Traditionally, the role of people managers was frequently taken on by non-specialised HR managers or by any manager with capacity and availability. This is still a prominent trend in the workplace today. That said, businesses will always have positions related to recruiting, empowering, and retaining employees. If those sound like your responsibilities, then without a doubt you are a people manager—even if it may not be your job title.

People managers in Singapore encounter various challenges that go beyond their struggle for recognition. Besides nurturing strong teams, they are also expected to accomplish this within the nation’s multicultural framework. They also have to contend with increasingly unhappy employees, with more than half of Singaporean workers expressing an intent to quit—a trend that poses a clear detriment to organisations throughout the country. To better meet these challenges, people managers should expand their HR skills and learn from instructors with multi-sectoral and cross-cultural perspectives.

The importance of HR skills
Human resource skills are crucial as they enable effective management of a company's most valuable asset: its employees. These HR skills encompass various areas of people management, from recruitment and employee communication to conflict resolution and fostering a positive work environment. By adeptly navigating these practices, HR professionals enhance employee satisfaction, engagement, and productivity. They also help ensure alignment between organisational goals and individual aspirations, leading to higher retention rates and better talent development. 

Creating outstanding teams through Workforce Skills Qualifications course
Taking Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) certification courses in leadership and people management is an important step for ensuring people managers are qualified for their roles. However, to stand out from the crowd, it’s no longer enough for people managers to have basic HR qualifications. More advanced learning modules such as the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development) courses will not only empower people managers to develop more effective teams but also enable them to become more valuable assets to their organisations.

As the world’s oldest human resource-focused association, the CIPD is especially authoritative when it comes to HR and people management matters. People managers who are conferred certification for CIPD courses will be equipped to handle today’s most pressing employee development challenges. 

One of the primary areas for HR advancement that CIPD courses focus on is HR business partnering. Training in this area aims to develop HR business partners who can collaborate closely with business leaders to elevate workforce effectiveness, cultivate essential strategic human capital factors like talent, leadership, learning, and culture, and create effective people-centered strategies aimed at attaining the company's goals. 

Another area of focus is employee development, with special emphasis on alignment with digitalisation efforts and on using digital tools to support talents’ learning and development needs. The idea is to help employees keep pace with the rapidly evolving corporate landscape to ensure that reskilling efforts will be successful. 

Also critical to businesses today is employee wellness, which is another key area of attention for CIPD courses. The idea is that proper management of employee engagement and relations serves to strengthen the ties and interactions between employees, managers, and the organization, helping improve worker resilience and putting them in a better position to manage stress and burnout.

CIPD learning modules, such as those offered by NTUC LearningHub, can typically be taken in any order and are delivered either as virtual live classes or physical classes. 

How can CIPD courses support people managers?
Completing CIPD courses can help people managers stand out in several ways:

1. Advanced Human Resource management skills. The CIPD’s learning and development courses are among the best regarded in the global HR community. Taking CIPD courses will not only teach learners advanced concepts but also shore up their basic HR skills. Learners can also expect exposure to emerging HR practices and technologies, further enabling them to build strong teams more efficiently and become more valuable assets to their organisations.
    
2. Expanded professional networks. NTUC LearningHub and CIPD courses include plenty of opportunities for Singaporean people managers to interact with each other, particularly during physical classes. Learners will glean valuable insights about people management and HR from their instructors and fellow learners, many of whom will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. The networks formed through these classes may also raise people managers’ profiles and create avenues for professional advancement.
    
3. Enhanced understanding of global HR practices. The CIPD maintains a global presence, with locations in Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East. It also maintains partnerships with educational institutions the world over, making it uniquely qualified to provide people managers with truly global insights. These perspectives are especially valuable to Singaporean people managers, as Singapore is home to over 37,000 international companies and 7,000 multinational corporations as well as many more that employ permanent residents and foreign workers. CIPD certification should, therefore, help people managers stand out in an increasingly multicultural environment.
    
4. Credibility. As a UK HR institution, the CIPD is among the most respected in the world for HR-related knowledge and training. Certification from the association has a lot of weight, particularly in Singapore’s human resource management community. Having CIPD certification adds credibility to a people manager's profile, signalling to colleagues and superiors that they are well-equipped to handle modern people management challenges and responsibilities.

Distinguish yourself and build stronger teams with CIPD training
People manager roles may not be explicitly defined in every business or organisation, but the responsibilities of people management will always be present. Regardless of how roles are described or how an organisation is structured, there’s always someone who needs to onboard new talents, engage with employees, and develop roles and careers to suit the business’s goals. If these are your responsibilities, taking CIPD courses can help you deliver real value to your organisation as well as to the people under your care.
 
CIPD courses will also help you do much more than simply onboard and develop employees. They will also help you better identify and close gaps in your organisation’s capabilities at a macro level, enabling you to be a serious contributor to its growth. Your journey towards unlocking your team’s potential and nurturing a truly resilient organisation starts here.

Find out more about CIPD courses here: https://www.ntuclearninghub.com/topics/cipd-chartered-institute-of-personnel-development