Solution

Task One Report

Appraise what it means to be a people professional (AC 1.1) Short references should be added into your narrative below. Please remember to only list your long references in the reference box provided at the end of this section. Wordcount: Approximately 200 words.

A professional is someone who applies high knowledge and skills to ensure competence in any field. From experience, a professional demonstrates discipline and ethical practice and transcend the observation to the standards of practice as outlined by a professional body. A professional, as described by Racolta-Paina and Irini (2021), is also an affiliate of a professional body that governs the individual skills and competence. From the CIPD New Professional Map, a professional is guided by the core behaviours, specialist knowledge, and core knowledge. People professionals are concerned with welfare of the employees and aim at ensuring that the individuals’ preferences are met. A people professional is also tasked with applying key values, such as ethical practice, integrity, accountability, and observing diversity when dealing with people (Malik et al., 2022). Throughout organisational activities, people professionals ensure that the interests of the workforce underpin the organisational strategies and plan. In organisational development for example, a people professional will ensure that the company invests in employees’ skills (Jha et al., 2019). This is important in ensuring that employees are part of the organisational current and future objectives. From the CIPD New Professional Map, people professionals are principal-led and ensure that the people matter through acknowledging their worth and uniqueness. As a people professional, it is imperative to treat the employees in a fair and equal manner and ensure that their rights are protected under the law.

Explore how the role of a people professional is evolving and the implications this has for continuing professional development (AC 3.1) Short references should be added into your narrative below. Please remember to only list your long references in the reference box provided at the end of this section. Wordcount: Approximately 300 words.

Evolution in people’s professional roles is related to several aspects including globalisation, external factors and trends, and emerging technologies. The importance of these changes to an individual’s continuing professional development (CPD) is to define some of the skills and knowledge that one should acquire to ensure that their competencies in tandem with the dynamics. One of the key changes in the role of people professionals is the focus on the individual’s well-being and experience at the company (Slutsky et al., 2019). In modern organisations, employee retention, which can be attributed to motivation and satisfaction is achieved through providing employees with the voice and enhancing the level of engagement. The role of people practices professionals, therefore, is to evaluate the workforce needs, and determine how they can be met. Another change in the role of people professional is the increased use of information and communication technology (ICT) in accomplishing their roles and responsibilities. The relevance of ICT is reflected in various people practice activities including learning and development and conducting effective recruitment and selection process (Aguado et al., 2019). This implies that people practice professionals should have adequate ICT skills to enhance the efficiency of service delivery. There has also been a transition from admin to using strategy in people practices. An example is strategic planning on talent pools to ensure that the company has the right individuals in case there is a turnover.
Impacts on CPD
CPD refers to the organisation of measures, activities, and resources to acquire the relevant skills and knowledge according to the identified weaknesses (Kelley et al., 2020). The changes in the role of people professionals to my CPD include investing in acquiring various skills and knowledge and the use of different approaches in gaining the skills and competencies. For example, it is important to acquire knowledge on how to use technology in people practices. Another example is the use of a strategic approach in accomplishing my short and long-term CPD goals.

Recognise how personal and ethical values can be applied in the context of people practice. (AC 1.2) Short references should be added into your narrative below. Please remember to only list your long references in the reference box provided at the end of this section. Wordcount: Approximately 300 words.

Ethical values refer to the moral compass of an individual in the decision-making process (Ren et al., 2021). Ethical practice further refers to aspects guiding the person’s right or wrong. In the organisational context, ethical practice underpins the person’s roles and responsibilities, including ensuring that the company’s culture is observed.
Three ethical values shaping my roles as a people practice professional include;
Honesty: This is an important moral facet in the virtues and attributes, such as straightforwardness and truthfulness. As an honest person, I do not lie regardless of whether the information I am giving will result in another person’s discomfort. For example, I have been involved in performance management activities and I demonstrated honesty through providing the actual results of a person including those that registered poor performance. This is essential in providing the other person with sufficient and truthful information for the right action.
Integrity: Integrity entails the individual’s behaviour being in line with all the ethical practices, the company’s culture, and acting in good faith. Integrity is also described by intellectual truthfulness and taking accountability of one’s decisions and actions (Johari et al., 2021). I am a firm believer of the company’s values and ensure ethical values in my activities and those of my team. I have to ensure that my decisions and actions demonstrate honesty and uncompromising to the strong ethical and moral principles and values.
Fairness: This value involves treating everyone with respect and is also the process of determining what is morally wrong or right (Kochling and Wehner, 2020). As a fair person, I ensure that nobody is biased or feel discriminated through my actions. For example, when delivering judgment or collecting employees’ data, fairness is reflected in the correct application of a similar tool for individuals within the same working category. I also ensure that the employees receive fair rewards.

Consider the importance of people professionals contributing to discussions in an informed, clear and confident way to influence others. (AC 1.3) Short references should be added into your narrative below. Please remember to only list your long references in the reference box provided at the end of this section. Wordcount: Approximately 300 words.

People professionals work with various stakeholders, which means that they have to continuously share their ideas in an informed, clear, and confident way. These three aspects are important in ensuring that one’s ideas are understood and considered for implementation.
Informed Manner Contribution through an informed manner mainly involves supporting the arguments with credible and reliable evidence that can be traced (Pulido et al., 2020). For example, when debating about the importance of transformational leadership and management style, it is important for the people professional to use a wide range of resources including journals and books to support the ideas. Contribution of ideas in an informed manner also involves having sufficient data that is analysed and well presented to convince other stakeholders involved in the debates.
Clear Way Contributing to ideas in a clear manner involves communication skills and style (Acharya, 2019). People professionals share their ideas through writing or speaking where they should be audible enough and not use jargon. Clear contribution in debates further involve active listening to understand others’ points and then following up to ensure full understanding of what one is sharing. Similarly, contributing to debates requires one to continuously engage the stakeholders in the debate platform to evaluate if they have grasped the concepts and whether they need any clarification. Contribution in a clear manner involves having an interactive session where there is a question and answers activity.
Confident Way Being confident when contributing in debates and discussions is mainly anchored on the voice, volume, and the tone being used to present their ideas (Fisher et al., 2020). People professional should speak up their ideas in a tone that is friendly and easily understood. Being confident is also characterized by not showing any hesitation in sharing an idea or a point. Whether one is presenting to professionals above or beneath their level, it is essential to develop content that is adapted to suit the audience to ensure confidence in the presentation.

Recognise when and how you would raise matters which conflict with ethical values or legislation. (AC 1.4) Short references should be added into your narrative below. Please remember to only list your long references in the reference box provided at the end of this section. Wordcount: Approximately 300 words.

Modern theory on conflict espouses that conflicts and disagreements in organisations and human interactions are inevitable and natural (Nneka, 2019). This implies that people professionals should apply advanced knowledge and skills in addressing these conflicts. Usually, people professionals encounter situations that contradict laws and policies and should raise them through the proper channel and means.
One of the main experiences that I encountered a legislation being violated was when a manager was discriminatory to individuals from a certain race during the recruitment and selection process as well as organisational activities. This was contradictory to the organisational values and culture of promoting diversity and inclusivity in people practices (Van den Berg et al., 2020). It also contradicted the employment law on discrimination based on a protected characteristic as outlined in the Equality Act 2010 under the UK law. In one instance, where the company was hiring close to 20 individuals, there was no single person from another race apart from the natives. Being one of the minority groups, it was our responsibility to share our discomfort and dissatisfaction. Raising the issue involved engaging various stakeholders including the trade union representatives, the HRM, and the director. The first aspect involved sharing the information anonymously as outlined in the company’s policy (Marcum and Young, 2019). Being anonymous was important in preventing potential consequences from the manager after reporting. The communication process involved a formal email with evidence of all the recruited individuals to show that they were from the native dominant race yet the company’s policy was that it provides equality to every individual and advocates for diversity. The email was also sent to the director to ensure that it reached all the relevant stakeholders for urgent action. One of the main challenges that we found with this approach is that in case the company did not take any action; it was still difficult to raise the issue while at the same time maintaining anonymity. The issue was addressed but it was difficult to recall individuals that had already been recruited.

Argue the human and business benefits of people feeling included, valued, and fairly treated at work linking to related theory (AC 2.1) Short references should be added into your narrative below. Please remember to only list your long references in the reference box provided at the end of this section. Wordcount: Approximately 300 words.

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