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The RBL White Paper Series

HR Talent and the New HR Competencies

DAVE ULRICH, JON YOUNGER, WAYNE BROCKBANK, AND MIKE ULRICH

This article describes partial results of the 2012

global Human Resources Competency Study

(HRCS), led by The RBL Group and the Ross

School of Business, University of Michigan. Over

the past 25 years, this ongoing research project

has provided the most global, comprehensive,

and empirical identification of the competencies

expected of HR professionals, and the impact of

these competencies on both individual HR pro-

fessional effectiveness and business performance.

HRCS findings have influenced thousands of HR

departments, from global giants to smaller organi-

zations in every continent. This article points out

a number of the key findings of the research and

identifies implications of the study findings for HR

talent planning, assessment, and development.

HR Talent and the New HR Competencies* Dave Ulrich, Jon Younger, Wayne Brockbank, and Mike Ulrich

H R creates value by increasing the performance and

agility of the talent (human capital) and culture

(organization capability) of the organization. Deliver-

ing this value defines the required skills and competencies

expected of an effective HR professional. Since 1987, we have

chronicled what it means to be an effective HR professional

through five waves of global surveys of HR competence. In

2012, The RBL Group, together with the Ross School of Busi-

ness, University of Michigan, and HR professional association

partners, completed a sixth round of the global HR Compe-

tency Study, or HRCS.

The research is important to HR professionals because it em-

pirically describes what it means to be an effective HR pro-

fessional. In short, it is a mirror that allows HR professionals

to identify strengths and necessary behavioral adjustments

where performance is not up to par. In a world of increasing

change, complexity, and competitiveness, there has never

been a greater need to help HR professionals identify what it

means to contribute more fully, effectively, and insightfully.

A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

Working with HR professional and educational organizations

in Australia, China, India, Latin America, Middle East, Turkey,

Northern Europe, and South Africa, and though our extensive

networks in North America and Central Europe, we have col-

lected data in this round of HRCS from over 20,000 individu-

als. To define potential competencies for HR professionals,

we relied on focus groups, theory, research including prior

rounds of HRCS, and experience to identify what effective HR

professionals must know and do. This work resulted in test-

ing 139 specific behavioral competency descriptions.

Highly rated HR professionals were nominated to participate

in a 360-based survey methodology by their organizations.

The individuals then filled out a self-report survey and invited

both HR and non-HR associates to make assessments. In

addition, the survey had two outcome variables: personal

effectiveness (“Compared to other HR professionals you have

known, how does this participant compare?”) and measured

business performance using an index of seven dimensions of

business success. This is the largest global, comprehensive,

and longitudinal assessment of the HR profession.

SIX FUNDAMENTAL COMPETENCY DOMAINS

The 2012 HRCS identifies six fundamental competency

domains that HR professionals must demonstrate to impact

business performance. The six competency domains are

graphically represented in figure 1 and discussed below.

1. Strategic Positioner

High-performing HR professionals think and act from the

outside-in. They are deeply knowledgeable of and translate

external business trends into internal decisions and actions.

They understand the general business conditions (e.g., social,

technological, economic, political, environmental, and demo-

graphic trends) that affect their industry and geography. They

target and serve key customers of their organization by iden-

tifying customer segments, knowing customer expectations,

and aligning organization actions to meet customer needs.

They also cocreate their organizations’ strategic responses to

business conditions and customer expectations by helping

frame and make strategic and organization choices.

Figure 1: 2012 HR Competencies

*Note: Originally written for publication in Strategic HR Review.

2. Credible Activist

Effective HR professionals are Credible Activists. Credibility

comes when HR professionals do what they promise, build

personal relationships of trust, and can be relied on to meet

commitments. Being a trusted advisor starts with deep busi-

ness knowledge and acumen. As an activist, HR professionals

have a point-of-view, not only about HR activities, but about

business demands. As activists, HR professionals learn how

to influence others in a positive way through clear, consistent,

and high-impact communications. Some call this HR with an

attitude. HR professionals who are credible but not activists are

admired but have little impact. Those who are activists but not

credible may have good ideas, but not much attention will be

given them. To be credible activists, HR professionals need to

be self-aware and committed to building their professionalism.

3. Capability Builder

An effective HR professional melds individual abilities into

an effective and strong organization by helping to define and

build critical organization capabilities. Organization is not just

structure or process; it starts with capability, which is what

the organization is good at and known for. HR professionals

should be able to audit and invest in the creation of organi-

zational capabilities. These capabilities outlast the behavior

or performance of any individual person or system. Capabili-

ties have been referred to as a company’s culture, process, or

identity. HR professionals should facilitate capability audits

to determine the identity of organizations. Such capabilities

include customer service, speed, quality, efficiency, innovation,

and collaboration. One such emerging capability of successful

organizations is to create an organization where employees

find meaning and purpose at work. HR professionals can help

line managers create meaning so that the capability of the

organization reflects the deeper values of the employees.

4. Change Champion

As change champions, HR professionals ensure that organiza-

tion actions are integrated and sustained through disciplined

change processes. Strong HR professionals make an organiza-

tion’s internal capacity for change match or lead the external

pace of change. As change champions, HR professionals help

make change happen at institutional (changing patterns),

initiative (making things happen), and individual (enabling

personal change) levels.

To make change happen at these three levels, HR profession-

als play two critical roles. First, they initiate change, which

means they build a case for why change matters, overcome

resistance to change, engage key stakeholders in the process

of change, and articulate the decisions to start change. Second,

they sustain change by institutionalizing change through

organizational resources, organization structure, communica-

tion and continual learning. As change champions, HR profes-

sionals partner to create organizations that are agile, flexible,

responsive, and make transformation happen in ways that

create sustainable value.

5. Human Resource Innovator and Integrator

Effective HR professionals innovate and integrate HR

practices into unified solutions that solve business problems.

They must know the latest insights on key HR practice areas

related to human capital (talent sourcing, talent development),

performance accountability (appraisal, rewards), organization

design (teamwork, organization development), and com-

munication. They must also be able to turn these unique HR

practice areas into integrated solutions, generally around an

organization’s leadership brand. These innovative and inte-

grated HR practices impact business results by ensuring that

HR practices maintain their focus over the long run and do

not become seduced by HR fads or irrelevant “best practices.”

6. Technology Proponent

In recent years, technology has changed the way HR people

think and do their administrative and strategic work. At a

basic level, HR professionals need to use technology to more

efficiently deliver HR administrative systems like benefits,

payroll processing, healthcare costs, and other administrative

services. In addition, HR professionals need to use technology

to keep people connected with each other. Technology plays

an increasingly important role in improving communications,

doing administrative work more efficiently, and connecting

employees to customers. An emerging technology trend is

using technology as a relationship-building tool through

social media. Leveraging social media enables the business to

position itself for future growth. HR professionals who under-

stand technology will create improved organizational identity

outside the company and improve social relationships inside

the company. As technology exponents HR professionals have

to access, advocate, analyze, and align technology for informa-

tion, efficiency, and relationships.

THE IMPACT OF HR EFFECTIVENESS

AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

Because the six domains of HR competence address external

trends, they have an impact on both the perceived effective-

ness of the HR professional and the performance of the busi-

ness supported by the HR professional. According to the study,

HR professional competence explains almost 10 percent of

business success. But the competencies that predict personal

effectiveness are slightly different than those that predict busi-

ness success, with insights on technology, HR integration, and

capability building having a greater impact on business results.

The challenge—not surprisingly—is to ensure both the HR pro-

fessional competence and the HR organizational effectiveness

required for contribution and sustained high performance.

These findings begin to capture what HR professionals need

to know and do to be effective. They are further refined in

table 1 which shows the specific factors within each of the

six competency domains and how they affect both perceived

effectiveness of HR professionals and business success. High-

performing HR organizations across regions and industries,

both small and large, appear to have the mix of HR competen-

cies identified through this research.

Table 1: HR Competency Subfactors

HR Competency Domain: Subfactors Mean

(1 to 5)

Individual Effectiveness

100%

Business Success

100%

Strategic Positioner

Interpreting global business context 3.83 4.4 4.2

Decoding customer expectations 3.83 4.4 5.2

Co-crafting a strategic agenda 3.96 6.3 4.6

Credible Activist

Earning trust through results 4.36 6.9 4.0

Influencing and relating to others 4.24 7.0 4.1

Improving through self-awareness 4.08 6.5 4.7

Shaping the HR profession 4.13 4.4 2.9

Capability Builder

Capitalizing organizational capability 4.03 5.4 5.3

Aligning strategy, culture, practices,

and behavior 3.94 5.3 6.1

Creating a meaningful work environment 3.94 4.1 5.2

Change Champion

Initiating change 3.94 5.4 4.8

Sustaining change 3.91 4.7 5.7

HR Innovator & Integrator

Optimizing human capital through

workforce planning and analytics

3.95 5.5 5.6

Developing talent 3.83 4.0 5.3

Shaping organization and

communication practices

3.94 5.8 5.6

Driving performance 3.87 4.7 5.2

Building leadership brand 3.87 4.9 5.4

Technology Proponent

Improving utility of HR operations 3.72 2.9 5.0

Connecting people through technology 3.77 4.6 6.3

Leveraging social media tools 3.68 2.7 4.7

Overall R2 .431 .108

APPLICATION TO HR TALENT MANAGEMENT

Over the 25 years that we have chronicled HR professional

competence (see also Ulrich, 1996; Ulrich and Brockbank,

2006), the HRCS findings have influenced thousands of HR de-

partments from global giants like Novartis and Intel to smaller

organizations like a community hospital system in Baltimore

and the AF Construction Group in Norway. We have learned

from and with them how to use the HRCS in building talented

HR organizations. The following steps summarize what we

have learned:

1. Build the Case for HR Talent

Good HR talent management starts with the end in mind. A

useful first step in defining what HR needs from its talent is

what the organization needs from HR. Consider three questions:

• What value is HR delivering to the business now?

• Given external trends and changes, what value must HR

deliver to the business in future?

• What is the business value of closing the gap—in opportu-

nity, performance, and risk management?

2. Adopt a Common Language/Framework of Competence

For AXA, the French insurance giant, the HRCS is a shared

framework or language of competence for HR professionalism,

one that co-exists cooperatively with the overall competency

expectations of AXA employees in general. It is the same for

McKesson in the United States, CA and Kraft’s Asia-Pacific op-

erations. General corporate competency models are helpful but

not specific enough to help HR professionals identify unique

needs for development. The HRCS fills that gap by providing

a framework that is specific to HR, rooted in research, global,

reliable across industries, and responsive to change over time.

Each round we learn that HR performance expectations—and

therefore its talent—must evolve to address new challenges.

3. Assess Competence

The HRCS research provides a useful tool for assessment and

improvement planning. For example, Applied Materials, the

hi-tech leader, used the HRCS assessment process to identify

where HR professional talent was strong, and where there was

significant opportunity to improve in strategic areas. Deutsche

Bank is a second example. Zurich Financial is a third.

4. Mind the Gap: Invest Where the Impact is Greatest

In the last round of HRCS (Ulrich, Brockbank, Johnson, Sand-

holtz, and Younger, 2007), Hess Petroleum HR professionals

identified business acumen (“business ally”) as a critical gap.

Lexis Nexus HR professionals saw culture and change stew-

ardship as a gap. The HRCS competencies define what HR tal-

ent must do well, and provide an objective basis for defining

strengths, weaknesses, and the areas where investments in

HR talent are likely to produce the greatest ROI.

5. Share Stories

Stories make competencies real by enabling HR professionals

to “try on” behavioral goals and improvement needs. Stories

of “critical incidents” are a powerful teaching tool, assisting

HR professionals to internalize the competencies and the

benefit of personal investment in development. Maersk, the

global shipping company, and the Ontario Teacher’s Pension

Plan use the HRCS competencies to build a stronger “story

line” of HR excellence in business partnership as part of its

HR transformation.

6. Monitoring and Communicating Impact

HR, like any organization, is obliged to demonstrate that its

talent investments pay off. The HRCS research provides a

framework for HR leadership teams to report on value, and

to build a shared understanding of what HR must deliver.

Companies like Molson Coors use the competency research to

help business leaders better understand the expectations they

should have for HR, and how well HR is delivering against

these expectations.

HR’S ROLE IS CRITICAL TO PERFORMANCE

We are optimistic about the present and future of HR. Over

the past 25 years, HR has earned greater visibility and influ-

ence as a business partner. And, although HR has further to

go (Boudreau, 2011), we see ample signs of progress. As this

and prior rounds of HRCS indicate there is increasing clarity

and granularity on what HR professionals and departments

must do to be seen as creating value. The 2012 HRCS research

provides specific insights on where HR is strong, where it must

improve, and the priorities for competency growth. It also im-

plicitly reinforces the message that HR plays—or should play—

a critical role in organizational performance and development.

REFERENCES

John Boudreau, Transformative HR: How Great Companies

Use Evidence Based Change for Sustainable Advantage

(Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2011).

Dave Ulrich, HR Champions (New York: Wiley, 1996).

Dave Ulrich and Wayne Brockbank, HR Value Proposition

(Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2006).

Dave Ulrich, Wayne Brockbank, Dani Johnson, Kurt Sandholtz,

and Jon Younger, HR Competency: Mastery at the Intersec-

tion of People and Business (Washington D.C.: SHRM, 2007).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank the following organizations: AHRI, IAE, 51Job,

NHRDI, ASHRM, HR Norge, and IPM as well as Pelin Ungulacir

and Professor Christine Cleemann of the Copenhagen Busi-

ness School.

About the Authors

DAVE ULRICH

Dave has consulted and done research with over half of the Fortune 200. Dave was the editor of the

Human Resource Management Journal 1990 to 1999, has served on the editorial board of four other

journals, is on the Board of Directors for Herman Miller, is a Fellow in the National Academy of Human

Resources, and is cofounder of the Michigan Human Resource Partnership

JON YOUNGER

Jon’s career has been a mix of consulting, executive management, and HR leadership. Prior to joining

The RBL Group, he was Chief Learning and Talent Officer of one of the largest U.S.-based financial

services organizations, responsible for the leadership development, corporate learning, staffing, perfor-

mance and talent management, and succession planning. He has also managed executive compensa-

tion and HR strategy.

WAYNE BROCKBANK

Dr. Brockbank is a Clinical Professor of Business at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Busi-

ness. At the Ross School of Business, Dr. Brockbank is the Director of the Center for Strategic HR Lead-

ership and the Faculty Director and Core Instructor of the Strategic Human Resource Planning Program,

the Human Resource Executive Program, and the Advanced Human Resource Executive Program.

MIKE ULRICH

Mike’s background is focused on research methods and statistical analysis. He holds both B.S. and M.S.

degrees in statistics with emphasis on business analysis. Mike has experience in a wide variety of sta-

tistical methods, including ANOVA, sample and survey design, structural equation modeling, Bayesian

hierarchical models, stochastic processes, and non-parametrics. He has worked on a variety of statisti-

cal projects from exit polling to the relationship between job performance and satisfaction.

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