Principles Of Developing Professional Practice

Developing Professional Practice

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CIPD Value 4
Made up of workshop time, participant pack exercises, assessment activities, research and reading

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Welcome and Introduction
Welcome to your Developing Professional Practice unit. This unit is core to everyone taking this level of CIPD qualification, as it enables you to develop a sound understanding of the knowledge, skills and behaviours you need as a Human Resource Development (HRD) professional.

HRD is the commonly used term for HR practitioners specialising in Learning & Development. At times in this programme we may refer to HR, because many writers use the term to cover all facets of people management (personnel, HRD, employee reward, employee relations, employee resourcing). If you’re an HRD professional you may find it more relevant to simply substitute HR with HRD.

The HRD profession is evolving, as it increasingly demonstrates how HRD helps organisations to achieve sustainable performance. It is important that as an HRD professional you can build your capabilities as a strategic business partner.
This practical programme helps you to do that, and to: gain an insight into the HRD function understand why the latest practice offers great challenges and excitement clarify what being an effective HRD professional involves.

It allows you to take stock, chart your current profile, and develop a clear plan for your future, whether you’re extending your current role or progressing towards something different.

This unit’s primary focus is on building your capability as a ‘Thinking Performer’ which CIPD describes as someone who: is knowledgeable and competent in their field is forward thinking adds value through continuous challenge and self-imposed improvement goals.

A very practical outcome of this unit will be your own, justified Continuous Professional Development (CPD) plan, and the start of a development record (CPD record).
These are invaluable tools for your own development, and for your career progression.

Throughout this participant pack there are references to sources of further information relevant to this unit, and hyperlinks to useful content on websites. Please note that DPG has no control over the content or location of material held on external web sites and you may find, on occasion, that a link doesn’t work. While we update the participant packs on an annual basis, if you do find a broken link, first try to find the right page using the relevant websites search function. If there is none, or if that doesn’t work, often a simple Google search using the title or key words will help you locate it. Failing that, please contact your facilitator who will try to help you find what you’re looking for.

Making best use of your time on this unit
As with every unit, you need to approach this one systematically. Here is a suggestion that works for many of our participants.
Think
Take 15 minutes to skim read the whole pack from start to finish. This gives you a sense of its content, exercises and assessment activities.
Plan
Spend 15 minutes planning how you will go about the pack and the assessment activities.
Commit to an estimated timescale for yourself.
Do
Go through the pack completing all the exercises that you can tackle immediately.
Go back through the pack doing the exercises that you need to research.
Now you can approach the assessment activities with confidence.

Main icons and your actions

Exercise your brain
(time estimate 10 minutes)
This brain image tells you that this is an exercise to help you interact with the unit’s content.
There is also a helpful indicator of the time to spend on it.
Obviously, everyone is different, but this should be a useful guide.
The shaded area has the information you need to complete the exercise.

Complete your response in the box(es) below.

Assessment
There is a separate assessment pack which accompanies this participant pack. In the assessment pack, you will find:
Details of the learning outcomes for the unit and an explanation of how the unit is assessed
Instructions for completing and submitting the assessment exercises

When an exercise or assessment activity refers to ‘your organisation’ you can choose your current organisation, one you know well, the organisation of a friend/relative, or you can choose to use the programme case study company, Hell’s Kitchen.
Contents
1 What is required as an effective and efficient HRD professional 10
1.1 Introduction 10
1.2 The role and contribution of HRD 10
1.3 The role and contribution of the HRD professional 15
1.4 The CIPD HR Profession Map 16
1.5 What it means to be a professional 23
1.6 Ethical Practice 24
1.7 HRD customers and stakeholders 25
1.8 Links and follow through 29
2 Perform efficiently and effectively as a self-managing HR professional 31 31
2.1 Introduction 31
2.2 Efficiency and effectiveness 31
2.3 Links and follow through 34
3 Perform efficiently and effectively as a collaborative member of working groups and teams and as an added-value contributor to the organisation 35
3.1 Introduction 35
3.2 Working with others 35
3.3 Influencing, persuading and negotiating 38
3.4 Managing relationships within and across hierarchies 39
3.5 Links and follow through 43
4 Apply CPD techniques to construct, implement and review a personal development plan 44
4.1 Introduction 44
4.2 The concept and importance of CPD 44
4.3 The benefits of CPD 46
4.4 How CPD works 47
4.5 Self-appraisal and receiving feedback 49
4.6 Links and follow through 50 5 Unit reflections 52
Links to CIPD Standards

By completing this unit and delivering ‘Satisfactory’ assessment activities you will meet the following learning outcomes and assessment criteria:
Learning outcomes
You will:
Assessment criteria
You can:
1 Understand what is required of an effective and efficient HR professional

1.1 Evaluate what it means to be an HR professional, with reference to the CIPD’s HR Profession Map.
1.2 Analyse the four concentric circles of HR professionalism
2 Be able to perform efficiently and effectively as a self-managing HR professional
2.1 Apply the basic techniques of project management.
2.2 Apply the skills and techniques of situational analysis, problem-solving, decision-making and creative thinking
3 Be able to perform efficiently and effectively as a collaborative member of working groups and teams, and as an added-value contributor to the organisations

3.1 Describe the elements of group dynamics and conflict resolution methods.
3.2 Apply a range of methods for influencing, persuading and negotiating with others.
3.2 Explain the presence of political behaviour and how it impacts on achieving organisation objectives.
4 Be able to apply CPD techniques to construct, implement and review a personal development plan
4.1 Undertake a self-assessment of HR professional practice capabilities to identify continuing professional development needs
4.2 Evaluate and select different options for self-development and explain advantages and disadvantages of each.
4.3 Produce a plan to meet personal development objectives.
4.4 Reflect on performance against the plan, identify learning points for the future and revise the plan accordingly.

1 What is required as an effective and efficient HRD professional

1.1 Introduction
This section: explores what’s expected of the HRD function explains how you can add value as an effective and efficient HRD professional reviews the knowledge, skills and behaviours you need, as an HRD professional.
1.2 The role and contribution of HRD
The organisational process of developing people involves an HRD function at some level, whether it’s in a multinational business or an SME (small, medium enterprise), in the private, public or third sector (voluntary, charity, trusts).
Context matters
Seen as a strategic business unit, the HRD function can make a major contribution to your organisation’s performance. To succeed, its activities must be geared towards building organisational effectiveness, viability and sustainability. So it’s important to recognise the context of your HRD function and appreciate how it’s integrated within your organisation. Only then can you understand the role it plays and the contribution you make within it as an HRD professional.
Your organisation’s internal and external environments inevitably influence its strategy, vision, mission and goals. For example, the economic downturn saw organisations downsizing and restructuring. And that context sharply raises the organisation’s awareness that it needs to retain talent and develop employees’ skills and knowledge, to build an adaptable and flexible workforce – and to survive.
So, complex operating environments and rapid change make effective HRD increasingly important. After all, the whole organisation’s agility pretty much depends on the agility of its people. That means that building the capabilities of your workforce and having people-centred outcomes (such as trust, commitment, involvement, collaboration and development) are powerful ways of creating sustainable competitive advantage – as long as what you do in HRD is aligned to the overall business strategy.
Let’s repeat… aligned to your business strategy. No function that wants to have any real impact on overall business objectives can act independently or in a silo. For HRD to be effective, its strategies and policies must be a close fit with those of the wider HR and other business functions.
On top of that, there’s the harsh reality that the role and importance of your HRD function largely depends on how it’s perceived within your organisation. Your ability to influence and be an effective business partner depends on factors such as: your organisational structure, culture and industry how people in your organisation perceive the HRD function’s contribution how people perceive you, your HRD peers and the contribution you make.

This means that releasing the power of HRD depends on your ability to generate a positive internal perception of your HRD function. Demonstrating knowledge and understanding of your organisation’s business context is one sure way of helping to better position HRD within your organisation, and you can achieve that by: analysing your organisation’s strategy and identifying issues that might have implications for HRD identifying your HRD function’s strengths and areas in which it could add value by aligning HRD processes, practices, resources etc. to your organisation’s strategy identifying key players, whose ‘buy in’ you might need to achieve success identifying people, internally and externally, who can act as partners and/or advocates for your HRD function assessing how HRD activities are currently organised – for instance, whether line managers have responsibility for HRD within their own functions.

This case study highlights the value that HRD can add. You’ll see that it’s not the province of HRD professionals alone. It involves team leaders and managers, and your role is to guide its implementation and encourage a strategic approach.
Example: Adding Value through HRD initiatives
Company A is breaking into new markets in a turbulent environment where progress depends on rapidly responding to new and unfamiliar challenges. It has to be able to repeatedly group and regroup its human, financial and physical resources and produce new organisational capabilities that can respond innovatively to changing customer demands and stimulate new customer wants.
There will be implications for HR policies to do with recruitment, promotion, rewards and performance management. In addition, HR and HRD staff need to work together to add value by helping to change and embed new organisational structure and culture and to stimulate knowledge creation. HRD professionals must work with managers and team leaders to build a learning culture and to stimulate knowledge creation.
HRD professionals must work with managers and team leaders to build a learning culture in the organisation, form learning networks within the organisation and across its boundaries, and stimulate knowledge-productive communities of practice in the workplace.
Adding value through HRD initiatives (Harrison, R. and Kessels, J. 2003) (p25)

1.3 The role and contribution of the HRD professional
The role (responsibility) of the HRD professional is about enhancing the learning capabilities and effectiveness of the organisation and its employees.

The contribution (input) of the HRD professional is about the value they add to an organisation.
To operate effectively as an HRD practitioner you need to define your professional contribution at an individual level. This will help you to internally market the power and potential of your HRD function… but what does HRD professionalism looks like? The CIPD’s new HR Profession Map (HRPM) provides the answers.
1.4 The CIPD HR Profession Map
It helps to look at the history of the profession and explore how CIPD developed its new HRPM. This extract from a People Management article (24 April 2009) explains that the map was born out of significant research, and needed to be flexible for the profession now and for the future.
The CIPD’s “professional standards” underpin qualifications for HR/L&D, and have been a familiar foundation for tens of thousands of people embarking on their career.
But the role of HR/L&D practitioners is changing so fast that the institute (CIPD) has decided, rather than just update the existing standards, a radical re-visioning is necessary to equip the profession for the challenges ahead.
Dramatic confirmation of the changing business environment came out of market research commissioned by the CIPD last year. In one of the most comprehensive surveys of the HR/L&D community ever undertaken, 4,500 people answered detailed questions about their jobs, their professional needs and aspirations. The results show:
Increasing numbers of HR/L&D people are going beyond their traditional role, and are now required to understand what drives business performance and to bring into focus the employee capabilities their organisations will need in the future.
While 50 per cent see themselves as HR generalists, 50 per cent see themselves more as specialists, for example in reward, learning and development or employee relations, but also in roles, such as that of business partner. They want to go narrower and deeper in their basic and subsequent training.
30 per cent have an international dimension to their job. This is only one way in which the organisations they work in are becoming more complex. HR/L&D professionals need a more strategic map of the function in order to serve their organisations – and plan their careers – better.
29 per cent are studying. This includes recent entrants studying to become CIPD-qualified, but also people doing MBAs and other masters degree programmes, and a vast array of continuing professional development at all levels. There is strong demand for more structured learning and accreditation as people progress in their careers.
In a recent interview (People Management, 15 January), the institute’s chief executive, Jackie Orme, defined the profession’s changing orientation like this: “For me, it is best summed up as a shift from a primary focus on supporting line managers to manage their people well, to a primary focus on ensuring your organisation has the sustainable capability it needs to deliver its aims both today and in the future.”
The HR map has been informed by an extensive programme of consultation with senior HR/L&D professionals and other leaders in business, the public services and management education since Orme took over the reins at the institute a year ago.
The clear message is that in order to deliver “sustainable capability”, HR/L&D practitioners need to:
1. know their organisations inside out – this means, according to Orme, “truly understanding the drivers of sustainable business performance, and the barriers to achieving it”
2. know the main ways in which HR/L&D expertise can make an impact – and contribute beyond the confines of the traditional role
3. have the behavioural skills to turn knowledge into effective action.
Orme believes that the old professional standards served well enough for their time. But she wants to get away from the notion of fixed standards that are difficult to change, and the sense of one-size-fits-all. To chart where the profession is now, and to expand its capacity to meet future challenges, the CIPD has, in effect, started again with a clean sheet.
Initial reaction from the field is that: this is a comprehensive picture of what HR/L&D excellence looks like; it is easy to understand, practical, and highly relevant to the challenges that more and more HR/L&D professionals will face in the workplace.
It’s already clear that the map represents a complete overhaul of HR/L&D’s foundations and a dramatic raising of the bar in HR/L&D’s ambitions.

So the HRPM is a tool that enables you to take ownership of your own learning and development. By building an understanding of the knowledge, skills and behaviours you need now and in the future, you can perform more effectively and efficiently, develop your own career and add value for your organisation.
Let’s explore it a bit more deeply, looking at definitions, the big picture and the design principles, and some key components – bands, professional areas, and behaviours.

CIPD definitions
Knowledge what the individual understands in order to carry out the activities

Skills what the individual does

Behaviours how the individual carries out the activities

Design principles
CIPD developed the HRPM using the following design principles:
It covers behaviours as well as the technical elements of professional competence required in the HR/L&D profession.
It describes what you need to do, what you need to know and how you need to do it within each professional area at four bands of professional competence.
It 's organised around areas of professional competence, not organisation structures, job levels or roles.
The scope of the map will cover the breadth and depth of the HR/L&D profession, from small to large organisations, from fundamental to sophisticated practice, local to global, corporate to consulting, charity to public sector, traditional to progressive.
Although some of the content may relate to line managers and academics, the map is not designed to capture the professional competence required in these disciplines.

Bands
The four bands in the HRPM outline the professional competence and contribution at each level and highlight the transition challenges in moving from one band to the next.

In this programme you demonstrate knowledge, skills and behaviours at Bands 1 & 2.
Professional areas
These describe what you need to do (activities) and know, for each area of the HR/L&D profession at the four bands of professional competence. There are also links to the behaviours needed. As you can see in the HR Map there are ten professional areas, mirroring the growing width and specialism of the HR/L&D function.

Exercise your brain 2
(time estimate: 45 minutes)
Explore the professional area ‘Learning and Talent Development’. Here is the link: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-profession-map/professional-areas/learning-talent-development.htm Quickly surf around the document, concentrating on bands one and two since those are at the practitioner level of this programme. Make some brief notes
What are the main two things that you notice?
For example, a connection and a difference compared with your current role?

What is surprising or interesting to you?

Behaviours
Each professional area has a list of the behaviours needed to deliver it. There are eight, arranged in three clusters and at four bands of professional competence.

Insights and Influence
Operational Excellence
Stewardship
Curious
Decisive thinker
Skilled influencer
Driven to deliver
Collaborative
Personally credible
Courage to challenge
Role model

Exercise your brain 3
(time estimate: 90 minutes)
Write a briefing note aimed at those thinking about becoming HRD professionals. Refer to CIPD’s ‘HR Profession Map’ covering these three following professional areas at bands one and two:

1. Strategies, insights and solutions
2. Leading and managing the Human Resources function
3. Plus one other of your choice (for example one that connects most closely to your L&D role or intended role)

You should make reference to the eight behaviours in the map.

In addition, your brief should outline the roles of HRD professionalism e.g. managing self, managing in groups/teams, managing upwards and managing across the organisation. In doing so, set out how these roles interact.

Bands and transitions
When you’re looking at your potential progression through the profession, it’s important to clarify the banding and the transition challenges that come when you’re moving from one band to the next.
The four bands of professional competence define the contribution that professionals make in the some key areas, specifically: the relationship that professionals have with clients, such as supporter, advisor, consultant or leader the focus of the activities performed by professionals, such as supporting, advising or leading how professionals spend their time, such as providing information, understanding issues, understanding the business or understanding organisational issues what services are provided to clients, such as informing, handling issues, providing solutions or challenging difficult issues ways in which their contribution and success is measured.

1.5 What it means to be a professional
Having explored the CIPD’s HR Profession Map you now know what the CIPD’s expectations are regarding professionalism. The CIPD also sets out its expectations of members in a Code of Professional Practice.

Exercise your brain 4
(time estimate: 20 minutes)
What are the key responsibilities of CIPD members under their Code of Professional Conduct? Is there anything that you would add?

1.6 Ethical Practice
Ethical practice defines the way you conduct yourself as an HRD professional. Definition of Ethics:
“the rules of conduct recognised as appropriate to a particular profession or area of life”
(Oxford English Dictionary).

As an HRD professional you should aim, through professional practice, to demonstrate: honesty fairness respect for others trustworthiness. Exercise your brain 5
(time estimate: 20 minutes)
As an HRD Manager, what do you consider to be key areas of conflict between your professional principles and organisational pressures?
And
How, as an HRD professional, do you apply your knowledge and skills to alleviate these areas of conflict?

Whether ethical behaviour is considered a duty or a virtue its underlying principle is to ensure that behaviour is not driven by self-interest or self-gain, and that it has no negative, unintended consequences for your organisation.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) takes this a step further by encouraging business leaders to consider their organisation’s impact on the wider world. CSR strategies contribute to long-term business values and sustainable performance.

Exercise your brain 6
(time estimate: 30 minutes)
Review the Business Link’s guide to Corporate Social Responsibility by clicking here.

With Corporate Social Responsibility moving up the corporate agenda, what element of your HRD strategy (if there is one in place) demonstrates CSR?
Or
If there is no evidence of a strategy or CSR, how do you see your HRD function being able to add value to the CSR agenda?

1.7 HRD customers and stakeholders
Before you can meet customer and stakeholder needs you need to know who they are, and determine their expectations and priorities.
As a working definition, a customer is anyone to whom you supply the processes, products or services of your HRD function. External customers are obvious – they’re the users or consumers of the goods and services your organisation provides.
Internal customers are often overlooked though. These are the people, departments, managers or functions inside the organisation that you supply something to. It can be anything; including information, statistics, support on learning plans, specialist advice and consultancy, or direct training. It can even be clerical support and back-up.
They may or may not pay you, but they rely on you as their supplier. Without your fit-for-purpose service, products or data they cannot do their work effectively and efficiently – and that inevitably has a knock-on effect for the external consumer.
Stakeholders can be anyone, both internal and external, with a vested interest in your organisation. They can include employees, clients, colleagues and customers… in fact anyone who may be affected by your operations.

Who are
they?

Exercise your brain 7
(time estimate: 20 minutes)
To start your thinking, create a list of your internal customers. Remember, these are the individuals, functions, departments or sections that you provide something for. They may be specific people or groups of people, and they could be within HRD or outside it, and possibly not even hired by your organisation yet.

What are their needs?
Everyone who uses HRD services has their own needs; whether they’re subordinates, peers, managers, users/customers or others. And as those needs always evolve and change, it’s important to take the time to identify them.

Exercise your brain 8
(time estimate: 45 minutes)
This activity will help clarify what your customers value from you. Pick two different customers, ask them these questions and note down their answers.
Make your notes brief but specific. Quite well or Most of the time is vague and unhelpful, whereas 100% happy or Satisfied with the report although they need it a day earlier each month gives you detail that really helps you understand their needs.
Customer 1
What core benefits is this customer seeking from you?

What additional benefits is the customer seeking?

How well is each of these being met right now:
Core benefits?

Additional benefits?

Actions required (specifically what, by whom, when)?

Customer 2
What core benefits is this customer seeking from you?

What additional benefits is the customer seeking?

How well is each of these being met right now:
Core benefits?

Additional benefits?

Actions required (specifically what, by whom, when)?

This activity is not only helpful in this course of study, it’s also a very useful tool for continuous improvement at work. By regularly asking internal customers how you’re doing, you can ensure you’re always up to date with their changing needs and priorities. It also helps spot things you may not need to do any more – like figures that used to be important but are no longer needed, even though you’ve been spending time churning them out each month because nobody told you.
Meeting, or exceeding, customer expectations helps build confidence and credibility in your HRD function. And it’s important that the service you offer your customers is both consistent and enhancing.
Consistency is critical for sustaining strong customer relationships. Enhancing your customers’ experiences is a product of your commitment to continuous improvement, where you develop a customer care strategy that ensures standards and expectations are communicated internally and externally. With this kind of service level agreement in place you can then measure your HRD function’s customer service against it – on the lines of that last activity.
It’s a continuous process giving you excellent realistic feedback that helps you identify what is going well and where there is room for improvement.

It is also important because many customers and stakeholders have power that can either help you or present challenges to your HRD function as you try to determine and deliver your priorities. Knowing their needs helps avoid conflict and build progress.
Types of power include: characterised by:
Personal Drive, inspirational, charisma
Knowledge/Expert Information, areas of expertise, etc.
Resource Controlling access to budgets etc.
Physical Size, voice etc.
Status Position in organisation

1.8 Links and follow through
This link provides a summary and insights into Kaizen. http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/mgmt_kaizen_main.html Michael Le Boeuf, “How to win customers and keep them for life”. Listen to Michael read excerpts from his seminal book. It may spark your interest in the full publication. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/How-to-Win-Customers-and-Keep-Them-for-Life/Michael-Leboeuf/e/9780743519007 Explore the role HR played in the rapid demise of Enron in the Personnel Today article “Did HR fuel the demise of Enron?” http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/article.aspx?liarticleid=11695&printerfriendly=true Ulrich, D. et al (2008) HR competencies: mastery at the intersection between people and business. Washington, DC: Society for Human Resource Management.
Cook, S. (2008) Customer service in your organisation. Toolkit. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development
Edwards, S. (2004) Guide for customer service professionals. London: Customer 1st International.
Business Link. (2007) Customer relationship management [online]. London: Business Link. Available at: www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1075422922#

Want to stretch yourself?

Check out the CIPD’s Career Management Guide – it looks at how to structure successful career management activities that support organisational objectives and meet employee’s needs. http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/guides/career-management.aspx 2 Perform efficiently and effectively as a self-managing HR professional 2.1 Introduction
This section explores some of the principles and practices required to become a self-managing professional.
2.2 Efficiency and effectiveness
Effectiveness means doing the right things to produce the desired result.
Efficiency is doing things right.
To deliver an efficient service to your customers and stakeholders you: focus on what needs to be done plan relevant actions that need to be taken implement those actions review and evaluate impact at every stage to check you are achieving the right result with the minimum use of resources.
You can achieve efficiency and effectiveness through these project planning steps:

Initiating Determining what needs to be accomplished
Presenting a business case Liaising with customers/stakeholders Defining and agreeing the scope
Planning Identifying key task resources and producing a plan
Establishing important and measurable milestones Establishing budgets
Executing Carrying out actions against your plan
Controlling Ensuring timings are adhered to, and contingencies factored in
Closing Reviewing, evaluating and learning from experiences.

Each project’s scope and potential impact is different and may affect any level in your organisation. How you interpret and execute instructions (inputs) and results (outputs) defines efficiency and effectiveness in terms of the ‘added value’ your actions produce.

Exercise your brain 9
(time estimate: 20 minutes)
Think of a project you have recently undertaken at work (large or small) and outline the following:
a) What was the project and who initiated it?
b) What went
well?
c) What didn’t go so well?
d) What did you have to change, if anything, to achieve the objective?
e) What would you do differently next time?

With effective project management skills you can enhance your professional credibility and support organisational change, so it’s important that you strengthen these skills to ensure effective and efficient delivery against the project objectives.
Achieving successful outcomes typically means using project management tools, which come in many forms. Exactly which ones you choose is down to personal preference.
Critical thinking, context and communication
For project planning and implementation you need to demonstrate a level of critical and analytical thinking.
Critical thinking enables you to: reflect and consider a problem, strategy or solution consider the potentially competing needs of your customers create an outcome that is mutually beneficial.
Critical thinking requires: reflection - which in turn requires an element of self-awareness criteria based judgement - the ability to weigh information received against the actual circumstances analysis of any influences on the project and the potential ‘flaws’ of all information received acceptance of feedback and the ability to take corrective action.
Although systematic project management and critical thinking are key, you always have to remember the context. Projects invariably affect stakeholders, so it makes good sense to keep them informed and involve them where appropriate.
Effective communication with stakeholders is important. Specifying how you will keep stakeholders up to date with progress should form part of your initial project plan. Being seen to communicate effectively strengthens your credibility by demonstrating: your ability to present relevant research into projects undertaken the way you have validated the reliability of your sources and data benchmarking alignment between your project and the specific needs of your organisation.
Effective communication skills require you to: listen actively understand verbal and non-verbal communication signs succinctly communicate relevant facts; written and orally construct sound and convincing arguments convey assertiveness without demonstrating arrogance.

2.3 Links and follow through
Mark West’s short article on “Business Relationships, Opportunities waiting to happen” (British Journal of Administrative Management; Feb/Mar2006, Issue 51, p17-17, 1p) provides insight into effective relationship building techniques. You’ll need to be logged into the CIPD’s website to access this.
Michele Compton’s “Action and Reaction: When Good Relationships Go Bad” (Women in Business; Jan/Feb2008, Vol. 60 Issue 1, p9-11, 3p) provides tips on how to deal with difficult people at work. You’ll need to be logged into the CIPD’s website to access this one too.
WINSTANLEY, D. (2005) Personal effectiveness. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development. 3 Perform efficiently and effectively as a collaborative member of working groups and teams and as an added-value contributor to the organisation

3.1 Introduction
In this section you explore team models and team leadership, and look at achieving win-win situations. Applying the right skills in the right situations helps build, develop and maintain excellent collaborative working relationships. 3.2 Working with others
Organisational structures often define working relationships, and determine how those relationships interact. While you may not choose every individual you work with, good relationships matter, as a positive and motivated workforce is always more productive.
In any given setting group dynamics are multifaceted and complex. When working with others your ability to skilfully manage the dynamics of relationships has a substantial impact on the success of any project.
Team roles
Belbin’s (1981) work on teams defined nine equally important roles that people play in team situations. Getting the team to work well requires each member to recognise the importance of the others’ roles, so that they can work together to make best use of the network of different skills and approaches that team members bring to the table.
These are his nine roles:
Doers

Implementer turns ideas into actions
Shaper dynamic, proactive achiever
Completer/finisher the detail person
Thinkers

Planter solves difficult and complex problems
Monitor-Evaluator critical, strategic thinker
Specialist brings skills in short supply
Relationship builders
Co-ordinator co-ordinates the effort of others
Teamworker ensures effective interpersonal relationships
Resource-Investigator supreme networker

Tuckman’s (1965) team development model originally had four stages of team formation and was later adapted to include six (five shown here).
Stage 1: Forming
Getting to know each other
Stage 2: Storming
Differences of views/opinions start to occur and conflicts/arguments emerge
Stage 3: Norming
The team sets expectations and standards, agreeing goals and how to achieve them
Stage 4: Performing
The team starts to achieve the outcomes needed to successfully achieve agreed goals
Stage 5: Mourning
The team completes the project and deals with issues learned and the loss, sadness or relief of leaving the team.
Whichever model you use to explore teams, the key factor is that team behaviour needs to be understood if the team is to achieve cohesion and desired outcomes.

Exercise your brain 11
(time estimate: 20 minutes)
Think of a time when you were part of a team.
Make brief notes on how the team developed, using the stages in Tuckman’s model.
Identify the role you played (from Belbin’s list) and rate your performance.
What did you learn that will help you be a more effective team member in future?

Leadership
Effective leadership is a key factor in determining team success. The traits of a ‘good’ leader include being able to energise and inject enthusiasm into the teams and/or groups you have responsibility for. And effective team leadership requires you to demonstrate key aspects of the CIPD HRPM.
Insights and Influence
Effective decision maker
Able to see the big picture – vision
Operational Excellence
Good at doing things – task competence within specialist areas
Ability to handle people through negotiation and conflict
Stewardship
Accepts responsibility and remains calm under pressure
Inspires and innovates
3.3 Influencing, persuading and negotiating
Other people’s perception of your HRD function has a distinct bearing on the degree of influencing and persuading you can successfully undertake. Not everyone shares your view that HRD is a crucial element in organisational success. They can be persuaded; but getting them to see HRD as a key business partner often takes work.
To influence or persuade decision-makers and stakeholders you have to understand their needs and know the appropriate outcomes. When your plan isn’t going to give them exactly what they might expect, you need to prepare and present a balanced, evidence-based and reasoned counter-argument to what they have in mind. You need their buy-in and the key to success is your ability to convince them that your proposal benefits and/or improves the current situation, beyond their expectations.

The skills of influencing and persuading
There are four basic influencing skills. Throughout your career you will rely on these skills to varying degrees, in a variety of settings. Developing them now will enhance your credibility as an HRD professional.
Asserting Expressing your views clearly and directly, in assertive language.
Bridging Drawing out other people’s points of view – indicating you understand what they’re saying and joining your views with theirs (for instance, “we both seem to be saying the same things, so let’s agree to proceed”).
Attracting Trying to get people enthused by what you are proposing; getting people to feel they are taking part in an exciting project
Observing Being aware of the reactions of the people you are dealing with and listening to what they say.

Negotiating
Influencing and persuading are key skills in the process of negotiation, where you: define your objective(s) get the facts organise your argument anticipate objections find out what the other parties want look for hidden agendas prepare a simple presentation, with impact make your audience contributors to your idea sell the benefits positively gain commitment and take immediate action
3.4 Managing relationships within and across hierarchies
Power and politics impact on relationships within organisations, and you could well come across different types of power bases. One of the most-well known studies on power is that of French and Raven (1959). From their research, they identified five different bases of power.

Legitimate – coming from the perception that, because of their position, someone has the right to make demands and expect compliance and obedience from others.

Reward – based on the perception that someone has the ability to give people what they want, or to withhold reward for non-compliance with their wishes.

Expert – this type of power comes from someone having superior knowledge or skills; they can choose to share their expertise, use it for the benefit of the organisation, or they could decide to do neither.

Referent – this is power that comes from someone being liked or having people want to be like them. Those with referent power have social influence and they can choose to include or exclude others by influencing the perceptions of others.

Coercive – this type of power stems from the perceived ability that someone can punish another who does not conform with their ideas or wishes.

Exercise your brain 12
(time estimate: 30 minutes)
Read the descriptions of these five types of power base on the Mindtools website.
When you have read through the article, give an example of each type of power below.

Any of these types of power can be used to protect or pursue an individual or group’s self-interests. That can lead to conflict; and while conflict is natural, it can lead to the breakdown of relationships if it’s not handled constructively.
Handling conflict
People use a range of natural stances to handle conflict situations.

Avoidance
Tries to avoid conflict, but when it arises tries to stifle or postpone it, or at least ensure that there is no direct confrontation
Compromise
Seeks compromise by negotiation and making deals

Competition

Tries to win, either by exploiting rivalries or by exercise of power
Accommodation
Encourages the other party/parties to put the reasons for conflict on the table, so that it can be resolved
Collaboration
Seeks to work together to find solutions that build on differences and that help each of the parties involved to win something
Submissive
Usually gives way, either because of a belief that conflict is counter-productive or because it is clear from the start that winning is impossible
The style you use should be responsive and sensitive to the situation. For instance, collaboration may not always work and it may be better to opt for a compromise through negotiation, to preserve commitment and facilitate progress.
When you’re managing a conflict situation, stay focused on the desired outcomes for the business. Establishing and maintaining effective relationships are key success factors. In an article published in Training Journal, Nick Heap points out:

“Relationships can often seem like fragile things – especially in the workplace where they are often built and destroyed by the actions we take.”

The full article can be accessed by clicking here:

When you’re managing a conflict situation, stay focused on the desired outcomes for the business. Establishing and maintaining effective relationships are key success factors. In this excerpt Rosemary Harrison (2005) outlines the CIPD’s notion of the Business Partner, and sets out steps for building and maintaining effective relationships.
Partner others
Build effective working relationships inside and outside the business so that L&D strategies work on the ground and new initiatives gain the support they need.

Achieve results
Promote L&D activity that supports the business and the learners, work with others to monitor and evaluate its outcome, and spread awareness of the value-adding that the L&D function provides.

Remember the People-Performance framework
Without the right organisational context people cannot, or will not, use their learning and skills to the benefit of the business. Help to build commitment and a learning culture in the workplace through your partnerships and expertise.

Travel around
Move about the organisation establishing a live and proactive presence in the business, expanding and deepening your business knowledge and cementing valuable relationships.

Never be complacent
Use partnerships as a vehicle for your own learning as well as that of others, stimulating your professional development and generating new knowledge to make the L&D function leading edge.

Ensure professional and ethical practice
Respect the values of others, building on diversity of whatever kind in order to produce rich learning experiences, with access for all employees to opportunities to develop their performance and potential.

Raise awareness
Ensure that managers and all employees know about the big L&D issues facing the organisation and the part they can play in tackling them.
3.5 Links and follow through

Steven Covey - 7 Habits of highly effective people

HORN, R. (2009) Business Skills Handbook. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

WATSON, G., GALLAGHER, K. (2005) Managing for Results: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Want to stretch yourself?

Review “Managing relationship conflict and the effectiveness of organisational teams” by clicking here. The reference for this is:
Journal of Organizational Behavior; May2001, Vol. 22 Issue 3, p309-328, 20p.
You’ll need to be logged into the CIPD’s website to access this article.

4 Apply CPD techniques to construct, implement and review a personal development plan

4.1 Introduction
In this final section we’ll look at Continuing Professional Development (CPD), what it is, how important it is and how it works. There’s an assessment activity at the end to show that you can: undertake a self-assessment produce a CPD plan for yourself commit to maintaining a CPD record

4.2 The concept and importance of CPD
CPD is a process by which individuals take control of their own learning and development by engaging in an on-going process of reflection and action.
This process is empowering and exciting and can stimulate people to achieve their aspirations and move towards their dreams. (Meggison and Whitaker 2007)
CPD is a systematic way of helping you manage your development, so you can give your best to yourself and your organisation. It has two practical outcomes:
A CPD plan, which is your targeted personal development plan
A living CPD record – like a diary of key experiences, learnings and results.

We’ve mentioned ‘your contribution’ to your organisation, and that’s about adding value. Ted Johns at the Prosper Consortium has this very interesting box grid called, The Adding Value Employee. It’s often referred to as the ‘Thinking Performer’ because that’s the place where the effective employee lives.

Effectiveness
(Doing the right thing)

Wish List Dreamer

Thinking Performer

The Lifetime Liability

Automated Bureaucrat

Efficiency
(Doing things right)

4.3 The benefits of CPD
As your organisation continues to evolve, so your professional knowledge, skills and behaviours must also evolve if you’re to help enhance organisational performance.
From the organisation’s perspective, CPD provides current and future opportunities to: improve employee’s competencies to enable the achievement of key objectives align knowledge, skills and behaviours to future roles, in succession planning.
Your rationale for undertaking CPD is that it enables you to: take a focused approach to your own development keep up to date with developments within your profession plan your own development to fit your preferred learning style.
It also provides evidence of your commitment to CPD, which you must have when you come to upgrade your CIPD membership.
Taking time out to reflect on important experiences and noting down your thoughts and next steps is a powerful way to learn. Making sure you use experiences to identify learning areas and apply what you learn is a key factor for Thinking Performers – one that connects well to the cycle of experiential learning by David Kolb (1984).

4.4 How CPD works
CPD is practical and straightforward, with three key steps:
1. Carry out a personal stock take and reflection.
2. Produce a CPD development plan.
3. Start and maintain a CPD record.

You’ll use these three steps in more depth when you come to the assessment activities at the end of the unit. But for now, this is the outline of what’s involved.

Step 1 is your personal stock take, where you ask yourself some simple questions:
What’s happening over the next year in my current role?
What are my longer-term aspirations (over, say, the next three years)?
What do I need to know, do and behave like, to do what’s needed of me?
What am I already good at?
What are my gaps (knowledge, skills, and behaviours)?
How might I best fill them?

Step 2 is your plan. It should answer these basic questions over a set period of time, with target dates for review and completion:
Where do I want to be by the end of this period?
What do I want to be doing (something new, extended, or more of the same)?
What do I need or want to learn?
What will I do to achieve this?
What resources or support will I need?
What are my success criteria?

Step 3 is the straightforward record of your activity and success. It records: key dates what you did why you did it what you learnt from it how you are using what you learnt whether there’s any further action needed.
Dispelling some myths about CPD

CPD can include:

formal training project work reading – books, newspapers, people management, training journals, etc. secondments observing role models outside work experiences films, DVD, TV and radio e-learning, etc.

4.5 Self-appraisal and receiving feedback
A key element in this unit is your ability to appraise yourself against other people’s expectations. Continuous self-appraisal is a key CPD component, and in practical terms it helps you to improve your capabilities and effectiveness.
To gather the information you need for self-appraisal you can: critique yourself, possibly using Kolb’s learning cycle as the basis for analysis ask for feedback from direct reports, peers, customers, your manager.

Remember, asking for feedback can be a revealing process. It may give you a surprise or two, as the way you see yourself is often different to the way others see you.
Once you have the information from your own review or from feedback, you can use it to develop your capabilities and effectiveness.
4.6 Links and follow through www.cipd.co.uk/cpd CIPD web area on CPD http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/experience.htm Here you can delve further into Kolb’s experiential learning cycle. http://www.masie.com/Home.htm The Masie Centre is a useful site about learning, especially e-learning. Perhaps try out some of the podcasts.

http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/lrnanddev/trainingneeds/idtlneeds.htm
CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF PERSONNEL AND DEVELOPMENT. (2009) Identifying learning and training needs [online]. Factsheet. London: CIPD.

Megginson, D. and Whitaker, V. (2007) 2nd ed. Continuing professional development. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development.
Pedler, M., Burgoyne, J. and Boydell, T. (2006) A manager’s guide to self-development. 5th ed. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.

5 Unit reflections
Congratulations! Now that you have completed the unit, what are your reflections?

Think about the content that you have explored in this unit.
What was confirmed that you already knew? What was new? What made you think?
And for your participant pack exercises and assessment activities, what are you happy about?
What would you do differently next time?
What did you learn, perhaps technically, about yourself and maybe, for example, your time management?

Now complete your CPD entry in your CPD record for this unit.