Competencies for HR Professionals in Knowledge-based Industry with Reference to IT, ITES-BPOs

Introduction

"High performing HR function affects bottom line nearly 10%"- A survey

Competencies have become integral part of HR field. In the last 25+ years, the competency approach has emerged from being a specialized and narrow application to being a leading method for diagnosing, framing and improving most aspects of Human Resource Management. Changes to business practice have forced HR professionals to adjust their role and the contributions they make as well as to obtain new skills and competencies to meet these demands.

In a survey conducted in USA the following were the observations: (Source Internet)

1) HR professionals from high-performing companies are shifting their focus from internal to external customers.

2) HR professionals are taking greater responsibility for disseminating cultural underpinning throughout their organizations.

3) HR professionals are emerging as strategic partners who identify problems, provide alternative insights and raise the standards "Intellectual rigor", for business decision making

Understanding Competencies

Competencies are those behaviors or sets of behaviors that describe excellence in performance within a particular work context. They can be useful in clarifying work standards and expectations, help focus appraisal and reward systems, and align individuals with the institutional or department mission. We have identified a number of topical areas and competencies we believe to be the building blocks and requisite skills needed to be successful as a human resource professional. While specialists may be highly skilled in a relatively narrow field, generalists, by their very nature must have a broader base from which to operate. They must have a wider perspective on the issues and the workplace environment.

A typical professional career pattern would see the development of the novice into a fully skilled staff practitioner within a career specialty or family of specialties. Through maturity, experience and professional development, individuals would broaden their professional perspective and understanding of the human resources profession. Due to the nature of the range of demands placed upon HR departments, smaller organizational units tend to develop "generalists", while larger departments have the need and resources to develop "specialists".

Basic competencies required for any professional?to excel in any profession

Job Knowledge/Competency: Demonstrates the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the job effectively. Understands the expectations of the job and remains current regarding new developments in areas of responsibility. Performs responsibilities in accordance with job procedures and policies. Acts as a resource person upon whom others rely for assistance.

Quality/Quantity of Work: Completes assignments in a thorough, accurate, and timely manner that achieves expected outcomes. Exhibits concern for the goals and needs of the department and others that depend upon services and work products. Handles multiple responsibilities in an effective manner. Uses work time productively.

Planning/Organization: Establishes clear objectives and organizes duties for self, based on the goals of the department, division, or management center. Identifies resources required to meet goals and objectives. Seeks guidance when goals or priorities are unclear.

Initiative/Commitment: Demonstrates personal responsibility when performing duties. Offers assistance to support the goals and objectives of the department and division. Performs with minimal supervision. Meets work schedule/attendance expectations for the position.

Problem Solving/Creativity: Identifies and analyzes problems. Formulates alternative solutions. Takes or recommends appropriate actions. Follows up to ensure problems are resolved.

Teamwork and Cooperation: Maintains harmonious and effective work relationships with coworkers and constituents. Adapts to changing priorities and demands. Shares information and resources with others to promote positive and collaborative work relationships.

Interpersonal Skills: Deals positively and effectively with coworkers and constituents. Demonstrates respect for all individuals.

Communication (Oral and Written): Effectively conveys information and ideas both orally and in writing. Listens carefully and seeks clarification to ensure understanding.

Basic Competencies for a HR Professional?irrespective of his/her designation

Relationship Focused: approachable; relates easily to diverse groups and individuals; builds and develops relationships.

Customer Focused: focused on all aspects of service and product delivery; always knows the customer comes first.

Organizational Skills: able to set priorities; time and meeting management skills; able to delegate.

Problem Solving: ability to weave through necessary channels to accomplish outcomes in complex settings; understanding of processes and quality improvement.

Assessment of Talent: ability to judge and assess talent, recruit and select staff appropriate to current and future organizational needs; appreciation for and emphasis on developing a diverse workforce.

Integrity: forthright; direct; widely trusted.

Intelligence: ability to grasp complex concepts and determine courses of action.

Energetic: action oriented; hard working; likes challenges.

Active Listening: ability to absorb and translate others' statements into objective responses and actions; ability to give and receive feedback in an appropriate manner.

Composure and Professionalism: ability to maintain professional demeanor in difficult or stressful situations; patience with customers; ability to diffuse anger and deal with difficult customers.

Presentation Skills: ability to present and convey information in a wide variety of settings.

Flexibility: ability to cope effectively with change and uncertainty; ability to reprioritize quickly; ability to maintain a balanced perspective and see all sides of an issue.

Vision: ability to see the 'big picture' within the industry, the organization and the function now, and in the future; ability to translate a future state for others and instill a sense of vision in them; ability to motivate others.

Political Awareness: sensitive to political situations; able to assess political climate and how it affects responsibilities.

Competencies required in knowledge based industry (IT, ITES-BPO, Service Industry)

As per a survey done in US of A, the following competencies are required for a HR Professional in excel in "Knowledge Based Industry"?

1. Understanding the business of the Company. To become key players in the organization, HR Professionals must understand their organizations and the industry in which they work. However, knowing business is not enough. It has been proved in various studies conducted all over the world that HR professionals in high-performing organizations know as much about the business as their counterparts in the low-performing organizations. The difference lies in the usage of that knowledge. The HR professionals of high-performing organizations use their knowledge to make strategic contribution.

2. Personal Credibility. HR professionals must be credible to both their colleagues and the employees they serve and hence they must-

A) Possess a track record of success and have earned trust.

B) Instill confidence in others.

C) Demonstrate integrity.

D) Ask important questions.

E) Frame complex ideas in useful ways.

F) Take appropriate risks

G) Provide candid observations and

H) Offer alternative perspectives on business issues.

3) Knowledge of best practices. The HR professional must

A) Be an effective verbal communicator

B) Work with management to send clear and consistent messages.

C) Be an effective communicator in writing.

D) Facilitate organizational restructuring

E) Design programs that drive change

F) Facilitate design of internal communication processes

G) Attract the appropriate talent to the organization

H) Design compensation System

I) Facilitate dissemination of Customer information.

4) Ability of Manage Change. With regards to Change, the HR professional must

A) Establish trust in relationships with others

B) Be a visionary.

C) Take a proactive role in bringing about change

D) Build supportive relationships with others

E) Encourage others to be creative and

F) Identify problems critical to business success.

5) Ability to manage Culture. The culture of any organization is an important aspect and hence HR professionals must

A) Share knowledge with units/departments/divisions throughout the organization

B) Champion culture transformation

C) Translate the desired culture into specific behaviors

D) Challenge the status quo

E) Identify the culture required to foster the organizations business strategies and

F) Frame the culture in a way that excites employees.

6) Implementation of technology. Technology is increasingly used as a delivery vehicle for HR services. HR professionals need to be able to use HR Technology and web-based channels to deliver services to employees.

7) HR & Delivery. This competency encompasses the HR activities that are traditionally associated with HR function. There are six major factors within this domain- Staffing, development, organizational structure, HR measurement, and legal compliance and performance management.

HR Professionals in India

To start with, let me illustrate one case, it is from one Multi-National, IT company (Sorry, I am not suppose to mention the name of the company). In India they are having offices in two cities?Pune and Hyderabad. They are having manpower of 2,750 (Approx); to manage this manpower they have a HR-Team of 28 people (12 in Recruitment; 9 in HR-Operations and 7 in employee relations). Now, look at these statistics:

Attrition rate in the above-mentioned company is as high as 32 % Every month they pay 300,000 ? 500,000 INR to recruitment vendors. Every month they get 15-20 % salary related queries (Attendance, Leaves etc) HR people in most of the ITES-BPO companies are busy only in recruitment, settling full-and-finals and to some extent database management.

Now look at this, as per a survey done by, Virgin Management Consultants;

A. 77-84 % HR professional don't know the business of company

B. More than 92% HR professionals are novice to economic reforms and economic growth of the country

C. 69-76% HR professionals are even aware of role and expectations of a HR.

D. 86% of HR Professionals are not aware of the business model of their organization

E. As much as 89% HR professionals are not aware of the effect of Financial Bills of their salary.

This is alarming.

Now, also analyze this, traditionally HR meant to be?Recruitment, Training and development, Compensation and Benefits, Performance Management, Payroll, Behavioral Scientists, Human Psychologist, Employee relations (in manufacturing sector we have Industrial Relations Expert, and Welfare officer), Employee related strategies and planning.

In present scenario,

Training and Development is a separate department;

Recruitment and payroll can be outsourced;

Strategies and Planning is a role of senior profile

People are not grown-up enough to understand human-behavior and hence they are not fit to be in employee-relations.

We have very few experts as Compensation and Benefits Analyst and most of the time this activity can be outsourced.

Now, you list out what are the activities that a HR Professional can do?

My take:

It is a well-known fact that most of the HR professionals are not good with numbers, they are not experts in statistics or taxation or economics; they are also not so good in "Human behavior" or "Human Psychology"?but most of them are too good in "internal politics"?making an issue out of nothing.

1) HR professionals as a taxman. A big portion in Direct Tax is "Salary"?components of salary?affect of tax on each component. A HR Professional can analyze this and restructure the "Salary Structure" of the company. This will also help in Compensation and benefits analysis. They can also take-up a role of "internal tax advisor" to employees.

2) HR Professional as a Strategist and a Policy-maker. To perform this activity, they must have good knowledge about business, industry, and best practices in the industry and best global practices.

3) HR Professional as a Coach, mentor and guide. In order to take-up this role, HR professionals must be empathetic, high on emotional quotient, expert in Human Behavior and Human Psychology.

4) HR Professional as a Business and Industry expert. As mentioned above, here also they need to have good knowledge about the business and industry.

Conclusion

These are some of the activities that I feel can change a face of this profession?called "Human Resource Management". The path ahead is difficult to walk-on but it is not challenging. I know there are many HR-Heads and VP-HR, working in ITES-BPO industry or Service industry, drawing a salary as high as 60-75 lakh INR PA, but I doubt, if they can justify their salary with their work. As I have mentioned in the beginning, for HR-Professionals to be a Strategic Partner?Delhi Abhi Door Hai.

Looking forward to your comments and Feedback.

Regards

About Author:
Sanjeev Himachali
E-mail: ss_himachali@yahoo.com; sanjeev.himachali@gmail.com
Blog: http://sanjeevhimachali.blogspot.com/
You can read my ITES-BPO related articles at www.bpoindia.org/research/ or http://www.contactcenterworld.com/articles.asp

Sanjeev (Himachali) Sharma, is a 29 yrs of age from India, having six years of experience in "Human Resource Development". By qualification, he is Bachelor of Science and Masters in Business Administration. He is also a Motivational and Inspirational writer and speaker.)

About Organization: "07/09 Management Consultants"...(Exploring new areas). We are into following:

1) Business and Industry Research

2) Providing total HR solutions to new start-up companies and as we say JD (Job Description) to OD (Organizational Development)

3) Your salary and taxation (Analyzing the effect of Financial Bill on the salaries and there by advising the management...if they need to change the compensation Plan)

4) Sourcing Senior Profiles...GM's, VP's, CEO's and MD's.

5) We are into "BPO Consultancy" and help companies in setting-up their BPO's in India.

6) We take-up need based HR-Projects in US of A; UK; Germany and other European and Asian Countries.

---

Google News Updated : Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:13:38 GMT IAC Officially Breaks Up - Wall Street Journal Los Angeles Times IAC Officially Breaks Up Wall Street Journal - 55 minutes ago By DAVID BENOIT and KATHY SHWIFF IAC is left as a collection of more than 35 Internet companies -- including search engine Ask.com, dating site Match. IAC: And Then There Were Five Forbes Diller's IAC Split May Fail to Boost Investor Returns (Update2) Bloomberg The Associated Press - MarketWatch - FOXBusiness - CNNMoney.com all 280 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:17:40 GMT Microsoft's Photosynth wilts under pressure - Computerworld Washington Post Microsoft's Photosynth wilts under pressure Computerworld - 44 minutes ago By Gregg Keizer August 21, 2008 (Computerworld) Within hours of its launch, Microsoft Corp.'s new photo-stitching service went dark, overwhelmed by demand, the company said Thursday afternoon. New Microsoft photo site spends first day offline The Associated Press New Microsoft Tech Converts Photo Soup Into 3-D Image TechNewsWorld InformationWeek - PC Magazine - TG Daily - Christian Science Monitor all 323 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:28:59 GMT My Super Sweet 16: The Miley Cyrus Edition - E! Online E! Online My Super Sweet 16: The Miley Cyrus Edition E! Online - 3 hours ago Miley Cyrus is about to show up all those spoiled brats on My Super Sweet 16 who think they're cool being flown to their party by helicopter or when they're carried in like a princess by a group of hot dudes. Miley Cyrus to Celebrate Turning 16 at Disneyland People Magazine Miley Cyrus Sweet 16 KFSN Press-Enterprise - The Gossip Girls - United Press International - Best Syndication all 87 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:21:48 GMT GM to Invest $500 Million To Build Chevy Cruze - Wall Street Journal Turkish Press GM to Invest $500 Million To Build Chevy Cruze Wall Street Journal - 3 hours ago By KATHY SHWIFF General Motors Corp. will spend more than $500 million in the US to build the Chevrolet Cruze, a next-generation compact car. GM announces $500M investment for small car The Associated Press GM to invest $500 million in small car plant MarketWatch Reuters - CNNMoney.com - CNET News - BloggingStocks all 266 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:10:12 GMT UPDATE 1-Microsoft enlists Seinfeld for ad campaign--source - Reuters UPDATE 1-Microsoft enlists Seinfeld for ad campaign--source Reuters - 2 hours ago By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Comedian Jerry Seinfeld will star in a $300 million marketing campaign for Microsoft Corp aimed at burnishing the image of its computer operating system, a person familiar with the effort said on Thursday ... Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates to star in anti-Apple ads TG Daily Seinfeld to be pitchman for Microsoft The Associated Press Slashdot - Bizjournals.com - GameSHOUT - Ars Technica all 474 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:27:28 GMT Hillary Clinton's Staff Looking to Avoid Embarrassing Anti-Obama ... - FOXNews Times Online Hillary Clinton's Staff Looking to Avoid Embarrassing Anti-Obama ... FOXNews - 58 minutes ago Hillary Clinton's staff is trying to avoid an embarrassing anti-Obama demonstration by her supporters during the floor vote at next week's Democratic convention in Denver. Clinton Will Attend Fund-Raiser for Towns New York Times Clinton for VP? She Says Ask the Obama Campaign ABC News CNN Political Ticker - New York Times Blogs - Newsweek - U.S. News & World Report all 546 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:15:16 GMT Marlins let one slip away in San Francisco - Sports Network The Associated Press Marlins let one slip away in San Francisco Sports Network - 39 minutes ago San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Marlins reliever Kevin Gregg's wild pitch in bottom of the ninth inning scored Emmanuel Burriss to send San Francisco past Florida, 4-3, in the finale of a three-game series. Giants walk off on Gregg's wild pitch MLB.com Giants beat Marlins on wild pitch in 9th inning The Associated Press San Jose Mercury News - Rotoworld.com - Akron Farm Report - Flamarlins.com all 81 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:33:45 GMT Automatic Blogging Add RSS Feeds to My Website

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Think it Over

You can't solve a problem with the... Read More

How to get an Audiences Attention

A trainer dryly discussing how to motivate people in an... Read More

Unlock the Hidden Creativity of Your Employees

To release creativity in employees, managers must get involved in... Read More

Sexual Harassment Policy Guidelines Part II

SEXUAL HARASSMENT COMPLAINT INVESTIGATION PROCEDUREEvery complaint will be thoroughly investigated.... Read More

How to Save Money on Training

1) Use a live instructor. Adults learn best by doing,... Read More

Todays Employees and Their New Needs: What You Need to Know

Today's employees are not only interested in security or in... Read More

Tales From the Corporate Frontlines: An Unexpected Benefit

This article relates to the Compensation and Benefits competency, commonly... Read More

To Thine Own Self Be True--Its Better for Business: What Arthur Andersen Would Say to His Company

As a child, you probably heard, "to thine own self... Read More

Why Businesses Fail - And What You Can Do About It!

Have you unintentionally set your business up for failure?No one... Read More

Work Life a Balancing Act

Australians are loosing their laidback, carefree reputation, as we continue... Read More

The Golden Key to Meeting Success

We all attend many meetings. I'm sure you have been... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Improving Workplace Safety

This article relates to the Safety and Working Environment competency... Read More

When Business Becomes A Battlefield

"We have to be careful it's like a minefield out... Read More

Innovation Management ? what are the practical impediments?

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

10 Steps When You Need Help in Your Business

If you think ahead and plan, many nightmare panic and... Read More

Organizational Culture, Creativity, Innovation

It can be concluded with great certainty that certain organizational... Read More

How to Manage Your People Well: Tips for Managers of Training

As a training manager, there are two important aspects to... Read More

Middle-Aged Managers, the Forgotten Digital Divide

The digital divide is defined by the role computers play... Read More

2 Steps For Increasing Company Profits or Performing Business Turnarounds

1. Eliminate wasteEliminate reports, habits, products, duplicate input, and processes... Read More

Inventory Management 101

Inventory management may seem complicated to some, but if one... Read More

Uncommon Common Sense ? Know What is the Most Important Thing in Your Business

Over 3 of my meetings with 3 business owners last... Read More

Catch Your Staff Doing Something Right

A long time ago, I learned something about being a... Read More

Employee Retention: Keeping the People Who Keep You in Business

The retention of highly skilled knowledge workers is one of... Read More

Commercial Collections Billing Practices Advice

Swiftness is the key to collecting past due commercial accounts... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines:Choosing an Effective Employee Recognition Program

This article relates to the Recognition competency, commonly evaluated in... Read More