Singing from the same hymn sheet

When it comes to HR 'gurus', there aren't many better known than Dave Ulrich. Back in the 1990s, he was the first to advocate the idea of HR Business Partners. And he was one of the first to outline the need for HR professionals to be strategists, change managers, advocates for employees and first-class administrators.

As the professor of business administration at the University of Michigan, he's still very much at the forefront of our profession. Last year, he was also in charge of the team that put together the fifth Human Resource Competency Study (HRCS).

So what does the new HRCS say?
Similar to previous editions, it lays out the different roles successful HR people need to master. There's a useful online executive summary of the study that details what these roles are. Equally useful is Robert Grossman's article 'New Competencies for HR' in the Society for Human Resources Management online magazine. In brief, the study says a successful HR professional needs to be:"

• A Credible Activist, who is respected and listened to because of their knowledge of the business, and because they have the confidence to turn this knowledge into action.
• A Cultural Steward, who helps shape a company's culture by first articulating what a healthy culture should look like, and then developing disciplines around the business to make the necessary changes happen.
• A Talent Manager/Organisational Designer, who can understand the theory behind talent management and organisational design (and how they work together), and who can turn this understanding into a successful organisation.
• A Strategy Architect, who plays an active part in shaping business strategy. A Strategy Architect must also be able to shape an internal organisation which is geared towards meeting external customer expectations.
• A Business Ally, who understands the social context in which the business operates, how it makes money, and how its different departments work together, and who uses this perspective to help their company make money.
• An Operational Executor, who executes the operational side of HR quickly and efficiently.

The most obvious difference between this and the last HRCS, published in 2002, is that five key competencies have now turned into six. This reflects a slight shift in emphasis within the profession. For example, 'Managing culture' was part of a bigger competency, but is now seen as important enough to be one on its own (Cultural Steward). At the same time 'Knowledge of technology', which used to be a competency, is now part of what it takes to be a 'Business Ally'.

Which one of these six roles is most important?
Of the different roles, the HRCS concludes that the most important is that of the Credible Activist. This means believing in the importance of your HR expertise and having clear and informed points of view, which you can then turn into recommendations and actions for the business.

Ulrich himself points out that 'you've got to be good at all of them, but, no question, [this competency] is key.' Dani Johnson, project manager of the HRCS adds, 'It's a deal breaker. If you don't come to the table with it, you're done. It permeates everything you do.'

This is really interesting. Why? Because it backs up our own research, which found that all successful HR Business Partners need to:

• have confidence in their contribution and the importance of their role
• be comfortable challenging colleagues in the interest of the business's goals, and know that HR can make a difference to achieving these goals
• understand the business and how it makes money
• have a point of view and the courage to express it even in the face of disagreement.

In summary, both pieces of research found that while having skills and competencies in these areas is important, the key to success is having strong beliefs about the purpose of your role, and having the conviction to turn these beliefs into action. This is what being a Credible Activist is all about.

So how do you help your team develop Credible Activist behaviours if they don't come naturally?
It's not easy - many development activities focus on skills rather than beliefs. However, because we've based our training on our research, our training techniques could help people become Credible Activists. Our approach, rather than concentrating on role-plays that develop one skill at a time, like influencing or client management, concentrates on real-life situations. The aim is two fold: to show people how to combine all sorts of skills to respond well to situations they're likely to face, and also to show them what a big difference they can make to the business by responding in the right way. This helps to nurture the sorts of self-belief and confidence needed to be a Credible Activist.

A small practical tool that could also help is our 'Know the business' pack of cards. These are cards with business-related questions on that we use to help teams check their knowledge of their organisation. One of the key aspects of being a Credible Activist is knowing your stuff - particularly about the business you work in - so testing what you and your team know (perhaps even during a game of cards), can be a good way of keeping your Credible Activist confidence high.

Quoted in 'New Competencies for HR' Robert J. Grossman, HR Magazine from the Society for Human Resources management.