Skills and competencies needs in HR to survive in tough economic climates

As the business world gets tough – so does the working environment for HR professionals. In a recent poll () members of the institute answered questions regarding the competencies believed to be most important to establishing the effectiveness and credibility of the HR function in the organisation.

The following results were identified as the priorities for HR professionals:

This is interesting as the HR profession does not believe that leadership or Innovation are important skills/ attributes to have. The low level of integrity is also worrying.

With only17% citing “ability to deliver against targets” as important guess which function will be seen as not strategically important and when the cuts bite deep…

This is a fascinating insight to what the profession feels is important.

I for one cannot see how anyone can be strategic without understanding and being able to be innovative. Certainly the recognition that knowing and understanding business processes is important, and at last the HR profession is starting to ‘partner’ in the true sense – but at what cost to our professionalism?

Not for one minute does the author believe that HR is corrupt or uncaring – but this does show what the results can be if a poll or survey asks forced choice questions – so when designing a survey – do it carefully!

Research ©CIPD 2009