HR Plan in Leadership Development - Coursework Example

Running Header: HR plan in leadership development Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Name & Code: Date of Submission: Question 1: Leaders develop through challenging opportunities and assignments. How can an effective international HR plan assist in the development of these leaders and what issues and procedures need to be monitored to ensure problems do not eventuate in an international development assignment? Introduction Human resource planning is the major key to human resource management therefore HR plan has to be put in place in order to acquire the best staff through critical evaluation and analysis. McEvoy et al. (2005) describes that this is also important in developing effective leaders capable of leading the rest of the team members to achieve objectives of the organisation. According to Baldwin and Ford (1998, pp. 63-105) human resource managers have therefore realized that leaders develop through analysis of competencies and how they balance issues involving their work and their life. Other trends notable in leadership development include improved technology, return on investment, globalization advances and improved critical thinking. This study shows how the international human resource planning has facilitated leadership development. It also shows the issues and procedures followed to ensure effective development. Leadership development Rausch et al. (2002) shows that leadership can be said as a behavioral act that creates a favorable environment whereby individuals involved exploit their full potential with an aim of achieving the organizational objectives. The major duty performed by a visionary leader is dignifying and honoring the duties of the people being lead and by assisting them to exploit their highest potential in what they do. Leadership development on the other hand is an activity that enhances leadership quality for example through action planning or being involved in executive retreats. In developing leadership HR come up with priorities necessary to achieve organizational goals through measuring and monitoring the progress. Human resource managers come up with an effective international HR plan which includes various steps. One is the determination of the business goals (Shippmann et al. 2000). To ensure leadership development, these leaders should have a solid understanding of emerging trends and proprieties necessary in achieving organizational goals. The second step is scanning the environment in which these leaders are to be made after understanding the business goals. This step involves being aware of the demographic employment data which involves the major characteristics of the leaders for example sex, ability or occupational groups. Stephen et al. (2000) shows that other important factors include workforce trends such as turnover or vacancy rates. The third step include carrying out an analysis for example gap analysis or considering the internal factors that may affect the development of leadership. Implementing effective HR plan The international HR plan involves projecting the current and the future trends as well as environmental scanning. This is necessary as it enables managers determine the major factors that may be affecting development. Managers check whether there has been a shortage in specific occupational group for example in leaders. They also ask themselves question like whether initiation of change in delivery methods would require an improvement of skills and ability. These elements help in developing leaders for example if a leader had less skills then training would be necessary. The fourth step involves setting HR priorities in the development of leadership skills. As a result of the environmental analysis, managers have to determine the strategies needed in achieving the desired goals. The strategies set are used in addressing various issues such as development of talent pool, improving work environment or skills development. The fifth and last step used by HR in developing leadership skills involves monitoring, evaluating and reporting processes. These processes assist HRMs to assess the performance outcomes of leaders. The outcome of this is important as it shows progress in various areas therefore determining future goals (Kochanski and Ruse 1996, pp. 19-20). HR plan in leadership development is in such a way that it understands talent management process used especially in multinational firms. The plan should also understand the various issues arising from attraction of leadership talent and the importance of retaining the leadership talent. Short term issues and long term management issues are also analysed in HR planning process. This is achieved through diversity management in leaders and identifying high leadership prospective. Schmidt and Hunter (1998) shows that diversity describes gender, ethnic back ground and race that every member in a group comprise. Some of the initiatives that promote employee diversity include; choosing minority groups and selecting individuals with high potentials that can be developed to a useful leader. Targets should also be introduced to ensure effective leadership development. Issues and procedures to be monitored Some of the issues and procedures monitored by the HR plan include workforce planning issues, progression planning and staff skills plans. The HR planning has to choose the best candidate for the position in the firm with proper skills as they enable leaders manage their teams effectively. Other issues affecting leadership development that are managed by the HR plan include motivation and fair treatment issues. Human resource department should impose good working conditions for all workers to facilitate leadership development. The remuneration system should be fair to all as well as the grading system. A performance management framework should be set up in order to ensure that the leaders work according to the purpose of the organisation. The framework also enables the human resource department to determine leaders’ improvement and the techniques that should be used to ensure attaining of goals. According to Horton (2000) development of leadership is likely to be a success if it integrates various developmental experiences for a certain period says 1-2 years. Some of the experiences involved include experimental classroom programs, executive coaching, mentoring etc. The process also involves setting of goals and evaluating whether one has achieved them after a given period of time. The major used in leadership development are one; experimental learning. This is where one is put in a position that focus on the learning process for example the use of experience, observation or reflection of activities, formation of concept and then testing the outcomes. The right training should be given to leaders in order to enhance self efficacy. Leaders should also be formulated in a way that they are able to have a clear image regarding the desired organizational position. This will facilitate development of capabilities as well as hard work. These concepts if collaborated bring about various characteristics in leaders such as being responsible, goal focused, having a purpose in life and being able to act immediately. Taking up challenging job assignments is also another way of leadership development. This is because challenges provide learning opportunities thus enabling leaders develop experience over certain outcomes. This may also result to building various economic benefits such as being competitive advantage to the organisation. Cromwell and Kolb (2004, p. 71) shows development of leadership also involves 360 degree feedback method that ensures competency in leadership. This involves having follow- up activities in managing leaders. Support from the manager is also necessary to ensure specific goals are attained. Recently, various organizations now understand other methods of developing leadership. This is by strengthening the link between leader’s efforts and systems which influence business operations. The result of this is the differentiation between development of one leader and business leadership development. The later focuses on developing the personal attributes of a leader which includes leaders’ behaviors. Some of these behaviors include interpersonal relationships between the leaders and the rest of the employees or the social influence that comes with leadership development. Team dynamics also show the development of leaders and how their team aim at attaining dynamic level. Other characteristics include relative factors with in the business environment for example the organisational climate and the social networks that link leaders with other social groups (Catano et al. 2007, pp. 201-234). Benefits of effective HR plan in leadership development Since most organisations believe that the most important resource in business is the people that encompass it, managers believe in developing these people in order to achieve organisational mission and vision. However developing a good leader is different from developing any other employee. This is because leaders need to possess various leadership skills and perform certain roles such as defining the preferred future of the business in form of a vision. Leaders also have a role of achieving tasks and this shows that reason why a group exists in order for all leaders to ensure that the group they lead fulfills its purpose (Sanchez and Levine 2009, pp. 53-63). The process where trained leaders take over leadership duties in business is called the succession planning. David (2000, pp. 58-61) describes that this process involves extensive transfer of leaders among various departments in an organisation. In organisations that sell internationally, these leaders are transferred to various countries in order to build them to become strong leaders. This process that focus on the business vision and mission and the purpose of this is to develop leaders basing on knowledge and skills involved. According to Loui et al. (2002) to succeed in the succession planning process, there are some critical dimensions that should be considered which include skills and knowledge, role perception of leaders, self efficacy and degree of acceptance about the leading role that every leader posses. The key positions and core competencies used to assess potential candidates give leaders critical opportunities that help in career development. Conclusion Some of the major practices that international HR employs in leadership development process include proper recruitment, performance management, development and training of staff members. Human resource department also uses proper communication strategies and enhancing labor and industrial relations in order to determine effective leaders among the staff members. Human resource planning must involve various strategies necessary to support leaders in achieving the organisational goals. More investment should also be used in human capital and developing social factors that influence performance of a business. Improving the HR planning and evaluation cycle of HR management should be backed up with strategies that merge regular information. The strategies should link up with the strategic planning process of the organisation to manage leadership development. 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