Evaluate what it means to be an HR professional with reference to the CIPD’s HR Profession MapIn a constantly changing business environment, organizations are exploring how they can develop and expand themselves and their employees. Therefore, the Human Resources (HR) function is vital and responsible for ensuring that the organization can count on effective, qualified, and committed individuals. HR professional have an important and crucial role within the success of the organization and this role has expended and become more complex and diverse within these last years and in some cases, it has radically changed, putting the employees/individuals and their wellbeing in the centre of the organization concerns.Whether they are public or private, SMEs or Blue Chip corporate, organisations now recognize more and more the importance of their employees in order to achieve the business objectives and success in front of the competition. In order to develop efficiently their staff, they need innovative strategies, policies and management programs that are perfectly and ideally adapted to their needs.
To meet this need, the role of the HR professional is now increasingly strategic: planning and implementing strategies is now an important part of his tasks. He contributes to the achievements of the company objectives and goals. He is able to suggest the appropriate actions and changes needed to deliver the expected results.In fact, in the last decades, the HR function has became more complex, especially because of the adaptation needs generated by restructuring, mergers, acquisitions …
The growing importance of training, the introduction of new concepts of HR management, the emergence of new ways of work organization, the quantity and complexity of regulations and policies related to employment requires specialized knowledge, behaviour and experience.The HR function has today several dimensions. It is therefore a real asset within the organisation. The HR Manager/professional designs and implements HR policies, programs and processes. He assesses the needs of manpower, coordinates the recruitment and the reception, and deals with benefit and compensation plans.
He is also in charge of Health and Safety at work, implements programs, negotiates collective agreements, manages labour disputes and acts as mediator and conciliator. And so on…Furthermore, HR professionals are responsible for personal development which includes all aspects of career assessment, orientation, motivation and engagement, training, functional and geographical mobility, rewarding and so on. Last but not least, they also support the whole organization through its values, strategy and insights, objectives and design. “The CIPD My CPD Map focuses on the key knowledge (professional areas) and behaviours that an HR professional needs to obtain and develop in order to provide value to the organisation and its key stakeholders (e.
g. managers, fellow employees).” (CIPD, 2016).This Map shows how an HR function works and adds value to any organisation. It has the objective to support any HR professional all over their career. It covers 10 professional areas and 8 professional behaviours through 4 bands of competence.
