Career Development

The career development process can be complex and overwhelming—whether you’re just
starting in your field or looking to make a change.

To simplify the process, we’ve broken it down into five key steps: self-assessment, goal setting,
action planning, implementation, and refinement. By following these steps, you can develop a
road map for achieving your career goals.

Ready to take your career to the next level? This comprehensive guide on career development
has everything you need to know to jump-start your professional journey.

What is career development?

Career development is the proactive, lifelong process of finding your footing and advancing your
career path. It’s an intentional approach to creating a meaningful career that includes setting
long-term goals, exploring professional development opportunities, and gaining new work
experience.

In today’s job market, career development is increasingly important. With changes in technology
and the global economy, professionals must adapt to stay competitive. A strategic career
development plan helps make this possible.

How career development works

Career development can take different forms, but people generally take two paths: through an
organization or independently.

Professionals who develop their careers through an organization tend to have more resources
available. Their company may offer development programs, as well as a support network of
employees.

Independent professionals often must look for career development opportunities on their own.
They might use online resources like social media and online classes, attend conferences or
networking events, meet with a career counselor, or join professional organizations and read
trade publications.
Because independent professionals don’t have the same resources as those who work within
organizations, they may need to be more proactive in their career growth.

Types of career development

Two types of career development are:

Formal career development. This includes short-term training programs, education,

certifications, workshops, or seminars that can help build skill sets for a particular job or
industry.

Informal career development. This includes mentorship opportunities, networking events,

online courses, internships, and volunteering experiences.

Explore both formal and informal methods to ensure you have updated information relevant to
your career journey.

Career development examples

These career development scenarios can give you a glimpse into different career options and how
they can develop into your dream job:

1. Creative careers

A graphic designer who starts in a small agency, gains competencies, and opens their own studio

A filmmaker who starts as a camera operator, networks with the production crew, and works
their way to become a film director or producer

2. Technical careers

A software developer who begins as a junior developer, earns certifications, and becomes a lead
developer

A network administrator who starts as a support technician, gains experience, mentors under the
lead, and becomes a network architect

3. Business careers
A sales representative who begins as an entry-level representative, learns the ropes, takes
business classes, and becomes a sales manager

A Human Resources (HR) professional who starts as a recruiter, gains experience, works with a
business coach, and becomes a Chief HR Officer (CHRO)

These are just a few examples of the many career paths available.

How to develop your career

Following a series of steps, you can create a road map for professional growth and achieve your
career goals.

Steps in the career development process:

1. Self-assessment
2. Goal setting
3. Action planning
4. Implementation
5. Refinement

1. Self-assessment

A self-assessment evaluates your strengths, weaknesses, skills, personality type, interests, and
values to help you understand your fit with various career paths.

Self-assessment examples include:

Skills assessment. This type of self-assessment helps identify your strengths and determine skills
gaps where you need development. Consider taking a leadership self-assessment for a specific
evaluation of your management skills.

Interest inventory. This assessment helps you understand your passions to help you explore
potential career paths.

Values assessment. This identifies your values and priorities, which can affect your career
satisfaction.
By completing a self-assessment, you can better understand your personal career needs and
successfully guide your career development.

2. Goal setting

Using your self-assessment to set career goals is a critical step in career development. Explore
these career goal examples based on a self-assessment:

Skills development. If you find a gap in your skills, you might set a goal to get professional
training or enroll in college courses.

Career advancement. You may set a goal to move up the career ladder based on your interests
and values.

Career change. If your current career doesn’t align with your interests and values, you may set a
goal to transition to a different field.

Setting achievable goals allows you to focus and progress toward your objectives.

3. Action planning

Action planning involves breaking down your career aspirations into manageable, achievable
tasks and developing a timeline for completing them.

Three examples of what your action plan can look like:

Skills development. If you want to acquire a new skill, your action plan may include researching
training programs over the next week, enrolling in courses by the end of the month, and
implementing the new skill in your career within the next quarter.

Career advancement. Your plan may include networking at the next business event, volunteering
for a specific upcoming leadership opportunity, hiring a business coach next month, or seeking
feedback from leadership once a week over the next quarter.

Career change. Your plan could include taking a month to research careers that align with your
values, enrolling in certification courses or classes to gain skills in the new field over the next
several months, networking with businesses, applying for positions in the new field over the next
six to nine months, and transitioning to the new career field by next year.
By breaking down your aspirations into small tasks, you can stay focused, track milestones, and
increase your chances of success.

4. Implementation

Implementing your action plan is next. Discover three ways you can do this:

Schedule time. Set aside time to focus on your goals. You might use this time to develop new
skills, network, or research career paths.

Track progress. Record your progress in a journal, spreadsheet, or to-do list. If you need to catch
up on the timeline of your initial action plan, strategize ways to invest more time and effort into
your development to get back on track.

Celebrate wins. Celebrate your accomplishments, whether landing a new job, completing a
certification, or making connections.

Taking action and regularly monitoring your progress can help you make meaningful strides
toward your career goals.

5. Refinement

Refining the career development process to go more smoothly over time involves regularly
reassessing your goals, plans, and progress. You can do this in a few ways:

Regularly reflect. Set aside time each month, quarter, or year to reflect on your career
development process. Review your career goals, assess your progress, and identify areas for
improvement.

Seek feedback. Seek feedback from others with experience in your desired career. This feedback
can provide valuable insights and help you refine your action plan.

Stay adaptable. Be open to changing your goals and strategies. This may involve changing your
timeline, pivoting to a new career path, or acquiring new skills.

This approach is designed to help you continuously grow and reach your career aspirations.

Benefits and challenges of career development

Understanding the benefits and challenges of career development can make a difference in how
successful you are in advancing your career.

For instance, if you know one benefit of career development is the chance to learn new skills,
you can try to find training opportunities. And if you know about a potential challenge, like
limited resources, you can find alternative ways to get support.

Benefits

Career development can bring you numerous benefits, including:

 Increased satisfaction
Career development can help you find fulfillment by allowing you to pursue your
passions and strengths.
 Higher earning potential
Developing new skills and gaining new experiences can make you more valuable to
employers.
 Improved performance
Career development can help you stay current in your field and make you more effective.
 Greater opportunities for advancement: Career development can help you move up the
ladder or explore new career paths.
 Enhanced confidence. Pursuing career development can boost your self-esteem, making
you feel more capable.
 Improved work-life balance. Career development can help you create a more fulfilling
career.
 By investing in yourself and your career, you can achieve greater success overall.

Challenges

While career development can bring numerous benefits, it can also present challenges, including:

Limited opportunities. Career development can be expensive and require resources that may not
be immediately available.

Lack of support. Employers may not provide support for career development, such as time off or
compensation.
Difficulty in pursuing goals. It can be challenging to identify career goals, determine how to
reach them, or find the motivation to pursue them.

Balancing career and personal life. Pursuing career development can be time-consuming and
demanding.

Staying current. Keeping up with the latest trends in your field can be challenging, requiring
continuous education.

Overcoming self-doubt. Pursuing career development can be intimidating, and many people
struggle with their own lack of confidence.

When you acknowledge these potential challenges, you can be better prepared to overcome them
and reach your goals.

Tips for effective career development

For successful career development, you’ll want to follow some best practices:

Improve your communication skills. Communication is crucial in the workplace. Consider taking
courses or workshops to enhance your skills.

Invest in your education. Stay current by taking courses, attending conferences, or pursuing a
degree or certification.

Be intentional. Set specific, achievable career goals, and be intentional about pursuing them.

Build a strong network. Building relationships with others in your field can provide opportunities
for advancement.

Take the initiative. Seek new opportunities and get involved in projects that interest you.

Find the right mentor. Look for someone experienced in your field with the qualities you want to
emulate.

Explore what interests you. Experiment with different roles, industries, and projects to find what
interests you.

These best practices can help set you up for success as you pursue career development.
Performance Appraisal in HRM Methods, Objective, Characteristics

What is Performance Appraisal?

Performance appraisal is a part of a company’s process of understanding their employees better

and giving them feedback to help them improve their performance. While several employees find
performance appraisal to be unnecessary if done right, it can have several benefits for the
organization. Let us learn more about performance appraisal in HRM.

Performance appraisal in HRM is a process of analyzing an employee’s worth as well as

contribution to the job. Getting an objective evaluation of an employee’s performance will help a
company identify any existing problems in the workplace. This will help the HR department to
solve those problems quickly and with ease.

Performance appraisals are used for an employee’s development. It helps the management to
make decisions regarding promotions, job transfer & terminations. This systematic approach also
gives employees an insight into their current capabilities, whether they have scope to learn and
grow, “where they currently stand” with their boss & their long-term plans with the company.

The entire performance appraisal process can be formal or informal depending on the call that
the HR department takes. Decisions regarding the format of performance appraisals are entirely
dependent upon the particular organization.

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Definition of Performance Appraisal in HRM

Performance appraisal is a process where the employee’s performance, contributions & skills are
evaluated against his/her job requirements. This provides a uniform platform to
measure financial rewards, selection for promotions, or assignments to important projects for
each candidate.
Performance Appraisal in HRM creates a healthy competition between colleagues. It also helps
employees compare and improve upon their skills if needed. Appraisals are usually held annually
in most companies.

How Performance Appraisals Work?

Every company has a different approach to their performance appraisal. Some companies hold an
annual review process, which may have assessment sessions annually, semi-annually, or
quarterly.

Some companies also adopt a method of one-on-one check-ins, which are considered less formal
than the annual assessments. Managers are able to provide frequent feedback to their employees
in this system. These check-ins help the employees to periodically check their performance and
re-evaluate their goals if needed. This approach works well on agile and collaborative projects.

Different methods are best suited for different companies. Some organizations also base their
appraisals based on the kind of projects their employees are currently working on.

Process of Performance Appraisal in HRM

Performance
standards

set up
Feedback measureable
goals

communicate
Corrective
about
actions
performance

Discuss
measure actual
appraisal with
performance
employees
Modern Methods & Types of Performance Appraisal in HRM

Different companies use different methods to conduct their performance appraisal calculations.
Also, it depends on the job role and the type of company it is. A few of the common methods
doing performance appraisals in HRM are:

1. Graphic Rating Scale Method

This method is based on the idea of rating employees based on individual characteristics. For
example, some organizations may choose to evaluate employees based on quality and quantity of
work, decisiveness & emotional stability. Employees are rated on a fixed scale (say 1-10), based
on the extent to which they meet each of the desired criteria. The average of all the scores
constitutes the overall score of the employee.

Graphic scales are practical; they are cost-effective and can be developed quickly. They also help
in measuring a particular objective effectively. However, the appraisal in such cases largely
depends upon individual perspectives. This may lead to disputes or non-uniformity in
evaluations. Furthermore, personal bias can also play a role in it. You must be careful to define
each character as clearly as possible.

2. Ranking Method

The name of this method explains exactly what it is. The Human Resources team ranks each
employee on a list based on factors decided by the human resource department. Hence, the best
performers are on the top, and the worst performers rank at the bottom. This simple method of
ranking employees can be modified in several ways. One of these methods is the paired
comparison ranking style wherein employees are compared in pairs of two against each other.
The number of times one employee is preferred over someone else is recorded. The top
employee is the one with the highest number of preferences. The grading scale method can be
combined with ranking. The employees with the best overall score on the grade scale (from 1-10)
rank at the top of the list. The ranking method is preferred because it is simple, efficient, and
requires little time and money. However, personal bias and favoritism may cause major
disruptions in objective evaluation.
 3. Checklist Method

Employees are evaluated by making use of a checklist in this method. The checklist can have a
variety of different factors that the human resource department has chosen to be important. The
employees are then judged based on those factors The employers must select between the yes/no
options in those checkboxes. Items in the checklist carry a numerical value based on
their importance to job performance Therefore, the appraisal score is calculated by adding up the
scores of all these individual factors. For example, Behaviour Based appraisals are done by using
the checklist method. This happens by having a pre-set personality and behavioral checkpoints.
If an employee meets them then they are considered for an appraisal. The checklist method
makes it easy to evaluate employees as their supervisors have to simply choose between yes/no.
It also helps the employees receive clear and direct feedback. However, it may not be easy to
design an effective checklist and assign a weight based on the importance of factors.

4. Management by Objectives Method(MBO)

MBO is considered to be one of the most systematic methods in performance appraisals. The
idea is to give each employee a set of objectives that have to be achieved by them. During the
performance appraisal, the supervisors will evaluate the extent to which the objectives have been
achieved. This is a strong method of evaluation. The employees have been clearly instructed as
to what is expected of them. It also helps the company to set benchmarks and standards for
growth. However, a lot of time and effort goes into determining the objectives and evaluating
them.

5. 360-degree Feedback Appraisal

This approach is basically a group performance review. The data regarding an employee’s
behavior is collected by his/her close subordinates. An employee’s colleagues might be able to
review his/her performance under a variety of situations and circumstances, which might have
escaped the employer. This allows for holistic, full-circle, multi-tiered feedback regarding a
person. This method is useful as it eliminates subjectivity. It also promotes an atmosphere of
open culture, self-development and better communication. However, every company must
develop an effective system and procedure to utilize this method.

6. General Performance Appraisal in HRM

General performance appraisal is one of the most common types of performance appraisals. In
general, a manager sets goals and targets for an employee and urges them to achieve it. This
pushes the employee to achieve them and encourages them to grow. The manager calls a meeting
and sets certain goals for an employee. Once the employee achieves those goals, they review it
and set newer goals. This method is an ongoing conversation between the employee and the
manager throughout the year. The manager can also recommend development plans and key
growth areas.

7. Technological Performance Appraisal

In this method of performance appraisal, the employee’s technological capabilities are judged
and also the Technological skills are kept at the forefront of all the other skills that are not related
to the employee’s job. Here the focus is on how easily the employee adapts to new technology,
how aware the employee is of the technology around them, and how much technical knowledge
they have.

8. Sales Performance Appraisal

A salesperson is closely linked to the financials of an organization. Therefore, this kind of

appraisal has a direct impact on the sales of a company. Here, the employee is judged based on
the revenue they bring into the company. Here the focus is on what the employee achieves in
contrast to how they are or how they behave. The manager should discuss goals and deadlines
for sales. This way an employee can have a goal to achieve.

Performance Appraisal Objectives

Performance appraisal can be conducted for various reasons. Human resources is one of the most
important resources that a company has. Therefore, every company should understand where
their employees stand in terms of performance and productivity. Here are some more objectives
of performance appraisals:

1. Provide Feedback:

Appraisals are an effective way to give feedback to employees Also, managers to communicate
clearly regarding employee objectives and expectations. An employee can learn about what
he/she can do to improve their future performance.
In addition, Some tips for employee feedback

 Performance Outcome
 Quarterly Reviews
 Give feedback on a 1-2-1 basis
2. Downsize or Right-Size:

The COVID pandemic is one of the many harsh realities that might force an organization to
downsize. In such a situation, appraisals are a way to make sure that the most productive and
talented individuals can be retained in a company. It is also an effective way to know which
employees are non-performers.

3. Promote The Right Person:

Appraisals give an organization objective and data-driven tools to make good promotion
decisions Also, It helps the most talented individuals retain the position of the highest
importance.

4. Set Goals & Measure Goals:

The annual appraisals are also an effective way to set future goals for the employees.
This ensures maximum productivity and superior performance.

5. Improve Work Performance:

An employee can only improve if he knows how to Objectives of a good appraisal include
highlighting the specific area of improvement for every employee.

Some tips improve performance:

 Keep your eyes on the deadline

 Also, Improve project evaluation skills
 Set Goals as well as Personal Benchmarks

6. Determine Compensation Changes:

An appraisal system works as a determining factor in increasing compensation, pay raises, etc.
Also, It ensures that people who work harder get paid better.

7. Encourage Coaching & Mentoring:

Managers are usually expected to coach their team members Also, appraisals help the managers
to identify the areas where mentoring is required.

8. Employee Training and Development:

Individual skills are evaluated during an appraisal. Also, this helps employees to identify if they
need to acquire more skills and competencies to contribute to the company. It also helps an
organization to plan the up-skilling training for their employees.

9. Provide a Legal Defense for Personal Decisions:

A company can be held accountable for any decision that they take, even firing or promoting an
employee. Therefore, conducting a performance appraisal will help the company prove a point if
their decisions are ever challenged.

10. Encouraging Coaching & Mentoring:

Teaching and coaching are part of managing employees. It is part of being a good manager.
Performance appraisals will help them understand where an employee is lacking therefore where
they can train and help employees to do better.

11. Improving Overall Organization’s Performance:

Last but not least, performance appraisals will help the company to learn more about the
employees and their requirements. It will help the employees to understand where they are
lacking and where they are doing well. This will help them learn and grow quickly.

Characteristics of an Effective Performance Appraisal System:

When you are trying to adopt an effective appraisal system for your company, there are certain
factors to be kept in mind. However, what works for someone else may not be right for your
company. A good appraisal system satisfies these characteristics according to your requirements.
 1. Clear Objectives

Employee performance appraisals should have a clear goal. There must be a predefined set of
factors to evaluate employees based on their skill sets Which obviously must be clear what the
managers aim to get out of these appraisals.

2. Well Defined Performance Criteria

Employees must have a clear idea of what they are being evaluated. Good appraisal systems have
a set of procedures and standards for the performance of each individual. For instance, a fresh
graduate cannot be evaluated against someone with years of experience.

3. Accuracy & Reliability in Results

An effective performance appraisal also helps a company to make clear, data-driven & informed
decisions. The data (or results) of any appraisal must be reliable and valid, and they must be
presented in an unambiguous manner. Accurate insights will also help a company gain the trust
of its employees.

4. Post Appraisal Interview

Post appraisal interviews are important because they help the employees to get direct feedback
from their superiors or managers. These interviews also help the managers decide if any training
or skill development programs are needed. Employee grievances can also be addressed during
this interview.

5. Time-Saving

A good appraisal system is one that saves time as well as cost. Also, this helps a company to get
the maximum benefit. Instead of wasting all their time on managerial tasks, HR personnel could
focus on other important jobs.

6. Continuous Feedback

Modern appraisal systems have done away with the annual performance review model. Instead,
that model has been replaced with a system wherein managers give continuous (read-
periodical) feedback to their employees. Also, this helps the employees fill in their weaknesses
from the start and improve upon them.
 7. Focusing on What Matters

A good appraisal system evaluates employees on various factors. However, an employee’s work
performance and competency are of utmost importance. Subjective factors, such as personal
behavior, attitude & personality come secondary to an employee’s skill set.

8. Match Your Goals

Appraisal systems should be designed according to the functioning of your company. For
instance, if you are using a 360-degree feedback approach, feedback should be taken from only
those who have worked closely with the employee overtime. It’s good to practice to be
innovative with appraisals so they match your company’s working policy.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Performance Appraisal

It is often wondered why do HR departments conduct performance appraisals. The performance

appraisal process is a complicated one. It needs to be done in a way that truly brings changes to
the way the company functions. While it gives the managers a clear idea about their employees it
is a tedious task that sometimes doesn’t bring any results or changes. Therefore, the question
comes up as to whether you should conduct a performance appraisal in your company or not.

Let us discuss the advantages and disadvantages of performance appraisal in HRM:

True potential of the employee

Promots employee development
Acts as a Motivator
Advantages
Promotion and Transfer
Mentoring from Seniors

Consuming process
Horn and Halo
Spillover Effect
Disadvantages Personal Bais
Incorrect Rating
Advantages of Performance Appraisal are:

1) Find The True Potential of the Employee

Performance appraisal helps the HR department and the company learn about the strengths and
weaknesses of an employee. This process can, therefore, be used to truly learn about the
employee’s interests and potentials. This analysis also helps the HR department to choose the
right employees for a job. The HR department can even suggest the employee switch to a
department that fits them better.

2) Promotes Employee Development

The quickest way to improve an employee’s performance is by providing them with specific
feedback. The performance appraisal process includes giving employees feedback about their
strengths as well as weakness. The employees can use this information to develop themselves
further.

3) Acts as a Motivator

Employees crave feedback. When they receive that it can act as a motivator for them. Knowing
their weaknesses can help employees give their best and improve upon the areas they’ve missed
out on. After all this can work as a boost to the entire office or team.

4) Focused Employee Training & Development

Planning and development programs are important for any organization. The performance
appraisal can show exactly where a majority of the employees lack in terms of training as well as
in development. The HR department can then create programs according to those gaps. This will
be more beneficial for the employees and will be a successful program of training and
development.

6. Improves Employee, as well as Management Relationship

In general, the performance appraisal gives employees an opportunity to truly share and discuss
the problems that they are facing in their role. This builds a healthy environment for both the
manager and the employee.
 7. Promotion & Transfers

It is difficult to make the correct decision about who to promote and who to transfer without any
data. The performance appraisal can be useful for learning in which talents should be
rewarded and which need to be pushed to do better. It ensures that the decision is made based on
facts and figures rather than personal biases.

8. Mentoring from Superiors

Managers are a crucial part of any appraisal system. They are the ones handling the
administrative as well as feedback work in an appraisal. Good managers are good mentors,
meaning that they are able to guide their employees to reach their maximum potential. Managers
must not only focus on the weaknesses, but they must highlight employees’ strengths too.

Disadvantages of The Performance Appraisal Are as follows:

1. Consuming Process

First and foremost, performance appraisal is a time-consuming process. It requires resources,

time and costs the company money. It requires the HR department to create the forms, ask
everyone to fill them as well as analyze the results for specific feedback while going through the
correct procedures. Sometimes, the organization has to hire professional experts from outside the
company to conduct the evaluation process. The evaluation processes must be designed and also,
implemented clearly &, because of this, the performance appraisal process becomes expensive
for the company.

2. Personal Bias or Incorrect Ratings

It is possible that managers, in order to not look bad, give a decent rating to all employees. This
can be the case with managers that try to avoid conflicts or arguments. Furthermore, personal
bias can play a huge role in the ratings. Also, if a manager has a liking for an employee they will
rate them better and vice versa. This can be the case even if they are a good employee.
Generally, employers simply give an average out feedback to employees. This means the over
performers and underperformers both aren’t rated correctly.

3. Horn & Halo Effect

The horn and halo effect is a human tendency to see only the good or the bad in a person. For
example, an employer might just see that the employee is never on time and will rate the
employee low on all the brackets because of that. However, he might not notice that the
employee works for long hours every day and completes the work on time. This can affect an
employee’s overall ratings.

4. Spillover Effect

This refers to human behavior. It means that while judging the employee for performance
appraisal it is possible that the manager simply marks an employee high because of their past
performances instead of their current ones. They rank the employee by taking into account the
overall overview that they have of the employee.

5. Attitude of Evaluator

The mindset and the mood of the manager is also a cause of concern. If the manager has high
expectations, they might mark their employees lower. Thereby, making the team look lower than
others on average. Also, this makes the process of evaluation and improving the performance in
the organization a difficult task to achieve.
 Leadership motivation

There’s more to motivating performance than offering competitive pay and benefits. Employees
are inspired or deflated by how their organizational leaders treat them. To improve performance,
you need to understand why leadership motivation matters and how your managers can get better
at it.
Great leaders don’t just manage; they also motivate, inspire, and influence employees to be their
best. Cultivate these traits and behaviors to build leadership motivation in your workforce.

The difference between a manager and a leader

The difference between a manager and a leader is about leadership quality and the scope of their
responsibility. Managers oversee work to ensure it’s completed on time and within the budget.
They won’t always put extra effort into relationship building or other factors that inspire the
team to perform better.

On the other hand, leaders tend to view their teams with a wider lens. A leader is someone who
team members want to follow. Employees trust leaders to take them in the right direction and
provide support along the journey. Leaders are passionate about their work, care about their
employees, and strive to create the best possible outcomes.

Leaders inspire intrinsic motivation

Managers can use extrinsic factors such as compensation or extra time off to motivate their
teams. Leaders take a different approach: Instead of relying only on extrinsic motivation, they
also inspire employees to see the work as its reward.

Leaders might encourage employees to work harder as a way to support their colleagues or
extend themselves beyond their comfort level to accomplish big goals. Or, intrinsic motivation
might come from the satisfaction of achievement. Recognition and praise from leaders can also
inspire confidence and pride while motivating employees to accomplish their goals.

Leaders convey a sense of purpose and ownership

Managers support employees as they work toward their performance goals, but leaders go further
and foster alignment between employee goals and business goals. This gives employees greater
purpose by helping them see their role in producing business results.

That sense of purpose and ownership can be a powerful intrinsic motivator. Employees who
understand how their work factors into final results are more engaged and satisfied with their
daily activity list.

Leaders tap into human nature

Managers focus on the work — and sometimes that means they micromanage employees.
Leaders cultivate an environment where employees feel respected as people — not just as
employees. Micromanaging doesn’t motivate, but providing autonomy for skilled employees
helps them stay motivated to bring their best effort every day.

When employees feel valued and appreciated for their skills, aptitudes, personalities, and
perspectives, they’re more likely to find fulfillment in their work. Their interactions with
colleagues will improve, too.

Key traits of a motivating leader

Not all managers are naturally born with leadership skills. However, the right leadership
development program can train managers to become better leaders. Identify management
candidates who display these traits of leadership motivation.

Integrity

People are more likely to trust someone with high integrity or a high level of honesty. Those
traits are essential for leadership motivation because employees who don’t trust their managers
are less likely to engage meaningfully with their work.

Integrity also encompasses whether people are earnest, genuine, and show alignment between
their values and behaviors. Alignment is crucial for leaders modeling company values. If
employees see that their managers are hypocritical or half-heartedly embody company values,
they’ll be less inclined to live those values themselves. This can lead to cynicism and
disengagement.

Self-awareness

Motivating leaders are aware of their limitations. They understand where they have room to
grow and pinpoint which growth opportunities to prioritize. These leaders have a sense of
humility that can inspire others. When employees see that their manager is focusing on
developing the team and delivering great results — rather than pursuing power or feeding their
ego — they’re more likely to want to follow that leader.

Self-awareness also helps leaders develop habits to prevent their weaknesses from hurting their
leadership. If a leader knows they tend to become absorbed in their work, scheduling regular
check-ins can help them ensure they’re not ignoring their reports.

Hungry to learn

One of the most important traits of an effective leader is being hungry to learn. Leaders with
curiosity signal that they don’t know everything. Instead of using that as an excuse to
underperform, these leaders continue to learn and grow.

Leaders who are always asking questions and always learning are good role models for their
teams. Continuous learning is key to leading a team that can serve the business effectively. By
demonstrating the importance of learning, motivational leaders give employees permission to
exercise their curiosity, ask questions, and devote time to workplace learning.

Deep listening

Followers want proof that leaders are interested in helping employees overcome their challenges
and concerns. One way to demonstrate this is with deep listening, or active listening — marked
by a total focus on the speaker. Deep listening requires leaders to ask questions that prompt
longer responses from employees (not just yes-or-no questions).

Active listening is about engaging with the speaker to truly understand what they need. That’s
key to fostering agile leadership. Leaders who take the time to understand what employees need
are better able to remove roadblocks and keep the team operating smoothly and efficiently.

Employees need to feel like they’re genuinely being heard. They should trust that their manager
takes what they’re saying seriously. Deep listening is a way for leaders to signal that they’re
invested in supporting their teams, inspiring employees to respond with loyalty and enthusiasm
about their work.

Values Input

Motivational leaders are self-aware enough to know that they don’t have all the answers. They
seek perspectives from others across different levels of the business. They also respect their team
members, regardless of their status or position in the organization.

Managers pursuing leadership to gain power or control may not value input from an intern, for
example. Motivational leaders respect each individual and understand the value of their
perspective. They help employees feel included in team wide conversations and empowered to
speak up.

This team-based approach to leadership elevates employees and gives them the confidence they
need to voice their perspectives, producing better outcomes.

Positive attitude

Effective leadership motivation requires an upbeat, positive attitude. Employees are less likely to
devote extra effort when their managers tend to be negative or anxious.
That’s not to say that motivational leaders must be unnaturally optimistic. Great leaders are
realistic and explore the possibility of failure to try to prevent it, but they don’t wallow in
negativity. A positive attitude can inspire employees and help them feel empowered. Enthusiasm
feels good and is contagious across teams, potentially sparking engagement, productivity, and
achievement.

Decisive communication

Finally, motivational leaders are effective communicators — and they communicate with
purpose. Decisive communication shows that leaders are confident in their decisions and quickly
communicate pertinent information with the right people.

As decisive communicators, motivational leaders stand up for what they believe in. They’re
quick to condemn behaviors that don’t align with company values and always refer to those
values when making and communicating tough decisions.

HOW TO MOTIVATE OTHERS AS A LEADER?

The key traits of motivational leaders are most effective when paired with intentional,
motivational behaviors. Prioritize these actions to inspire your team to be their best.

Find your purpose

Leaders must understand their intrinsic motivation. Often, this comes from a personal sense of
purpose. Leaders have to feel that they’re contributing to something bigger than themselves. For
example, they might fulfill this purpose by achieving the organization’s mission, vision, and
values.

By communicating their purpose to the team, leaders improve motivation. When employees see
that leaders feel a sense of responsibility for and pride in their work (and aren’t just seeking
control), they’re more likely to take ownership of their work, too.

Hold people accountable

Accountability can be a powerful motivator — especially when employees respect their leader.
When employees expect accountability in leadership, they approach their work with greater
responsibility.

By being accountable as leaders and holding employees accountable for their work, leaders
instill a sense of ownership and pride.

Encourage value-driven work

It’s in our nature to seek meaningful activities. Effective leaders can help employees understand
the company’s values and how the team’s work contributes to bigger-picture goals. When
employees understand the value of their contributions, they’re more likely to derive motivation
and satisfaction from the work itself.

Recognize effort and results

Leaders recognize that there’s more to work than results. By recognizing and rewarding
employees for their efforts — even if they fail or face obstacles — employees won’t feel
compelled to hide mistakes or cut corners to achieve results. Emphasizing effort alongside results
can drive a culture of learning and experimentation where employees are motivated and
encouraged to try new ways of doing things.
What is Ethics in HRM

Ethics are principles or morals that are imbibed within an individual or reinforced externally that
help them to differentiate between right and wrong and to act according.

Ethics in human resource management indicates the treatment of employees with ordinary
decency and distributive justice. It is a subset of business ethics. Human resource
managers should avoid any kind of discrimination among the employees based on specific
factors such as color, caste, culture, appearance, religion, employment fight, etc. Ethical business
contributes to the business goals as the employees will feel motivated and they will work with
efficiency and effectiveness.

When employees join an organization, they need to understand how the business operates and
how they, as employees, will be expected to contribute and behave within the organization. It is
the Human Resources' responsibility to come up with employee handbooks that give guidance to
employees on what is right and wrong. This increases employee trust within the organization
which is important since people are organisations most valuable resource.

Business ethics in human resource management deals with the affirmative moral obligations of
the employer towards employees to maintain equality and equity justice. Areas of ethics in HRM
include safety in the workplace, respect, fairness, privacy, basic human rights, justifiable
treatment of employees, and honestly based processes in the workplace. As an example,
employee monitoring is deemed necessary in many companies that work remotely. With
ethical time tracking, employee productivity can be monitored in a more ethical way, by
intentionally downgrading videos and pictures taken. The notion surrounding ethical decisions is
thought of as an individual responsibility therefore once Human Resources navigates the ethical
challenges of their job they will be able to effectively attract and retain a talented workforce.

The importance of ethics in human resources management is due to globalization which has
affected the organizational policies to work in the world economy; the growing competition
which forces the company to find a competitive advantage and increase profitability. With the
increasing scope of companies to do business at the international level, there is an increasing
need to address the ethical issues dealing with human resources. The company now
considers human resources as strategic importance and has considered being of competitive
advantage for ethical decision-making. This is because it is imperative to ensure only appropriate
information is used in decisions affecting the employment relationship.

Discrimination issues, sexual harassment, and unfair employment policies can land companies in
trouble with consumers, potential strategic partners, and potential future employees. The
questions of how employees should be treated, how they should be paid, how they should be
trained, under what conditions they should be expected to work, how hard they should work,
how they should be disciplined, and how their employees should be terminated, are fundamental
to HRM. These are to be answered in the code of ethics designed by Human Resource
professionals and ethical HR leaders must make tough decisions.
Incorporating ethical practices in Human Resource Management and ethical values in individuals
empowers an organization in maintaining and increasing trust. However, the impact of ethical
violations on human resource management within an organization can be enormous. It hurt
individuals, businesses, stockholders, and society. It may have an adverse influence on human
resource discipline and organization profitability. It can also negatively affect the
organization's financial stability and competitive position. Savvy, ethics-conscious business
owners put comprehensive ethics programs in place to display a firm commitment to ethics in
every area of business, including human resources.

A study to determine the prominence of HRM for a case organization regarding, how ethics
strike it to perform in human resource management day-to-day operations more efficiently was
done by Bilqees Ghani. In this study, he explains why the extensive involvement of HR in
corporate ethics programs is important to the perceived fairness, and thus the likely outcomes. It
is important to ensure that one of the organizational goals is to measure the effectiveness of HR
in establishing ethical relations.

The most obvious finding to emerge from this study was that human resource management plays
a crucial role in shaping ethical codes, policies, and procedures, and also it plays a central role in
conducting ethics-related activities at the workplace. It also shows that human resource
professionals have the responsibility to raise organization efficiency, and employee
performance and, also resolve ethical violations. The researcher has found that the case has its
code of business conduct, which has to abide by all officers, employees, contractual workers, and
agents as well. Ethics concern both personal and professional levels, but at a professional level, it
is highly influenced by HRM, the ethical violation can occur in any department but when it
occurs in the human resource department, could directly affect the whole business entity. The
researcher concluded that the role of ethics is paramount in human resource management.

HR professionals can work synergistically with ethics and compliance officers to improve an
organization's ethical culture.
Ethics in HRM is whereby human resource professionals or business managers help an
organization embed and uphold its set values regardless of levels. This is so that they can be able
to build, sustain, and improve employee trust and relations. For instance, encouraging
accountability is one of the elements that will prevent arising of workplace issues in the first
place.

Ethical Issues in Human Resource Management

As mentioned earlier, embracing ethics in HR is crucial for successful business operations.

However, remember that ethical issues are challenging to handle, and the best way to avoid them
is to understand what they are and what to do to prevent their occurrence. Below are some of the
ethical issues to note.

1. Unfair employee benefits and compensation plans

2. Discriminatory practices based on gender, race, disability, age, etc.

3. Biased recruitment practices whereby a human resource manager favors recommended

individuals or those with personal relations.

4. Interfering with employees’ personal lives that they do not intend to disclose. This can include
religious beliefs, political preferences, etc.

Role of Ethics in Human Resource Management

It is important that you understand the role of ethics in human resources to effectively run a
business. Besides encouraging employee collaboration and accountability, here are the essential
functions of ethics in human resource management.

1. Abide by Employment Law

HR ethics helps you conduct business in line with the employment law due to fair employment
practices. For instance, policies related to minimum wage and employee overtime pay show that
your company compensates employees in accordance with the law. In addition, policies against
discrimination attract applicants from diverse groups, thus indicating that you engage in
fair employment practices.

2. Protecting Your Employer Brand/Reputation

Conducting business unethically can ruin your reputation since word will spread everywhere
about your misdeeds. These can include sexual harassment, discrimination, unfair employment
policies, etc. As a result, not only will you be able to lose important clients, but attracting quality
talent for various positions will be a challenge. That being said, build your reputation with the
best HR ethics activities and keep your business ahead of the competition.

3. Promotes Employee Retention

HR ethics and compliance in the organization promote trust among the employees. As a result,
your workers will be loyal and strive to impress you by putting more effort into work. In
addition, they will work in your organization for more extended periods, thus gaining more
experience that contributes to increased production. More importantly, hiring and recruiting costs
will be reduced.

4. Better Decision Making

Business ethics in human resource management encourages collaboration and accountability. As

a result, employees will be able to be accountable for their actions, allowing you to easily make
the best organizational decisions. What’s more, workplace conflicts that tend to occur more
frequently will also reduce since no employee will want to be in the spotlight as a troublemaker
at all times.

Ethics in Human Resource Management Examples

The role of HR in promoting ethics is to encourage the best code of ethics and lead by example
for smooth business operations. Note that there are different types of ethics in HRM, and below,
we have shared some of the significant ones to help you effectively manage your business.

Guide, encourage, and mentor your employees to be on their best workplace behavior.

Be respectful and always talk to them privately whenever they conduct themselves unethically.

Keep communication as honest and transparent as possible to gain your workers’ trust.

Encourage social responsibility.

Do not take advantage of your position for any gain whatsoever, whether financial, personal, or
material. Simply put, avoid being biased.