Understanding HR competencies

Understanding HR competencies

- Over the past decade, organizations have become more complex, dynamic and fast paced. As a result, senior managers recognize that attracting, retaining and managing people effectively is more important than ever. To do that effectively, we'll examine nine critical competencies for HR success. But first, here's some background on how they were developed. Beginning in 2011, the Society for Human Resource Management conducted a multiyear study that included input from more than 1,200 HR professionals from 33 nations and survey responses from 32,000 participants.

Extensive analyses of these data identified nine competencies, each one of them includes subcompetencies and behaviors, along with proficiency standards by career level, early, mid,senior, and executive levels. Here's an overview of each of these nine competencies. The first is human resource expertise. This is the ability to know and apply the principles and practices of human resource management to contribute to the success of a business.

Next is relationship management. This is in reference to your ability to manage interactions among people, to provide services to help line managers manage, and to support the organization. Another important competency is consultation, your ability to provide guidance to employees, managers, and other stakeholders. Leadership and navigation covers your ability to direct and contribute to performance and to processes like staffing, performance management, and rewards.

A key competency at all levels is communication, ensuring you can exchange information and convey understanding with employees, managers, and other stakeholders. Related to this is global and cultural effectiveness, your ability to value and consider the perspectives and backgrounds of all parties. The seventh competency is ethical practice, meaning can you support, uphold, and model the values of your organization, while mitigating risk? The eighth competency is critical evaluation.

This is the ability to understand the logical connections between ideas, in order to evaluate arguments and to make business decisions and recommendations. The final competency is business acumen, your ability to understand and apply information, in order to contribute to your organization's strategic plan. What does all of this mean for you? Well, it's important that you know about these competencies. It's even more important that you work on developing each of them throughout your career and that you're able to demonstrate them on the job.

Note that the first competency is technical expertise in the many areas of HR, and that the remaining eight competencies are all behavioral. Technical HR knowledge certainly provides a sound foundation, but consider the remaining eight behavioral competencies as a roadmap to business and career success. After all, employers are less interested in your ability to know and more interested in your ability to do. Ultimately, your ability to perform will determine how successful you are in your career.