The increasing speed of change, and the increasing role of intangible assets, the need to evaluate intellectual capital in creating value have led to change in HR function.
Evolution of HR function
In the last 60 years, the focus of HR changed from timekeeping and administration to compliance and then to what we call "traditional" areas of HR: performance management, recruitment, learning and development, compensation and benefits. Then more HR professionals started to become HR Business partners, whose main areas of focus are:
— strategic support of business in achieving its goals
— HR practices to track and react to changes in external environment.
So HR function focused more and more on crating value.
HR Business Partners main areas of focus
Let's focus on main tasks of a typical HR Business Partner. In theory, for HR BP two areas are most important:
1) supporting performance through talent identification, development and engagement evaluation,
2) support of change management and implementing change management.
In most cases, HR BP main focus is not:
- learning and development,
- performance,
- change management.
Unfortunately, many HR BP have changed the way they work in the last 20 years after Dave Ulrich presented his "three-legged stool". It means they haven't became true partners for business.
In other words, HR professionals en masse don't understand how they should measure or improve performance or add value.
The profession itself changes requirements for HR professionals as people in professional associations understand that time has changed and those in people profession should change too.
Old CIPD Profession Map
The old CIPD Profession Map of 2009 included 10 professional areas, eight behaviours and four bands of professional competence.
The core professional areas:
1) Insights, strategy and solutions
2) Leading HR
The professional areas:
1) Organisation design
2) Organisation development
3) Resourcing and talent planning
4) Learning and development
5) Performance and reward
6) Employee engagement
7) Employee relations
8) Service delivery and information
Behaviours:
1) Curious
2) Decisive thinker
3) Skilled influencer
4) Personally credible
5) Collaborative
6) Driven to Deliver
7) Courage to challenge
8) Role Model
New CIPD Profession Map: Specialist knowledge
What hasn't changed in the new CIPD model?
First, it still has four levels:
- Foundation level
- Associate level
- Chartered Member level
- Chartered Fellow level
Second, the professional areas are defined via Core и Specialist knowledge.
Third, traditional HR practices had a few changes: some were regrouped, the number increased from 8 to 9.
- Learning and development stays Learning and development .
- Employee relations stays Employee relations .
- Performance and reward Performance and reward lost "Performance" and became Reward. (Reward).
- Organisation design and Organisational development were combined into Organisational development and design. As we see "Development" takes the first place.
- Resourcing and talent planning were divided into Resourcing and Talent management (Talent management).
- Instead of Employee engagement we have Employee experience. (Employee experience).
- Instead of Service delivery and information we have People analytics. (People analytics).
- The new section is Diversity and inclusion. (Diversity and inclusion).
New CIPD Profession Map: Purpose
New CIPD Profession Map has more structure and more content comparing to the old model of 2009. Two things contributed to this: first, the new model has principles and purpose and second, the new model has more key areas - 6 instead of 2.
The purpose
CIPD defines HR professionals as "champions of better work and working lives". More detailed quote: "the fundamental purpose of the people profession is to champion better work and working lives". It means that HR professionals should create roles, opportunities, organisations to deliver great outcomes and change lives and communities for better.
The new purpose aims to make HR professionals to be a force for positive change, and this is one of the reasons it lies at the heart of the new Profession Map.
The purpose is also important as it sets a professional identity, goals and values. It also tries to understand the direction in which the profession moves.
Values and standards form a basis of professional identity. They also allow to have the greatest impact on practices in people and organisation development.
Values
Goals are not enough. The new CIPD model sets ethical norms that on the one one hand allow to stay focused on the main goal and on the other hand, force HR professionals to stay ethical. The key values in HR profession are:
- Principles-led
- Evidence-based
- Outcomes-driven
New CIPD Profession Map: Professional values
The purpose of the people profession is "is to champion better work and working lives". It is the axis around which all competencies stick together. Spokes on wheel are professional values.
The role of values
To be a good HR professional requires a lot of energy. Often this energy is spent on something that is urgent, but not important. For HR professionals to focus on what matters they need values.
There are three values in the CIPD model. And two of them are about o make HR work more meaningful. Here they are:
- Principles-led
- Evidence-based
- Outcomes-driven
Principles-led
The first value focus HR professionals to "see beyond rules to what's right", taking into account three ares: work, people and professionalism.
Evidence-based
Decisions made and data presented that based on strong evidence, add credibility and weight to the HR professionals. According to CIPD there are four types of evidence: behavioural science and academic research, organisational data,stakeholder concerns and practitioner expertise.
Outcomes-driven
HR professionals operate in the context of the organisation, strategic imperatives and risk. Outcomes of what they do should be aligned to their wider purpose of better work and working lives. Activities of HR professionals should have positive impact on people, work and individuals.