By Philip Wilson, CHRE
The theme of this year's HRPA Annual Conference & Trade Show is the "Business of HR" – how human resources is evolving from the back room to the boardroom, from tactics to strategy and taking ownership of the business and its outcomes.
Let's unpack this, and examine it through a historical lens.
Not long ago, I came across an old plaque from the old Personnel Association of Toronto (PAT) – the forerunner of today’s Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA).
It was dated Jan. 19, 1976, and was presented by the PAT directors to the staff for their efforts to improve members’ “competence in the field of personnel and industrial relations.” While HRPA’s mandate remains the same, the profession has advanced dramatically since then – and we have come a long way from the days of the “personnel department,” managing things like payroll or vacation requests, and reporting into finance and accounting.
I began my own career in the early ‘80s, working as a recruiter in the personnel department for CAE Electronics in Montreal, and that role probably hasn’t changed that much as the quest for top talent has always been a core HR function. Although the recruiter role has changed to a more strategic talent management role, utilizing social media tools to attract the best and the brightest professionals, it is still fundamentally the same as when I commenced my career.
But what we do with that talent – hiring, training, employee development, leadership, rewarding and recognition, coaching and engagement – has evolved into an HR function that’s so crucial to organizations today.
Today, the chief human resources officer (CHRO) works directly with the CEO and the senior leadership team, providing guidance on business strategies, talent management, change management, leadership development and cultural transformation – delivering competitive advantage, business sustainability and, ultimately, profits and leadership in the communities within which we operate.
And that is the business of HR.
New competency framework
HRPA’s new competency framework that was released late last year is helping to give shape to this new professionalization of the HR profession.
Developed over 18 months in co-operation with leading HR academics, HR professionals at all levels and senior business leaders, the new framework is a completely modernized snapshot of HR practice in the 21st century.
The framework defines 213 functional competencies and 15 enabling competencies (things like business acumen, critical thinking, negotiation, project management, employment law) at each of three levels of HR practice – entry, professional and executive. This granularity is essential for the creation of assessment tools and the development of prep programs, education courses and curricula.
And most importantly, it’s a competency-based certification framework that not only tests an updated body of HR knowledge, but the ability to apply that knowledge – similar to other Tier 1 professions including law, medicine or engineering.
It’s a framework that places a great deal of importance on the rigor of the certification process, which befits the seriousness of present-day HR practice. The more complex the work of a profession, the higher the level of competence required; and the greater the consequences of incompetence, the more thorough the certification process must be. The protection of the public is enabled by requiring HR professionals to meet and exceed those standards. Indeed, this is a very exciting time and I am most excited about the evolving roles and the future human resources professionals.
Phil Wilson, CHRE is chair of the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA).