The Effective HR Manager

Overview

Course duration: 2 days.

Explore and develop the skills to work with impact and make a difference.

Operating as an effective HR manager comes with considerable personal challenge! A typical HR manager’s day involves varied, often conflicting and hugely challenging pressures. HR managers are expected to step into this role with ease and multi-task the plethora of duties that come their way – yet often they have not had the opportunity to fully develop the complete skill-set to manage these requirements to the best of their abilities.

The experienced HR manager may struggle to cope with the evolving HR scene - getting to grips with the new business partnering approach or moving the HR function from operational to strategic, managing under ever increasing workload pressures.

The newly appointed HR manager may initially struggle with having impact and credibility across the organisation or perhaps lack the confidence and experience when managing meetings, delivering presentations or giving effective feedback.

Is it right for me?

Designed for HR managers and consultants whowant to enhance their skills to fulfill this important role or who are new to the position. HR staff looking to progress into an HR management position.

What will I learn?

By the end of this seminar you will be able to:

• Develop the skills and capabilities needed to face the challenges and conflicts of operating as an effective HR Manager
• Better apply your professional learning and development through effective personal and interpersonal behaviours best suited to enhancing your role and impact as an effective HR Manager
• Practise the skills in an interactive environment of role-plays, real time activity and case study
• Network with colleagues from other organisations to understand and learn from the experiences of HR professionals in other sectors
• Benefit from self assessment activity and individual feedback to better understand and prioritise areas for personal improvement to enhance your personal impact, results and workplace advantage

What will it cover?

Dreams and realities of the HR manager

• Exploring the challenges and rewards of your role as HR manager
• Making today’s job great and looking to the future: career options and prospects and enhancing your future

Progression of the HR function

• Recap of historical development of the HR function and contribution
• Current thinking and latest research: what should we be doing?
• Strategic HR and value creating: what does it take to impact the strategy and success of the organisation from a people and organisation perspective
• Barriers to the ‘nirvana’ – what will stop you and what can you do to overcome the barriers

Knowledge, skills and abilities of the great HR manager

• HR interventions that make a difference
• Exploring the skills set and characteristics of an effective HR manager.
• The HR business partner in context

Working context of the HR manager - Exploring the challenges inherent within the HR manager’s remit

• Personal profile and credibility
• Disciplinaries, grievances and employee relations issues
• Union and staff side discussions
• Managing line managers
• Working with other departments and functions
• Conflicting demands and priorities and lack of time and resource
• Marketing the HR function and communicating HR activity

The remainder of the programme will incorporate role plays, real time activity, case study and self assessment based around typical scenarios encountered by an HR manager and an individual’s own experiences, to explore, practise and receive feedback on the skills set needed to be an effective HR manager.

Impact and credibility

• Profile of impact
• Research findings into what makes a difference
• Self assessment

Assertiveness and influence

• Assertiveness - what it means in practice
• Assertive communications: having a voice that is heard and persuading others
• How do we influence: theseven skills of influence
• Activities: putting it into practice

Effective communications

• Means and methods of communicating and selecting the right communication vehicles
• Stakeholder analysis
• Techniques for persuasion and communicating with impact
• Activities and case study

Managing conflict and handling difficult situations

• Your approach to strive for win-win
• Activity: pulling it all together through role play and feedback

Managing meetings

• Exploring what goes wrong and what you can do differently
• Key steps to ensure meetings success

Managing workload and conflicting demands

• Essentials of time management
• Assessing important versus urgent
• Tools and techniques to ensure you use your time smartly, effectively and on the right things
• Activities and self assessment

Networking and profile within and outside your organisation

• What is involved, where are you now and what can you do differently?

Taking your development forwards

• Self assessment and your top priorities to improve
• Immediate action planning