HR Competencies for the 21st Century

PART 1

A competency is a cluster of highly interrelated attributes, including knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that give rise to the behaviors needed to perform a given job effectively. Competencies can be either technical or behavioral. Technical competencies reflect the knowledge required to perform a specific role. Behavioral Competencies describe the KSAs that facilitate the application of technical knowledge to job-related behavior. In other words, technical competencies reflect what knowledge HR professionals apply to their jobs, and Behavioral Competencies reflect how they apply this knowledge.”

— Competencies Overvie, n.d.

Value that is added to the organization through the concept

The role of Human Resource has evolved, especially in the 21st century. Human Resource is responsible for not only motivating employees to perform at their highest level and maintaining a high morale of an organization culture, but to help build and develop a strong organization. A very important part of HR are HR competencies; the many attributes, including knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) are contributing factor towards the growth of a business and its overall success. HR leaders who are highly proficient in the many different competencies are able to understand and interpret information that can be used to assist in making business decisions, give recommendations and contribute to the company's strategic plan. HR leaders who are able to strengthen and utilize the many different competencies and the competency model put the business at an advantage from its competitors.

Examples of the concept in practice in an organization

HR professionals are always interacting and communicating with clients, stakeholders and employees; therefore, to be able to achieve job success for a HR leader, the ability to communicate and maintain relationships are very important. If a human resources manager is not able to adequately communicate both verbally and written, through the different communication channels they will not be able to succeed. Transmitting information throughout the organization is very vital, oftentimes these are information that is needed so that the business can thrive and properly function on a day-to-day basis. Proper communication allows employees to better understand the company's mission, vision, purpose and values of the company policies and practices. The skill of communicating is needed for conflict resolution, this entails knowing and understanding when to use certain words, asking the right questions, the ability to listen, understanding non-verbal (sounds, body language, facial expression, etc.). Also, this particular skill is a necessity when coming up with a negotiation solution, so HR professionals must “ensure that the messages they distribute are clear, concise and readily understood through their expertise in communication,” (Strobel, 2016).

HR professionals who master the competency of critical thinking and evaluation, have the ability to analyze situations and view the potential implications of decisions from a critical perspective. Critical thinking includes making hiring decisions, adding value to metrics that are collected and using the data collected to make good business decisions. An example of critical thinking is making a decision on how to achieve a company goal, this involves developing a plan and a strategy, distributing and delegating tasks and monitoring employees’ progress. Leadership skills are one of the most important competencies for HR managers. Effective leadership is associated with strong outcomes, such as “positive employee work attitudes such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment, decreased turnover, and increased employee job performance,” (Strobel, 2016). As the world continues to change to being more digitized and the continuous evolution of technology, HR professionals have to ensure that they are technologically proficient. “HR functions have increasingly adopted technology platforms that include both employee self-service (ESS) and manager self-service (MSS) tools to make HR information more accessible,” (Zielinski, 2020). The use of HR Information System (HRIS) has increased due to it being able to increase efficiency, such as being a one stop shop and allowing easier storage and access to information, payroll and allows an easier onboarding process. Sourcing new talent is being done through technology on online platforms such as job forums like Indeed, LinkedIn and other social media platforms like twitter and Instagram. HR professionals must be able to utilize the different platforms to source and recruit the best talents.

Risks of not utilizing the concept

The risks of not developing and utilizing HR competency prevents the company from being competitive, which gives the competitor lead advantage, increases the chance of business failure, creates an unhealthy work environment and not being able to source, attract and retain the best talents.

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