Lisa Morgan, NICS HR: CIPD Advanced Certificate and CIPD NI Awards Winner
Lisa Morgan, Strategic HR Business Parntner at NICS HR, explains a little more about her role in HR, providing HR services to 9 Government Departments and how the CIPD Advanced Certificate in HR has provided her with professionalism and recognition. Lisa was also delighted to win the CIPD NI Outstanding HR Student of the Year 2019.
Name: Lisa Morgan
Job Title: Strategic HR Business Partner
Organisation: NICS HR
Number of years with your organisation company: 11 years in HR (formerly Head of HR in Department for the Economy). Departmental HR teams were centralised into one organisation, NICS HR, from April 2016.
Brief Description of what the organisation does: NICS HR is the centralised human resources function for the Northern Ireland Civil Service. NICS HR's purpose is to support the delivery of the draft Programme for Government through the provision of high quality HR services to 9 government Departments. NICS HR provides strategic HR advice and support, develops HR policy and delivers HR services in resourcing, workforce planning and employee relations.
Brief Description of your role within the organisation: I am one of a team of Strategic HR Business Partners in NICS HR. I work in partnership with senior management and staff in the Department for the Economy to support a strategic HR agenda that enables delivery of the Department’s business objectives. This includes developing and managing an effective interface between the Department and NICS HR to meet business needs and supporting the implementation of NICS corporate policies/initiatives at departmental level.
Why did you choose to embark on the CIPD Qualification with DMS Ireland? 
I had worked in HR for 10 years in both resourcing and employee relations before starting on my qualification. I had always planned to complete a CIPD qualification but other home and work priorities always took over. I finally took the leap shortly after the establishment of NICS HR as I was keen to have professional recognition of my experience in HR. I’d also entered my 40s and thought it would be an achievement to go back to studying as a “mature” student!
How did the CIPD Qualification help you in your role the workplace? I was able to apply my research and learning in my work, particularly around developing an NICS-wide approach to recruitment for EU Exit posts across departments. Through completing my modules, this gave me the confidence that the solutions I developed were in line with CIPD guidance and enabled to challenge NICS boundaries. It gave me personal credibility and the confidence that I could develop strategies and solutions to meet business needs which were in keeping with CIPD research and practice. Before completing the qualification I considered myself to be a Civil Servant who happened to work in HR. Since achieving the CIPD Advanced Certificate, I view myself as an HR professional who works in the NICS.
How has your organisation benefited from you completing the CIPD Qualification? Completion of the qualification has provided me with an understanding of the wealth of information available to help me in improving the HR services I am responsible for delivering. Since completing the qualification I have used the theories I learned about in relation to performance management, resourcing and employee engagement. I regularly use CIPD’s website to access information on best practice and case studies. I hope that my experience, including my recent award for CIPD NI Outstanding HR student of the Year, will inspire colleagues across NICS HR to undertake similar studies.
How would you describe your experience working with DMS? The method of studying offered by DMS was ideal for me. I was able to use the extensive experience I had to demonstrate application of CIPD theories and best practice. As a mother of two, working with DMS also offered me the flexibility to manage my study time when it suited my home life. I found the team to be very knowledgeable and extremely supportive. The group sessions were invaluable and the team were always available to answer both simple and complex queries to help me complete my studies.
The DMS Ireland Team were delighted to congratulate Lisa on winning the CIPD Outstanding HR Student of the Year Award for 2019 at the CIPD Northern Ireland Awards in May at the Titanic Belfast
