leveraging hrd competencies and roles to improve managers performance chung-kai huang edited.pdf ·...
TRANSCRIPT
The Journal of Global Business Management Volume 11* Number 1 * April 2015 Issue 13
Leveraging HRD Competencies and Roles
to Improve Managers’ Performance
Dr. Chun-Yu Lin, Assistant professor of National Taipei University
Dr. Chung-Kai Huang, Assistant professor of National Taipei University of Business
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to investigate why some human resource development (HRD)
competencies and roles are relatively more important for managers’ individual perforamnce and how
these HRD competencies and roles help improve managers’ performance. With this direction of research
intent, a semi-structured interview with eight HRD professionals and eight non-HRD managers in eight
different companies in Taiwan. The findings suggested that Taiwanese HRD professionals help managers’
job performance mainly by dealing with training planning and training needs analysis. In order to
faciliate HRD-related jobs well, having good communication skills is also of great importanace for HRD
professionals. Moreover, they should be equipped with technology literacy to utilize learning technologies
for carrying out training along with the application fundamental business knowledge. In terms of the role
orientation, learning specialists and business partners are the two most critical roles HRD professionals
play. The present study has two main contributions. First, through interviews, we reexamined the
competencies and roles identified by prior empirical studies as more prevalent for HRD professionals,
and discovered competencies and roles which can help managers’ performance comparativley. Second,
the interview excerpts provided in-depth understadning of the targted competencies and roles as well as
explained why and how these competneics and roles benefit managers’ jobs. Overall, the findings
generated strong evidence-based recommendations for selection, training, development, compensation,
and performance appraisals for HRD professionals in Taiwan.
Keywords: Competencies, Roles, HRD professionals, Manager, Qualitative study, Taiwan
INTRODUCTION
With globalization, advances in information technology, and managerial innovation, the boundaries,
scope, and concerns of human resource development (HRD) have become increasingly complicated and
varied (Bernthal et al., 2004; Cummings a& Worley, 2005; Lee, 2009; MacKenzie, Garavan, & Carbery,
2012; Swanson & Holton, 2009). HRD professionals now wear multiple hats in order to benefit
organizational strategies, performance, and development (Kuchinke, 2003; Lawler, 2005; Long, Ismail, &
Amin, 2012; Swanson, 1996; Werner & DeSimone, 2006). The important competencies and roles of HRD
professionals have been continuously studied and updated in both academic settings and industrial
practice (Bae & Song, 2009; Carliner, 2012; Egan, 2011; Kormanik, Lehner, & Winnick, 2009; Kuo,
2002; Rasool, Bashir, & Ramay, 2009; Sanghi, 2007; Xie & Huang, 2010; Yang 1994). Quantitative
surveys have been employed to explore the competencies and roles of HRD professionals. Example
research studies include McLagan’s (1989) model for HRD practice, Rothwell’s (1996, 1999) ASTD
models for human performance improvement (ASTD models for workplace learning and performance
(WLP) are a guide for HRD professionals), the 2004 ASTD study by Bernthal et al. (2004 Competency
The Journal of Global Business Management Volume 11* Number 1 * April 2015 Issue
14
Study: mapping the future: new workplace learning and performance competencies), and Chen, Bian and
Hom’s (2005) replication of the ASTD WLP model in Taiwan.
In responde to the changing environment, managers commonly take the responsibilities for
improving organizational performance (Ellinger & Bostrom, 2002; London, 2003; Ladyshewsky, 2010;
Wakefield, 2006). More specifically, managers enhance team members’ performance by providing
necessary resources, coaching, and giving feedback (Ladyshewsky, 2010). Since both HRD and
managers’ jobs and roles are related to performance, along with the drastic change in the globalized
business environment, the issues regarding the linkage between HRD professionals’ competencies and
roles and managers’ job performance merit more discussion.
Hence, this study focused on two purposes. First, through the exploratory manner and qualitative
interview which seeks to investigate the interpretations both from managers and HRD professionals, this
study explains why some HRD competencies and roles were identified as more important compared to
others. Second, this study elaborates on how HRD competencies and roles contribute to improve
managers’ performance.
Studies about HRD Competencies and Roles
Spencer and Spencer (1993) described the concept of competency as “an underlying characteristic
of an individual that is causally related to criterion-referenced effective and/or superior performance in a
job or situation” (p.9). Competencies, in general, encompass a cluster of skills, knowledge, abilities, and
behaviors that are required for people to succeed in their workplaces (Caldwell, 2008; Davis, Naughton &
Rothwell, 2004; Harzallah, Berio, & Vernadat, 2006; Hollenbeck, McCall, & Silzer, 2006; Park, & Lee,
2011). Rychen (2004) further summarized competencies in an incorporative way: “each competency is a
combination of interrelated cognitive and practical skills, knowledge (including tacit knowledge),
motivation, values and ethics, attitudes, emotions, and other social and behavioral components that
together can be mobilized for effective action in a particular context” (p.21). Given these definitions, Lin
(2006), Lee (2006) and Gangani, McLean, and Braden (2006) noted that the definitions and usage of the
term competency may vary from one organization to another. Gangani, McLean, and Braden (2006)
believe that the most frequently used definition of a competency is, “a descriptive tool that identifies the
skills, knowledge, personal characteristics, and behaviors needed to effectively perform a role in the
organization and help the business meet its strategic objectives” (Lucia & Lespinger, 1999, p.5).
Most relevant studies have been conducted in the United States, Europe and Asia. In the 1999
ASTD WLP model, 52 important competencies were categorized into six groups, and seven important
roles of HRD professionals were generalized. The International Board of Standards for Training,
Performance and Instruction (IBSTPI) sought out competencies for training instructional designers
(Roytek, 2010; Richey et al., 2001; Sugar, Hoard, Brown, & Daniels, 2012) and managers (Foxon, Richey,
Roberts, and Spannaus, 2003). Other relevant HRD studies conducted in Asia include the following: Chen,
Bian and Hom (2005), Klink and Boon (2002), Kuo (2002), Lee (1994), Lee (2009), Xie (2005), and Zhu,
Chen, and Warner (2000). HRD professionals’ competencies can be culturally different. For instance, by
applying the ASTD model in a different workplace culture, Gray (1999) found some deficiencies in the
ASTD model and threw light on the important competencies of HRD practitioners in New Zealand.
Similarly, Chen, Bian and Hom (2005) examined these 52 competencies and the seven roles of the 1999
ASTD WLP competency model in Taiwan. Their results showed that while the 52 competencies were
important for Taiwanese HRD professionals, the majority of HRD professionals in Taiwan did not have
highly developed competencies and solid training either in HRD or HRM. Therefore, their results
The Journal of Global Business Management Volume 11* Number 1 * April 2015 Issue 15
implicitly suggested that HRD professionals in Taiwan play limited roles in their workplaces rather than
the seven roles found in the 1999 ASTD WLP model. The study results indicated a lack of clarity in the
practice of HRD in Taiwan, which provided the research rationale and motivation for the present study.
Competencies and Performance
Performance is the end results of the meaningful activities in organizations. “An organization’s
performance is efficient if the organization is doing things right. An organization’s performance is
effective if the organization is doing the right things” (Rothwell, Sanders & Soper, 1999, p.5) In other
words, performance is the ultimate concern organizations have in that the growth of organization is the
ultimate goal. Good performance refers to indices including successful operation, high profitability, high
work quality, etc. To evaluate and improve performance, competency systems have been highly
recommended by scholars and widely applied many job positions and industries. Spencer and Spencer
(1993) suggest that the primary goal to use competency systems to evaluate and enhance individual
performance. As for the application of competencies at organizational performance level, competencies
can be applied in various purposes in HR functions, such as selection, performance management,
compensation, and succession planning (Spencer & Spencer, 1993). Based on the research and practical
value prestigious scholars addressed, Levenson, Van der Stede, and Cohen (2006) investigated the
relationship between managerial competencies and performance at both the individual and organizational
unit levels in a quantitative way. In general, they found evidence that competencies are positively related
to both individual performance and unit-level performance although the evidence for the latter is weaker.
Inspired by the previous studies and findings, this study employed an in-depth interview method to
dig deeper information regarding the authentic situations of HRD competencies and roles and managers’
performance in Taiwan. As foregoing, previous studies suggest that this issue concerning competencies
and performance is valuable not only it is practical but also there is little studies discussing it. The
dichotomy of individual and organization performance was also noted in this study in that scholars
addressed that individual performance cannot be accumulated to unit or organizational performance
( DeNisi, 2000; Levenson, Van der Stede, & Cohen 2006; Schneider, Smith, & Sipe, 2000).
Research Questions
Based on the literature, two research questions guided this study.
(1) Why some HRD competencies are considered more significant and how do they contribute to help
managers’ individual performance?
(2) Why some HRD roles are considered more significant and how do they contribute to improve
managers’ individual performance?
METHODS
The methodology was qualitatively driven, relying on interviews, we provided details and answers
to “why” and “how” based on the proposed research questions of HRD professionals’ important
competencies and roles, and managers’ individual performance.
Participants
A purposive sampling was implemented, in which the selection of target participants was carefully
scrutinized from the pertinent business establishments in Taiwan. Patton (2002) points out that the sample
The Journal of Global Business Management Volume 11* Number 1 * April 2015 Issue
16
size in a qualitative study should consider the purpose of the study, and the appropriate sample size in
some relevant qualitative studies ranged from 8 to 20 participants (Ellinger, Watkins, and Bostrom, 1999;
Gibson, 2004; Sandberg, 2000; Polach, 2004). Therefore, a total of 16 participants were recruited for the
present study — eight were HRD professionals, and eight were non-HRD managers. Half of the
participants were from high-tech manufacturing industry and the other half were from finance industry.
Care was taken to insure that the eight HRD professionals had sufficient knowledge and professional
experience to provide concrete cases and examples of the important competencies for HRD professionals
in Taiwan. In addition, the eight non-HRD participants had positions as high or middle-level managers
who could provide different angles on information and perspectives concerning the support and benefits
of competencies and roles of HRD professionals conritbued to their job performance.
Wang and McLean (2007) have argued that it is not appropriate to use the US-based HRD
definitions to describe the field of HRD and its functions and roles everywhere. Their sugeestions provide
implications and justify the necessity of the current study to the field of HRD in Taiwan. Due to differing
organizational needs and other organizational factors, Taiwanese businesses often either use different
terms for HRD or have only one-term-fits-all HRM (Chen, Bian & Hom, 2005; Lin, 2006). This makes it
difficult to define what truly constitutes the essence and application of HRD in Taiwan. After our contact
and interviews, we concluded that only HRD professionals in larger Taiwanese companies fit the general
definition of HRD professionals. Therefore, all our interviewees were recruited from larger Taiwanese
companies.
Data collection procedures
A pilot study was conducted to test the feasibility of the interview processes, questions, and data
collection procedures. A semi-structured phone interview was employed to facilitate the candid
expression of comments and opinions from the interviewees. Each interview with HRD professionals
lasted approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour, and each interview with non-HRD managers took 25 minutes
to half an hour.
Data analysis
Most of the interviews were conducted in Chinese, along with some misture of English and
Taiwanese. A coding method proposed by Saldaña (2009) was used for the content analysis. All the
analyzed data were transcribed, translated into English, and subsequently sorted into several categories.
More specifically, with respect to the answers to the research question one, two steps were adopted to
validate the ranking. First, based on the number of times each important measure of competence and role
was addressed or emphasized during the interviews, the researchers counted and ranked all important
competencies and grouped them accordinlgy. Second, to improve the validity and reality of the analytical
results, necessary meber checks were conducted afterwards to reconfirm the ranking of the importance of
individual competencies and competency groups.
Findings
Research Question 1
Why some HRD competencies are considered more important and how do they contribute to help
managers’ individual performance?
HRD competencies, such as training planning, training needs analysis, communication,
technological literacy, business knowledge, and technical competencies were regarded as the more
The Journal of Global Business Management Volume 11* Number 1 * April 2015 Issue 17
important ones which can benefit managers’ jobs according to HRD professionals and managers. Training
planning is one of the most ciritcal HRD competencies because planned training is expected to leverange
employee learning and foster their performance. Specifically, it is suggested that HRD professionals
should have a clear picture of the corporate visions and strategies, and enhance development and
performance at the individual, team, and organizational levels through planned training. In fact, this
competence had been noted in various definitions for the HRD profession (e.g., McLagan, 1989; Swanson,
1996; Werner & DeSimone, 2006). Furthermore, training planning is more desired for HRD professionals
who work with international companies in particular. The HR professionals indicated that not only must
they collaborate with their HRD colleagues in the US headquarters and in other countries in oreder to
obtain and share training resources, but they also must meet the special training needs and learning
culture of their local employees. Here is an interview excerpt describing the essence and necessity of
training planning in the workplace.
HRD [professionals] plan and design the training programs each year. In order to design a training
program, we have to know the company’s operation strategies and the different needs of employees first.
By predicting and analyzing the organizational development and employees’ jobs, we know what type of
training will be needed to meet the organizational goals. We chose 14 courses last year, and 10 courses
were commonly selected by the countries of the Asia-Pacific area as being the necessary courses, so we
promoted these 10 courses in Taiwan. In addition to the courses shared globally, we have to arrange some
regional courses for our local employees.
In addition, one of the non-HRD managers supported the importance of ‘training planning’ by
stating that “they [HRD professionals] should have good training planning skills because the classes they
provide are expected to be broad and deep enough. Some courses should simply help our jobs and some
should further help our daily life. For instance, we benefit a lot from some pracitcal couses regarding law
and counseling.” This refelction explains that HRD professionals’ training planning need to support
managers’ functional pratice in various domains and aspcts. Taking advantage of well-planned training,
managers and their subordinates will be equuied with sufficient capabilities to excute their jobs and face
challanes in their lives better.
Training needs analysis is also more significant because ensuring what training courses should offer
is widely regarded as a core function of HRD. Furthermore, the integration of training planning and
training needs analysis is critical since only by investigating training needs, can training be planned and
carried out effectively and efficiently. Intervewees emphasized that this competence is particularly
essential for the companies that their employees, such as engineers, need concrete training for operating
new machines or equipment on a regular basis. The following excerpts explain how training needs
analaysis may impact managers’ and engineers’ jobs.
It is necessary to understand employees’ training needs before we do planning. For instance, our
[HRD rofessionals’] goal is to help our managers work efficiently and effectively, so we must investigate
their needs. That is training needs analysis. We should be able to find out what are the most necessary
courses for our company and employees.
I think this [training needs analysis] is a basic skill of HRD professionals. We [HRD professionals]
must know the training needs before the training courses are designed. By reading the records of the
important meetings of our company, we can know what new equipment will be used in the coming year,
subseqeuntly we can devise training plans to train our employees to know how to operate and maintain
the new equipment.
Communication was pointed to as a more important competence. HRD professionals should be two-
The Journal of Global Business Management Volume 11* Number 1 * April 2015 Issue
18
way communicators with good listening and questioning abilities. Since HRD jobs are extremely people-
oriented, which means that they should be proficient in interacting with all organizational stakholders, so
interviewees underscored the rating of interpersonal competencies for them. The following interview
excerpt emphasizes being patient and listening carefully to their inner customers are the ways to help
managers.
It is important to have a fine relationship with all departments. We [HRD] usually need to contact
managers directly to ask for their assitance. Also, listen carefully to their managerial problems. You
cannot afford to get angry if some of them just don’t cooperate, or some of them have improper attitudes
toward you. The most difficult problem is communication. The problems and techniques in
communication are most difficult. Communication is very important; being a good listener is important.
We need to understand our employees’ needs anyway.
With the growth of information and digital technology, technological literacy, such as computer
literacy, computer-mediated communication, and electronic performance support system practice, has
become important competnece. Thus, many interviewees claimed that that they take advantage of learning
technologies for offering better training service in their companies.
We have e-learning and the capacity to deal with an electronic performance support system. Last
year, ou management department training units used the human resource information system to operate
some analytical functional jobs and their connection to training. We have several HRD professionals who
focus on the development of the online curriculum and design.
Business knowledge competencies incorporate characteristics such as an understanding of the
organization, knowledge of the industry, decision-making processes, decision criteria, being in touch with
important issues, and understanding the implications of other operational units within an organization
(Rothwell, Sanders & Soper, 1999). Both HRD professionals and managers gave their opinions about
why ‘business knowledge’ is more important, as follows.
We [HRD professionals] must understand our industry to figure out what our old and new
employees should learn. We are an international corporation; therefore, not only do we have to understand
the situation in Taiwan, but also understand global business trends in order to arrange sufficient training
for employees. Take expatriate training for instance, we need to clarify the strategies and goals of our
company, and then we examine and paln the training courses for them.
Technical competencies were important because it is apparent that HRD professionals perform
many administrative and routine jobs for managers. In order to help employees with enhancing job
performance through appropriate training, understanding and application of their current work activities
and process may be very critical. Thus, the technical competencies such as administrative skills,
facilitation, feedback, learning, and promotion are explicitly described as important competencies for
them.
Some people may think training [HRD] is easy because they only think about the delivery of
courses. In fact, there are more chores to do in terms of training. Preparing training materials and
administration are examples. Also, we must be able to teach classes, perform administrative duties,
purchase and do chores, get a classroom, and contact the lecturers.
Research Question Two
Why some HRD roles are more important and how do these HRD roles contribute to improve
managers’ individual performance?
The Journal of Global Business Management Volume 11* Number 1 * April 2015 Issue 19
Learning specialist
One HRD professional stated that “the basic job for HRD professionals is to help our organization
improve its performance by training, so we need to know how to initiate a learning atmosphere in our
company through the application of the ideas and characteristics of adult learning theories in training.” In
addition, HRD professionals have many chances to teach and guide their experienced employees, such as
managers, how to be good trainers because these managers are often required to give lectures, teach
professional knowledge and skills, or share work experiences with all the other younger employees. Thus,
HRD professionals need to be good learning specialists, meaning they should be versed at teaching and
helping managers to facilitate training. As one interviewee suggested: “facilitating skills are critical
during lectures. We trainers usually play the role of facilitator in our training, and we motivate them
[managers] to be good facilitaters as well.” Also, ‘providing feedback’ is desirable when interacting with
managers since HRD professionals are usually asked their opinions about managerial issues and problems.
One interviewee commented: “we need to give feedback on problems encountered by business staff that
will encourage them to solve the managerial problems.” When trainees ask questions regarding their jobs,
HRD professionals are expected to provide some possible and feasible solutions.
In addition to planning and desiging regular lectures, HRD professionals must deliver special
courses themselves when an appropriate external lecturers cannot be found. ‘Promotion’ may sound odd
in terms of an important competence for HRD professionals, but the reality is that HRD professionals
must promote their planned training to their main customers, the employees. Certainly, they should get
support from all levels of managers in order to reach the predetermined training goals. One manager said,
“HRD go to each unit to promote the training courses. They also need to ask business managers to
recommend courses to their subordinates.”
To master everything related to leaning and training in an organization is not easy; according to the
interviews, problems often arise, and HRD professionals have to know how to take care of these
unexpected issues. As stated by an interviewee, “ By predicting and analyzing the organizational
development and employees’ jobs, we know what type of training will be needed to meet the
organizational goals. Our training program was usually carried out after work or on the weekends. In the
beginning, people complained and resisted a lot, so we tried some strategies to help. We made a
mechanism which ties the career promotion, the working achievement appraisal and rewards with the
training program in our company.”
Business Partner
Taking part in the strategic decision making meetings or process may or may not be a part of HRD
professionals’ jobs since their positions are not high ranking for them to be considered decision makers.
However, many interviewees mentioned that their high-level leaders and stakeholders tend to view
training and development as a necessary and important function to help their organizations to achieve
goals. Accordingly, the leaders of HRD, HRD managers or HRD executives, are usually invited to
participate in the process of strategic decision making so that they can help implement these decisions
through training and development. In addition, managers tend to consult HRD professionals about the
effect of training on their employees even though training is not panacea for all cases. In this context,
HRD professionals can play the role of ‘business partners’ since it is important for them to know business
and industrial knowledge in order to participate at the this level. Here are some statements that support
this role.
The Journal of Global Business Management Volume 11* Number 1 * April 2015 Issue
20
Our training center makes our plans based on the main developing directions and strategies of our
company. From the strategic meetings led by our CEO and vice presidents, we can figure out the
operative directions for next year. The coordinator of our training center will attend the meetings because
we have been regarded as an important business partner in our company.
When we receive a training request from other managers, the training is sure to be held. Nontheless,
we still inform them that sometimes training cannot help them, and that they should try some other
strategies or interventions to sovle their problems. We understand that some managers just apply training
for their employees in order to show their supervisors that they are doing something rather than nothing at
all. When we encounter these situations, we always tell them that training cannot solve the real problem.
We recommend them to try other methods.
Also, a supportive business parter should help to solve emergent problem. Because HRD
professionals cannot and should not do everything on their own, empowerment or outsourcing
management is required. They must be strategic at finding either internal or external resources and
flexibly outsourcing their work to experts. One of the HRD interviewees once was asked to offer an
Electronics class to novice engineers. She immediately contacted a professor at a national univerity since
she did not have any prior experience and relevant expertise, and she successfully outsourced and
arranged the training conseqeunlty. Furthermore, it is common for HRD to provide assistance and
resources to support specific organizational activities or projects. One interviewee commented that
“everything [in our workplace] now requires project management. We [HRD professionals] do need time
and skills for project management. We must synthesize and organize the available resources to fulfill
tasks and reach organizational goals effectively and efficiently.” As a result, HRD professionals should
play a role as a business parter for managers. They should be clear about organizational goals and provide
managers appriapirate assistance.
LIMITATIONS
The limitations of the present study are recognized. First, the results are limited to the population
of HRD professionals in Taiwan, and these may not be easily generalized to other non-Chinese cultures or
job descriptions. Second, previous studies have stated the definition as one of the limitations (Lin, 2006).
The same limitation could be applied in this study although the researchers carefully distinguished the
definition of ‘HRD’ from other synonyms such as HRM, personnel, training and even industrial relations.
Third, the answers given in the present study may have been influenced by factors such as the type of
business, the structure or size of an organization, position level, personal experiences, and educational
backgrounds. Fourth, the sample size of the present study was a very reasonable number in a qualitative
study but might not be large enough to represent the entire population of HRD professionals in Taiwan
from the lens of quanatative perspceitve.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
This study provides the explanatory interview excerpts to illustrate why some HRD competencies
and roles are important and how they impact managers’ performance in Taiwan. Our findings generally
correspond to the competencies and roles of HRD professionals outlined by Chen, Bian, and Hom (2005),
but we still found something different. Furthermore, through interviews, the reasons for importance of
main competencies and roles have been discussed as follows.
The Journal of Global Business Management Volume 11* Number 1 * April 2015 Issue 21
‘Training plannig’ was an important competence, and ‘learning specialist’ was an important role.
That is, the interviewees thought that ‘training’ or ‘learning’ are still the most major job duties for HRD
professionals in Taiwan. Nevertheless, simply dealing with training routines or following managerial
orders may not be sufficicnet. Taiwanese HRD professionals shoule be more proactive to deal with their
job dutites or work processes by careful and strategic analysis. When working on training needs analysis
or training planning, as one HRD professional reported, a procedure including analysis, arrangement,
organization, and evaluation should be carried out. Therefore, it is not surprising that non-HRD managers
fully reply on HRD professionals’ professions and suggestions in terms of employee training planning
and arrangement. They also highly praised that their HRD professionals’ analysis and suggestions are
helpful and supportive so that they can receive and utilize training or other business strategies in
management and leadership.
‘Business partner’ was a more important role, which suggests that HRD professionals in Taiwan
should have substantial business knowledge and play a key role for coporate business and operation.
However, HRD professionals and non-HRD managers had slightly different viewpoints on this role. HRD
professionals emphasized that their business knowledge can contribute the most to their job success and it
implies that they view themselves as critical ‘business partners’ or ‘strategic partners.’ Scholars have
postulated that HRD can be expected to play a more strategic role in the organizational policy-making
process today (Kuchinke, 2003; McLagan, 1989; Sanghi 2007; Swanson, 1996; Werner and DeSimone,
2006). From HRD professionals’ perepctives, business roles are critically more important since their
training plans are always strategically geared toward improving individual and organizational
performance. As one HRD professional shared, training has its functions and effects but cannot be overly
amplified for improving performance, so HRD professionals should have sufficient business knowledge
and a clear picture of their organizational development when providing suggestions.
However, non-HRD managers have a different viewpoint by stating that ‘training planning’ is the
only most important for HRD professionals, whom they see as ‘learning specialists.’ Many companies
interviewed here have an HRD unit or a formal training center for taking care of various HRD activities
and functions, so they have a group of HRD professionals for training needs and design. From a non-
HRD manager’s angle, HRD is still not a part of the policy-making team in most Taiwanese companies.
Only HRD executives or managers in a few companies are regularly invited to join policy-making
meetings or to play a critical role in the policy-making process. Thus, non-HRD managers view HRD
professionals’ roles and competencies as more training-oriented.
‘Communication’ was viewed as one of the most important individual competency overall. This
suggests that having good communication skills is critical for HRD professionals and building up solid
international relationships are good approaches to carry out training and consulting services within
workplaces. Without a good interpersonal relationship, trust may not exit. If company stakeholders do not
trust HRD professionals’ work, employees may not benefit that much from the designed activities.
In Chen, Bian, and Hom’s (2005) study, ‘interpersonal competencies,’ ‘technical competencies,’ and
‘leadership competencies,’ were listed as the most important three competency groups. In our study, only
the first two competency goups were valued according to our interviews. HRD professionals in Taiwan do
need competencies, such as ‘communication’ and ‘facilitation skills,’ that fall within the ‘interpersonal
competencies’ and ‘technical competencies’ groups. Both of these studies ranked individual competencies
such as ‘communication,’ ‘analytical thinking,’ ‘interpersonal relationship,’ ‘project management,’ and
‘technological literacy’ among the top important competencies for HRD professionals in Taiwan. Yet, our
interviewees did not agree that the ‘leadership competencies’ cited in Chen, Bian, and Hom’s (2005)
The Journal of Global Business Management Volume 11* Number 1 * April 2015 Issue
22
study were as important as the authors claimed. They provided job examples showing that ‘analytical
competencies’ such as ‘training needs analysis’ and ‘training planning’ were the most important ones,
which agreed with Chen, Bain, and Hom’s (2005) conclusion: the roles of HRD professionals in Taiwan
are still very training-oriented.
Additionally, we discovered some interesting HRD phenomena in Taiwan. As many Taiwanese
small-sized companies do not value HRD or HRM as larger companies do (Lin, 2006), their HRD
professionals are generally young females with no formal HRD or HRM degree. Their job descriptions
could be tantamount to that of an office assistant, and one of the most important job requirements is to
show a good attitude for office chores and brighten the office atmosphere. This explains why
‘interpersonal relationship’ is one of the most important group in their broad survey by Chen, Bian and
Hom (2005), and ‘communication’ is one of the most important individual competence in this study.
Hence, it became obvious that the so-called “HRD professionals” in these small companies could not
provide the information required by the research questions in the present study due to the limited content
of their job descriptions. Thus, we focused on interviewing HRD professionals who were from larger
companies with HRDs that had more complete and varied functions. More interestingly, HRD
professionals in Taiwan are also required to perform HRM functions, such as building employee-
employer relationships or recruitment. That is, all HR members are supposed to support one another in
terms of HR functions and operations.
Due to concerns about the differences in HRD between small and large companies, the eight
selected companies were all larger companies, which gave rise to another problem. It was more
challenging to locate the target participants, the HRD professionals, in some of these Taiwanese
companies either because of different terminology that was used for HRD or different organizational
structures. Some companies had no jobs carrying the title of HRD professional and others had no
department called HRD. However, they did have some departments, units or staff who mainly to cope
with training, learning, development and performance. Therefore, we presented our study and defined our
target participants as clearly as possible for looking for our interview participants.
Implications for human resource development
Our results were collected both from HRD professionals and non-HRD managers, the data are
comparatively practical and reflective of actual HRD practice in Taiwan. All the important competencies
emphasized here provided an authentic reference for recruiting, training, developing HRD professionals,
and improving the work of HRD in organizations. For instance, based on our findings, when recruiting a
competent HRD staff, we suggest that Taiwanese companies had better find people with the more
important competencies such as good analytical skills, training planning experiences, administrative skills,
and communicative skills. In addition, this study’s results provided concrete examples of HRD
competencies that can be used in designing competency-based curricula for developing professional HRD
practitioners in Taiwan. In order to help students develop their significant HRD competencies that are
indispensible in workplaces, Taiwanese HRD or HRM programs in higher education may find some
inspirations from this study for operating their curriculum and instruction. Also, the valuable opinions
provided by HRD professionals and non-HRD managers can contribute to the relevant research in Taiwan.
For HRD learners, our findings provide a great chance to learn about the real world of HRD through the
voices of HRD incumbents. The perspectives of non-HRD interviewees should inspire a deeper
understanding of the position of HRD professionals in organizations and the relationship between HRD
and other organizational functions and departments.
The Journal of Global Business Management Volume 11* Number 1 * April 2015 Issue 23
HRD involves three subareas: training and development, career development, and organizational
development, and these subareas should be well integrated if they are to contribute to the long-term
operation and effectiveness of an organization (Swanson,1996). According to our interviews, however,
training has not been well aligned with career development, career management and organizational
development in many Taiwanese companies. Although training can be an highlighted area of the HRD
profession, the importance of training is not as highly valued outside the HRD department. Therefore, it
merits more follow-up and future work in terms of promoting the effects and importance of HRD on
employees and their job performance to other employees in Taiwanese companies. Last, this study’s
results deepen better understanding of the current important competencies of HRD in Taiwan by
providing many authentic and concrete examples and job descriptions. There are still more issues
regarding the competencies of HRD professionals and other organizational events that could be explored
in future research, the present study is just a starting point for further elucidation of the competencies and
roles of HRD professionals in Taiwan.
REFERENCES
Abraham, S. E., Karns, A. L., Kenneth, S., & Manuel, A. M. (2001). Managerial competencies and the managerial performance
appraisal process. The Journal of Management Development, 20(10): 842-852.
Bae, S. H., & Song, J. H. (2009). Bridging career and technical education (CTE) and human resource development (HRD):
Integrative and analytical comparison of competencies between CTE and HRD. The Korean Journal for Human Resource
Development, 11(2): 69-89.
Bernthal, P. R., Colteryahn, K., Davis, P., Naughton, J., Rothwell, W. J., & Wellins, R. (2004). ASTD competency study: Mapping
the future new workplace learning and performance competencies─New workplace learning and performance competencies.
Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.
Buford, Jr. J. A., & Lindner, J. R. (2002). Human resource management in local government: Concepts and applications for students
and practitioners. Cincinnati, OH: Southwestern.
Caldwell, R. (2008). HR business partner competency models: Re-contextualising effectiveness. Human Resource Management
Journal, 18(3): 275-294.
Carliner, S. (2012). Certification and the branding of HRD. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 23(3): 411-419.
Chen, A. S., Bian, M., & Hom, Y. 2005. Taiwan HRD practitioner competencies: An application of the ASTD WLP competency
model. International Journal of Training and Development, 9(1), 21-32.
Chen, H., & Naquin, S. S. (2006). An integrative model of competency development, training design, assessment center, and multi-
rater assessment. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 8(2): 265-282.
Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2005). Organizational development and change (8th ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western.
Davids, P., Naughton, J., & Rothwell, W. J. (2004). New roles and new competencies for the profession, T+D, 58(40): 26-36.
DeNisi, A. S. (2000), Performance appraisal and performance management: A multilevel approach, In: K. J. Klein & S. W. J.
Kozlowski, (Eds.) Multilevel theory, research and methods in organizations: Foundations, extensions, and new directions:
121-156. San Francisco, CA: Joey-Bass.
Egan, T. M. (2011). Key intersections between HRD and management. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 22(2): 223-234.
Ellinger, A. D., Watkins, K. E., & Bostrom, R. P. (1999). Managers as facilitators of learning in learning organizations. Human
Resource Development Quarterly, 10(2): 105-125.
Foxon, M., Richey, R. C., Roberts, R., & Spannaus, T. (2003). Training manager competencies: The standards (2nd ed.). Syracuse,
NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology.
Gangani, N., McLean, G. N., & Braden, R. A. (2006). A competency-based human resource development strategy. Performance
The Journal of Global Business Management Volume 11* Number 1 * April 2015 Issue
24
Improvement Quarterly, 19(1): 127-139.
Gibson, S. K. (2004). Being mentored: The experience of women faculty. Journal of Career Development, 30(3), 173-188.
Goldstein, H. W., Yusko, K. P., & Nicolopoulos, V. (2001). Exploring black-white subgroup differences of managerial. Personnel
Psychology, 54(4): 738-807.
Gray, L. (1999). New Zealand HRD practitioner competencies: Application of the ASTD competency model. The international
Journal of Human Resource Management, 10(6): 1046-1059.
Green, P. C. (1999). Building robust competencies. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Guion, R. M. (1991). Personnel assessment, selection and placement. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychological Press.
Harzallah, M., Berio, G., & Vernadat, F. (2006). Analysis and modeling of individual competencies: Toward better management of
human resources. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics—Part A: Systems and Humans, 36(1), 187-207.
Hollenbeck, G. P., McCall, Jr. M. W., & Silzer, R. F. (2006). Leadership competency models. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(4): 398-
413.
Klink, M. V., & Boon, J. (2002), The investigation of competencies within professional domains. Human Resource Development
International, 5(4): 411–424.
Kormanik, M. B., Lehner, R. D., & Winnick, T. A. (2009). General competencies for the HRD scholar-practitioner: Perspectives
from across the profession. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 11(4): 486-506.
Kuchinke, K. P. (2003). Contingent HRD: Towards a theory of variation and differentiation in formal human resource development.
Human Resource Development Review, 2(3), 294-309.
Kuo, M. C. (2002). The history of human resource development in Taiwan:1950s-1990s. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Lawler, E. E. (2005). From human resource management to organizational effectiveness. Human Resource Management, 44(2): 165-
169.
Lee, Y. (2006). An investigation and critique of competencies needed by human resource development (HRD) master's degree
graduates in Korea. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Florida State University, Tallahassee.
Lee, Y. (2009). Competencies needed by Korean HRD master's graduates: A comparison between the ASTD WLP competency
model and the Korean study. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 20(1): 107-133.
Levenson, A. R., Van der Stede, W. A., & Cohen, S. G. (2006). Measuring the relationship between managerial competencies and
performance. Journal of Management, 32(3): 360-380.
Lin, Y. (2006). The perceptions of human resource development professionals in Taiwan regarding their working relationships with
subject matter experts (SMES) during the Training design process. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University,
Columbus.
Long, C. S., Ismail, W. K. W., & Amin, S. M. (2012). The role of change agent as mediator in the relationship between HR
competencies and organizational performance. The International Journal of Human Resource Management: 1-15.
Lucia, A. D., & Lesinger, R. (1999). The art and science of competency models: Pinpointing critical success factors in an
organization. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
MacKenzie, C. A., Garavan, T. N., & Carbery, R., (2012). Through the looking glass: Challenges for human resource development
(HRD) post the global financial crisis – business as usual? Human Resource Development International, 15(3): 353-364.
Marrelli, A. F., Tondora, J., & Hoge, M. A. (2005). Strategies for developing competency models. Administration and Policy in
Mental Health, 32(5): 533-560.
McEvoy, G. M., Hayton, J. C., Warnick, A. P., Mumford, T. V., Hanks, S. H., & Blahna, M. J. (2005). A competency-based model for
developing human resource professionals. Journal of Management Education, 29(3): 383-402.
McLagan, P. A. (1997). Competencies: The next generation. Training & Development, 51(5): 40-47.
McLagan, P. A. (1989). Models for HRD practice: The models. Washington, DC: American Society for Training and Development.
Mirabile, R. J. (1997). Implementation planning: Key to successful competency strategies. Human Resource Professional, 10(4): 19-23.
The Journal of Global Business Management Volume 11* Number 1 * April 2015 Issue 25
Naquin, S. S., & Holton, III E.F. (2006). Leadership and managerial competency models: A simplified process and resulting model.
Advanced in Developing Human Resources, 8(2): 144-165.
Park, S. Y., & Lee, C. (2011). Development of a competency model for CEO in SMEs. Journal of Agricultural Education and
Human Resource Development, 43(1): 87-106.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Polach, J. (2004). Understanding the experience of college graduates during their first year of employment in a large corporate
environment. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 15(1): 5-23.
Rodriguez, D., Patel, R., Bright, A., Gregory, D., & Gowing, M. K. (2002). Developing competency models to promote integrated
human resource practices. Human Resource Management, 41(3): 309-324.
Rothwell, W. J. (1996). ASTD models for human performance improvement roles, competencies, and outputs. Alexandria, VA:
American Society for Training and Development.
Rothwell, W. J., & Lindholm, J. E. (1999). Competency identification, modeling and assessment in the USA. International Journal
of Training and Development, 3(2): 90-105.
Rothwell, W. J., Sanders, E. S., & Soper, J. G. (1999). American society for workplace learning and performance: Roles,
competencies, and outputs. Alexandria, CA: American Society for Training and Development.
Roytek, M. A. (2010). Enhancing instructional design efficiency: Methodologies employed by instructional designers. British
Journal of Educational Technology, 41(2): 170-180.
Richey, R., Fields, D., Foxon, M., Roberts, R.C., Spannaus, T., & Spector, J. M. (2001). Instructional design competencies: The
standards (3rd ed.). Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology.
Russell, C. J. (2001). A longitudinal study of top-level executive performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 6(4): 560-573.
Rodriguez, D., Patel, R., Bright, A., Gregory, D., & Gowing, M. K. (2002). Developing competency model to promote integrated
human resource practices. Human Resource Management, 41(3): 309-324.
Rychen, D. S. (2004). Key competencies for all: An overarching conceptual frame of reference. In Rychen, D.S., & Tiana, A. (Eds.),
Developing key competencies in education: 5-34. Paris: UNESCO.
Saldaña, J. (2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. London, England: Sage Publications.
Sandberg, J. (2000). Understanding human resource competence at work: An interpretative approach. Academy of Management
Journal, 43(1): 9-25.
Sanghi, S. (2007). The handbook of competency mapping: Understanding, designing and implementing competency models in
organizations, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Spencer, L.M., & Spencer, S.M. (1993). Competence at work. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Sugar, W., Hoard, B., Brown, A., & Daniels, L. (2012). Identifying multimedia production competencies and skills of instructional
design and technology professionals: An analysis of recent job postings, Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 40(3):
227-249.
Swanson, R.A. (1996). Analysis for improving performance: Tools for diagnosing organizations and documenting workplace
expertise. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
Swanson, R. A., & Holton, E. F. (2009). Foundations of human resource development, 2nd ed. San Francisco, CA, Berrett-Koehler
Publishers.
Wang, X. & McLean, G. N. (2007). The dilemma of defining international human resource development. Human Resource
Development Review, 6(1): 96-108.
Werner, J. M., & DeSimone, R. L. (2006). Human resource development, 4th ed. Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western.
Xie, J. (2005). Human resource development roles in the People's Republic of China: Investigation from seven provinces.
International Journal of Training and Development, 9 (1): 32-45.
Xie, J. & Huang, E. (2010). Comparative analysis of human resource development between different countries under the vision of
competition. Frontiers of Education in China, 5(3): 382-408.
The Journal of Global Business Management Volume 11* Number 1 * April 2015 Issue
26
Yang, J. C. (1994). Perceived competencies needed by HRD managers in Korea. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of
Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Zhu, Y., Chen, I., & Warner, M. (2000). HRM in Taiwan: An empirical case study. Human Resource Management Journal, 10(4):
32-44.