Calypso Consulting

A key concern of HR directors in China is how to develop HR staff competencies.  That is, how does our relatively young and inexperienced HR workforce develop the skills and behaviors that they need to help drive business strategy and achieve business goals?  Every company will have its specific needs.  However, there are a few universal competencies that all HR employees require. 
 
Core HR Competencies
 
There are hundreds of competencies a firm might identify that are important for their employees to demonstrate.  In terms of HR, there are a few that one might consider universal.  These include customer service orientation, flexibility, business acumen, initiative and organizational sensitivity.  Of course there are others and they will be noted below.  But the focus of this article is to describe these universal five.
 
Customer Service Orientation. Perhaps the most important competency for HR is customer service orientation.  While an employee may have rich work experience and a degree from a great university, the ability to serve customers well will distinguish the superior performers from the average performers.  The range of competency level can be the demonstration of the simple ability to follow up on custmer questions, desires and complaints to a more senior level where the employee actually takes their cusomter’s side versus the HR department’s when the percieved long-term benefit of doing otherwise would be harmful to the company and the department.
 
Flexibility. A second competency that all HR employees must display is flexibility.  This can be demonstrated at the lowest levels as a willingness to change ideas and perceptions and at the highest levels by adapting one’s own strategy to meet client needs.
 
Business Acumen.  Another HR competency required in most firms in China is business acumen.  That is, the employee needs an understanding of basic business in general and the specific business of the firm.  This latter understanding is for the senior-most HR people in the firm and includes their ability to contribute to the strategic direction and goals of the firm.
 
Initiative. A fourth competency that is always needed in its HR employees is initiative.  Here the employee will take early action.  They do things proactively when in the best interest of the firm’s higher goals.  The most basic level of this competency is when you take steps to overcome obstacles or rejections and do not give up easily when things are not going smoothly.  The highest levels of initiative is demonstrated when the employee acts and creates opportunities that might not be felt for several years.
 
Organizational Sensitivity.  Another key competency for HR employees is organizational sensitivity.  In this case, the employee knows how to get things done within the organization’s current landscape.  Here the employee understands the various relationships of other individuals and departments withing the organization and uses that understanding to get things done.  In its most basic form, this competency involves the use of the formal structure and chain of command to get things done.  In a more sophisticated state, the employee can figure out how problems (employee retention) or opportunities (growing the staff) can be long-term issues for the firm and need to be addressed soon.
 
Other Possible Core Competencies for HR
 
While I believe the above listed five competencies should be a part of every company’s HR department in China, there are also several others to consider.  These include self-confidence (a belief in your own ability to accomplish a task); analytical thinking, (the competency to break a problem situation into smaller parts and organizing them into a solution); information seeking (going beyond the obvious to seek out more about matters or people’s issues); and achievement motivation (regularly raising the bar for your own achievements).   Achievement motivation should not be confused with competitiveness, which is a destructive trait and is related to winning at someone else’s expense rather than simply winning by improving your own performance. 
 
At the senior HR levels there are other unique competencities that you might consider.  These include self-awareness, listening skills, directiveness, developing others, team leadership, concern for talent development, resourcefulness, change leadership and organizational alignment.
 
Developing core HR competencies will continue to be an important part of the HR department’s objectives as the workforce in China continues to grow and mature.  Every two or three years you should examine the competencies you have been looking for to determine if your list is as relevant as when you developed it.
 
A Tip for Identifying Your HR Department’s Core Competencies
 
Every company has its own unique HR competencies.  A great way to identify your company’s most important HR capabilities is with behavioral event interviews.  This is a special interviewing technique that seeks out information about an individual’s real life behaviors rather than his or her results (achievements, education, work experience, etc.).  To conduct these interviews, identify someone inside or outside the firm who is skillful with this technique and have them conduct behavioral event interviews with two groups of HR employee: (1) those that have been rated as superior performers; and (2) those that have been rated as average or below.  Do not tell the employees why they were selected but rather that they were chosen to help the interviewer better understand the workings of the company and the HR department.  Then ask the interviewer to identify what unique competencies are found in the superior performers that are not found amongst the average and below average performers.  These distinguishing skills, behaviors and traits become your core HR competencies.