the new
and changed behavioural patterns of the customers and employees to develop interpersonal
skills. Through analysing the change in the behavioural pattern of the customers and employees,
the HR managers are enabled in terms of performing with more proficiency.
Cognitivism Theory: As per the cognitivism theory, individuals tend to process received
information as opposed to behaviourism learning which involves responding to stimuli. The
cognitive learning within humans is governed by internal procedures which emphasis on the
mental activities instead of the behavioural changes that can be observed. According to this
theory, learning entails restructuring experiences that is generated either by transforming old
experiences or by obtaining new insights (Úbeda-García et al. 2016). This theory can be of
essential help for professional and personal development as it facilitates the identification of the
alterations and modifications of human behaviour that are essential in terms of developing
strategic plans for improvement.
M2 Evaluating own skills and competencies for the role of HR Manager
KSAs Self-Evaluated Rating Target Rating
Competencies:
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Leadership skills
Critical Problem Solving
Customer Engagement
6
8
8
10
10
10
Skills:
Learning and adapting
capabilities
Teamwork and collaboration
Positivity
8
8
9
10
10
10
Abilities:
Researching capabilities
Team handling
7
8
10
10
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LO3
P5 Constructing a Development Plan to enhance the chosen skills
Attributes Objectives Time Frame
Communication Learning ways to interact easily with the others 4 Months
Coordination Ability to use sign languages in order to communicate
with other staff
4 Months
Learning new
languages
Ability to communicate with people belonging to
different linguistic backgrounds
12 Months
Advanced Skills Advanced technological and management skills to
cope up with the changing environment
4 Months
The primary objective of the plan is to develop the skills in such a way that the development of
the skills in accomplishing the desired job roles and objectives are established. Additionally, the
development of formidable skills is accomplished in order to sustain a higher reputation within
the company. The development of the advanced forms of communication and coordination may
assist me in developing the outlook of my job role. Additionally, it may allow me to lead my
team and my organisation to higher levels in a very short period of time. The primary
development plan is scheduled to be planned and implemented for 24 Months (2 Years).
Following this plan may provide me with the ability to manage with efficiency and knowledge.
M3 Detailed development plan underpinnings from the development theory
Attributes Objectives Time Frame
Communication ● Learning ways to interact easily with the others
● Learning theories behind different forms of
communication implementing hard and soft
skills
8 Months
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Coordination ● Ability to use sign languages in order to
communicate with other staff
● Easily transfer knowledge and ideas with the
associated team members
8 Months
Learning new
languages
● Ability to communicate with people belonging
to different linguistic backgrounds
● Assist team members and customers handling
their queries with utmost efficiency
24 Months
Advanced Skills ● Advanced technological and management skills
to cope up with the changing environment
● Using cloud infrastructure and advanced
inventory management to communicate with
the stakeholders and suppliers
8 Months
This plan has been scheduled to be implemented and executed for a span of 48 months or 4
Years. The implementation of this plan may provide me with the essence according to the theory
of personal development. The parameters of the behaviour in the context of personal attributes
may allow me to underline the learning of the Behavioural Theory of learning. This may allow
me to develop and learn new behavioural approach that may be suitable for the organisation and
my career at large. New insights into my personal development may be achieved because of the
implemented this plan. It may allow me to develop the attributes of new cognitive learning. The
newer insights comply accordingly to the cognitive approach of personal learning. Therefore,
this learning principle may provide me with the ability to develop the attributes of the HR
Manager effectively in a very limited and judicious period.
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D2 Comprehensive plan in meeting the targets and training schedule
Attributes Objectives Time Frame
Communication ● Learning ways to interact easily with the others
● Learning theories behind different forms of
communication implementing hard and soft
skills
● Development of innovative ways of
communication
12 Months
Coordination ● Ability to use sign languages in order to
communicate with other staff
● Easily transfer knowledge and ideas with the
associated team members
● Using different models of coordination with
my colleagues
12 Months
Learning new
languages
● Ability to communicate with people belonging
to different linguistic backgrounds
● Assist team members and customers handling
their queries with utmost efficiency
● Learn at least two different languages to
communicate cooperatively with different
customers of the country
36 Months
Advanced Skills ● Advanced technological and management skills
to cope up with the changing environment
● Using cloud infrastructure and advanced
inventory management to communicate with
the stakeholders and suppliers
● Learning blockchain technology in order to
develop the advanced forms of portal
24 Months
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maintenance
The above plan is aimed at the development of the different advanced forms of skills for a span
of about 7 Years. At the completion of the plan, I may be more of a mission-oriented and more
focussed towards the mission, visions, aims and objectives of the company. At the end of the
completion of the plan, I will learn newer skills and will be able to develop them and implement
them for the development of the company.
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