Developing the Self and Employability - Assignment Example

Developing the Self and Employability After completing my undergraduate degree, I desire to work for any organization in the Human Resource Department as a Human resource officer. The interest that I have in the profession was developed by my admiration for the profession, knowing the description of the job of a human resource officer and the challenges that come with it. The course that I am currently undertaking is also relevant to the career, and so I would like to use the knowledge that I have acquired as an undergraduate student in that particular career (Boden & Nedeva, 2010, p. 41). To become an employee in the Human Resource department of any organization, there are a set of employability skills required. To understand the employability skills, it is imperative to assess the job of an officer in the Human Resource Department of an organization. A human resource officer undertakes duties such as the evaluation of jobs, planning of the organization, planning of the manpower available, selection and recruitment of new employees, employee services, development and training of the current employees and termination of employment. The academic requirements for this job entail the applicant possessing a Bachelors’ Degree in a relevant field. Some organizations require a person to be a holder of any degree. However, having a degree in Psychology, Law, Management or having any other business-related degree increases the chances of someone getting a job in the human resource department. In some organizations, a person who applies for a job as an officer in the Human Resource Department may needs to have some experience in either a technical or a scientific field. This depends on the nature of operations that the organization undertakes (Inkson et al, 2012, p. 325). Employability skills are a set of skills that an individual seeking a job needs to possess so that an organization may employ them (Briscoe, Hall & Frautschydemuth, 2006, p. 31). These skills support the subject knowledge and the good understanding of the technicalities that the job requires, and employers look out for them when they interview potential employees. Employability skills are those skills that will equip a worker so that they are able to carry out the specific roles that their employers have assigned to them to their best (Hall, 2004, p. 7). I undertook an MBTI test. An MBTI test is an essential tool for assessing whether a person is suited for a specific job or career and it is among the most widely used personality assessment tests. Employers use the MBTI to check the suitability of a potential employee, their values as well as their personality (Pittenger, 2012, p. 2). From assessing myself using self-awareness tools, I have realized that I possess a valuable set of employability skills. The results of the self-awareness tests revealed that I am an individual who finds energy from interacting with the outside world. This is particularly important in the sense that I have developed good interpersonal skills that will be valuable as I pursue my career in human resource (Inkson et al, 2012, p. 328). Further, the tests revealed my sensing abilities. As an individual, I prefer to work with known facts. Working with known facts as opposed to intuition is considerably important in the planning of a person’s activities as well as determining the best method of dealing with an issue (Knight & Yorke, 2004, p. 56). Working with facts helps in accuracy and safety ass an individual undertakes different duties at the work place. A self-analysis of my thinking revealed that I base the decisions I make on an impersonal analysis. I make most of my decisions after assessing the circumstances surrounding the situation. I try to understand the consequences of my decisions before I make them. This helps because I am able to think critically on every important issue surrounding a circumstance as opposed to thinking about the issues around me and the position I occupy in any organization (Hall, 2004, p. 11). With regard to my judgment, the self-assessment test I undertook revealed my preference for a decided, orderly and planned way of life. Having an unplanned way of life does not allow a person to project into the future and prepare adequately for it (Briscoe, Hall & Frautschydemuth, 2006, p. 3). On the other and, having a planned way of life allows one to plan for the future activities of the individ6ual and the organization for which they work. The importance of having the ability to plan in a job or a career is that the a person can coordinate their activities to achieve a selected set of goals that they have set for themselves as well as the goals set for them by their superiors at the workplace (Clarke, 2013, p. 688). The job of an officer in an organization’s Human Resource Department requires one to have some specific employability skills. The first employability skill is good communication. Skills in good communication are important for this job because a human resource officer consults with both stakeholders from both within the organization and outside (Wilton, 2011, p. 89). Further, these skills would apply as the human resource officer undertakes negotiations, interviews and counseling for the employees (Pool & Sewell, 2007, p. 281). Good communication is also important whenever the officer represents the company in different forums, as well as in the evaluation and clarification of information that requires to be communicated both within and outside the company. The capacity to communicate efficiently in writing as well as verbally, maintain proper eye contact, express ideas succinctly and match the language of communication to the audience are vita skills sought by employers. Good written and verbal communication essentially means that an individual is capable of passing messages across with little chance of being misunderstood. The second employability skill required for the job of a human resource officer is the ability to work in a team (Clarke, 2009, p. 12). This skill requires one to have the ability to treat other members of his or her team with empathy, respect and with integrity (Yorke, 2004, p. 117). In addition to that, a person with this skill should be able to identify the different responsibilities or everyone working in the human resource department as well as the roles that every employee within the organization plays (Knight & Yorke, 2003, p. 121). Self management is the third employability skills required for this profession. A candidate for a job in the Human Resource Department in an organization should be ready and willing to comply with the statutory and legislative provisions pertaining to the profession (Clarke, 2013, p. 693). Self management also involves one’s ability to plan their work by themselves and predicting the outcomes of such work. In addition to that, the individual should be able to identify any improvements in their work. The person should also be able to present an image of professionalism whenever they act on behalf of the company (Wilton, 2011, p. 93). Enterprise and initiative are the fourth employability skills. They require a person to promote flexible practices at work while encouraging diversity (Muldoon, 2009, p. 243). Further, a worker in an organization’s human resource department should be able to respond to changes at the work place, in addition to possessing the ability to translate their ideas and those of others into innovative solutions. The fifth employability skill is organizing and planning (Bridgstock, 2009, p. 37). The job requires the individual to be able to collect, collate and analyze information by using the appropriate business systems at the workplace. Further, they should be able to analyze the operational and strategic plans of the organization so that they can make arrangements, deliver and evaluate service delivery at the organization by the human resource department (Smith, Mcknight & Naylor, 2009, p. 387). Among the most important employability skills are problem-solving skills (Knight & Yorke, 2003, p. 126). A potential employee at a human resource department should be able to come up with an array of options to use in seeking solutions to issues in human resource. A human resource officer should have the ability to conduct analyses on cost-benefit information, assess and manage risk as well as determine the salary package as well as identifying appropriate techniques for collecting data for the analysis of training needs of the employees at the organization (Clarke, 2008, p. 264). The two-year plan that I have developed to assist in the improvement of my employability skills so that I become better at my job as a human resource officer is based on the five SMART principles. Setting goals based on the SMART method gives an individual an opportunity to undertake proper planning with effectiveness with the aim of reaching both personal and organizational goals. The goals that I have set will support my consistent desire to develop. These goals are comprehensive and realistic, and I intent to work hard towards these goals. The actions that I intend to undertake are as follows: Undertake further studies The first action that I intent to undertake is to enroll for postgraduate classes in Human Resource. I plan to undertake a Masters’ degree in Human Resource in a reputable institution of higher learning. The Masters’ degree course will take two years to complete. Going for further studies will help increase my knowledge in Human Resource along with improving my notion of what it entails to undertake specific duties in that sector (Brown, Hesketh & Williams, 2003, p. 112). With postgraduate education on Human Resource, I will gather academic knowledge that will enable me to understand better how to control my work environment as well as how to deal with other people with whom I interact in the course of my work (Boden & Nedeva, 2010, p. 39). The emerging trends in human resource will also form part of the knowledge that I acquire as I pursue my Masters’ degree. This will be important in determining the new and more effective ways of undertaking duties at the Human Resource Department of the organization that I will be working for. Attendance of seminars and relevant training programs I intend to attend seminars on human resource in my town. Attending seminars and training programs will add value to my academic knowledge inhuman Resource (Feldman & Ng, 2007, p. 358). I plan to attend training programs on ways to improve my adaptability skills so that I can conform to the changes in the environment in which I work. In addition to that, I plan to register for and attend training programs in negotiation and numeracy. It is imperative to note that as an officer in human resource, I should possess the skills of using mathematics as well as data to demonstrate a specific point to my colleagues or during training or in other forums as well as support the evidence I would be presenting. This move would assist me to improve my communication skills. By improving my negotiation skills, I will be nurturing my interpersonal skills. I will learn to consider what other people want and weigh it against their abilities as they go through the Human Resource Department. I plan to undertake quarterly training programs and attend monthly seminars on human resource in my town (Brown, Hesketh & Williams, 2003, p. 118). Attend work in a public environment Another goal is to attend work in a public environment. A public environment has people from different backgrounds converging in a specific area to undertake different tasks with different goals. Attending work in a public environment would improve my ability to exercise patience with regard to the actions of others, as well as understand the reasons for some people behaving in certain ways. Understanding human behavior is essential in the job of a human resource officer, since it helps when counseling a colleague. Further, working in such an environment equips one with improved communication skills (Clarke & Patrickson, 2008, p. 124). This strategy will take three months to complete. Adopt a work ethic that support my schedule As a human resource officer, I intend to adopt a work ethic that would support the schedule that I would have to work on (Feldman & Ng, 2007, 361). One of the work ethics I intend to adopt is the completion of duties on time. Completion of my duties on time will be a step towards performing well in my job as a human resource officer, and as such I will be able to undertake more daunting duties at the organization with time. Another work ethic is to put the interest of the organization for which I work before my own interests. Putting the interests of the organization before my own while at work will serve to enhance the quality of the services I offer as well as the general performance of the organization. I will also adopt the work ethic of planning my activities before I perform them. This strategy will assist me to know the activity that I should be undertaking as at a particular time, therefore allowing me to be more effective at work (Sullivan, & Baruch, (2009, p. 1547). The implementation of this action is already underway. Switch teams regularly Teamwork is important in human resource. However, learning how to work with a small group of people does not let one see the differences in character so that they learn different ways of dealing with different personalities. Being inhuman resource entails working with different people every day. On that note, switching teams regularly will give me the exposure that I need concerning the different personalities that people have as well as learning different strategies concerning human resource from my colleagues as well (Rodrigues & Guest, 2010, p. 1159). The implementation of this action will be during the first two years of my employment. Relevance and contemporary applications Employability skills connote the attitudes and skills that help individuals in employment positions to have better relations with their workmates, to solve conundrums, to reach critical decisions, to develop mutual respect and ultimately to develop as strong organizational ambassadors. These skills are at times alluded to as ‘soft skills’ and are the foundation upon which a career’s building blocks lie. These skills are often mentioned in the media as inefficient among school leavers and graduates, as well as individuals who already hold employment positions. Organizations use a great deal of resources and time training their employees, not in job-related disciplines, but in basic and general skills. These employability skills are crucial in contemporary society because they will determine how organizations recruit and retain employees in the work place. Each position in the organization has its own job descriptions and as such, candidates must be able to fit the employability skills that are required by them town (Brown, Hesketh & Williams, 2003, p. 96). Employees can also take note of these skills to improve their effectiveness in the work place and ensure that their productivity improves. Within any entity, attributes such as self management, team work, initiative, organization and planning complement the academic skills of various employees as it increases their resourcefulness. It is because such employees can fully realize their potential and use their strengths to use, for the advantage of the organization. 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