The differences between organizations regarding
the competencies of HR practitioners
Renske van der Linden
10067574
Amsterdam, June 30th, 2014
Bachelor Thesis – Business Studies Faculty Economics and Business Supervisor: M. De Haas
Academic year: 2013 – 2014 Semester 2, block 3
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Abstract
Today more and more organizations realize that good Human Resource Management is important for an organization to be successful. In order for HRM to be successful, HR practitioners have to be good. But what abilities and competencies, skills, knowledge and experience does an HR manager need to be a good HR manager? The competencies of HR practitioners influence the quality and effectiveness of the HRM practices they develop and manage. Extant literature shows six competency domains for HR managers but it does not investigate differences in HRM between various organizations. Therefore, in this research three sub-questions investigate which competencies influence the effectiveness of HR
managers in a commercial organization, a health care organization and a public organization. Results show that there are several competencies and personality traits that are important for every HR professional. But there are also competencies and traits that are only required for a certain type of organization. Based on the results of this study, HR managers should decide to focus on the competencies needed for the organizations they work for. These are the
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Table of content
Abstract ... 2
1. Introduction ... 4
2. Methodology and research design ... 6
2.1 Participant selection ... 6 2.2 Data collection ... 7 2.3 Data analysis ... 8 2.4 Reliability ... 8 2.5 Validity ... 8 2.6 Generalizability ... 9 3. Theoretical framework ... 9
3.1 Human Resource Management ... 9
3.2 Competencies of HR practitioners ... 10
3.3 Personality traits ... 13
4. Conceptual model and propositions ... 13
4.1 Technology proponent ... 14
4.2 Credible activist ... 14
4.3 Change champion ... 15
4.4 Propositions ... 16
4.5 Visual representation of the conceptual framework ... 17
5. Results ... 18
5.1 Technology proponent ... 18
5.2 Credible activist ... 20
5.3 Change champion ... 22
5.4 Comparison and answer research question ... 25
6. Discussion ... 27
6.1 Contribution to existing literature... 28
6.2 Practical implications ... 28
6.3 Limitations and suggestions for future research ... 28
7. Conclusion ... 30
8. Acknowledgements ... 31
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1. Introduction
Today more and more organizations realize that good Human Resource Management is important for an organization to be successful. In order for HRM to be successful, HR practitioners have to be good. How does an organization know who is a good HR manager if he or she is applying for the job? What abilities and competencies, skills, knowledge and experience does a good HR manager have? The perception of effective HRM has changed and the bar for HR professionals has been raised (Ulrich et al., 2007). The competencies that a good HR professional should have are different than they were 20 years ago. The
competencies of HR practitioners influence the quality and effectiveness of the HRM
practices they develop and manage. This means it is important to study the competencies that good HR managers have. Ulrich has done a lot of research in the field of HR practitioners and he has listed six domains of competencies HR professionals should have (Ulrich et al., 1995). However, there are several limitations to his work. One of these limitations is that he generalizes the results of his study for all HR professionals. In his research he does not investigate differences in HRM between various organizations, for example in commercial and non-profit organizations, or in public and private organizations. However, it might be possible that organizations in different industries, of different sizes and with different cultures need HR practitioners with different competencies. Every type of organization might need its own HR strategy and an HR manager with competencies that fits this picture. This suggestion means that there is a knowledge gap since there is no literature about competencies of HR practitioners in different industries or types of organizations.
The purpose of this paper therefore is to give insight in the differences in
competencies for HR practitioners valued by different types of organizations. This research is relevant for practice because organizations want to be successful and this thesis will help understanding how to be successful with effective HRM. Especially with the economic crisis nowadays, employees have to work in an effective manner to create a competitive advantage. The results of this study will provide knowledge about what to focus on when deciding who is going to be a good HR manager. Because of the high rate of unemployment, organizations get large amounts of applications for jobs. If organizations know which competencies influence effective HRM, they know what competencies the applicant should have, which will make testing and selecting more efficient and successful.
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The following research question will be answered in this paper: What are the differences between organizations regarding the competencies of HR practitioners?
To answer this research question the following sub-questions will be answered in this paper: 1. Which competencies influence the effectiveness of HR managers in a commercial
organization?
2. Which competencies influence the effectiveness of HR managers in a health care organization?
3. Which competencies influence the effectiveness of HR managers in a public organization?
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2. Methodology and research design
Research will be done after a review of existing literature by interviews. This design fits the defined problem because the nature of the study is abductive. Before conducting interviews there will be several propositions and expectations developed about the findings of the interviews. This is helpful for asking the right questions during the interviews (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2009)
The main sources of literature are scientific papers, books and theses. The research done by Ulrich and his colleagues is important in the field of HR and competencies of HR officers. First his research is reviewed and based on this a research question and propositions are developed. Interviews are held to test those propositions. Because the research question of this paper is an open question, interviews are the best way to answer it. With a questionnaire respondents would not be able to discuss aspects that are not found in the literature; it would only be possible to measure and compare predefined variables. In this study predefined variables are compared but interviews allow the researcher to ask for explanation, examples from the interviewee’s own experience and follow-up questions to get more thorough and clear answers. The researcher notices non-verbal data. This leads to more detailed information than a questionnaire will.
2.1 Participant selection
The level of analysis in this study is the sector. In three different sectors interviews are conducted with two HR practitioners each, from different organizations. The organizations in which the research will be conducted are a health care institute, a commercial organization focusing on making profit and a governmental organization. Those three types of
organizations are chosen because they differ from each other in terms of goals but they are all common types of organizations. In total, the data are collected from five interviews. The research sample consists of fiveHR managers working in Dutch organizations because this study is focused on Dutch HR managers and Dutch organizations. In HRM there are a lot of different roles and positions that HR professionals can have. The aim was to try to find respondents with similar positions in their organizations in order to compare the roles of HR and the competencies needed. The respondents had to be HR managers and HRM had to be their main task, not a side task. It was difficult to get in contact with respondents because students generally do not have HR managers in their personal network.
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The final sample consists of five HR professionals: two HR managers with experience in a commercial organization, one HR manager from a health care organization and two HR consultants working at a public organization. It was not possible to interview a second HR manager from a health care organization but one of the HR consultants from a commercial organization had experience in a health care organization as well, so he provided some information. The respondents from a public organization both worked for different parts of one of the biggest Municipalities in the Netherlands. The health care organization is covered by the HR manager of a nursing home for the elderly. Lastly, the commercial organizations are covered by two different organizations. One of these is an international publishing
company located in Leiden, the Netherlands. The second commercial organization is covered by an HR consultant with a lot of experience in different organizations, both commercial and health care.
2.2 Data collection
The interviews were semi-structured because these questions are useful for collecting new information that may not be found in the literature study. I used a list with predetermined questions and themes but the questions asked during the interviews may vary and additional questions may be asked (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2009). This facilitates the comparison between interviews and ensures a clear structure where all important questions or topics are covered. At the same time, it leaves room for explanation and spontaneous questions. Interviews are conducted on a one-to-one basis, between the researcher and the participant. The second interview took place in the hall way of the interviewee’s office, which might lead to the interviewee not feeling completely comfortable to open up. After this situation, all other interviews took place in a meeting room because confidentiality is important for the results of this study.
Each interview is recorded by recording and the researcher supports the audio-recording with notes (Patton, 1990). Permission to record the interview is asked before the interview starts. Unfortunately one interviewee did not give permission to record, so every important topic and opinion needed to be written down in the notes.
The interview method has several limitations. Respondents might give desired
answers, because they feel that this is the correct way to answer. This is prevented by making the respondent feel comfortable, anonymize the interviews and to provide the respondents with a copy if they ask for it. By doing so, it is more probable that the respondent will give
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open and honest answers. Directive questions are prevented as well, by letting a fellow student check the questions before conducting the interview.
2.3 Data analysis
The qualitative research of this paper is a abductive research, because existing literature has been reviewed to formulate the research question and propositions. Existing background theory defines the approach of the research process and the analysis of the data (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2009). Collecting data is an interactive process, so after every interview there is an opportunity for questions to be adjusted. The first two interviews were analyzed so they can deliver input for the coming interviews. The complete recorded interviews will be transcribed in order to be analyzed and coded. Transcribing is reproducing the interviews as written sentences using the actual words, taking into account the participants’ non-verbal communications (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2009). A summary of each transcribed interview can be found in Appendix B.
After the interviews were transcribed, they were coded first with the use of open coding (Mortelmans, 2007). These initial codes are grouped together in a process called axial coding. Next, with the use of selective coding these concepts are linked together, they are integrated and the theory is refined. These last steps are described in the results section to provide a clear overview of the findings from the interviews.
2.4 Reliability
The definition of reliability according to Saunders et al (2009): “the extent to which data collection techniques will yield to consistent findings, similar observations would be made or conclusions reached by other researchers or there is transparency in how sense was made from raw data.” With using open questions, it is ensured that there are no leading questions that will influence the opinions of the respondents. Open questions do not suggest a certain answer. All interviews will be recorded if possible and transcribed with the notes taken into account, to ensure transparency in making a conclusion out of raw data.
2.5 Validity
Validity means that the researcher measures what he wants to measure by the chosen research method (Mortelmans, 2007). To ensure validity the interviews have to be conducted with care. The interviews are semi-structured, which means that there will be a list of questions
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and topics that the researcher wants to discuss in order to not forget something. This helps to ensure that important topics are covered and that the researcher measures what she wants to measure. The researcher takes care to avoid directive questioning. This means that the questions asked should not suggest a certain opinion. Instead, the respondent will be encouraged to tell as much as possible about the topic. The interviewer will ask follow-up questions to specify a certain answer and to try discover more about a certain topic.
2.6 Generalizability
The findings of this research are generalizable to all Dutch HR practitioners working in those three types of organizations. There might be several differences because the sample is small. There are more types of organizations than just commercial, health care and public, so the findings may not be generalizable to other types of organizations.
3. Theoretical framework
3.1 Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management consists of the acquisition, development, rewards and motivation of employees (Brown, 2004). HRM tasks are recruitment of employees, skill development and training, career progression, compensation and rewards. Effective HRM can help to build competitive advantage for organizations (Wright, McMahan &McWilliams, 1994). This is done by recruiting the right people and managing their development with trainings and rewards because employees with good skills make an organization better. Another possibility to create this competitive advantage requires to be innovative and to have excellent change management capabilities. These capabilities will be explained in the Change champion competency in 3.2 and conceptual framework. Brockbank (1999) specifies several critical success factors for change management through HRM, such as “creating a shared need for change among those who live with the change, including both employees and
management” and “leveraging the management and HR systems that support and drive the change”. Not only managers in private organizations, but also in public organizations can make change happen (Fernandez & Rainey, 2006). This means that HR managers in private as well as public organizations are important in initiating, implementing and sustaining change.
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3.2 Competencies of HR practitioners
Competencies are defined by Ulrich et al. (1995) as “an individual’s demonstrated knowledge, skills or abilities.” Ulrich et al. (1995) also state that the value of HR professionals lays in their ability to create competitive advantage to compete with other organizations. Hence, it is important to know what kind of competencies exist.
Brockbank et al. (2012) identified six domains of competencies that effective and successful HR practitioners should have. These domains are explained below:
1. Strategic Positioner. Good HR practitioners understand the global business context, including social, political, economic, environmental, technological and demographic trends, and translate these trends into practice. They understand the structure and logic of their industries and the underlying competitive dynamics of the markets they
operate in. They use this knowledge to develop strategies for the future and translate the business strategy formulated into annual business goals and plans.
2. Credible Activist. Good HR practitioners do what they say they will do. This results in a relationship of trust that translates into professional credibility. Good HR
professionals have effective interpersonal skills and develop “positive chemistry” with key stakeholders, which contributes to business results. This is created through
consistent, clear and insightful verbal and non-verbal communication and having their opinions grounded in sound data and thoughtful opinions.
3. Capability Builder. Capability is that what the organization is good at and known for, for example innovation, speed, customer focus, efficiency or the creation of meaning and purpose at work. For an organization to be effective it is important to define and build its organizational capabilities. A good HR manager helps with this and can help line managers to create meaning so that the capability reflects the deeper values of the employees of the firm.
4. Change Champion. Good HR managers develop their organizations’ capacity for change and turns this into effective change processes and structures. They build the case for change based on market and business reality, overcome resistance to change from key stakeholders and sustain change by ensuring the availability of necessary resources.
5. Human Resource Innovator and Integrator. A good HR professional has the ability to integrate HR practices around critical business practices. The challenge is to make the
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HR as a whole more effective than the sum of the HR parts. HR practitioners also ensure that desired business results are clearly prioritized, that the necessary
organization capabilities are used and prepared and that the appropriate HR practices, processes, structures and procedures work together to create and sustain those
organizational capabilities.
6. Technology Proponent. A good HR professional applies technology to basic HRM work. HRM information systems are used to enhance the efficiency of HRM processes such as administrative services, health
care costs and payroll processing.
These six domains influence three spheres (Ulrich et al., 2013). Figure 1 shows that the first sphere is context, which consists of the external factors of an organization. This is the
Strategic positioner competency. Next is the organization sphere, where four of the domains are represented to create a strong organization from the inside out: Change champion, Capability builder, Technology
proponent and HR Innovator and integrator. Lastly the individual sphere is about the HR professional himself and is linked to the competency Credible Activist.
Research has been done to find out what HR professionals do well and what needs
improvement. As seen in the table below, HR professionals do least well in the Technology proponent competency. This competency significantly affects business performance
(Brockbank et al., 2012) but in contrast has the least impact on perceptions of HR
effectiveness. HR practitioners have the strongest competencies in the domain of the credible activist, but since this has the least impact on business results it is not enough for
organizations. Credible activist competencies have greater impact on individual performance than on business performance, because simply having personal credibility does not mean that HR professionals have contributed optimally to business performance (Brockbank et al.,
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2012). Capability building competencies have greater impact on business results and less impact on individual performance. Which type of competencies should be developed and invested in depends on what HR managers in a particular organization value most. This means they could focus on developing individually by gaining knowledge, improving competencies and improving their own performance. In this case Credible activist
competencies are important. Also, organizations and HR managers could choose to focus on business results and obtaining organizational goals. These goals depend on the type of organization, for example it can be profit, knowledge or supporting a community. When wanting to obtain business results and goals, Human Resource innovator and integrator is the most valuable competency domain, followed by Technology proponent and Capacity builder. These results are summarized in the table below. Ulrich’s six competency domains are listed and the mean score on every competency domain is calculated. Also the percentage of impact on perception of HR effectiveness and the percentage of impact on business performance are calculated.
Information technology can be seen as an important condition for the transition of HRM from administrative tasks to a strategic role (Bell, Lee & Yeung, 2006). This has changed the competencies that successful HR professionals should have. Electronic HRM reduces costs and enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of HRM. As the HR professional does not have to spend all his time on administrative tasks, HR professionals have a greater opportunity of developing into a strategic partner. Therefore, Bell, Lee & Yeung (2006) state that the relative importance of the classic competencies will change in the future, making Ulrich’s Technology proponent more important.
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3.3 Personality traits
There are various ways to define personality traits, but one of the most well-known models is the Five Factor model (McCrae & John, 1992). The model consists of five dimensions: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism and Openness to Experience. The dimension Extraversion is associated with the following adjectives: active, assertive, enthusiastic, outgoing and talkative. The second dimension, Agreeableness, consist of being appreciative, forgiving, generous, kind and sympathetic. Conscientiousness means being reliable, efficient, organized, thorough and responsible. Neuroticism is a negative dimension (the positive counterpart is emotional stability) consisting of: anxious, self-pitying, tense, touchy, unstable and worrying. Openness to experience is a positive dimension consisting of artistic, curious, imaginative, insightful, original and having wide interests. These dimensions will be discussed in the conceptual framework and in the propositions where they are matched to the competency domains of Ulrich.
4. Conceptual model and propositions
Because of time constraints this study will focus on three of the six competencies defined by Ulrich and his colleagues. The first competency that will be tested is Technology proponent, because HR professionals do least well in this, while it significantly influences business results. The second competency is Credible activist, since this is what HR practitioners do best, but it has the least impact on business performance. Perhaps it is possible to enlarge this influence. The third competency is Change champion. Nowadays the business environment changes rapidly, so HR professionals should ensure that the organization’s internal capacity for change responds to the external pace of change.
To test the importance of these competencies in the interviews, the competencies of Ulrich are translated into traits and characteristics. This translation is done on the basis of extant
research. By asking participants about these traits and behavior, the importance of the three competencies is investigated.
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4.1 Technology proponent
As Ulrich stated, HR professionals need to use technology for HR practices to be more effective and efficient, and to make those practices less time-consuming and less expensive. Technology improves communication and simplifies administrative work. HR professionals should use technology for information, efficiency and relationships (Bell, Lee & Yeung, 2006). Flexibility, adaptability and innovativeness are required. Computer skills and knowing how to use social media and social networking sites to communicate and to stay connected are essential. Looking at the Five Factor model, the dimension Openness to experience matches the Technology proponent competencies, because Openness to experience is described with the keywords curious, original and insightful. This fits the profile of being flexible, being open to new things, adapting to new developments and having interests in technology and developments. Openness to experience also suggests that people are creative, artistic and have wide interests, but this part of the personality trait is not necessary for the Technology
proponent domain.
To summarize, the traits of the domain Technology proponent are flexibility, adaptability, innovativeness, insightful, curious, original, computer skills and social media skills.
4.2 Credible activist
The domain Credible activist consists of being credible as well as activist. Credibility means that HR professionals do what they promise, build personal relationships of trust and show to be reliable (Brockbank et al., 2012). Trust is a significant intervening variable between HR practices and individual outcomes (Rousseau, 1989). Furthermore, the ability of a manager to influence is significantly positively affected by the level of employee trust (Frost & Moussavi, 2012). The other part, activist, means that HR professionals should have a strong point of view about HR activities and business itself. Ulrich & Eichinger call this HR with an attitude (1998). HR professionals should have confidence and self-awareness. Two factors of the five factors model of personality that are indicators of Credible activists are Extraversion and Conscientiousness. An extravert person is active, assertive, enthusiastic, outgoing and talkative. Conscientiousness means being reliable, efficient, organized, thorough and responsible (McCrae & John, 1992).Not all traits of the five factor dimensions fit the
Credible activist competency, for example HR professionals who are Credible activists do not necessarily have to be outgoing or enthusiastic. Because these two traits from Extraversion
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are not always work related, I have chosen to focus on the other traits. From the
Conscientiousness dimension efficient, organized and thorough are not always applicable to Credible activists because in this study it is about the ability to start a relationship based on trust. Therefore I focused on reliable and responsible, because these two really fit with the description of Credible Activists explained above.
To summarize, the traits regarding the Credible activist domain are confidence, trustable, reliable, responsible, assertive, active, talkative and self-awareness.
4.3 Change champion
Change consists of two parts: initiating the change, and implementing and sustaining the change. To initiate change, HR professionals need flexibility. As a personality trait, flexibility is defined as having a preference for change and novelty (Georgsdottir & Getz, 2004).
Another personality trait that makes a Change champion is Openness to experience, one of the dimensions of the Five Factor Model (McCrae & John, 1992). It is connected with creativity, open-mindedness, having wide interests and the need for change. A person who is open to experience is insightful, original, curious and imaginative. Openness to experience also suggests that people are artistic and have wide interests, but this part of the personality trait is not always applicable to the Change champion domain. Creativity is necessary for creative thinking, but not in an artistic way. Because successful implementation of change requires the cooperation of the organization’s employees, HR professionals should be persuasive in order to help employees overcome their resistance to change (Thomas & Hardy, 2011). Employees who are cynical about organizational change are less likely to engage in future change, show lower commitment, satisfaction and motivation to work hard (Reichers, Wanous & Austin, 1997). The study of Reichers, Wanous & Austin (1997) showed that involvement makes people less cynical and make employees show higher commitment. Besides, if employees are informed they understand the need for change. This is the reason that managers should try to see change from the employees’ perspective to understand and help to overcome resistance (Reichers et al., 1997). To ensure employees understand the need for change and to support the implementation, HR managers should have excellent communication skills.
To summarize, the traits regarding the Change champion domain are flexibility, adaptability, innovativeness, creative thinking, insightful, imaginative, original, curious and persuasiveness.
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4.4 Propositions
The research question will be answered with the help of three sub-questions. Before
conducting the interviews there are propositions developed about the expected answers to the sub-questions. These propositions are explained below.
4.4.1. Commercial organization
The effectiveness of HR managers in a commercial organization is influenced by the competencies of the Credible activist, Change champion and Technology proponent. From the literature, the assumption is derived that in a commercial organization all three competency domains are important. Commercial organizations are likely to be innovative because their environment requires this. Because of this rapidly changing environment the competencies of the Change champion and Technology proponent are valued greatly in the HRM department, for example flexibility and adaptability. The Credible activist competencies are important because in every organization it is important to have good relationships based on trust. People will help, listen and do what you ask if you have good relationships with them and they trust you. HR managers should also be proactive because of the fast changing environment and the intensity of competition (Brockbank et al., 2012).
4.4.2. Health care organization
The effectiveness of HR managers in a health care organization is influenced by the competencies of the Credible activist. This is mainly based on the fact that health care organizations work with people and care about people, which means HRM should value this as well. Because people are an important asset in health care organizations, relationships based on trust are valuable. To perform well in a modern environment with fast changing technology, Change champion and Technology proponent should be important as well but this type of organization is not implementing those competencies yet. The reason for this is that health care organizations in general are a little old fashioned and are not using the newest technologies. The reason is not really clear but it is a stereotype. The interviews will show whether this is true or false. The need to keep up with change and developments is not big, because competition is not an important factor for health care organizations. While the environment requires technological changes and innovation to improve health care, it is not clear whether this is also the case in the HRM department.
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4.4.3. Public organization
The effectiveness of HR managers in a public organization is influenced by the competencies of the Credible activist because relationships with coworkers and stakeholders are important. In public organizations people, their skills and knowledge are important assets. The
relationships between HR managers and their employees are important for building
competitive advantage and for a public organization to function well. Public organizations are known to be behind when it comes to technological developments. The interviews will show whether this is a prejudice or the truth. Because public organizations operate in another environment than commercial organizations do, the need for change is not big, simply because competition is not an important factor for public organizations. Therefore the competencies of Change champion and Technology proponent are less important than for commercial organizations. Keeping up with technology makes processes cheaper and more efficient but it does not have priority yet in public organizations (Bell, Lee &Yeung, 2006).
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5. Results
In this section the findings from the interviews with HR manager are discussed for every competency. The results are illustrated with quotes from the interviews.
5.1 Technology proponent
The propositions regarding Technology proponent are not completely confirmed. Assumed was that Technology proponent competencies are important for HR managers in commercial organizations while it is not really for public and health care organizations. After conducting the interviews it seems that Technology proponent competencies are important for all three types of organizations but at different levels.
The HR manager from the commercial organization confirms that both the processes in an organization and the environment of an organization are constantly changing. Flexibility and adaptability are required to keep up with this change. These are two of the traits
mentioned in the section about the Technology proponent in the conceptual framework. The HR manager of the publishing company mentions that “the ability to lead change
management caused by technology asks for special skills, such as computer skills”. This change management is leaded and implemented by the HR manager, the woman I interviewed. This proves that computer skills are needed. The publishing company has a special case because nowadays more books are published online. This means that the whole organization should have computer skills, including HR. The HR manager of this publishing company says that the HRM department offers training to help employees develop these skills. The publishing company is an international company and has employees working abroad and working at home. The HR manager of the publishing company tells that there is a digital HRM system in order for employees abroad to function well and to simplify the process for employees in The Netherlands. HR professionals should have the skills to work with this.
The interviews with public organization HR managers show that Technology proponent competencies are not a priority for HR managers in public organizations. Still, because it is necessary to keep up with the changing environment, the big municipality uses a digital HRM system, and HR managers should have the skills to work with it.
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“Processes in an organization change and with technological developments nowadays it is necessary to quickly adjust to these changes. What do these changes mean for employees and for HR professionals in this organization? This is what we need to think of in HRM” - HR advisor big municipality
The HR consultant working at a public organization mentioned that he is currently working on a project that focuses on exploring the possibilities of apps and movie clips on YouTube. An external HR consultant has to assist with this because managers in this public organization did not have sufficient knowledge. This shows that Technology proponent competencies are needed but that employees in public organizations do not have the required skills. Perhaps HRM should pay attention to this and train employees in order to keep up with the changes and developments.
Health care organizations are in the same situation as public organizations are. HRM in health care organizations is developing because the environment and the generation of employees are changing. This means that HR professionals should be able to work with new technologies to adapt to those technologies quickly and that HR professionals should be open minded to understand developments. In the interview with the HR manager of the health care organization it becomes clear that they have adapted to some new technologies but are not as far as other organizations. She says the following about it:
“We recently launched a new website with a nice part about job vacancies. We have an automatic system for absences and pay roll. But we are still behind in terms of online recruitment, education and employee self-service. We are working on it, but it will take a while.” – HR manager commercial organization 1
The interviewee from the nursing home mentions that all employees are able to log in to their digital workspace at home or at another location. The traits from Technology proponent are not mentioned literally in this interview but with logical thinking and her stories during the interview, it can be concluded that flexibility, adaptability, computer skills and curiosity are needed for effective use of technology. For example, launching a new and improved website with a recruitment part asks for adaptability and computer skills. Curiosity is needed because in order to fully understand developments you should be interested in what it is and means. For this same reason being open minded and interested in things around you is needed. The HR managers of the nursing home mentions that HR professionals have to be innovative.
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Innovativeness is listed as one of the traits from Technology proponent in the conceptual framework and so the traits listed above.
The HR managers of all three types of organizations confirmed that they use the internet for the recruitment of new employees. Because of this it is assumed that all HR managers have the knowledge and skills to work with technological developments.
With the results of these interviews it can be concluded that innovative, open minded, flexibility, adaptability, curiosity, computer skills and social media skills are important.
5.2 Credible activist
The propositions regarding Credible activist competencies are confirmed. Assumed was that Credible activist competencies are important in all three kinds of organizations. The results of the interviews and the required competencies and traits are discussed below.
In health care, public and commercial organizations it is very important to be able to start relationships with people. The HR consultant from the commercial organization tells that those relationships are based on trust. Therefore, both the HR manager and the employee must open up, be honest, be responsible and reliable. Responsible and reliable relate to the
Conscientiousness factor of the Five Factor Model. He says that competencies such as
reliability, talkative and active are important to keep in contact with the employees when they are not in the office every day from 9 to 5, for example with flexible working. These are competencies from the Credible activist domain. The relationship between HR professionals and employees changes when flexible working is implemented, but it should remain strong. Assertiveness is important too, because the interviewee says that HR professionals should tell their opinion and be honest about what they want and need. The HR consultant from
interview 5 tells about the business partnering model from Ulrich. This means that an HR professional should be a business partner, be assertive, stand up for themselves and tell their opinion. HR professionals should be confident and have a sense of self-awareness. This relates to the factor Extraversion of the Five Factor model. HR professionals are service minded but they should not turn into helpers of a managers. He has experience with working in all three types of organizations, so his opinion is based on all three organizations.
“A young partner, who saw that older partners have always seen HR as executing and supportive, now starts to understand that HR is a profession itself. What does that mean? It
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means that we should start relationships, be assertive and stand next to each other as equals instead of a manager and HR, his helper.” – HR consultant interview 5
The HR consultant in a big municipality states that managers of public organizations care about their employees instead of only thinking about the costs they make. People, their skills and their knowledge are important assets for organizations who value knowledge and innovation. He has worked for a health care organization and in general the situation is the same as in public organizations he has worked for. He said that in most retail organizations it is necessary to make profit. In some commercial organizations employees are seen as costs and costs influence the organization’s profit.
“An example is that at one of the biggest municipalities of the Netherlands the external employees receive a Christmas gift (kerstpakket). Well, in commercial organizations, I have never seen this before. External employees already cost a lot of money so they are not going to give them a Christmas gift. In public organizations they care more about the people, not only about the costs.” – HR manager public organization 2
In commercial organizations HR managers should be able to justify their choices, because investments in HRM are costs and the HR manager should explain why choices are made, for example proving the added value of education and training. This is done in every type of organization but the interviewee from public organization 2 says that in commercial organizations the money aspect is even more important than in public organizations. Even though both HR professionals from public organizations state that in commercial
organizations HR managers care less about their employees, in the interviews with HR managers from commercial organizations this is not mentioned at all. The interviewee from the commercial organization 2 says that an HR professional’s enthusiasm and being
passionate about whatever it is his or her organization does is crucial. Being passionate about something usually means caring about it and then people believe in what you have to say about this topic. He gives the following examples: when working in HRM in a hospital you have to have an affinity with curing people and while when working in the HR department of an university, you have to enjoy teaching students and preparing them for the future. Even if you do not cure or teach them yourself.
The HR manager of the nursing home tells that it is important in health care to focus on the customer and to care about people, so this is also the case within HRM. Compassion
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and caring are important personality traits. She also mentions excellent communicative skills and leadership skills.
After conducting the interviews it can be concluded that the traits I expected are confirmed. The expected traits and competencies were: assertive, confident, self-aware, ability to start relationships based on trust, reliable, responsible, active, talkative, caring and compassion.
5.3 Change champion
The propositions regarding the Change champion competencies are mostly confirmed by the interviews. Assumed was that commercial organizations require Change champion
competencies, while the public organizations and health care organizations do not require this. According to the HR managers from the big municipality the need for change in public
organizations is not big, simply because competition is not an important factor. Therefore competencies of Change champion and Technology proponent are both not as important in public organizations as in commercial organizations. However, the HR manager from the nursing home explains that keeping up with changes is important in health care organizations, so the Change champion competencies are needed. This is not what I expected.
Change champion competencies are important in commercial organizations, as confirmed by the interviews. The HR manager from the commercial publishing company explains that the organization is forced to keep up with changes in their environment, for example with scholars writing manuscripts on their computer and customers reading books on their computers. She mentions traits such as being open minded and flexible are required to cope with changes. There will be a change in the ‘cao’ from January 2015 on, so HR professionals are checking whether this leads to changes in HR policies. If so, HR
professionals should explain the changes very carefully to the employees. Because of this the interviewee states patience, persuasiveness and the ability to carefully explain things are required. Also flexible working demands from employees are heard and the company has started implementing this. But implementing this asks for coaching and maybe even a change of leadership of the line managers. HR professionals are important in this process. Older employees have to adjust to the change to publishing books online and some are having a difficult time doing so. HR officers have to coach them and have to explain the reason for this
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change. This means that HR professionals need to be persuasive and patient. These are mentioned in the conceptual framework.
“Employees are strongly involved with the organization. This great and it is definitely a competitive advantage. But it also means that HR professionals have to coach employees and that they have to carefully explain change and the reason for change. HR professionals should let employees slowly get used to the new situation. This takes a lot of time.” – HR manager commercial organization 1
Not all things mentioned above are different for public organizations. But the main point is that commercial organizations in general have more changes to adjust to because the competition is severe. This is a statement from the HR managers from the two public organizations. Furthermore, the HR consultant with experience in all three types of organizations says that HR managers of commercial organizations have more freedom to decide about new policies. For example, he mentions that in commercial organizations the management could say: HR professionals, can you think of a way to solve this? And how do we need to implement this? In public organizations HR managers simply have to execute tasks set by the management. In commercial organizations HR officers should be persuasive and flexible. The sales skills are important because the changes need to be ‘sold’ to your employees. In commercial organizations, change is developed and implemented and if these changes concern employees and their jobs, the HR manager should persuade employees that change is good. Also, commercial organizations are more likely to expand their business abroad. In that case, it is important for HR professionals to be flexible and to be able to adjust to other cultures. Understanding those cultures is important in order to completely understand and help employees abroad. The HR manager from a commercial organization states that in order to do this, HR professionals should be interested, open minded and curious.
The HR manager from the big municipality says that most rules in public
organizations are established in the ‘cao’ and ‘Sociaal Plan beheer’ so they cannot be changed easily. The interviewee tells that most public organizations are big and bureaucratic, which makes it impossible to implement change quickly. This is also the case in the public
organization where he works. There are many steps to take before implementing change and a lot of administrative processes. According to the HR consultant with experience in all three sectors the Change champion competencies are more important for the management instead of the HR department from public organizations. This is said in interview number 5.The reason
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for this is that in the public organizations where the interviewee has worked, HR managers only execute tasks they have been assigned to, such as executing processes, hiring new
employees and firing employees. Implementing change is not a main task of HR professionals in public and health care organizations. This statement is based on the opinion of the
interviewee from interview 5, but there is always a possibility for exceptions.
The public organization, a big municipality, has recently started implementing ‘het nieuwe werken’: flexible working. This is innovative for a public organization. The following quote explains the opinion of the HR manager from this public organization:
“Here at this municipality we have started to implement ‘het nieuwe werken’. This is done in a typical public organization way; slowly and with caution. So it is not similar to how is implemented in commercial organizations. Employees are allowed to work at home once a week after discussing it with their manager.” – HR manager public organization 2
This shows that HR managers from public organizations should have some competencies of the Change champion domain such as flexible and adaptability. In an interview an example is given where a public organization with 80 persons implemented flexible working too quickly: “They implemented flexible working almost in one day. This caused a lot of problems. First everyone had their own desk etcetera and suddenly this was gone. If you do not coach this properly, it will cause stress and illness.”- HR consultant in interview 5
The interviewee from the health care organization says that HR professionals in health care organizations should be creative in finding solutions when the rules and laws change. This happens regularly and heavily affects health care. The crisis and budget cuts from the
government affect this nursing home and every other health care organization, because there is less money available. The interviewee really emphasizes creative thinking and being innovative. “Within the boundaries that the organization sets you have to be able to think of creative solutions and the best solution for that particular customer. It asks flexibility and being up to date with the developments in HRM but also the developments in the health care industry or in technology.”
An example of innovativeness is that the HR professionals from this nursing home have launched a project called: the health care-innovation center. This is developed with an university of applied sciences in the Netherlands. At the health care-innovation center,
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students can learn the practical side of their studies and do research in the field of health care, which benefits both the students and the nursing home. It benefits the nursing home because it is a ‘talent pool’ used for the recruitment of new employees. This is an example of how creative thinking is used in HRM in this health care organization.
For all three types of organizations are being active, eager to learn and curious important. This is stated by the HR consultant from interview 5 because he has experience in all three types f organizations. “When talking about competencies I would say: outgoing, initiative, proactive, curious, open, honest, be able to start relationships that are honest and real.”
Looking at the results of the interviews it can be concluded that creative thinking,
adaptability, flexibility, persuasiveness, proactivity, patience, innovative, curiosity and being open-minded are indeed important factors of a Change champion.
5.4 Comparison and answer research question
The sub-questions are answered in 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3. Now the differences and similarities are discussed in order to answer the research question. The research question was: What are the differences between organizations regarding the competencies of HR practitioners?
In commercial organizations HR managers should justify their choices more, because investments in HR are costs and the manager should explain why changes are made, such as proving the added value of education and training. A surprising finding is that this is also the case in health care organizations. Because of the budget cuts and changes of the rules and laws, it is important to be able to persuade and explain changes to employees. Because of this reason creative thinking and innovativeness is important as well.
In public organizations HR managers execute processes made by the management, while in most commercial organizations HR managers can be creative and decide on policies. Really big commercial organizations are structured like machines so in those companies HR supports the management. Both public organization interviewees mention that public organizations are bureaucratic and have long processes, so implementing change is difficult and takes a long
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time. Implementing change is easier in commercial organizations because this is needed to keep up with competitors.
Certain traits and competencies are necessary for HR practitioners in general and a few are especially needed for certain types of organizations. Competencies and personality traits that are important for all HR managers are good communication skills, reliable, responsible, caring, ability to start relationships, proactivity, eager to learn and persuasiveness. It is important not only to be a good communicator with direct colleagues but also with various ‘layers’ of the organization because HRM has to work together with all employees of the organization. This is mentioned by the HR manager from public organization 1 and it is confirmed by every other interviewee. The HR manager of the commercial publishing company adds the ability to listen carefully, the ability to make decisions based on statistics and the need to have business skills to this list. She explains that HRM is not just taking care of your employees but also managing important resources from the organization; Human Resources. The HR consultant with experience in all fields mentions that HR professionals should be service minded, honest and outgoing. Initiative, integrity and the ability to start relationships are also important.
Every industry has its own requirements, which means there are differences between organizations regarding the required competencies of HR practitioners.
Commercial organizations: flexibility, innovativeness, creativity, persuasiveness,
assertiveness, enthusiastic, creative thinking, original, computer skills and the ability to start relationships.
Health care organizations: flexibility, persuasiveness, assertiveness, caring, compassion, creative thinking, adaptability, computer skills, enthusiastic and the ability to start
relationships. Being interested in people is also important.
Public organizations: Assertiveness, caring, compassion, enthusiastic, computer skills and the ability to start relationships. In a small amount: flexibility and persuasiveness.
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6. Discussion
The findings from the interviews confirmed most of the propositions. The HR manager of the big municipality told that this municipality is a typical public organization with lots of rules and administrative processes. It is not dynamic and fast, but while working on a project with clear deadlines employees do work hard. I got this impression as well when I heard the stories and examples during the two interviews with HR managers from public organizations.
Therefore I believe that the statements made by the respondents from public organizations can be applied to the majority of public organizations. For example, assumed is that digital HRM systems are slowly implemented and used in most public organizations because organizations have to keep up with the changing environment. This means HR managers should keep
learning how to work with technology but it happens slowly because there is no pressure from competitors.
After the interview with the HR manager from the publishing company, the conclusion could be made that this company is not a typical fast, big commercial organization. The interviewee said that they are reluctant to implement flexible working and acted with caution. Furthermore, she says that it feels like a family business and therefore most employees are very involved. The statements made by the HR manager of this commercial organization might not be applicable to all commercial organizations, but to check this I have spoken to an HR consultant with experience in many different kinds of organizations. He said that not all commercial organizations are the same. The level of Technology proponent and Change champion competencies depend on the culture and the size of the organization. Still, most commercial organizations are fast with adapting to change and have good technology skills.
From what I heard of the HR professional and the HR consultants with experience in different organizations, health care organizations resemble public organizations. Health care organizations care even more about their people and about ‘the person behind the employee’. The HR manager from the nursing home told me that the recession and budget cuts affect the health care industry a lot. This leads to a strategy focused on costs and can make it difficult to find good solutions and the right treatment for every customer. This influences HR because it may change the requirements for employees and the way of working. The interviewee said that they need to find a balance between caring about ‘the person behind the employee’ and the money that they have available.
In general the information derived from the interviews seems to confirm the extant literature about HRM and competencies in various types of organizations.
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6.1 Contribution to existing literature
Existing literature stresses the importance of Human Resource Management for an organization in order to be successful. Ulrich has done a lot of research in this field and together with his colleagues he has defined six competency domains for HR professionals. He did not investigate the differences in HRM between various organizations.Every type of organization might need its own HRM strategy and an HR manager with competencies that fits in this picture. Because Ulrich generalizes the results of his study for all HR professionals this thesis contributes to the existing literature. In this study the differences are acknowledged and researched. Also this study has linked three of the six competency domains of Ulrich to personality traits. This helps to understand the competency domains.
6.2 Practical implications
This study will simplify the process of matching potential HR professionals with jobs and types of organizations. The results of this study can be used during job interviews and the job selection processes. Based on the results of this study, HR managers should decide to focus on the competencies needed for the organizations they work for. These are the competencies they need to develop. With the findings from this study HR professionals are able to find a match between their personality, their competencies and their job. If this is not a match, an HR professional can experience stress and unhappiness. It is important to choose the
organization you work for carefully. Even though you work in HR, having a passion for what your organization does, helps you to be a better HR professional.
6.3 Limitations and suggestions for future research
This study has several limitations which will be discussed here. First, there was a limited time range of three months available for this research. In the case of a longer time range it would have been possible to conduct more interviews with HR professionals which in turn had made the sample size larger. The interviews only give information about those specific
organizations and it may not be possible to generalize the results to all organizations in those sectors. Also, because of time constraints this research focuses on three of the six
competencies defined by Ulrich and his colleagues. In a longer period of time it would have been possible to test all six domains of competencies to complete the research.
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Second, this research only concerns Dutch HR managers which means that there may be different results if the same research would be conducted in other countries and it may not be possible to make generalizations to HR managers abroad.
Suggestions for future research are to expand the research by interviewing more HR professionals from public, commercial and health care organizations. Furthermore, it would be interesting to interview HR professionals from other organizations, such as a
non-governmental organization (non-profit) or an education institution, such as an university or a school. Another possibility is to expand the research to HR managers of multinational
companies. We live in a global economy nowadays with a lot of multinational companies and HR professionals working in those organizations. Concerning these developments it would be interesting to research competencies of HR professionals working abroad or working with employees with different nationalities. A last suggestion for future research is to focus more on the personal characteristics of each HR professional. Different personalities lead to different behavior and by this, some people develop into a Change champion sooner than others, depending on the personalities they have since birth. Some competencies are learned later on with the help of trainings and education, but perhaps personalities do make a
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7. Conclusion
In the beginning of this paper it is stated that effective Human Resource Management leads to organizational success. What abilities and competencies, skills, knowledge and experience does a good HR manager need? The competencies of HR practitioners influence the quality and effectiveness of the HRM practices they develop and manage.
The effectiveness of HR professionals in general depends on whether HR professionals have the following competencies and personality traits: communication skills, proactivity, eager to learn, interested in people, integrity, ability to start relationships based on trust.
There are also several differences between organizations. Change champion competencies are a priority in commercial organizations. Although public organizations are behind on this aspect, they are also operating in a change environment so they have to keep up with those changes. Most of those changes require technology skills so most public organizations are slowly developing Technology proponent competencies and Change champion competencies. Health care organizations have a surprisingly big need to change in order to keep up with the changing regulations, laws and cuts in their budget. Credible activist competencies are important for all three types of organizations, but there are differences between organizations depending on their culture and size.
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8. Acknowledgements
While writing this thesis I had difficulties to find respondents for my research. The reason for this is that I did not have HR professionals in my personal network and most HR
professionals contacted by email were not able or willing to cooperate.I want to thank the HR professionals who were willing to help me. Their knowledge and information from practice contributed a lot to this study and it was a valuable addition to the literature research. Also, I want to thank my supervisor Maarten de Haas for coaching me, providing feedback and helping me with finding respondents.
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