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Weekly UpdatesIn 2004, the U.S.-based International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR) and the China-based Training Center of State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs (TC-SAFEA) established a collaborative competency certification training program. The participants are Chinese professionals who are looking to keep abreast of HR professionals in the Western world as they attempt to become world-class HR leaders, change agents, and HR experts. The IPMA-HR/TC-SAFEA program is the first large-scale foreign initiative of its kind in China.
This article first reviews HR competency studies in the United States and in China. It then examines the IPMA-HR/TC-SAFEA program and its development in China. The article concludes by noting that HR competency is emerging as a field of study in China and that the introduction of the IPMA-HR competency model has done much to enhance the awareness of the importance of the competency development and to assist Chinese organizations in establishing their own scientifically sound and practical HR competency models.
Major HRD Competency Studies in the USA
The IPMA-HR/TC-SAFEA program is a human resources development (HRD) program that contributes not only to initiating academic HRD profession, but also to the development of HRD ideas via the construction of competency profiles and competency models in contemporary organizations in business, industry, and civil service agencies.
Competency and competency development are integral to HRD. The two significant behavioral components of HRD are performance and learning. (1) Competency comprises the specification of knowledge and skills, and the application of knowledge and skills to the standard of performance required to complete a task. (2) Competency can be acquired through training and learning, as well as through experience. Behavioral, functional, and humanistic/holistic educational philosophies have served as theoretical frameworks for the design of competency-based training programs. (3)
When searching for the origin of competency, researchers generally cite McClelland's "Testing for Competence Rather Than for Intelligence," which appeared in American Psychologist in 1973. (4) McClelland's concept of competency has been the key driver of the competency movement and competency-based education. Since 1973, there have been a number of competency studies published in the HR literature. Some of the major studies from the United States are reviewed below.
In 1978, Pinto and Walker (5) conducted a study of professional training and development roles and competencies. The purpose of their study was twofold. The first purpose was to define the basic skills, knowledge, understanding, and other attributes required by professionals for the effective performance of training and development activities. The second purpose was to provide a listing of activities that could be grouped so a model and set of competencies for training and development (T&D) professionals could be created.
The researchers sent questionnaires to American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) members in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and other countries. From 2,855 returned questionnaires, 14 activities were identified, and a model that described the primary areas of T&D professionals was extrapolated from the data. (6)
In 1983, McLagan published Models for Excellence, in which she examined the current and future directions of T&D. (7) McLagan focused on how T&D was related to and different from other HR specialty areas, and what knowledge and skills enabled people to work in the field. In 1996, when training was no longer seen as sufficient to solve all human performance problems in organizations, Rothwell (1996) wrote ASTD Models for Human Performance Improvement, in which he identified new roles, competencies and outputs for HRD efforts, and laid the foundation for future practice in human performance improvement. (8)
In 1999, Rothwell, Sanders and Soper reinvented the field by broadening the research focus from HRD to workplace learning and performance, or WLP. (9) The research that led to the formulation of WLP was the most comprehensive HRD competency study up to that time. Rothwell (1999), particularly, emphasized the importance of understanding workplace learners, noting that competence is a function of what teachers, trainers and supervisors know about learners and employees. (10) This point is the essence of adult learning and adult education; how much the HRD or WLP professional knows about the learners he or she is working with goes a long way toward determining performance results. Therefore, research in adult learning theory indicates that understanding people is the key to remaining competitive both inside and outside organizational settings.
There are other points of view on competency. In 1995, the Society for Human Resource Management conducted research to explore the relative compensation of various HR specialties and in different working environments and developed its HR Competency Tools in 2000. (11) HR Competency Tools is a toolkit for performance development, providing information on key HR competencies to guide the practitioner in assessing and developing competencies in others.
The U.S. Department of Energy created a Human Resource Excellence training module designed for self-paced study for employees who are high school graduates. Weaver and Coker published the Diversity Practitioner Competency Model in 2000, which focuses on workplace diversity competencies. In addition, Schoonover published the Human Resource Competencies for the New Century, a study of emerging trends in human resources and new competency criteria. (12)
In 2004, ASTD published its ASTD 2004 Competency Study: Mapping the Future, which provides a framework for the competencies that learning professionals need today and will need in the future while identifying eight trends. (13) McLagan praised the work, saying she believed that "the study provides insights and language that shines a new light on the direction that self-creation can and must go." (14)
Ulrich and his associates have been working on the Human Resource Competency Study (HRCS) since 1987. According to one report, the HRCS has created a huge database of HR competencies and trends based on data and feedback from more than 30,000 HR professionals in hundreds of companies. (15)
In 2007, Ulrich and his team released an all-new 2007 HRCS report. According to Grossman, (16) the latest HRCS findings and interpretations have reflected the continuing evolution of the HR profession and established professional guidance for HR professionals for at least the next few years. The 2007 HRCS study highlights six core competencies that HR professionals should perform in their jobs. The core competencies were identified by examining more than 400 companies, according to Grossman.
In addition, the Human Resources Competency Model created by the IPMA-HR has received significant attention in the literature. The association's model refocuses performance on what it takes to succeed in today's marketplace. A complete training program--Developing Competencies for HR Success--is available to help HR professionals serve their organizations as business partners, change agents and HR leaders. (17)
HR Competency Studies in China
Competency method--the Chinese translation of competency training--was introduced into China by foreign companies only in recent years. Foreign, independent, and joint-venture companies came to China and brought with them their own systems of HR management and employee selection, training and retention. At the same time many international consulting and training companies introduced management training, including competency standards. Shi Kan, a former director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Psychology, and his team have conducted several research projects on competency method and building in China since 2000. Shi's first research in these areas, which involved assessing the competencies of Chinese senior managers in the telecommunications industry, was published in 2002. (18) His study employed behavior event interviews and survey questionnaires to explore the Chinese senior managers' understanding of competency concepts and their use of competency standards.
In 2004, Shi and Zhong Lifeng conducted the research that lead to the development of the Competency Model for Senior Managers in Chinese Family Firms. (19) By interviewing 18 senior managers of family companies in Wenzhou, China, Shi and Zhong were able to establish their model and validate the competency assessment method. Among all the 11 competencies in the model, there are nine that are similar to those of the generic competency model for senior managers from overseas companies. Eight competencies are similar to those of the generic competency model of state-owned firms in China. The competencies of authoritarianism orientation and benevolence and consideration are unique to the Competency Model for Senior Managers in Chinese Family Firms.
For the majority of Chinese organizations and enterprises, competency is still a new term, and Chinese HR professionals are just now making the transition from knowing the term to understanding it, and are still far away from the application of it. (20) One researcher from the United States has pointed out that "HR [in China] is at an earlier stage in professional development and there is great emphasis on transactional activities." (21) By the same token, Shi and other Chinese researchers have emphasized the need for HR competency training and the importance of validating the competency standards established by Chinese companies. The IPMA-HR competency training and certification program was introduced in early 2004 to accomplish these goals.
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