jstrauss@BEN.EDU wrote:
>
> I am doing research on the "new" HR executive. Specifically what core
> competencies must this person possess to become a member of and be
> successful as a member of a senior management team. How does s/he
> demonstrate that HRM is valuable function within the organiation.
> Also, with membership in this team what responsibilities does s/he
> have to her/his organization and to the employees within the
> organization. By this I mean when does this exec. wear a MBA
> hat(downsize) vs an MOB/HR(employee development) hat. What values must
> this person adopt to keep a balance between the needs of the business
> and the needs of the employees. Or to be a member of senior
> management, is this person forced to be bottomline oriented only.
>
> I see the HRM exec. as an individual with an MBA heart and an MOB/HR
> heart. Am I off base? I know this is a lot - any help, thoughts,
> references, etc. would be appreciated.
>
> S. Price (Judi's grad asst.)
Hi,
I've been working in this area for about 10 years now, not necessarily
in the identification of HRM core competencies but in the identification
of competencies across any vocational, management or professional area
or level.
In this time I've been both a practitioner, consultant and national/
international policy adviser on the subject and with each hat on have
strongly recommended that people don't ask their friends for what their
experience and opinion is on these competencies, but actually ask the
one group of people who would positively know the answers - those who
are active in this field. Furthermore, I would suggest that not just
anyone is asked but those people who are recognised as being 'the best'
at this.
We have found that the best way of doing this is to have a small group
of 'experts' gathered together with plenty of coffee and comfortable
chairs, a heap of flipchart paper, a whiteboard and pens, and (if you're
real lucky) someone recording straight onto a laptop or desktop computer
the outcomes.
This group is then asked to clearly identify the function for which you
are developing the competencies, and then asked the hardest question of
all to answer (and you yourself asked it in your message): 'What is the
purpose of this function?' The answer to this question is written across
the whiteboard and stays there for the duration of the exercise. It will
give the enquierer a clear picture of the direction the next set of
questions should be heading towards.
Next step, identify the competencies. By firstly asking what the major
chunks of work are that this function performs the significant groups of
activities are identified. For example, one set of competencies
developed for senior managers came up with: Manage Information, Manage
People, Manage Resources, Manage Production, Manage Planning. These
become the units of competency which, taken one at a time, have a
further question asked of them: 'What are the key elements of .....(the
unit name)....?' This breaks the unit down into a number of elements
which are further broken down by asking: 'If I saw someone doing this
element well, what would he/she be doing?' This gives the performance
criteria for each element which, itself, has another question asked of
it: 'Where, when and under what conditions or in what contexts would the
person be doing this?'. The answer here gives the range of situations
(or variables in some languages) in which the element and performance
criteria is performed. Finally, all that is left to ask is: 'What
evidence would we (I/this industry/institution etc.) expect to see to
show competency at this element/performance criteria/range.
This form of Functional Analysis is being used the world over to
identify what we in Australia call competency standards and in the US
(and a number of other countries) call skills standards.
Sorry to be so long winded but I've worked with several hundred groups
here and overseas over the past 5-6 years and they've all asked the same
question as you posed, but I've always counselled them that they may not
always be asking the right person - or even the right question. The
process I've outline above can take no more than 2-3 days (although I've
seen some very sloppy work take months and sometimes years) to develop a
first, and pretty darn near final, draft of the core competencies needed
to effectively perform the function you are analysing. These are then
typed up and distributed for comment and fine tuning. All in all the
process can take no more than 2-3 months if the right people are asked
the right questions, everything is laid out in language and format that
is crystal clear to read and understand, and the competencies are
piloted and assessed against real workplace needs. Then, returning to
the question of what purpose the function fulfils, organisations can
look closely at the competencies and see where they fit into their
overall scheme of things, in particular the definition of skills and
knowledge needed to achieve their short, medium and long term goals and
objectives. I assume, of course, that this is the outcome you are
searching for.
Good luck and give me a call if you have any further questions or want
some examples of the work we've been doing. We specialise in management
and professional level competencies - not just the identification of
them but also the assessment and recognition of skills that people
already have and can demonstrate their competence against the standards.
We are about to launch a software based program that allows for distance
and peripatetic assessment against the competencies which can be used
anywhere in the world over the Internet, or simply as a stand-alone
application.
PHIL RUTHERFORD