HRM Assignment: Human Resource Management & Development In Education

Question

Task:
The HRM assignment consists of the following questions:

Question 1
Write a career plan for yourself. Use a framework from a recently published article to inform your Career Plan. The career plan needs to comply with strict academic requirements.

Question 2
Develop a policy on employee wellness and safety for your school based on the study sections discussed above, and refer to the relevant articles, and add at least one recently published article to the list uploaded on eFundi.

Question 3
Critically discuss the legislative framework governing workplace health and safety to ensure employee wellness. Your discussion must include references to the above articles, chapters, and at least one recently published article to the list uploaded to eFundi.

Question 4
Summarise by providing a narrative story of not more than two pages, on the impact of various study units in the ONWB 624 module, had on your own career and development.

Answer

HRM assignment Question 1: Career Plan

Introduction 

Managing a career using career management skills is essential for planning and advancing one's career. The skills help in balancing individual and organisational needs. for example, many people might land themselves jobs which not have been their initial choice, due to this reason, they might find it difficult to advance in their career. However, focussing on the identification and setting the crucial short as well as long-term goals (Meyer, 2005). Therefore, for this process, obtaining relevant knowledge and gaining the necessary skills are equally important. The plan will be focused on career management and developing the required knowledge and skills for career advancement. The plan will be focused on discussing my short and long-term goals, aimed at developing and understanding myself and exploring various avenues for expanding my horizon. Moreover, the plan will be focused on knowledge acquisition and developing the ability to use the understanding for experimenting with newer approaches and using them in the organisation. 

Long-Term Goals

• Earning a new Degree- I was will aiming to earn a new degree in my area of specialisation which is human resources management. This is a long-term goal and strives to focus on earning a new degree for enhancing my knowledge and academic background. 

• Getting a Pay Raise- Getting a pay raise is another major long-term goal that I strive to earn my continued improvement and add more value to the organisation. By meeting targets through improved skills and knowledge, I strive to get a significant pay raise in the organisation. 

• Becoming a Leader- Through increased value and experience, I strive to be appointed to a leadership position in the organisation. Through continued learning and skill acquisition, I have aimed at getting appointed as a leader in the organisation and getting a higher designation. 

Short-Term Goals 

• Learning a New Skill- The short-term goals are equally important as the long-term ones. The short-term goals will help me give my career a necessary boost. I strive to acquire skills, which will not only enhance my productivity but also allow me to diversify my expertise. I aim to learn a new programming language for being able to code and assist the organisation in improving its digital content at will. 

• Learning a New Tool- Another major short-term goal that I have envisioned for myself is learning a new tool (Kharadze, Paichadze and Paresashvili, 2019). For example, I strive to learn the use of “Artificial Intelligence-based” tools that can be used for human resource recruitment and hiring. I strive towards learning to use such automation tools for enhancing my expertise. 

• Improving Communication Skills- Having good communication skills is an important trait highly desired by organisations and companies. Therefore, my short-term goals also include improving my communication skills and getting regular feedback from seniors and colleagues. 

Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle

"Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle” can be used for executing the career plan. It is a 4-stage framework that describes 4 stages of how one can acquire and then embed newly-gained knowledge (Bagdadli and Gianecchini, 2019). The cycle embraces the notion that an individual can change due to experiences, reflecting, experimentation and conceptualisation. The 4 stages of the cycle which will be followed for achieving both long- and short-term goals are:

Reflective Observation

At this stage, I will be focussing on conducting self-evaluation and reflecting on my skills and knowledge. For example, I will be assessing my communication and digital skills by observing seniors and colleagues, and their communication skills in action. This will help me in understanding myself better and understanding where I stand in the organisation. Self-reflection is extremely important for sell-development and identifying weaknesses (Guo, Wang and Wang, 2021). Therefore, I will try to reflect honestly on my skill level and knowledge, and observe other members of the organisation hone my communication and other skills.

Abstract Conceptualisation

Understanding the main requirements for career development is extremely important. This stage involves focussing on understanding the theories and having a firm grasp of the concept and framework of human resource management. Unless I acquire a clear understanding of human resource management, I will not be able to understand the skills’ requirements for becoming a leader at the workplace in the future. Therefore, I will be undertaking further studies and acquiring a new degree in the field of human resource management. This will help me in understanding the field and discipline of human resource management. 

Concrete Experiences

Having concrete experiences is an important stage in the experiential and agentic learning models. For example, consulting and obtaining feedback from an expert in the field and observing his or her practical skills in action comes under concrete experiences Bagdadli and Gianecchini, 2019). I will be aiming to obtain regular feedback from the general manager, CEO, human resource manager and others. These “concrete experiences” will help me in obtaining “practical” tips for acquiring new skills and knowledge. 

Active Experimentation 

Finally, experimenting or using the newly gained skills and knowledge will help me in furthering my career and getting a pay raise or a promotion at the workplace. I will be putting my newly acquired skills to practical use and trying to gain as much experience as I can. This will help me in identifying my weaknesses and addressing them by gaining new insights regarding my skills and knowledge. 

Summary 

The career plan is a rough estimation of my short and long-term career goals and objectives. The plan discusses my short- and long-term goals elaborately and how intend to achieve them. I have used "Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle" for developing the framework for furthering my career. The main objectives according to the stages have also been discussed. 

Question 2: Employee Wellness and Safety Policy

Policy Statement

The “Employee Wellness and Safety Policy” for the school will be aimed at ensuring the safety of teachers and other workers at the school (Jung and Takeuchi, 2018). The focus of the policy will be preventing any mental or physical harm to the health and wellness of the teachers and other employees of the school. 

Scope

The policy will cover all employees, including teachers, security personnel, workers, support staff, clerks and others. The policy will cover the mental as well as the physical health of teachers and employees (Memish et al., 2017). The policy framework will provide necessary safeguards against physical threats and mental conditions like stress which can arise while working at the school. 

Objectives

Some of the main objectives of the Employee Wellness and Safety policy are:

• Preventing Covid- One of the most important objectives of the wellness and safety plan of the employees will be to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus among the teachers and other employees at the school. The teachers and other workers will be provided protective equipment and hygiene products like hand-sanitisers and disinfectants for maintaining hygiene and preventing Covid-19 infection. 

• Preventing Stress- The teachers and employees can suffer severe mental and physical stress because of the long hours spent at the school, teaching the students and performing other duties (Wong, Dawson and VAN DONGEN, 2019). Certain safeguards like appropriate working hours, break times, and others will be provided to the teachers and employees for ensuring that they do not suffer from mental or physical stress. 

• Preventing Workplace Bullying- Workplace bullying can occur in a large organisation and cause discrimination against employees, based on sex, religion or gender. Certain bylaws and regulations will be introduced for preventing workplace bullying (Konijn et al., 2018). Workplace bullying can cause post-traumatic stress or physical harm to teachers and employees. Therefore, a no-tolerance policy will be adopted for workplace bullying and any form of discrimination. 

Responsibility

Human Resources Department 

The human resources department will be responsible for drafting the policy document and communicating the policy to the teachers and other employees (Memish et al., 2017). The human resources department will ensure that the goals, objectives, scope and responsibilities of the stakeholders are communicated clearly. 

Employees 

The employees will be required to adhere to the policy requirements and follow the legislations being mentioned in the policy document. The employees will be responsible for consulting with the HR department and other stakeholders for ensuring that the requirements of the policy are met. Moreover, the employees will also be responsible for reporting any transgressions against the policy, and in case of any misdemeanour. 

School Trustees

The board of trustees of the school will be responsible for approving the policy and setting the roles and responsibilities, and communicating them. The trustees will be the authority capable of making changes or modifications to the policy if required. Moreover, it will be the responsibility of the trustees to initiate legal action if the legislative requirements are breached. 

Question 3: Legislative Framework on Workplace Health and Safety

Introduction 

The legislative framework governing workplace health and safety for ensuring the wellness of the employees is the “Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155)” of the International Labour Organisation. The convention applies to all forms and organisations involved in economic activities (Neary, Dodd and Hooley, 2016). It is the most integral and principle “ILO” standard on workplace health and safety, covering workers, teachers and other employees in the organisation or school (Konijn et al., 2018). The legislation provides the key provisions and responsibilities for governing the school and ensuring the safety and wellness of the employees and teachers of the school. 

Key Provisions 

The key provisions of the legislation are:

• Focussing on the designing, testing, arranging, using and maintaining the material “work” elements at the workplace, working processes and work environment. 

• Developing relationships between various work elements and people carrying out or supervising the operations and work. It also involved adapting equipment, work processes, work organisation, work time and others, to the mental and physical capacity of the teachers and employees. 

• Providing advanced training for achieving adequate and appropriate levels of health and safety. It also involves cooperation and communication at the working “group” levels, school, and other levels. 

Key Responsibilities 

Some of the key responsibilities according to the provision are:

• The provision calls for the higher management to take care of the physical and mental health of the students and other employees. the management must ensure that the teachers and employees are not overworked and their shift times are kept manageable and not stressful. 

• The management and higher authority must ensure that the safety of the teachers and other employees is never jeopardised. They must be protected from physical illnesses through sick leaves, health insurance and others. 

Question 4: Impacts of Study Units in the ONWB 624 Module 

The study units taught in the ONWB 624 module were extremely insightful and challenging at the same time. The units provided some tough challenges regarding understanding the core concepts and theories. However, through the guidance of the teachers and the support of peers, I was able to turn the challenges into a learning opportunity. The learning module has been extremely helpful in advancing my career and academic growth (Kong, Okumus and Bu, 2020). Becoming successful in the field of human resource management, I realised that understanding the importance of human resources in an organisation was the first step in becoming an HR professional. The ONWB 624 module not just helped me in understanding such core concepts, but also in understanding the importance of career management and development. The ONWB 624 module helped me to understand how career management is an integral component of people development and utilisation. Career management has been a newly occurring human resources’ function in the country (Runhaar, Bouwmans and Vermeulen, 2019). Therefore, I realised that efficient career advancement for workers must be "undertaken" as an integral part of a "strategic" framework for efficient human resources management. 

The unit was intended for HR managers and line managers, involved in the management of the career of individuals. The unit helped me in gathering and analysing information for my career planning, managing and facilitating the process of career development and monitoring the progress of my career in the field of human resource management (Soares and Mosquera, 2021). Initially, I had also gone through the same process as anyone else, of starting to think about my career after the 10th grade. Then it took me another 3 years to take a necessary decision regarding my future. This is when I decided to get into the field of human resource management. I have always believed that people are the most important resource of any organisation or company, be it even a school or university (De Oliveira, Cavazotte and Alan Dunzer, 2019). The human resource is extremely important for carrying out the tasks and roles which are needed to get fulfilled for meeting the organisational goals. It is an indispensable part of any organisation. However, despite having decided to make my mark in the field of human resource management, I did not have a clearly outlined career management plan. The ONWB 624 module helped me in the development of a career plan and helped me to understand myself better. For example, the ONWB 624 module helped me identify my strengths and weaknesses and helped me to take corrective action. 

Developing a career plan requires the identification of long as well as short-term goals and how to achieve them. It also requires using a comprehensive and well-defined strategy for acquiring knowledge and advancing further in the career. The ONWB 624 module, especially Unit 5 helped me in understanding Kolb’s Experiential Learning model. The model helped me in understanding the various stages which I must go through for gaining the required knowledge and skills for advancing my career. It helped me in understanding how through reflection I can identify my strengths and weaknesses much better and how I can envision the goals and objectives I want to achieve. Moreover, the ONWB 624 module helped me understand how the long-term goals are equally as important as the short-term goals, and which I must reconcile between the two to achieve balanced career growth. The module helped in understanding that making a career choice must be matched with the personality of the individual, needs of the individual, circumstances, values, attributes and skills of the individual. For example, usually, extroverts are well suited in PR or "public relations" jobs, especially where they have to interact with different people regularly instead of sitting in the office perpetually. I understood that I must focus on reflective action and concrete experiences equally to understand myself better and my personality objectively. 

Nowadays, people tend to change their careers quite frequently, when they feel the need for further development or challenges. I believe that there is nothing wrong or unethical about that. However, understanding oneself and one’s capabilities is important for having the courage and confidence of changing careers suddenly (Dries, Marescaux and van Zelderen, 2021). The ONWB 624 module helped in gaining that confidence, it empowered me in understanding the tools for career development and how to use them. The module helped in gaining the necessary insights regarding how to approach skill acquisition and how to form “SMART” goals. Moreover, the module has enabled me to enhance my knowledge and skills, which I hope enable me to get a pay raise or promotion in the future. The career plan discussed earlier highlights such goals of mine and how I hope to achieve them. The module has been extremely significant in helping me to advance my career and help fan my aspirations of becoming a leader at the workplace in the future. 

References 

Bagdadli, S. and Gianecchini, M., 2019. Organizational career management practices and objective career success: A systematic review and framework. Human Resource Management Review, 29(3), pp.353-370.

De Oliveira, L.B., Cavazotte, F. and Alan Dunzer, R., 2019. The interactive effects of organizational and leadership career management support on job satisfaction and turnover intention. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 30(10), pp.1583-1603.

Dries, N., Marescaux, E. and van Zelderen, A., 2021. Talent Management and Career Management. In The Routledge Companion to Talent Management (pp. 265-279). Routledge.

Guo, W., Wang, L. and Wang, N., 2021. Research on the impact of career management fit on career success. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 59(2), pp.279-304.

Jung, Y. and Takeuchi, N., 2018. A lifespan perspective for understanding career self-management and satisfaction: The role of developmental human resource practices and organizational support. Human Relations, 71(1), pp.73-102.

Kharadze, N., Paichadze, N. and Paresashvili, N., 2019. General trends of business career management. European Journal of Economics and Business Studies, 5(1), pp.153-177.

Kong, H., Okumus, F. and Bu, N., 2020. Linking organizational career management with Generation Y employees’ organizational identity: The mediating effect of meeting career expectations. HRM assignmentJournal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 29(2), pp.164-181.

Konijn, A.M., Lay, A.M., Boot, C.R. and Smith, P.M., 2018. The effect of active and passive occupational health and safety (OHS) training on OHS awareness and empowerment to participate in injury prevention among workers in Ontario and British Columbia (Canada). Safety science, 108, pp.286-291.

Memish, K., Martin, A., Bartlett, L., Dawkins, S. and Sanderson, K., 2017. Workplace mental health: An international review of guidelines. Preventive Medicine, 101, pp.213-222.

Meyer, M., 2005. Introduction to human resource management. New Africa Books.

Neary, S., Dodd, V. and Hooley, T., 2016. Understanding career management skills: Findings from the first phase of the CMS leader project.

Runhaar, P., Bouwmans, M. and Vermeulen, M., 2019. Exploring teachers’ career self-management. Considering the roles of organizational career management, occupational self-efficacy, and learning goal orientation. Human Resource Development International, 22(4), pp.364-384.

Soares, M.E. and Mosquera, P., 2021. Linking career management practices with individual outcomes: The mediating role of perceived employability. Journal of Business Research, 124, pp.547-559.

Wong, I.S., Dawson, D. and VAN DONGEN, H.P., 2019. International consensus statements on non-standard working time arrangements and occupational health and safety. Industrial health, 57(2), pp.135-138.