Book Review
HR Competencies: Mastery at the Intersection of People and Business
Ulrich, Dave; Brockbank, Wayne; Johnson, Dani; Sandholtz, Kurt; Younger, Jon (2008). Washington, D.C.: SHRM
Reviewed by Karen Toole
My copy of HR Competencies is dog-eared and has tags sticking out in every color made by post-it-notes. I find it valuable and a long time in coming. This book should be on every HR executive and practitioner’s desk. The book is formatted such that it starts at a helicopter view and moves down through to the dimensions of the “New HR Model.” What I particularly found useful in this section is the New HR Model on page 7. It summed up the transformation as one visual that was easy to understand. On page 10 there is a table labeled “Organization Capabilities and their Implications for HR Professionals.” Wow, this sums it up for a HR Business Partner and is relevant for a business leader as well as HR. If anyone wants to know what human resources should be doing, look at page 10. This would be an excellent addition for my new hire orientation.
The next section, “The State of the HR Profession”, closes the knowledge gap between HR Champions and HR Competencies and discusses the methodology used to collect the data for the book. On page 24 of this chapter is a succinct model illustrating the journey of human resources from 1987 to 2002. The model shows the complexity of the role of HR during the journey. The other important take-away is the defining of the six dimensions of the new HR Model: Credible Activist, Culture & Change Steward, Talent Manager/Organization Designer, Strategy Architect, Operational Executor and Business Ally. The model on page 37 then groups the dimensions into the three fundamentals of HR: organization capabilities, system & processes and relationships.
The last part of the book goes in depth in describing the competencies required to be successful in the six dimensions and three dimensions. For the HR executive this is invaluable to ensure you have the right staff for the needs of your organization to successfully execute the business strategy. Does your staff know what competencies they should be developing or need to be successful? Are they in the goals and objectives? And are you providing development internally or externally to close the gaps in capability? When is the last time you completed an assessment to see where you are— red, yellow or green— in the competencies of your HR organization? For the HR practitioner this is a valuable resource to ensure that you are at the top of your game. If you want to be a top talent or high performer then this is your ticket. You own your own development and this is the roadmap. For the business leader this will help you evaluate whether your HR organization is effective or not. By knowing what competencies or capabilities HR should have to be successful, you can now observe, assess and ask the questions to ensure that human resources is meeting the business needs.
This is a great book—required reading for human resources and business leaders!
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