Essay On Professionalism And Ethics In People Practice." (56 Characters)

Professional Definition

Professional Definition  

The term professional refers to an individual who earns their living through a specialized activity that they have achieved through training, education, practice and skill building. Thus, a professional is a person who has pursued education on a particular area of study, developed practical skills and knowledge about that area and has the ability to apply them in their work practice. For example, a Human resource manager is a professional as they have taken a specialized course for the discipline and have working knowledge to contribute to the development of an organization. An unskilled labour on the other hand cannot be called a professional as they have not mastered any particular skill. 

 

A people professional need to be versed in three areas, core knowledge, core behaviours and specialist knowledge. Core knowledge includes aspects such as people practice, culture and behaviour, usiness acumen, evidence-based practice, technology and people and change. In core behaviours, requirements of a people professional include ethical practice, professional courage and influence, valuing people, working inclusively, commercial drive, passion for learning, insights focused, situational decision-making. Specialist knowledge include employee experience, employee relations, inclusion and diversity, learning and development, reward, talent management, resourcing, organization development and design and people analytics. Apart from this, people professional must posses some personal values such as honesty, professional integrity, fairness and exclusivity. These personal values set them apart from other people.

Ethical Value

 

Ethical values can be defined as a set of moral guidance that provide a direction to a business. It defines what is considered to be acceptable and desired behaviour, how and which laws and legislations to comply with and which are the areas and actions that needs to be avoided. The ethical values of an organization guide the operations and values of a professional. Ethical values as a working professional are mostly based on deontology and sense of duty as well as their development through the years and their own conscience.

Own Personal Values

 

My three personal values include honesty, fairness and compassion. Honesty is one of the core values of a person which is demonstrated by following one’s own words. Honesty is reflected in the work, life, relationships as well as emotions of a person. Honesty is essential for people professional as it helps in building trust and authentic relationships. Fairness is a virtue that allows an individual to become respectful and considerate of other people, develop empathy and understanding and advocate for equal treatment and opportunities. As a people professional, this personal value is essential to establish trustful relationship with other people. Compassion is also essential for empathetic practice. Compassion helps showing love and care for people that we work with.

Relationship Between Personal Values And It’S Effect On Work 

 

Personal values affect my work and working relationships. Personal values serve as guiding principles and determine how they are likely to operate and take actions. It determines their organizational behaviour. An individual having honesty, fairness and compassion is likely to show these in their behaviour. They are likely to treat their colleagues fairly, provide fair opportunity for people working under them. They are also likely to show compassion and empathy while working and establish an authentic relationship with people. Thus, with these values, my work approach is likely to be ethical and transparent which will be valued in the organization and the people.

Core Knowledge and Values of People Practice

 

These personal values align with my organizational values. Most organizations seek for employees who are authentic, compassionate, honest and fair. These qualities enable the organizations to establish positive organizational culture. With these qualities, I will be able to take constructive actions when there is a conflict in values. In conflict in values, I take an open and respectful attitude where I acknowledge the differing values in others and develop a win-win situation where both people can work with their own value system. This enables me to establish fairness as well and treat each person as individual.

Contribution To Support The Application Of Good People Practice 

 

In my workplace, I will have had to be courageous for speaking up in improving practices in people management. When I work as a people person in an organization, I would ensure that various aspects of people practice are followed. People practices related to contracts of employment, pay and benefits, holidays, health and safety, pensions, employer’s liability insurance, guidelines for employees, keeping records, performance reviews and many others. As a people professional, I would ensure that employees have transparent understanding of the employment contract, the contract includes all the necessary information about the employment, employees are given holidays according to state and national holidays and insurance is provided to the employees.

 

In one situation I had to take responsibility and show accountability towards my own actions. While doing a project, I made a mistake of not understanding the requirements properly and overpromising the delivery time of the project. This created a problem when I started working with the project. I learnt that I had some skill gaps which were needed to complete the project successfully. In this situation, I took responsibility to learn those skills in my free time and prepare myself to complete the project successfully. I asked for help from my supervisors and peers, sought feedback on my progress and was able to deliver the project in time. From this experience, I have learnt that it is essential read and understand the complete requirement and align all the necessary skills before taking a project.

 

Once I had to manage an incident of whistleblowing. There was a situation where one of the employees was considering disclosing essential information to people outside the organization. This person was close to me in the organization and told me in confidence. However, my professional and ethical values conflicted with this action and I decided to blow the whistle on her for this. I tried approaching her and talk to her to make her understand the errors of her way. When I was unsuccessful, I decided to report the incident to the higher authority and take the responsibility towards the organization and my peers.

 

Ethical people practice refers to applying ethical values and considerations in an organization and people management. Ethical practice for people management includes consideration of ethical conduct in all areas of an organization including employment practices, corporate governance, stakeholder management, accounting, corporate responsibility and so on. Ethical practice in an organization helps people feel included, valued and fairly treated. The theory that explains this is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is the most relevant theory that explains the benefit of ethical practice in an organization. The model has five stages of need, physiological, safety and security, social needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs.

Personal Values

Argument To Ethical People Practice

 

Ethical practice is embedded in each of these stages and they change and modify according to the employee and the level of need fulfilment they are at. These different levels of motivational factors can be used to instil ethical consideration and employee performance. Providing employees with all these needs are essential in keeping them motivated and instil ethical practice in the organization. When employees feel included, valued and treated fairly they are likely to perform more and show positive work behaviour. Their job satisfaction and retention increase and employees are likely to show citizenship behaviour which benefits other employees and the organization.

People Practice Solution

 

Leadership training has been introduced in my workplace in response to employee survey feedback. This initiative was taken to improve leadership and influencing skills of people. This was found to be a skills gap through employee survey and many of the employees showed interest in learning this skill. This practice was put in place so that employees learn new skills and are able to become more motivated. This training initiative also helped employees reach their self-actualization needs.

 

People all over the organization were impacted through this initiative. The employees working at departmental leadership levels were benefitted the most as it gave them the opportunity to improve their leadership skills. Feedback was received through internal employee survey and feedback forms. The stakeholders were engaged with the help of improved practices and better performance shown by the employees. In order to evaluate the impact of this initiative for levels of engagement within the organization, I would analyse the outcomes of the objectives set by the initiative. The employee acceptance of the change can also indicate the effectiveness of the change. This effort recognised the needs of the employees to learn skills and improve their leadership capabilities.

Conclusion

 

From the above discussion, it can be concluded that working as people professional requires many skills and ethical consideration. Personal values, ethics and morality largely guide how people behave in an organization. Additionally, the organizational response towards employee needs and skills gaps also affect the behaviour of working professionals. While working as a people professional I have managed some critical situations, conflicts and contributed to ethical practice within the organization. The organization also has employed strategies like training and development for the employees in order to motivate them. Thus, through this course, I have been able to become a much better people professional.

Activity 1 – The Context Of Professional Development  

1. The role of a people profession is changing with the demands and requirements of the industry. Earlier, people professionals were considered to be administrators who created policies and implemented them. However, with changing needs, they are fulfilling the strategic needs of the organization and contributing towards developing people policy and regulations for the organization. people professional has now become more people focused and tech savvy (Gagné 2018). Before, people professionals used to be more organization oriented and most of their work included physical documentation. Moreover, new specializations and job titles are being introduced like chief happiness officer and chief heart officer, focusing on the mental health and happiness of the employees which was not the scene before.
2. These changes in the industry affects our CPD. This changes the requirement for professional skills than before. People professionals now need to develop skills for people management, motivation, innovation and creativity and high regard for ethics and professional standards in order to become a successful professional (Kim et al. 2019). I would need to invest in developing these areas along with my leadership and communication skills for my CPD. This is different from what I do now because currently I do not employ various aspects of CIPD map especially the people analytics, resourcing, organizational design.
3. Three good-practice CPD includes peer support, feedback system and reflection. Peer support help learners to develop and practice their own approach of people management. Peer support also helps in collecting genuine feedback which are essential aspects for development (Karna and Knap-Stefaniuk 2019). Feedback is also necessary for professional development as they provide constructive review and outcome for the professional. Reflection is the most essential practice for CPD. It helps in understanding a previous experience, identify the strengths and weaknesses from them and determine improvements that can contribute towards the development of the individual.

Activity 2 – Self Assessment

Self-assessment against the following three CIPD Profession Map core behaviours

It can be said that a people professional need to be versed in three areas, core knowledge, core behaviours and specialist knowledge. Core knowledge includes aspects such as people practice, culture and behaviour, business acumen, evidence-based practice, technology and people and change. In core behaviours, requirements of a people professional include ethical practice, professional courage and influence, valuing people, working inclusively, commercial drive, passion for learning, insights focused, situational decision-making. Specialist knowledge include employee experience, employee relations, inclusion and diversity, learning and development, reward, talent management, resourcing, organization development and design and people analytics. Apart from this, people professional must possess some personal values such as honesty, professional integrity, fairness and exclusivity. These personal values set them apart from other people.

The Relationship between Personal Values and Its Effect on Work

Below is the strength in me that could be better understood looking at the template and the score received, and this has been presented in the appendix. All the self-evaluation that has been made, is based on the feedback from other people as well as it is also based on the personal belief.

From the above discussion, it can be concluded that working as people professional requires many skills and ethical consideration. Personal values, ethics and morality largely guide how people behave in an organization. Additionally, the organizational response towards employee needs and skills gaps also affect the behaviour of working professionals. While working as a people professional I have managed some critical situations, conflicts and contributed to ethical practice within the organization.

How the values, ethics, and inclusivity affect my way of managing employees has been mentioned below in detail. The all can be regarded as my strength, that I apply in my professional life-

• Personal values affect my work and working relationships. Personal values serve as guiding principles and determine how they are likely to operate and take actions. It determines their organizational behaviour. An individual having honesty, fairness and compassion is likely to show these in their behaviour. They are likely to treat their colleagues fairly, provide fair opportunity for people working under them. They are also likely to show compassion and empathy while working and establish an authentic relationship with people. Thus, with these values, my work approach is likely to be ethical and transparent which will be valued in the organization and the people.
• Most organizations seek for employees who are authentic, compassionate, honest and fair. These qualities enable the organizations to establish positive organizational culture. With these qualities, I will be able to take constructive actions when there is a conflict in values. In conflict in values, I take an open and respectful attitude where I acknowledge the differing values in others and develop a win-win situation where both people can work with their own value system. This enables me to establish fairness as well and treat each person as individual.
• When I work as with the team allotted to me, I would ensure that various aspects of people practice are followed. People practices related to contracts of employment, pay and benefits, holidays, health and safety, pensions, employer’s liability insurance, guidelines for employees, keeping records, performance reviews and many others. As a people professional, I would ensure that employees have transparent understanding of the employment contract, the contract includes all the necessary information about the employment, employees are given holidays according to state and national holidays and insurance is provided to the employees.
• Providing employees with all these needs are essential in keeping them motivated and instil ethical practice in the organization. When employees feel included, valued and treated fairly they are likely to perform more and show positive work behaviour. Their job satisfaction and retention increase and employees are likely to show citizenship behaviour which benefits other employees and the organization.
• I try to inspire people, and build in confidence by setting example and this has worked well, but I do believe that further improvement can be made in this aspect.In order to meet this objective, I will make use of self-assessments, and feedback. Practicing these areas will help develop this area more effectively. Using these two strategies, I will focus on the specific on my weakness and turn it into my strength.

Identification of Strength and Weakness

Three strengths

Ethical and informed decision making: from the ethical practice self-assessment, this is the highest scored area. I have the ability to make responsible choices, provide examples and reasons for the choices and take diverse aspect into consideration before making an ethical decision.

Communication: in the working inclusively self-assessment, I scored the most in communication areas. My feedback also supports that I have strong and effective communication.

Empathy: empathy is one my strengths as I scored most in this area in valuing people. Valuing other people and their opinion requires empathy and understanding.

Three weaknesses

Influencing others: this area of working inclusively is the weakest area. Despite my communication skills, I have difficulty in influencing other people and explain my ideas to them. I will need to develop this skill in my PDP.

Demonstration of professionalism: in ethical practice, this area had lowest score and thus constitutes one of the weaknesses. I need to develop this in my PDP so that I am able to create trust and accountability for my work.

Time management: time management is the area of weakness in working inclusively. Time management is a key skill that is required while working inclusively and I need to develop this skill in my PDP.

Objectives

My objectives for PDP are:

Improve my skills in influencing others

Improve my skills in demonstrating professionalism

Improve my skills in time management

How I can meet the objectives

In order to meet the objectives, I will make use of the course materials, self-assessments, feedback, use online tutorials and self-learning and coaching. Practicing these areas will help develop these areas more effectively. Using these strategies, I will focus on the specific weakness areas and turn them into my strength.

Activity 3 – Reflective Practice 

What do I need to learn?	What will I do to achieve this?	What resources or support will I need?	What will my success criteria be?	Target dates for completion and review
Influencing others	I will develop this skill through observation and practice in my organization. I will use videos of influential leaders to develop this skill in me.	I would need to use YouTube and other video platforms to watch the videos.	Positive feedback from my superiors on the skill. Influencing my team in my workplace	15.06.2022
Demonstrating professionalism	I would practice this skill in my workplace. I will make note of my commitments and due date. Make schedule	An employment and internship in an organization, feedback from my supervisors.	When I am able to keep my words in every aspect and deliver work in time	15.08.2022
Time management	I would take help of online tutorials, make schedules, use planners and organizers.	Organizers, planners, online tutorials.	Completing tasks before due date, reduced stress, organized notes and detailed planning	10.05.2022

	Profession Map Standard	Perform well Score 30	Perform satisfactorily Score 20	Requires further development Score 10	Reason for judgement
1	Make responsible choices about the employees	30			I have the ability to make responsible choices, provide examples and reasons for the choices and take diverse aspect into consideration before making responsible decisions. I am accountable for the choices I make and also the advice is provided and also successfully able to provide justification for my activity to the team members and hence the score is high.
2	Consider the purpose and implications of actions, decisions on people	30			I feel, that I am accountable for my actions, and I do believe that each activity will have different implications, and I always want that these implications should be positive. I know the decisions that are taken rationally, will not affect the employees and their morale, hence I make decision based on what will affect the team members.
3	Raise concerns about people problems.	30			Whatever the concerns of the employees are, even if it does not come under the company policies, is sorted by me so that positivity within the team is maintained and the morale of people are always up and so the score received is also high.
4	Maintain transparency with people	30			I believe in being professional, I ensure that employees have transparent understanding of everything that goes around in the organization, if believe in informing employees everything I can, it helps to boost, their morale, as well as they feel that they are being valued. I have seen that it also helps them increase their productivity.
5	Respect opinions, and evaluate people and ensure why they have done a work.	30			I am very participative in nature, and so whenever I do anything, and feel that I should take opinions from the employees, I do take, and whenever I take a meeting, I make sure that all the opinions shared by the people is considered by me, it helps to increase understanding and hence the score is high.
6	Value differences amongst team member team.	30			I feel that difference amongst employees in terms of culture, and other aspect is important as it helps to gain more knowledge, be more innovative and creative in approach. Hence, whenever a conflict occurs in team because of the difference I ensure to consider all the aspect, while making judgment, all the points shared by the employees matter a lot to me and so the score is also high, as it is one of my strengths.

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