Professional Human Resources Management is indispensable in a professional organization. Ilse (35), Joris (35), and Veronique (45) are currently following our Master Class HRM to learn about changes within the sector. What have they learned and what are their personal motivations?
Lifelong learning
Self-development
Joris considers it important to keep on learning and developing himself. “As a matter of fact, I started with a reasonably open-minded approach. My action points are boosting my basic knowledge, developing a strategic personal vision and then applying it in practice.” Within the Masterclass, the students do group work and good preparation is half of the job. “At the moment we are still in the planning phase. We already have concrete ideas but they’re yet to be put into practice,” says Joris.
Fellow student Veronique is at the same stage of the project: “We are taking our time. We consider it important to have a good thesis statement. Right now, we are at the literature review stage, to expand our knowledge and of course to investigate which specific aspects have not yet been examined in-depth. The egg is already there. Once it hatches, we will keep on nurturing it.”
"Engaged performance is important and I’m fascinated by all the possible resources which can help realize this. Hence this training."
Sustainable employability
Veronique believes she has not really had the opportunity to further herself in her previous jobs, because the work environment did not permit it. To help her focus on what she might do in the future, Veronique started to attend career coaching. Veronique has decided she now wants to devote herself to coaching: “I want to be able to advise corporations and employees on preventing stress and burn-out in the workplace. I want to get them thinking about how specific environments can be unconsciously created and how they cause stress.”
The fact that HRM is centered around giving advice to people led to her decision to take up this course: “To me, it is still important to interact with people. I feel good in a job where I can provide advice. Where I can help and where I can enable people and organizations to function better. That gives me energy. Sustainable employability is the key for me. People are expected to work longer, but how do we keep them motivated and physically healthy? Engaged performance is important and I’m fascinated by all the possible resources which can help realize this. Hence this training.”
"I have views on many HR issues and I also want to be able to communicate those to others."
Career coaching
Ilse encountered Antwerp Management School through a colleague and after an informative conversation, she decided to apply. She found additional motivation in the fact that she was busy with career coaching, which made her realize that the Master Class HRM is great training for her and would bring her a step further towards what she really wanted. “I want to move into coaching and therefore need to get acquainted with the HRM jargon. I have views on many HR issues and I also want to be able to communicate those to others.”
Ilse stresses that HRM is something that all employees have to deal with. And when you are directly affected by it, you realize how important it is. Moreover, Ilse works with the United Flemish Youth Services: “In the cities and municipalities where I work, I see how important HRM is in getting people working well, and subsequently ensuring services run effectively too. Moreover, to deepen
An apple for the teacher
Like all students, Joris, Veronique and Ilse have their favorite subjects and professors who inspire them. All three of them are positive about Lou Van Beirendonck. Veronique says, “I find Lou van Beirendonck and his take on talent management and everything about “purple management” very interesting and enlightening.” Joris adds, “Van Beirendonck gives good feedback and asks all the right questions.” Ilse also finds Geert Scheiper's style of teaching inspiring: “As participants, we have asked many questions and he has provided many simple answers. Keep it simple.”
Furthermore, Joris is very positive about Luc De Bodt whose explanation of a number of interesting case studies he found really enlightening.
The ladies also found Peggy De Prins’ classes very instructive. Veronique says, “Peggy De Prins was talking about engaged performance, i.e. how to motivate people. Here, the Karasek model is really useful as it shows the situations in which people can either experience stress or be very engaged and energetic. This approach de-individualizes the problems of stress at work, destigmatizes stress and makes it negotiable.”
"We have a pretty big disparity, so I look forward to putting theory into practice with our recruiting procedure.”
Passed?
Joris has already been able to apply his newly-acquired insights to his current job by encouraging people to think about HRM and to show what they can do with it. The same also goes for Ilse and Veronique. Ilse says, “we currently have a new staff coordinator. I am going to sit with her to see how we can work on this. We have a pretty big disparity, so I look forward to putting theory into practice with our recruiting procedure.”
Veronique also points out the individual influence of the mastercclass. “It is not always easy to combine work and study, and it requires good planning. You need to factor in enough time each weekend to recover from the working week. However, combining the Master Class HRM with working is an inspiring and educational experience.”
