Human Resource Management Review 25 (2015) 205215

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Human Resource Management Review

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/humres

HR past, present and future: A call for consistent practices and a

focus on competencies
Debra J. Cohen
Society for Human Resource Management, 1800 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, United States

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Keywords:
HR competencies
HR professionals
HR leadership

a b s t r a c t
HR's past is relatively long and humble. The present is both positive and challenging, and the
future of HR presents the profession with opportunities and even more thought-provoking
challenges. This article will briey discuss where the profession has come from and where it is
today, and focus primarily on the opportunities and choices available to those individuals who
deeply care about the profession and those who may take more notice of the profession in the
future. Among the opportunities are HR standards, HR competencies, consistent HR curriculum,
HR professional development and HR research. This article is intended as a practical, not theoretical,
discussion that will offer a set of recommendations for students, academicians, practitioners, and
HR professional associations.
2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
HR's past is relatively long and humble. The present is bright and steady, and the future of HR presents the profession with a
profound set of choices and a wide range of opportunities. This article will discuss how far the profession has come and where it is
today, and focus primarily on the opportunities for driving the profession and choices available to those individuals who deeply
care about the profession and those who will soon take more notice of it. Among the forward-thinking opportunities are HR standards,
HR competencies and credentials, consistent HR curriculum, HR professional development, and HR research. A set of recommendations for academicians, practitioners, students and HR professional associations is offered in the conclusion. The purpose of this
paper is not to offer research questions but rather to explore some of the challenges before our profession and the opportunities
for the academic community and practitioner community to work effectively together to address some of these challenges.

2. HR in the past
Ever since there have been employers and employees, skilled tradesmen and apprentices, supervisors and managers, companies
and the people who work for them, the HR function has existed. The function did not become recognized formally until the 1800s,
when welfare secretaries began to appear and took on the role of overseeing the welfare of employeesespecially women and
children (Jamrog & Overholt, 2004). However, the process of hiring, paying, disciplining and developing people has existed since
the rst person agreed to be compensated for performing a task for another person.
Personnel, as the HR eld was known at the time, has its roots in the Industrial Revolution and the era of scientic management
(Kaufman, 1999; Marciano, 1995). As organizations became larger and as the agrarian economy gave way to manufacturing,
Sincere thanks to Alex Alonso, Susan Bergman and Nancy Woolever as well as the reviewers for comments on earlier drafts.
Tel.: +1 703 535 6283.
E-mail address: deb.cohen@shrm.org.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2015.01.006
1053-4822/ 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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D.J. Cohen / Human Resource Management Review 25 (2015) 205215

employers needed to control and direct the work of employees while simultaneously protecting the welfare of workers. Unions grew
in size and stature throughout the era to the mid-1900s, but the passage of much federal legislation during the mid to late 1900s
created a diminished need for protection by unions, although unions today still play an important role in some sectors and provide
a voice for worker concerns. Consequently, the personnel function became one of administering the hiring, promotion, compensation
and development of employees.
In the past several decades, human resources, as the eld has come to be known, has metamorphosed into a profession of importance and stature. It has also become bifurcated in many ways. Overall, HR is a necessary and critical function to the success of any
organization. In some organizations, HR is seen as a strategic partner, where the most senior HR professionals are regarded and
respected in the same fashion as any one of their executive counterparts. In other organizations, HR is only considered a necessary
yet important administrative function whose role is to keep the organization running smoothly and correctly (Vosburgh, 2007).
Though HR still plays a business partner role in these organizations, it is often less strategic and less appreciated in nature. In some
organizations, HR's role as a business partner is still aspirational because not everyone views the HR function as strategic (Caldwell,
2010; Cascio, 2005).
In the past, the HR eld had little to no barriers to entry (Cohen, 2007). A degree in HR could be obtained, but it was not a requirement. Experience was often obtained on the job and often by happenstance rather than in a structured or planned way. And perhaps
because not a lot was expected from HR beyond dealing with personnel issues, the eld grew slowly and fairly predictably.
More troubling and perhaps more facilitating of the divide in the perception of HR has been the split within the ranks of HR professionals. Some HR executives see themselves as elite and differentiate themselves from other HR professionals who do not enjoy the
same status or respect. The result has been to further divide the eld and perhaps hold the entire eld back from development in the
larger business community. Ram Charan's recent article (2014) It's time to split HR is an example of the divide and represents a suggested solution that would further facilitate a setback for the HR profession. HR practitioners are not the only ones responsible for this
splitHR researchers tend to also focus more on executive ranks and larger organizations. In addition, the HR profession has become a
somewhat gender-segregated profession, with far more women within the professionperhaps as much as a 75/25 split. And as the
percentage of women in HR grew, the average salaries in HR relative to other areas declined (Kochan, 2004; Reichel, Brandl, &
Mayrhofer, 2010). But more telling is that far more men than women occupy the ranks of HR executives, with more men in the top
HR position in large corporations.
Although the HR eld has shrunk in recent years, largely due to economic conditions and uctuation in hiring and retaining
workers, the HR profession is predicted to grow over the next decade. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that HR will
be among the fastest-growing occupations and is slated to increase by 21% for specialists and 14% for managers through 2020
(U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012a,b). Accordingly, the future in terms of actual job opportunities is bright.
Yet the divided nature of the profession must be addressed if HR is to reach its true potential as a strategic business leader in
organizations. When HR is viewed positively by some senior leaders as a contributor to organizational success from a practical and
strategic perspective, yet negatively or tangentially by others, this division holds the entire profession back. Vosburgh (2007)
addressed this point when he stated that the transactional parts of HR are quite different from the transformational parts. Different
skill sets are required to deliver on these different expectations. The next sections will cover the critical aspects of education,
competencies, certication, experience, standards and research for the profession.

3. Education
The study of HR, referred to as industrial relations in the early years, dates to 1945, when Cornell University rst offered a degree
program in industrial relations (Kaufman, 1999). Other prominent schools followed in the 1950s and 1960s with degree programs
focused on industrial relations and personnel. Most of these programs have changed their name and focus to HR in the past several
decades. Today, hundreds of universities offer HR degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. An annual State of HR
Education longitudinal study, launched in 2008 by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), revealed that there are
as many as 1200-plus degree programs today (SHRM, 2012).
A series of studies in the mid-2000s by SHRM found that although universities placed a great deal of focus on HR and many
excellent HR programs existed in educational institutions nationwide, there was a distinct lack of consistency from program to
program (Cohen, 2007; SHRM, 2013). Because there are fundamental practices and regulations for stafng and compensation, the
practice of HR requires entry-level HR professionals to have a certain set of common skills and knowledge. To better align HR
education with current practice, SHRM set out to help create a baseline curriculum for the HR profession. Over a period of years
and through a series of studies involving HR academicians, HR practitioners and HR students, SHRM created a curriculum guide for
HR education. The purpose of the guide, titled SHRM Human Resource Curriculum: An Integrated Approach to HR Education, is to help
create consistency in what is included in an HR degree program while at the same time allowing for exibility and customization
by individual programs and universities. The impetus behind creating the guide was to identify and educate the next generation of
HR professionals in a way that will meet the needs of organizations today. When graduates are well prepared to enter the HR eld
and contribute to organizational success, HR is seen as an important and strategic profession.
As of January 2015, the curriculum guide has been adopted by 277 universities and 371 programs across the U.S. and abroad in
India, Turkey, Thailand, Australia, Panama, Kuwait, Malaysia, Italy, Egypt, UAE, Canada, Dominican Republic, Scotland, West Indies,
Mexico and the United Kingdom. The guide represents an excellent example of academic and professional partnership in the interest
of student development. Similar efforts are underway in the U.K. and Australia.

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Some existing HR programs easily aligned with the curriculum guidelines due to their comprehensive coverage of HR, whereas
other schools built new degree programs based on the curriculum guide and used the framework to help persuade university
curriculum bodies to approve the new program. This is good news for universities looking to offer an HR degree program: They
can point not only to the established curriculum guide but to well-regarded programs that have already aligned with the guidelines.
Moreover, students looking for degree programs in HR now have a comprehensive source to nd programs known to have a solid
focus on HR.
Because of the lack of barriers to entry into the eld in the past, the profession has attracted a wide range of skills, behaviors and
preferences, presenting a challenge for HR. One potential reason for the very few barriers is the perception of HR as a job anyone
could do. And though some HR professionals have gone through excellent HR degree programs, many have entered our profession
with little or no educational background or experience (Cohen, 2007). It was not unusual for HR professionals to state that they got
into our profession because they liked people, and some continue to believe that HR is more art than science (Vosburgh,
2007). This sentiment is a nice one, but it, by no means, qualies someone to be successful in HR. Human resources is a technical
and strategic profession that requires deep expertise, education and professional savvy. These skills and knowledge need to be
cultivated, taught and developed. Though important, obtaining a degree in HR, either undergraduate or graduate, does not
automatically prepare someone to be strategic, nor does it ensure career progression or success (Meisinger, 2007). Similarly, wanting
to be strategic does not automatically make someone able to think and act at a critical strategic level. Boxall and Burch (2007) make an
effective case:
We think higher education in HRM is important, but let's be clear that education is only one part of what makes people
effective in HR roles. It is also vital to accumulate interesting and powerful experience, a process that stretches our skills
and develops us personally. Experience increases our credibility and professional recognition, and qualies us for greater
challenges. . . . Academic qualications; practical experience and personal development should be seen as the building
blocks of a professional career. (p. 30)
As a profession, we must push the HR education agenda for a variety of reasons. Not only do organizations need to hire our
graduates and know what to look for in HR-educated students, but they also need to know what to demand of them. Only then can
HR help transform organizations through guidance from an HR perspective. Though many large organizations have deep HR functions,
the reality is that most of the world's employees are found in small- to medium-sized organizations. Presidents and CEOs of smaller
organizations need to know what to expect from HR. If your expectation is that HR will deal with compliance and do what it takes to
hire and pay employees, then that is what the function will deliver because that is the type of HR professional who is hired. But if a CEO
values HR for the culture and tone that the function can set in an organization, large or small, and for the strategic insight and foresight
it can offer, then the company is likely to hire a very different person to lead the HR function. And if different experience and
knowledge are necessary for transactional HR compared with transformational HR, then the life cycle of education and professional
development needs to account for the differences.
A curriculum guide is certainly useful for the profession, but it will by no means resolve all the issues around barriers to entry.
In fact, there are successful HR professionals today who did not begin with a degree in HR and who have honed their knowledge,
skills and abilities in other ways. Requiring and demanding an educational background and experience in HR will signal that HR
cannot be done by anyone and that credentials are necessary (Spence, 1973). The gap that currently exists between early-career
HR professionals and seasoned strategic senior HR professions must be addressed.
Barker (2010) made the point that business education is not one-size-ts-all, and most important, it should be collaborative
rather than competitive. Further, he stated that for a professional body in any given eld to function, a discrete body of knowledge
for that eld must be dened, and the eld's boundaries must be established. The boundaries for HR can be dened now (Barker,
2010), but they must continue to evolve over time and should also include competencies. There should be consensus over what formal
training, education and certications entail. Barker's point is a good oneand practical. At this juncture, the HR profession needs
practical action steps to move forward.
4. Competencies
Considerable research has gone into analyzing what knowledge, skills and behaviors are needed for HR professionals to be
successful and effective in their organizational roles. This research formally began in the late 1970s and was spearheaded by such
noted individuals as Borman, Tornow, Heneman, Burack, Pinto, Skjervheim and Wallace (Tornow, 1984). In the 1980s Ulrich began
a longitudinal study of HR competencies, which continues today (Ulrich, 1987; Ulrich, Younger, Brockbank, & Ulrich, 2012). More
recently, a SHRM initiative beginning in 2011 has created the world's largest and most comprehensive competency model for HR.
Under the guidance and expertise of industrial psychologists, following recognized and respected protocol by the Society for
Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), SHRM developed a competency model through face-to-face interaction with
more than 1200 HR professionals at all levels of practice, from entry level to executive, covering 29 cities in eight countries, capturing
participants from 33 nations. The resulting model was then validated with data collected from more than 32,000 HR professionals
from around the world. In addition, a series of criterion validation studies completed in 2014 involving a highly diverse sample of
1500 HR professionals and more than 900 matched supervisors established that prociency in these competencies is linked to
successful job performance. The SHRM HR Competency Model identies nine key competencies, along with a detailed set
of subcompetencies and prociency statements. A detailed description of this model can be found on the SHRM website at

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D.J. Cohen / Human Resource Management Review 25 (2015) 205215

Table 1
SHRM HR competency model.
Competencies
Competency domain

Denition

Competencies of interest

HR technical expertise and practice

The ability to apply the principles and practices of HRM

to contribute to the success of the business

Relationship management

The ability to manage interactions to provide service

and to support the organization

Consultation

The ability to provide guidance to organizational

stakeholders

Leadership and navigation

The ability to direct initiatives and contribute to

processes within the organization

Communication

The ability to effectively exchange with stakeholders

Global and cultural effectiveness

The ability to value and consider the perspectives

and backgrounds of all parties

Strategic Business Management

Workforce Planning and Employment
Human Resource Development
Compensation and Benets
Risk Management
HR Technology
Employee and Labor Relations
Global and International HR Capabilities
Talent Management
Change Management
Business Networking Expertise
People Management
Visibility
Advocacy
Customer Service (Internal and External)
Negotiation and Conict Management
Credibility
Community Relations
Transparency
Proactive
Responsiveness
Mentor
Inuence
Employee Engagement
Teamwork
Mutual Respect
Creativity and Innovation
Coaching
Project Management
Analytic Reasoning
Problem-solving
Flexibility
Respected Business Partner
Career Pathing/Talent Management/People
Management
Time Management
Inquisitiveness
Results and Goal-Oriented
Resource Management
Project Management
Mission Driven
Political Savvy
Succession Planning
Transformational and Functional Leadership
Change Management
Inuence
Consensus Building
Persuasion
Verbal Communication Skills
Written Communication Skills
Diplomacy
Perceptual Objectivity
Active Listening
Effective Timely Feedback
Presentation Skills
Facilitation Skills
Meeting Effectiveness
Social Technology and Social Media Savvy
Public Relations
Global Perspective
Openness to Various Perspectives
Tolerance for Ambiguity
Openness to Experience
Diversity Perspective
Adaptability
Empathy
Adaptability
Cultural Awareness and Respect

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Table 1 (continued)
Competencies
Competency domain

Denition

Competencies of interest

Critical evaluation

The ability to interpret information to make business

decisions and recommendations

Ethical practice

The ability to support and uphold the values of the

organization while mitigating risk

Business acumen

The ability to understand and apply information to

contribute to the organization's strategic plan

Measurement and Assessment Skills

Objectivity
Critical Thinking
Curiosity and Inquisitiveness
Problem Solving
Research Methodology
Decision-making
Auditing Skills
Knowledge Management
Rapport Building
Trust Building
Personal, Professional and Behavioral Integrity
Professionalism
Credibility
Personal and Professional Courage
Strategic Agility
Business Knowledge
Systems Thinking
Economic Awareness
Effective Administration
Knowledge of Finance and Accounting
Knowledge of Sales and Marketing
Knowledge of Business Operations/Logistics
Knowledge of Labor Markets
Knowledge of Technology
Knowledge of Government and Regulatory Guidelines
HR and Organizational Metrics/Analytics/Business Indicators

Adapted from: Society for Human Resource Management. (2014). SHRM elements for HR success: Competency model. Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/
HRCompetencies/Pages/default.aspx.

www.shrm.org/HRCompetencies. The research and the model provide insight into the knowledge, skills and behaviors
necessary for HR professionals to be both transactional and transformational.
Lack of HR competence is a serious issue. Recent research (Wright, Stewart, & Moore, 2012) indicated that chief human resource
ofcers (CHROs) consider this dearth the biggest reason for not meeting their CEO's objectives. Indeed, only 36% of the CHROs studied
were hired from within, indicating that the organization largely agrees with the lack of HR competence internally. The competencies
needed by HR professionals today and in the future are both specic to HR and broad relative to leadership, management and
behaviors. First and foremost, an HR professional must possess technical HR knowledge. In a sense, this is the cost of entry to the
profession. An understanding and ability to effectively practice employee and labor relations, compensation and benets, training
and development, workforce planning and employment, risk management and strategic management, as well as possessing
knowledge of HR technology, are all foundational to success in HR. HR professionals must also be able to apply the basic principles
and practices of HR to contribute to the success of their organizations. Beyond these requirements, however, an HR professional
must also be effective in ethical practice, communication, consultation, critical evaluation, global and cultural sensitivity, relationship
management, organizational leadership and navigation, and, nally, business acumen.
Identifying relevant HR leadership and behavioral competencies is a good rst step. In the long run, however, the profession must
commit to continuously assessing and developing competencies using a variety of tools and developmental activities. Table 1 shows
the detailed outline of the SHRM HR Competency Model.
Other HR competency models exist and SHRM has participated in the data collection for Ulrich's model (Ulrich et al., 2012) as well
as in the development of other models, such as Lawson and Limbrick (1996) and Schoonover (2003). Although these models and
discussions have added greatly to our knowledge in the eld, nothing has been as comprehensive as the current undertaking.
In the past, it made sense to look at various segments of HR (e.g., senior and executive). However, it has become increasingly clear
that if the HR profession is to continue its ascent to be taken more seriously, the entire professionfrom education to entry level to
executive levelneeds to have a robust map, tools and assessments to help guide the development of critical skills and critical
thinkers. A well-founded competency model developed by the profession and validated in organizations provides deep opportunities
and a great place to start for those who are entering the profession or those who are currently in the profession and seeking to enhance
their capability and reception in the business community. If the sentiment expressed by CHROs in the recent Wright et al. (2012)
research is correct, then our efforts to date have not been sufcient in training and preparing future professionals. Those individuals
dedicated to the profession have an obligation to improve, not just promote, the skills, abilities and expertise of HR professionals.
5. Certication
Most of the behavioral and leadership competencies identied in the SHRM HR Competency Model, or any competency model,
need to be developed over time with practical experience and continuous professional development. But the foundational knowledge

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required to simply enter the profession can and should be gleaned through study and practice of HR. With the requisite years of
experience, HR professionals can qualify for and take a variety of certication exams to add credentials to their name beyond any
degrees they may possess. Building on its validated HR Competency model, SHRM developed and launched two new certications
(SHRM-CP, Certied Professional and SHRM-SCP, Senior Certied Professional) in early 2015 (http://certication.shrm.org/).
Other associations, such as WorldatWork (www.worldatwork.org) and the Association for Talent Development (ATD; https://
www.td.org/) formerly the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD, www.astd.org) offer more specic certications
in compensation, benets, training and development. The profession has seen a proliferation of certication programs in recent decades, both helping and hindering the eld of HR (Aguinis & Lengnick-Hall, 2012).
Certication credentials are valuable to any HR professional; however, historically they have not guaranteed that someone
possessing a certication will be strategic or competent. On the other hand, recertication does guarantee that the HR professional
is pursuing continuous learning and professional development in the function. As a result, holding additional credentials can be
extremely important because it focuses the credential holder on continuous learning and development. Regardless, the profession
needs to build assessments that will signal and assure that any given HR professional is competent. The HR profession needs these
assessments at all levels, beginning with the entry-level HR professional. SHRM's HR Competency Model, upon which the two new
SHRM Certications will be based, is designed to provide a roadmap for HR professionals to help develop their knowledge, skills
and abilities to help performance on the job.
Given that most of these certications require a certain amount of experience, in 2011 SHRM launched a newly created Assurance
of Learning (AoL, http://www.shrm.org/external/assuranceoearning/index.html) assessment exam for graduate and undergraduate
students who have little or no experience and are within a year of graduation (either before or after). This exam was created using
intense psychometric techniques under the direction of a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), with input from academicians, industrial psychologists, HR practitioners and representatives from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The
SHRM Assurance of Learning Assessment exam was developed to assist organizations and hiring managers in HR to look for entrylevel HR professionals who possess the fundamental HR knowledge, grounded in business. Passing the exam is seen as a critical hurdle
to jump to gain entry to the eld. Further, the exam assists universities that are AACSB-accredited, or those that wish to follow the
standards established by AACSB, by helping the university show that its degree program teaches what it states it will teach its
students. Finally, the AoL Assessment exam assists students by giving them a competitive advantage and additional achievement to
complement their degree, showing potential employers they possess the minimum knowledge required to enter the eld.
The AoL Assessment exam is not a certication, though it will serve as a signal to potential employers to help students obtain entrylevel jobs in HR, and it will help prepare them to take future certication exams when they become eligible (Spence, 1973). And AoL is
just a starting point for those entering the eld of HR; tests of knowledge and certications are important, but the profession needs assessments that will show competency in HR as individuals progress in their careers. Research needs to be conducted to show how competence can be demonstrated beyond basic certications (Aguinis & Lengnick-Hall, 2012). SHRM is not the only HR professional
association in the world to emphasize these fundamental issues. Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) and Chartered Institute
of Personnel and Development (CIPD) are examples of associations that are also focused on helping HR professionals develop and prepare for careers in HR. And though AoL may be one way to demonstrate the knowledge needed upon entry, internships and other relevant activities may also be used as a positive signal to potential employers. However, continuous exposure to new experiences and
developmental activities must also be part of one's career path to remain current and to continue to add value to an organization.
6. Experience
Having the requisite knowledge and credentials is important yet still not sufcient for success in HR. The SHRM HR Competency
Model and a discussion with any CHRO will quickly reveal that there is a dramatic difference in the practice of HR between entry and
mid-level HR professionals and senior or executive HR professionals. The focus groups conducted to create the SHRM Competency
Model bear this out as well. The question becomes: How do HR professionals gain the experience and competencies needed in the
correct mix of emphasis to add strategic value to an organization? All nine competencies (listed in Table 1) are needed to be successful
at any level but upon entry; the mix is more heavily weighted toward HR technical skills, communication, ethics and relationship
management. As one evolves in his or her professional role, one needs to develop and hone these skills and increasingly add consultation, critical evaluation, global and cultural effectiveness, organizational leadership and navigation, and, most importantly, business
acumen. These competencies may be the difference between being transactional and being transformational. See Fig. 1 for an example
of the behaviors and prociencies needed to be successful at each level within an HR career for the Critical Evaluation competency.
This list demonstrates the progression and successive skill development that is necessary.
The challenge in our divided profession is in helping HR professionals successfully close the gap from operating at the entry, mid
and even senior level over to the executive and strategic level. Note that levels do not necessarily equate to titles or years of
experience but rather to levels of prociency and competency in terms of strategic value to an organization. As Fig. 1 shows, one
must master a clear progression and building of prociencies to be increasingly successful and impactful in his or her career. One
challenge today is that a title may obscure actual prociency for a given competency. For example, a vice president of HR who
heads the function in a small- or mid-sized organization may have different responsibilities, background and experience than a
vice president of HR in a large organization or business unit of a large organization.
The future of HR presents the profession with a variety of choices in this regard. On the one hand, the HR profession can choose to
continue as it has beena credible profession with a wide range of practitioners working hard to ensure organizational success and a
healthy working environment. On the other hand, the profession can choose to continue to transform itself at a greater and more

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211

Critical Evaluationskill in interpreting information (e.g., data, metrics, literature) to

determine return on investment (ROI) and organizational impact in making business decisions
and/or recommendations.
Sample Behaviors:
Makes sound decisions based on evaluation of available information.
Assesses the impact of changes to law on organizational human resource management
functions.
Transfers knowledge and best practices from one situation to the next.
Applies critical thinking to information received from organizational stakeholders and
evaluates what can be used for organizational success.
Proficiency Statements:

Entry Level

Gathers facts and analyzes data using systematic

methods (e.g., surveys, focus groups, etc.)
Develops knowledge in the use of data, evidencebased research, benchmarks, HR and business
metrics to facilitate decision-making
Reports on data and key metrics

Mid Level

Maintains working knowledge of measurement

concepts, data collection and analysis
Maintains working knowledge of statistics and
metrics
Asks critical questions to prepare and interpret data
studies/metrics

Senior Level

Creates and/or dissects organizational issues,

changes or opportunities
Maintains advanced knowledge in the use of data,
evidence-based research, benchmarks, HR and
business metrics to make critical decisions
Maintains advanced knowledge of statistics and
metrics

Executive Level

Maintains expert knowledge in the use of data,

evidence-based research, benchmarks, HR and
business metrics to make critical decisions
Maintains expert knowledge and ability to interpret
data and make recommendations
Makes decisions with confidence based on analysis
of available information to drive business success

Adapted from Society for Human Resource Management. (2014). SHRM elements for HR
success: Competency model. Retrieved from
http://www.shrm.org/HRCompetencies/Pages/default.aspx. For a full listing of the behaviors
and proficiency statements for each level, please see www.shrm.org/HRCompetencies.
Fig. 1. Critical evaluationskill in interpreting information (e.g., data, metrics, literature) to determine return on investment (ROI) and organizational impact in making
business decisions and/or recommendations.

meaningful pace to effect strategic growth, value and importance for organizations. To accomplish this transformation, HR professionals
need experience that will help them develop these skills. Some have chosen to leave HR for a time and take an operational role, whereas
others seek training in key areas such as nance or marketingoutside of traditional HR education (Wright et al., 2012). Participation in
cross-functional taskforces also helps HR professionals understand their business on a more granular level. The bottom line is that
focusing experience and exposure primarily on HR may not allow broader leadership, management and business acumen to develop
to the degree necessary to operate at an executive level. Understanding and developing the competencies that have been rigorously identied in the past several years for HR professionals at all levels will further evolve the HR profession to be poised for the next decades.

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The ability to obtain necessary experience is sometimes limited and perpetuated by the bifurcated nature of the profession itself.
When HR professionals reach a higher level, they often no longer wish to associate with HR professionals at lower levels of an
organization, whom they see as smaller or too different from themselves.1 And though these actions are understandable in terms
of an individual's professional development, they are, perhaps, detrimental to the eld. Without exposure to and interaction with
more experienced professionals, breaking through to another level is extremely difcult. This area is where HR may want to take a
lesson from other professions.
For example, when a student graduates with a degree in accounting and goes to work in an entry-level accounting job, that
individual has the potential to become a CFO. The difference is that in HR, the entry-level professional, who also has the potential
to become a CHRO, may not be viewed as having this potential or be afforded the same developmental opportunities. Most CFOs
are on the lookout for and attempt to develop the next cadre of CFOs. HR professionals sometimes forget their humble
beginnings and join elite groupsto the exclusion of the other networking outletsleaving little opportunity for other HR
professionals to glean experience from others (Wright et al., 2012). As a profession, we need to create the expectation that
we are continually building our profession and the people within the profession to be leaders and drivers of organizational
success. With that expectation for the people in our profession should also be the development of expectations and standards
for the function itself.
7. Standards
The journal you are reading is published under a certain set of standards, as was the toothbrush and toothpaste you used this
morning and the car you drove or rode in to get to your ofce today. Although these standards allow for consistency in a particular
industry, they do not stie uniqueness or innovation. Other professions, such as accounting, have generally accepted practices that
provide a set of common and agreed to minimum standards that helps practitioners in their day-to-day practice. HR has historically
had no such standards. The HR eld has regulations that govern certain practices, but make no mistake: Compliance is not the same as
a standard. Today, we are seeing a changeHR standards are now being formulated for HR.
In 2011, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) voted to create Technical Committee 260 (TC260), which
will be a set of standards covering global HR practices. At the outset, about 10 countries joined the Technical Committee as
participants, with another 20 as observers. Today there are 232 participating countries with another 18 observing countries
(see http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/open/tc260). The creation of TC260 is a major milestone for the HR profession. In
2009, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) designated SHRM as an accredited Standards Developing Organization
(SDO) to guide the creation of standards for HR in the U.S. This designation makes SHRM the exclusive U.S. developer of HR
standards and allowed SHRM to work with ANSI to spearhead the application to ISO for the creation of a Technical Committee.
The approval from ISO gives the U.S. oversight for the formation of international HR standards. Creating standards for HR is an
incredible turning point for the profession and offers a pivotal opportunity for HR in the business community and in the world.
As you read this article, standard-setting bodies and HR professionals in countries around the world are developing HR
standards for adoption in their country and consideration by the HR Technical Committee. For example, France is actively
promoting a standard on Human Governance that relates to HR representation on corporate boards.
Although SHRM has taken the lead as the convening body to establish standards in the U.S. and participates internationally,
it is essential that HR professionals, academicians, business professionals and representatives from a wide range of organizations
participate in the formation of standards. As the convening body Nationally, SHRM does not dictate the standards. The taskforce or
consensus bodies, made up of subject matter experts who volunteer their time and expertise, write the standards, which are then
put out for public review and comment, often going through multiple rounds of public review. All standards created under ANSI
and ISO by approved SDOs must follow a rigorous protocol that involves input and consensus from multiple stakeholder groups.
Standards are a set of voluntary criteria, guidelines and best practices used to enhance quality, performance, reliability and consistency
of products, services and, most importantly, processes of the profession. See Hays-Thomas and Bendick (in press) for a recent and
relevant example.
The rst HR standards have already been approved and are available to the public.3 Creating standards is an arduous and lengthy
process. It requires a signicant investment for each standard. It will be many years before all the necessary standards are created, and
existing standards must be periodically reviewed and updated. Membership in SHRM or other HR professional associations is not a
prerequisite to be involved in the creation of standards either domestically or internationally. Creation of standards has sparked a
healthy debate in the HR practitioner community, with some believing it is critical to the transformation of the profession and others
believing that it is dangerous. The impetus for the latter sentiment is unclear, but the debate will surely result in better standards and
more careful attention by practitioners.
Ultimately, just like schools and programs are accredited through various accrediting bodies, we may want to consider
accrediting HR departments. Fearing and avoiding standards may be the preference of some in our profession, but efforts
underway around the globe suggest that burying one's head in the sand will only result in a lack of say about what HR standards
look like rather than halting the effort all together. Before something like accreditation for HR departments is even considered,
1

This statement is based on interview and focus group research with senior HR executives conducted by the author during 2011.
Participants: Australia, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan,
Portugal, Russian Federation GOST R, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovenia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States.
3
See http://www.shrm.org/HRStandards/PublishedStandards/Pages/default.aspx.
2

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we need useful standards, such as cost-per-hire,4 that will help organizations and HR professionals on a daily basis. What standards do
you think the HR profession needs?5
8. Compliance and regulation
HR has its roots in a time when there was a need to be more organized about who did what, how they did it and what it meant to
the organization. HR owes a lot of its growth to a time when there was a need for economies of scale as far as more workers entering
the workforce and more organizations opening their doors. It was also a time of accelerated compliance requirements. Just as the
industrial society has given way to the knowledge economy, HR has evolved into a key aspect of the economy. Part of this historical
evolution is grounded in legislation that places a sometimes signicant layer of regulations on the HR function.
Compliance is here to stay. How organizations and HR professionals choose to deal with this requirement may seal their fate in
terms of strategy, culture and, ultimately, their success. Federal, state and local laws must be followed both in the U.S. and abroad.
There is no choice on this dimension. However, there is a choice on whether legal compliance is at the forefront of your approach
as an HR professional or viewed as a necessary foundation that operates in the background but does not impede your strategy and
progress. Compliance is necessary and valuable in many ways. It establishes an even playing eld for organizations, protects workers
and organizations alike, and ensures order rather than chaos. Compliance does not prevent an organization from being creative,
innovative, strategic or forward-thinking.
Some HR professionals seem to be driven by compliance. HR professionals who are mired in a compliance approach may do
themselves and their organizations a disservice. Organization leaders who view HR professionals primarily as compliance ofcers
rather than as strategic business partners may also do their organizations a disservice and end up labeling their HR professionals in
a narrow way that limits their contribution and creates a culture that is, perhaps, more stied than it needs to be. HR standards
offer a way forward that helps prepare an organization for effective practice but does so outside the connes of compliance.
9. Research
Quality HR research has been published in top journals for decades. Much of this research appears in general management
journals, psychology journals and other related business journals. Very few journals focused exclusively on HR (like Human Resource
Management Review or Human Resource Management) exist. The challenge of limited outlets for HR research is but one concern for the
amount and type of research that we produce for our profession. As Deadrick and Gibson (2009) pointed out, there is a tremendous
gap in what we produce for our eld compared with what the eld covers and compared with what practitioners are concerned about.
Moreover, a perusal of journal articles and volumes of compiled HR research reveals that much of this research, though interesting and
well thought out, does not actually cover many of the nuts-and-bolts issues of HR, nor does it cover the issues in a way that is relevant
to practitioners (Lawler, 2012). Recently, Kaufman (2012) gave researchers a failing grade for their research on strategic HRM in the
United States. Whether you agree or disagree with Kaufman's assessment, it is clear that there is disagreement over the usefulness and
effectiveness of a large portion of research over the past 30 years.
Academicians are the ones who drive their own research agendas. Topics and studies are likely to be clustered around issues that
are of popular interest and for which data are easy to obtain (perhaps due, in part, to the publish or perish mentality that may exist in
some universities). As a result, we see a heavy concentration of studies conducted in the lab or with university students and are in
areas like stafng and compensation. Yet even within compensation, it is typical to nd quite a few studies on executive compensation
rather than on all aspects of compensation. Moreover, topics like employee benets, which are not viewed as hot or as stimulating,
often receive little to no attention from HR academics. In a sense, there may be elitism to the topics researched, thereby perpetuating
the gap. HR academics have a critical role in the future of the profession, just as HR executives do. Not only do academics help prepare
the future ranks of HR professionals; they also broadly inuence business executives through business education. More importantly,
their research canand shouldinuence practice. Yet if only select issues or topics are robustly studied, this inuence will not occur
or will obscure areas that are important and useful.
Just as HR executives need to be more embracing of all HR professionals, HR academics must be embracing of the eld of HR and all
its participants. And HR practitioners must attempt to understand and embrace research (Rynes, Gulik, & Brown, 2007; Saari, 2007).
We need more top HR-focused journals, and we need a wider and more consistent range of research for our eld. Barring this, we need
a commitment from research-active faculty that after receiving tenure or the rank of full professor, they turn their attention to
research that can help practitioners in their career rather than just the practice of HR. For decades there has been a discussion
of how academic research and researchers can be more relevant to HR practiceyet much progress still needs to be made (Rynes
et al., 2007). A great many factors are relevant to this discussion. The view expressed here may seem simplistic, but although decades
of knowing the problem exists may have moved us closer to understanding the problem, it has not yet solved it.
10. Conclusion and recommendations
When a profession is dened as having specic characteristics such as a code of ethics, a service orientation, a body of competency
and knowledge (BoCK), credentials by testing the BoCK, the backing of a professional society, educational requirements and
4
5

See http://www.shrm.org/HRStandards/PublishedStandards/Pages/ANSISHRM060012012,Cost-per-Hire.aspx.
Feel free to send any ideas or suggestions directly to the author, or visit the SHRM website to direct your suggestions.

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D.J. Cohen / Human Resource Management Review 25 (2015) 205215

Table 2
Recommendations.
Students

Faculty/academia

HR practitioners

Professional associations

Complete a well-rounded curriculum in HR and business.

Get experience: Take at least one, if not more, internships in HR
Demonstrate mastery of learning in HR and the ability to apply the knowledge
Follow a path of continuous learning
Begin career planning early to ensure obtaining the best experience to ascend to the desired position
Stay connected with professors and network with other HR professionals
Get involved in the creation of HR standards for the profession
Provide a well-rounded curriculum in HR
Collectively research all aspects of HRnot just what is topical at the moment or of personal interest
Interface with HR practitioners at all levels as often as possible; avoid the temptation to interact with only executives
Actively lobby for additional HR journals and work to ensure that HR journals become recognized as top-tier journals
Do more research about the HR profession, not just about HR practices and activities
Get involved in the creation of HR standards for the profession
Demand well-trained, entry-level HR professionals
Consume HR research, and drive demand for additional HR research in areas that will inuence practice
Invest in self-assessment of (your) HR and business capabilities on a regular basis
Seek continuing professional development on a regular basis
Get involved in the creation of HR standards for the profession
Challenge yourself to challenge the status quo in organizations that do not fully embrace the strategic value of HR
Actively work to bring the profession together and support all levels of HR development
Focus on succession planning in HR so that HR leaders are developed and promoted from within, especially at the CHRO level
Become mentors and role models for both entry-level professionals and for those who may have more limited experience
Demonstrate and prove your competency by becoming certied
Actively engage with other professionals, and support the profession by joining HR professional societies (e.g., World@Work,
ASTD, CIPD, AHRI, SHRM)
Drive the creation of professional HR standards domestically and worldwide
Facilitate continuous professional development in general and specically in HR
Help bridge the gap between academic research production and practitioner consumption
Actively work to bring the profession together rather than to facilitate elitist segments that may drive the profession apart
Develop tools to benet the profession and HR professionals
Advance and advocate for the HR profession
Build, support and continuously develop rigorous competency-based certications
Protect and preserve the HR professional in a mission-driven way

continuing professional development (Ferguson & Ramsay, 2010; Patrick, 1968), then HR is a profession. It requires specialized
knowledge, academic preparation and practical experience. HR has evolved and has many ne attributes as a profession. And to
some degree, HR has created the view of itself that there are those who are in and those who are not. This notion is true in research
and in practice. As a profession, we will have a self-perpetuating problem if we do not arm ourselves with a holistic view of an HR
career and the life-long path of entry-level to CHRO. Just as not every business or nance major achieves the position of president
of a company or CFO, not everyone who studies HR will be the top HR person of a company. But for HR professionals to have the
opportunity to do so and to drive organizational success, we must, as a profession, choose to build our profession and the talent in
our profession in a thoughtful and systematic way. We must expand our knowledge and experience beyond where it is today and
it must be competency based. In the past, critics of HR both from within the eld and from the outside have suggested that greater
measurement, more focus on strategy and the development of future HR professionals will facilitate the development of the eld.
All of this is good advice for the evolution of the profession. In addition, we need to take a critical look at how we act as HR
professionals, HR academicians and HR professional associations. Table 2 offers a set of recommendations based on the discussion
in this article.
As a profession, we have come a long way from welfare secretaries. HR is a known factor in the success of many organizations.
Yet this reputation as the driver of success is not consistently embraced among business professionals and employees. Some argue for
separating the transactional aspects of HR from the transformational aspects of HR (Charan, 2014). This idea has been met with a
restorm of resistance from many seasoned HR executives (see discussion: http://hbr.org/2014/07/its-time-to-split-hr).
Nevertheless, each of these aspects of the profession is necessary for organizational success. And the HR professionals who
perform the transactional and transformational tasks must have a common set of knowledge, skills and abilities (competencies)
for operating in a competent way. The future of HR will be brighter and its role more effective when students, professionals,
academicians and HR associations work together to chart a consistent pathway forward.

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