HR Competencies and Their Relationship to Organizational Practices by Sunil J. Ramlall, PhD
R
esearchers in the field of strategic human resource management have emphasized the view that systems of human resource (HR) practices may lead to higher firm performance and be sources of sustained competitive advantages (Wright, Dunford, & Snell, 2001). Competing in today’s tumultuous global economy provides additional challenges to the HR function in creating the expected value to create and sustain competitive advantages. Brockbank, Ulrich, and Beatty (1999) argue that for HR to be a profession, HR professionals must master the necessary competencies, and that mastery of HR knowledge comes from knowing the concepts, language, logic, research, and practices of HR. Furthermore, mastery of abilities comes from being able to apply the knowledge to specific business settings. With growing emphasis being placed on HR competencies as a means to increasing HR’s effectiveness, this research study seeks to do several things: • Determine if competencies are predictive of success in the HR profession. • Understand how competencies vary by type of position within HR (entry level, manager, director, and executives).
32
www.ispi.org
•
MAY/JUNE 2006
• Determine if there is a relationship between specific competencies and particular responsibilities of HR professionals. • Determine the relationship among education, years of HR experience, competencies, and compensation. Competence of an individual is the knowledge, skills, abilities, or personality characteristics that directly influence one’s performance (Becker, Huselid, & Ulrich, 2001).
Literature Review To sustain the transformation of the HR function, HR professionals must develop and demonstrate a new set of competencies to fulfill their changing roles and responsibilities (Yeung, Woolcock, & Sullivan, 1996). In the widely cited Michigan’s HR Competency Research (Brockbank, Ulrich, & James, 1997), the researchers identified five major competencies expected of HR professionals: strategic contribution, personal credibility, HR delivery, business knowledge, and HR technology. Becker et al. (2001) suggested adding strategic HR performance management as a sixth competency.
According to Becker et al. (2001), the strategic performance management strategies are probably a little different and support the notion that HR managers must think differently about HR. The core dimensions of this competency are (1) critical causal thinking, (2) understanding of the principles of good measurement, (3) estimation of causal relationships, and (4) communication of HR strategic performance results to senior line managers. It is argued that with a stronger competency in strategic performance management that an HR professional would be better able to show correlation and causal relationships between HR systems and financial outcomes, customer value proposition, and even competitive advantages. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the University of Michigan Business School, and the Global Consulting Alliance have since developed the HR Competency Toolkit, which is in part designed to enable HR professionals to assess and improve their HR skills (Brockbank & Ulrich, 2004) and is now used by many HR professionals across the world. According to SHRM, competencies have emerged that range from being a specialized and narrow application to being a leading method for diagnosing, framing, and improving most aspects of HR. Furthermore, the research by Brockbank et al. (1999) showed that HR activities positively impact business performance (defined as the financial performance of the business over the last three years compared to major competitors) by approximately 10%. Strategic contribution accounts for 43% of HR’s total impact on business performance, which is almost twice the impact of any other domain. These are all reasons why competencies are being discussed by academicians and practitioners as ways of creating sustainable competitive advantages. Many other research findings have pointed to the relationship of HR and HR competencies to increasing profitability and creating competitive advantages. Competencies are needed to enable an organization to achieve strategic, creative outcomes and to maximize productivity. In addition to traditional HR disciplines, the HR function is now looked to for expertise in designing organizations and organizational systems and for managing major changes to increase competitiveness. Such outcomes require competency in strategic contribution and ability to deliver HR services. As cited in Patterson (2004), the following actions are being taken by HR professionals in response to these respective trends: • Increasing the use of technology to perform transactional HR functions—80% • Increasing HR’s role in promoting corporate ethics— 67% • Increasing investment in training for HR staff—57%
•
• • • • • •
Building people management or human capital components into key business transactions (change management, mergers, and acquisitions)—54% Encouraging certification for HR professionals—54% Measuring human capital—52% Increasing use of specialized HR practitioners—31% Increasing HR outsourcing—21% Decreasing HR outsourcing—10% Decreasing use of specialized HR practitioners—9%
The increasingly global nature of competition requires that firms use all their available resources to survive and succeed. Wright, McMahan, McCormick, and Sherman (1998) concluded that this phenomena has resulted in an emphasis on the alignment of all functional activities of a firm (e.g., finance, marketing, operations, etc.) toward the achievement of strategic objectives. One consequence of this trend is that many have called for a new strategic role for the HR function. This role entails two major aspects. First, the HR executive should provide input into the firm’s strategy to ensure that the firm has the human resource capabilities to implement the strategy. Second, the HR function needs to ensure that the HR programs and practices are in place to effectively implement the strategy. Given this requirement, it is quite obvious that HR professionals must be fully competent in strategy development, implementation, and evaluation. An approach within the strategic perspective on human resources management (HRM) pertains to how the overall set of HRM practices is generally associated with firm performance and competitive advantage (Ferris, Hochwarter, Buckley, Harrell-Cook, & Frink, 1999). Central here is the resource-based perspective (Barney, 1991) such that, collectively, a firm’s human resources are believed to have implications for firm performance and provide a unique source of competitive advantage that is difficult to replicate (Wright, McMahan, & McWilliams, 1994). In another study, business knowledge, customer orientation, effective communication, credibility and integrity, and systemic perspective were identified as competencies corresponding to structures and needs in organizations (Yeung et al., 1996). A competency model can serve as an integrative framework for an organization’s entire HR system. It can help align the HR system vertically with the organization’s strategic objectives or horizontally with other HR functions to ensure harmony and consistency across the many facets of HR activities that impact human performance (Rothwell & Wellins, 2004). Moreover, taking talent management expertise forward is central to the future success of the entire HR profession (Boudreau & Ramstad, 2003). The authors reiterate that the HR profession “can evolve into a true decision science
Performance Improvement
•
Volume 45
•
Number 5
33
of talent and aspire to the level of influence of disciplines such as finance and marketing.” With the shifting role of HR, organizations must establish new covenants with customers, manage disruptive technologies, create new forms of engagements with employees, and face the scrutiny of investors who determine a firm’s market value by assessing its intangibles, not just its present or past earnings (Ulrich & Beatty, 2001). Tied to the changing demands of the HR professions are the new competencies enabling HR to be effective in driving firm performance and creating sustainable competitive advantages.
Methodology The study used a cross-sectional design collecting data at one point in time versus a longitudinal research where data are collected from a sample at different points in time to study changes or continuity in the sample’s characteristics (Gall, Borg, & Gall, 1996). The target population was HR professionals in the upper Midwest region of the United States. HR professionals for the purpose of this study include individuals who practice in the field of HRM and who hold full-time exempt positions. Survey Design Based on theories, concepts, and frameworks discussed in the literature review, the author designed a survey as the primary means of data collection for the study. The instrument was compiled to include multiple sections. The first section sought information on the participants’ position classification (job title), industry, years employed in HR, years in current position, and highest educational attainment. The second section of the survey had the participant identifying the competencies, skills, and attributes HR professionals should possess and the competencies the participants’ employers emphasize in various employment practices. Compensation information was also included in this section. The third section of the survey listed 12 specific strategies and activities (Becker & Huselid, 1998; Brockbank et al., 1999; Giannantonio & Hurley, 2002). A scale of 1–5 was used to indicate the level of competence needed in one’s job and, second, the level of the employee’s competence for the specific HR activity; 1 represented least competent and 5 represented highest level of competence. As a way to determine the construct validity of the instrument and to enhance its effectiveness, a pilot study of the survey was conducted on a stratified sample of 12 HR professionals including senior executives, HR managers, and HR generalists. Respondents were asked to review the instrument and provide feedback on the utility of the questions, recommend additional questions, eliminate questions,
34
www.ispi.org
•
MAY/JUNE 2006
and determine if the questions were able to collect the appropriate data needed to fulfill the purpose of the study. Items that were consistently identified by the focus group were included in the final survey. Sample The target population for the study was HR professionals in the upper Midwest United States belonging to professional HR associations. Surveys were sent to 224 HR professionals at 66 different companies. The 66 companies were selected through stratified random sampling as a means to ensure population validity. The 66 companies represented Fortune 500 companies, other large and medium-sized companies in retail, banking and finance, state and city government, agriculture, education, manufacturing, and transportation industries. According to Bracht and Glass (1968), one of the criteria for judging experiments is population validity, which is the extent to which the results of an experiment can be generalized from the sample that participated to the population. Stratified random sampling ensured that companies were randomly chosen but included samples from multiple industries, size of companies, and financial performance, among other factors. The reason for taking a stratified sample is to have a more efficient sample than could be taken on the basis of simple random sampling. Another benefit is the assurance that the sample will accurately reflect the population on the basis of the criterion used for stratification (Zikmund, 2003). Given that this study used correlational and causal-comparative research among other statistical tools, it was imperative to include at least 30 companies in the research. Using statistical power analysis, 224 employees from 66 companies were selected, enabling higher levels of reliability, validity, and generalizability. The sample included vice presidents of HR, HR directors, HR managers, HR generalists, and HR specialists. The sample only included exempt level HR professionals. Reliability Test To determine the reliability of the data collected, the author used Cronbach’s alpha to test the responses received. The quest was to determine the proportion of the variability in the responses that was the result of differences in the respondents. The result was 0.668. Under the assumption that the item variances are all equal, this ratio simplifies to the average interitem correlation, also resulting in standardized item alpha of 0.662. Although an alpha of at least 0.8 would have been preferred, 0.7 would be acceptable given the multidimensional nature of the data, and, hence, a satisfactory measure of how well the variables measure the respective constructs.
Results Responses were received from 108 of the 224 participants for a response rate of 48%. There were three surveys that were undeliverable. Of the 108 participants who returned their surveys, approximately 18% were HR directors, 34% were HR managers, 25% were HR generalists, 17% were HR specialists, and 6.5% were vice presidents. Table 1 provides the specific numbers of individuals by job category.
Table 1. Participants by Job Category.
Years of Experience The average number of years of experience for the overall sample was 10.45 years. Not surprisingly, vice presidents had the highest years of experience within HR. HR generalists and managers had relatively similar years of experience, with HR specialists showing more years within the HR profession, as illustrated in Figure 1. Education Of the 108 participants, 13 had a high school diploma/GED as the highest educational attainment, 60 had a BA/BS degree, and 35 had an MBA/MA/MS. Of the 19 HR directors, six possessed an advanced degree, eight had an undergraduate degree, and five had a high school diploma or equivalent as the highest educational attainment. Among the vice presidents, six of the seven participants had earned a graduate degree and one had an undergraduate as the highest educational attainment. Among the HR generalists, seven had an advanced degree, eighteen had an undergraduate, and two had a high school diploma or equivalent as the highest educational attainment (see Figure 2 and Table 2). Relationship Between Specific Competencies and Success in the HR Profession
Figure 1. Years of Experience by Job Category. The average annual salary for HR directors in this study was $95,395. HR generalists had an average salary of $74,075; HR specialists averaged $55,178; and, as expected, HR vice presidents averaged significantly higher at $162,857. Table 3 provides the descriptive statistics for the compensation data. Based on the findings of Brockbank et al. (1997), the frequency of participants citing knowledge of the business, strategic contribution, personal credibility, HR delivery, HR technology, and—as added by Becker et al. (2001)—measurement as competencies HR professionals should possess to effectively function as strategic business partners were listed as some as the core competencies of HR professionals.
For purposes of this study, it was assumed that a higher level of compensation was correlated with relatively more success in one’s position. The exception may be in a union environment, where pay may be based in part on longevity and not solely on performance. Thus, one of the dependent variables used in this study is annual base compensation as a measure of success in one’s position. Table 2. Overall Educational Attainment.
Performance Improvement
•
Volume 45
•
Number 5
35
Only 6.5% of the respondents felt that they had an extremely high level of expertise in strategic contribution. A majority of the respondents (74.8%) indicated an average level of expertise in this area. More than 80% indicated a relatively low level of expertise in measuring HR’s efforts and showing how HR contributes to the overall bottom line of the organization.
Figure 2. Summary of Education. As Table 4 shows, the participants of the study did not all agree that the listed competencies were seen as critical to success in the HR profession. The results showed that knowledge of the business, HR delivery, and strategic contribution were viewed as the most important competencies. Quite surprising, especially given the emphasis on ethical standards and emphasis on gaining respect in organizations, personal credibility was cited with relatively low frequency compared to the other measures. When asked if they understand the business in which they worked, 57.4% of the respondents stated a level of 4 on a scale of 1–5, with 5 being the highest level of expertise. Another 18.5% stated that they had a perfect understanding of the business, and 24.1% evaluated themselves at either 1 or 2. More than 80% indicated a 4 or 5 level of expertise in delivering HR services, with similar results for managing change.
Table 3. Descriptive Statistics—Compensation.
Table 4. Frequency of Self-Identified Core Competencies.
36
www.ispi.org
•
MAY/JUNE 2006
It has been frequently recommended by many scholars that HR professionals should understand the different perspectives of a business and be able to converse using accounting, marketing, and other functional areas’ terminology. More than 70% of the participants perceived themselves to have a high level of expertise in these functional areas and in staying abreast with HR research findings; however, approximately 30% were reading professional and academic journals and magazines on a fairly regular basis. This finding supports previous studies citing significant gaps between HR self-perception and perceptions from scholars and organizational executives. For example, Wright, McMahan, Snell, and Gerhart found that line executives seem to view HR as being best at providing basic HR services but are not quite as impressed with HR’s effectiveness in contributing to the business (2001). Based on the regression analyses with annual base compensation as the dependent variable and predictors as HR measurement, knowledge of the business, HR technology, personal credibility, strategic contribution, and HR delivery, one can infer that there is a direct relationship between an employee’s annual compensation and the above-listed competencies. Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6 provide a graphic display of the results of the respective regression analyses. As the results indi-
cate, the higher the level of one’s expertise in the respective competencies, the higher the annual compensation. Competencies of Various HR Position Classifications As identified in Table 5, participants identified their ability to deliver HR services, technical competencies in HR, ability to manage change, self-assessment of knowledge of the business, and ability to manage an organization’s culture as the highest ranked competencies. In contrast, HR professionals did not report high expertise in accounting concepts, marketing strategies, strategic contribution, or HR metrics and did not report spending a lot of time reading journals or staying abreast with recent HR research findings.
Figure 3. Relationship Between Compensation and Ability to Deliver HR Success.
As described in Figure 6, vice presidents listed all of the core competencies at 100%, except personal credibility; two of the seven did not list in their respective responses competencies necessary to effectively serve as strategic business partners and players in organizations. In this study, HR directors viewed HR delivery as the most important competency to possess. Almost 74% cited HR delivery as a necessary competence. Only 37% of the HR directors viewed measurement as an important competence. For HR generalists, knowledge of the business was cited most frequently (49%). Compared to the literature, this finding shows a highly significant disparity for the competencies HR generalists view as being significant to effectively functioning as strategic business partners. The results show that among the HR generalists in the research sample, many of the generalists said they were lagging in their awareness or belief of the established competencies’ ability to enhance their performance as HR professionals and subsequently the performance of the HR function.
Activities HR Professionals Spend Time On and the Link with Competencies It is of critical importance to understand what activities HR professionals are spending their time on and if these activities are value added. Ulrich (1998) stated that HR cannot expand its role in an organization without the requisite expertise. Becoming a strategic partner demands a degree of knowledge about strategy, markets, and the economy. In addition, Ulrich said, “To meet the increased expectations of their organizations, HR professionals must begin to act professionally.” He emphasizes that they must focus more on the deliverables of their work and less on just getting their work done.
One of the encouraging results of the study is that even though HR directors, managers, generalists, and specialists may not report that they possess all of the competencies within one particular classification, as an HR function the core competencies are all viewed as important and as a function HR professionals possess the competencies identified by the literature to enhance firm performance.
Figure 4. Relationship Between Compensation and Ability to Manage Change.
Performance Improvement
•
Volume 45
•
Number 5
37
HR scholars have continually advised that to be effective as strategic business partners, HR professionals must be able to partner with senior executives on strategy formulation. So why aren’t more HR professionals spending more time on this critical activity? This study did not specifically address this question, but a comparison could be drawn between competencies of performing tasks where HR professionals are spending most of their time as compared to competencies of performing tasks such as strategy formulation.
Figure 5. Relationship Between Compensation and Expertise in Strategic Contribution.
Table 5. Descriptive Statistics: HR Competencies (Overall). Regardless of this profound advice and many echoing similar thoughts, HR departments in global organizations still appear to be overwhelmingly preoccupied with transactional issues, according to a survey from Price Waterhouse’s Global Human Resource Solutions. Survey respondents say that 59% of their energy is absorbed by administrative matters and only 6% is spent on strategic concerns (McShulskis, 1998). The results of this study suggest that, on average, HR professionals spend most of their time functioning as internal consultants, on staffing activities, and on implementing HR strategies. On the other spectrum, the least amount of time is spent dealing with legal issues, labor relations, and partnering with senior executives on strategy formulation. Table 6 provides a complete list of the activities where HR professional are spending their time and other investments.
38
www.ispi.org
•
MAY/JUNE 2006
The results showed that 6.5% of the sample self-reported their level of expertise on how to do strategic planning at a 5 on the scale. Given that HR professionals are viewed or would like to be viewed in such manner, it is clear that much more emphasis has to be put on developing this competency. Another 32% indicated a level 4 expertise in strategic contribution. So one possible explanation for their not spending more efforts on strategic contribution might be the lack of expertise to perform this core task in organizations.
A Pearson correlation of strategic contribution and partnering with senior executives showed a value of 0.451 establishing a relationship between these two factors. Although not an extremely strong relationship, in a practitioner world, such information proves extremely helpful in decision-making processes. The Relationships among Education, Years of HR Experience, Competencies, and Compensation In trying to determine if there were any relationships among multiple organizational issues, this research sought to determine the impact of education and HR experience on salary, the relationship between education and core HR competencies, and the relationship between HR experience and core HR competencies. The regression equation (see Figure 7) basically shows that with additional education and more years of experience in HR, one’s salary will increase. Although there is a relatively lower R-sq, the p values are highly significant. A separate
sample of nine HR professionals was taken to test this equation. Eight of the nine employees salaries came within $3,000 of the amount calculated using the equation as compared to their actual salaries. In addition, correlations were done among education, salary, and each of the respective HR competencies used as measures in this study. The results are provided in Table 7.
Figure 6. Identification of Core Competencies by Job Classification.
The regression equation is Salary = 4014 + 2880 Education + 2548 HR Experience Predictor Constant Education HR Experience S = 26010.8
Coef 4014 2880 2547.9 R-Sq = 27.5%
SE Coef 22834 1363 419.9 R-Sq(adj) = 26.1%
T 0.18 2.11 6.07
P 0.861 0.037 0.000
Figure 7. Regression Analysis: Salary versus Education, HR Experience.
Based on these correlations, the ability to deliver HR services had the most significant relationships with the ability to manage change and manage culture, the ability to effectively participate in strategic contribution, and HR technical competence. Experience positively related with compensation, knowledge of the business, ability to deliver HR services, ability to manage change, ability to effectively participate in strategic contribution, and HR technical competence. The factors that most significantly related with strategic contribution were HR technical competence, accounting skills, marketing skills, and HR metrics. The ability to effec-
Table 6. Descriptive Statistics of HR Activities (Percentage of Time Spent on Particular Activities).
Performance Improvement
•
Volume 45
•
Number 5
39
tively manage change was most closely related with strategic contribution, HR technical competence, marketing skills, HR metrics, and reading academic and practitioner journals. The factors that most significantly correlated with the ability to manage culture were staying abreast with new research and reading academic and practitioner journals.
Discussion As cited in Lawler & Mohrman (2003), articles, books, and studies have all argued that HR professionals need to become more effective strategic business partners. Given that numerous studies have shown a positive relationship between strategic HRM and firm performance, this study sought to identify the competencies that lead HR professionals to becoming effective business partners and players in organizations. In today’s global economy, HR professionals are continuously challenged to show how their function is creating value. Much emphasis is being paid on the competencies necessary to enable HR to be successful in helping create sustainable competitive advantages. Over time, many have written and spoken of the importance of HR spending time on issues that add value and less time on the transactional activities that are not very value-added. The results of this study suggest that there is still a significant amount of time being invested in the traditional transactional activities rather than the transformational HR activities that have been proven to add more value to the bottom line of the organization.
player, HR professionals and other executives of organizations have the opportunity to focus on developing the critical competencies necessary to enhance HR effectiveness and, hence, maximize shareholder value. As has been established by the International Society for Performance Improvement, one of the keys of strategic interventions is to improve performance, guide the change management process, and evaluate the results. Furthermore, the partnership in strategies between HR and human performance technology (HPT) enforces the need to emphasize outcomes that enhance organizational effectiveness, measure strategies, and ensure that employees possess the necessary competencies to improve performance at the individual, process, and organizational levels. In the end, both HR and HPT strategies are focused on adding value, and without key measurements one is quite unlikely to determine the value created. Implications for Practice Given that there is a growing need for HR and HPT professionals to provide significant input into the firm’s strategy, the core competency of being able to contribute strategically appears to be one that needs continual improvement. Ulrich (1998) reiterated that strategic contribution accounts for a significant portion of the total impact of HR on the business performance. With a self-identified expertise mean of 3.2 for strategic contribution, HR professionals in this study clearly perceive gaps here.
The results provide a reminder to HR professionals of the value of graduate degrees, professional certification through the Human Resource Certification Institute, and other means of developing higher levels of HR technical competence. Of additional importance are understanding the benefits of accounting, marketing, and other different functional areas to effectively develop and implement HR strategies. Understanding the impact of the competencies on the various organizational practices could contribute to a more directed strategy in developing expertise among HR professionals, leading to a more credible and effective function.
From the results, other business subject matters such as accounting and marketing have proven to be key contributors to strategic contribution. A high level of HR technical competence is evident in higher levels of strategic contribution. This can frequently be obtained through formal HR education, on-the-job training, or professional certification. Regardless of the source, the data show a relatively strong correlation between HR technical competence and strategic contribution. HR and HPT professionals without the relevant technical competence need to develop the appropriate expertise to ensure HR’s contribution to business success.
With a growing emphasis on HR metrics, the results of this study suggest a lack of time and expertise on this strategy. There is clearly a need for more emphasis on measuring HR’s contribution to the business strategy and the effectiveness of the respective HR strategies. The findings of this study support notions of Ramlall (2003) and Becker et al. (2001), who emphatically stated the need for metrics as a core component of the HR strategy.
Implications for Future Research
Although there are many positive results for the HR profession in general from this study, there are clearly many areas that seem to be lacking. To be a true strategic partner and
40
www.ispi.org
•
MAY/JUNE 2006
Given that this study was a cross-sectional research, it would be beneficial for HR or HPT professionals to conduct longitudinal research examining the impact on organizational practices and outcomes as competency levels change. Another major opportunity for research is an examination of the effectiveness of undergraduate and graduate HR programs across the United States in developing the competencies necessary for HR professionals to adequately contribute to a firm’s success and in their respective careers.
HR Experience
Education
Salary
Understands Bus.
Education
-0.060 0.537
Salary
0.494
0.146
0.000
Understands the Bus.
0.307 0.001
-0.063 0.518
0.327 0.001
Delivers HR
0.438 0.000
-0.081 0.402
0.238 0.013
0.404 0.000
Manages Change
0.341 0.000
-0.088 0.367
0.456 0.000
0.364 0.000
Manages Culture
0.166 0.085
-0.064 0.511
0.140 0.148
0.364 0.000
Strategic Contri.
0.302 0.001
0.056 0.563
0.437 0.000
0.241 0.012
Technical Competence
0.345 0.000
-0.099 0.308
0.090 0.354
0.069 0.480
OD Skills
-0.057 0.556
0.119 0.220
0.089 0.359
0.107 0.271
Accounting
0.247 0.010
-0.127 0.190
0.220 0.022
0.067 0.492
Marketing
0.186 0.054
0.082 0.399
0.521 0.000
0.165 0.087
Metrics
0.146 0.132
-0.039 0.686
0.132 0.172
-0.146 0.132
Stays abreast w/res
-0.131 0.178
-0.018 0.852
-0.076 0.434
-0.099 0.308
Reads journals
-0.054 0.576
0.057 0.558
0.095 0.327
0.242 0.012
Delivers HR
Manages Change
Manages Culture
Strategic Contrib.
Salary
0.494
0.146
0.000
0.133
Manages Change
0.279
0.003
Manages Culture
0.310 0.001
0.198 0.040
Strategic Contri.
0.404 0.000
0.276 0.004
0.077 0.428
Technical Competence
0.394 0.000
-0.212 0.028
0.041 0.673
0.297 0.002
OD Skills
-0.145 0.135
-0.253 0.008
-0.012 0.902
0.067 0.488
Accounting
0.300 0.002
-0.045 0.644
0.077 0.426
0.368 0.000
Marketing
0.099 0.310
0.286 0.003
0.178 0.066
0.197 0.041
Metrics
0.010 0.914
-0.271 0.005
0.036 0.711
0.219 0.023
Stays abreast w/res.
0.136 0.161
-0.291 0.002
0.334 0.000
0.157 0.106
Reads journals
0.079 0.418
0.313 0.001
0.335 0.000
0.135 0.165
0.133
Table 7. Correlations: HR Experience, Education, Salary, and Competencies.
Performance Improvement
•
Volume 45
•
Number 5
41
Technical Co
OD Skills
Accounting
Marketing
OD Skills
-0.005 0.955
Accounting
0.242 0.012
0.145 0.134
Marketing
-0.286 0.003
0.138 0.154
0.182 0.060
Metrics
0.301 0.002
0.034 0.729
0.381 0.000
0.222 0.021
Stays abreast w/res.
0.180 0.062
-0.053 0.588
0.467 0.000
0.085 0.383
Reads journals
-0.126 0.195
-0.161 0.096
0.040 0.684
0.231 0.016
Metrics - 2 Stays abreast w/res.
0.241 0.012
Reads journals
0.019 0.846
Stays abreast w/research
0.379 0.000
Cell Contents: Pearson correlation P-Value
Table 7. Correlations: HR Experience, Education, Salary, and Competencies (continued).
Conclusion It is hoped that HR and HPT professionals will be able to use the information from this research to enhance practices in organizations, to enhance firm competitiveness; it is also hoped that researchers will be able to build on this knowledge base to create additional new knowledge on HR competencies and the impact on firm performance.
References
Bracht, G., & Glass, G. (1968). The external validity of experiments. American Educational Research Journal, 5, 437-474. Brockbank, W., & Ulrich, D. (2004). Competency toolkit. University of Michigan and SHRM. Brockbank, W., Ulrich, D., & Beatty, R. (1999). Professional Development: Creating the Future Creators at the University of Michigan Business School. Human Resource Management, 38(2), 111-118.
Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17, 99-120.
Brockbank, W., Ulrich, D., & James, C. (1997). Trends in human resource competencies. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan School of Business.
Becker, B.E., & Huselid, M.A. (1998). High performance work systems and firm performance: A synthesis of research and managerial implications. Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, 16, 53-101.
Ferris, G.R., Hochwarter, W.A., Buckley, M.R., HarrellCook, G., & Frink, D.D. (1999). Human resource management: Some new directions. Journal of Management, 25(3), 385-415.
Becker, B., Huselid, M., & Ulrich, D. (2001). The HR scorecard: Linking people, strategy, and performance. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Boudreau, J., & Ramstad, P. (2003). From professional business partner to strategic talent leader: What’s next for human resource management? Ithaca, NY: Cornell Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies.
42
www.ispi.org
•
MAY/JUNE 2006
Gall, M., Borg, W., & Gall, J. (1996). Educational research (6th ed.). White Plains, NY: Longman Publishers. Giannantonio, C., & Hurley, A. (2002). Executive insights into HR practices and education. Human Resource Management Review, 12, 491-511. Lawler-III, E., & Mohrman, S. (2003). HR as a strategic partner: What does it take to make it happen? Human Resource Planning, 26(3), 15-30.
McShulskis, E. (1998). HR failing to tap the future. HR Magazine, 43(1), 21-22. Patterson, S. (2004). HR planning. Human Resource Department Management Report, 4(8), 1-14. Ramlall, S. (2003). Measuring human resource management’s effectiveness in improving performance. Human Resource Planning, 26(1), 51-63. Rothwell, W., & Wellins, R. (2004). Mapping your future: Putting new competencies to work for you. T+D, 58(5), 1-9. Ulrich, D. (1998). A new mandate for human resources (Analysis of the functions of the human resources departments in increasing productivity and profits). Harvard Business Review, 76(1), 124-135. Ulrich, D., & Beatty, D. (2001). From partners to players: Extending the HR playing field. Human Resource Management, 40(4), 293-308. Wright, P., McMahan, G., McCormick, B., & Sherman, S. (1998). Strategy, core competence, and HR involvement as determinants of HR effectiveness and refinery. Human Resource Management, 37(37), 17-31. Wright, P., McMahan, G., & McWilliams, A. (1994). Human resources and sustained competitive advantage: A resource-based perspective. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 5, 301-326.
Wright, P.M., Dunford, B., & Snell, S. (2001). Human resources and the resource-based view of the firm. Journal of Management, 27, 701-721. Wright, P.M., McMahan, G.C., Snell, S.A., & Gerhart, B. (2001). Comparing line and HR executives’ perceptions of HR effectiveness: Services, roles, and contributions. Human Resource Management, 40(2), 111. Yeung, A., Woolcock, P., & Sullivan, J. (1996). Identifying and developing competencies for the future. Human Resource Planning, 19(4), 48-58. Zikmund, W. (2003). Business research methods (7th ed.). Mason, OH: Thompson South-Western.
Sunil J. Ramlall, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Management at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. He earned his PhD from the University of Minnesota. His primary research interests include identifying and understanding HR competencies and the impact on individual and firm performance, HR metrics, linkages between HR strategy and the impact on firm performance, positive organizational behavior, employee training and development, and HR technology. Sunil may be reached at sjramlall@stthomas.edu.
Performance Improvement
•
Volume 45
•
Number 5
43