Question
identify and discuss these HRM skills: critical evaluation, business acumen, and leadership and navigation abilities.
Answer
Critical evaluation:
Critical evaluation involves objective and balanced analysis and decision making, it is a key skill throughout business. In HRM it is important in making key decisions that will have a large impact on company performance. Recruitment requires critical evaluation in order to select the best candidates and to manage talent in the organisation over the long term. In addition, management of personnel performance and development needs to take a critical view to ensure fairness, whilst still representing company interests.
Business Acumen:
Business acumen is a broad term relating to company knowledge and a business-minded outlook. HR managers need to have good business acumen in order to ensure the HR function is integrated into the wider organisation (Phillips and Gully, 2014). This will allow HR to provide valuable input into business decisions and to support, and be represented within, the company strategy. Poor business acumen in HR decisions could lead to lower staff performance or unnecessarily high staffing costs.
Leadership and Navigation Skills:
Leaders within HRM are responsible for development of the business’s human assets. This means that they need to have good strategic awareness in order to plan out talent management and develop necessary skills within the organisation. Staff levels must be sufficient to meet strategic objectives, but at an affordable cost. Thus navigation skills are vital to help guide the business to its long term objectives (SHRM, 2008). Leadership is also needed to ensure that staff are engaged with the business and their welfare is protected. A good HR leader will make staff feel represented and valued, whereas a poor leader will make them feel overlooked.
References
SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), 2008, Leadership Competencies, available: [https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioural-competencies/leadership-and-navigation/pages/leadershipcompetencies.aspx], accessed: 19/07/16
Phillips, J. Gully, S. 2014, Human Resource Management, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning
