Context and Methodology
What is the IHRP Body of Competencies?
The IHRP Body of Competencies (BoC) outlines the competency standards required for HR professionals to be future-focused, ready to deliver impactful employee experiences and create sustainable value for the organisation. IHRP regularly monitors the trends in the HR landscape to identify opportunities to enhance and refine the IHRP BoC and certification programmes.
The BoC was first developed in 2016 through a process of rigorous research, comparative analysis of other international HR professional certification bodies, as well as interviews with HR professionals and subject matter experts. Once developed, the BoC was further validated in focus groups involving over 450 participants representing HR and Business leaders across MNCs, SMEs and Public Sector.
In alignment with global standards and to keep pace with changes in technology and the new world of work, IHRP refreshed its BoC in 2020 to ensure that the framework continues to reflect the future-focused competencies required of HR professionals.
The IHRP-CA, IHRP-CP, IHRP-SP and IHRP-MP certifications are built upon the IHRP BoC.
How was the Body of Competencies developed?
During the IHRP BoC refresh in 2020, a robust research and industry engagement methodology was developed to ensure that the BoC will create an inspirational, future-focused framework. This methodology sought to bring together a variety of methods which would deliver compelling qualitative and quantitative insights on how the competencies required of HR professionals are evolving. By combining desktop-based methods and direct engagement with a diverse range of industry stakeholders we were able to build a comprehensive view of how key trends and themes are impacting HR professionals. You can find out more about the different strands of this methodology in the graphic below:
Leading Research Papers and Articles
Emerging thought leadership published by sources including:
• World Economic Forum
• Harvard Business Review
• Josh Bersin
• Mercer
Cross-sector Industry Engagement
15+
Focus Group Sessions
49
Organisations
Dedicated Content Review Taskforce of leading Singapore HR experts
International HR Framework Review
Comparative analysis of the following frameworks:
• CIPD Profession Map
• SkillsFuture Skills Framework for Human Resources
• AHRI Model of Excellence
• David Ulrich’s HR Competency Study
• SHRM Body of Competency and Knowledge
• ATD Talent Development Capability Model
Global Data Scraping Analysis
Quantitative analysis of datasets to identify emerging skills & patterns across geographies:
103,681
Job Descriptions
873,074
Professional Profiles
The research and industry engagement methodology identified six key themes and trends which anchored the refinements made to create an inspirational, future-focused BoC. These six key themes and trends are reflective of the how the global environment is being disrupted by factors like technology, how the world of work is evolving and how employee and consumer expectations of organisations are changing.
Find out more about these trends and themes below:
Find out more about these trends and themes below:
Empathy & Economics
HR navigates ambiguous situations, managing the priorities and agendas of multiple stakeholders. Grappling with complex dilemmas, HR strikes a balancebetween empathy and economics. HR responds withagility, focuses on the employee as an individual and champions flexibility.
Ethics, Purpose & Sustainability
HR shifts the focus towards greater transparency and the a multi-stakeholder model of measuring value, enabling employees to connect more directly with theorganisation’s purpose. HR influences the leadership to inspire trust, uphold ethical accountability and cohesively create a sustainable organisation.
Employee Experience
HR thinks holistically about the touchpoints across the end-to-end employee lifecycle and the opportunities to connect more fully with employees. HR enables an employee experience that makes work moreproductive and meaningful leading to greater business results and employee engagement.
Strategic Business Enabler
HR is a critical part of the business rather than merely supporting the business; championing the people agenda while balancing business priorities, driving productivity and enabling business success.
Digitalisation
HR leads digital transformation, using technology to solve problems and optimise business efficiencies. Data analytics helps to enable more agile andevidence-based decision making.
Work Transformation
HR reimagines how work gets done in the new world of disruptive technology and business models, encompassing the need to redesign job roles, definecritical current & future skills / capabilities and manage changing workforce compositions.
The trends and themes played an important role in driving incremental content changes across the BoC. The graphic below highlights some examples of how the trends and themes shaped the 2020 BoC refresh:
Empathy & Economics
The “Cross Culture Management” sub-competency, under the Engage Functional competencies, has been renamed to “Diversity & Inclusion Management”, to broaden the focus on creating a more inclusive workplace and fostering greater employee wellbeing.
Ethics, Purpose & Sustainability
The increased need for HR to play a leading role as organisations reimagine their purpose and navigate a shift to multi-stakeholder model of measuring value has been integrated into the “Organisation Development” sub-competency within the Plan Functional competencies and the “Steer Organisation Culture and Change” Advanced sub-competency.
Employee Experience
A New HR Mindset & Behaviour has been added, focused on “Enable the Employee Experience”. This is to emphasise the importance of creating a more meaningful and engaging connection between the employee and their employer and taking an end user-focused approach.
Strategic Business Enabler
The role of HR as a value creator, driving business objectives through people strategy has been further emphasised in the “Drive HR Value Creation” Advanced sub-competency, “Display Business and Financial Acumen” HR Mindset & Behaviour and the “HR Strategy & Workforce Planning” sub-competency under the Plan Functional competencies.
Digitalisation
The need for HR to focus on leveraging data analytics and visualisation tools to create actionable workforce and talent insights been emphasised within the “Data Analytics & Insights” and “Technology and Operational Excellence” Foundational competencies.
Work Transformation
A new sub-competency on ”Job Redesign” was added to the Plan Functional competencies to highlight an increasing need for HR to look at redesigning jobs to address technology and business disruptions, as well as reskill employees for the future.
Trend or Theme
Impact on the BoC
Empathy & Economics
The “Cross Culture Management” sub-competency, under the Engage Functional competencies, has been renamed to “Diversity & Inclusion Management”, to broaden the focus on creating a more inclusive workplace and fostering greater employee wellbeing.
Ethics, Purpose & Sustainability
The increased need for HR to play a leading role as organisations reimagine their purpose and navigate a shift to multi-stakeholder model of measuring value has been integrated into the “Organisation Development” sub-competency within the Plan Functional competencies and the “Steer Organisation Culture and Change” Advanced sub-competency.
Employee Experience
A New HR Mindset & Behaviour has been added, focused on “Enable the Employee Experience”. This is to emphasise the importance of creating a more meaningful and engaging connection between the employee and their employer and taking an end user-focused approach.
Strategic Business Enabler
The role of HR as a value creator, driving business objectives through people strategy has been further emphasised in the “Drive HR Value Creation” Advanced sub-competency, “Display Business and Financial Acumen” HR Mindset & Behaviour and the “HR Strategy & Workforce Planning” sub-competency under the Plan Functional competencies.
Digitalisation
The need for HR to focus on leveraging data analytics and visualisation tools to create actionable workforce and talent insights been emphasised within the “Data Analytics & Insights” and “Technology and Operational Excellence” Foundational competencies.
Work Transformation
A new sub-competency on ”Job Redesign” was added to the Plan Functional competencies to highlight an increasing need for HR to look at redesigning jobs to address technology and business disruptions, as well as reskill employees for the future.
To learn more about how HR professionals in Singapore are displaying future-focused competencies to navigate the real world impact of these trends and themes, visit the Case Studies section.
How can I use the Body of Competencies?
Depending on your background, experience level and current role, you may use the BoC in different ways. Ultimately, the BoC aims to strengthen and professionalise HR practice in Singapore.
The personas in the table below provide an overview of how the BoC is relevant for different users:
The personas in the table below provide an overview of how the BoC is relevant for different users:
Sarah
HR Professional
Focused on developing her capabilities and future-proofing her skillsets.
Sarah can use the BoC to find out more about the types of competencies she may need to develop to make an impact as she progresses in her career path in HR.
The BoC can guide her professional development and understand the competencies required to advance to higher IHRP certification levels.
Mark
In-house L&D HR Professional
Thinking about how he supports his HR colleagues to develop the competencies they need for the future.
The BoC can help Mark to understand the emerging trends which are influencing the competencies HR professional need to develop for the future. He can review the BoC’s detailed proficiency level descriptors, which have been validated by seasoned HR professionals, to inform the development of internal frameworks and training programmes.
Matthew
Curriculum Developer at a leading Training Provider
Creating new courseware materials to engage learners.
As Matthew prepares the curriculum for his new course, he can refer to the BoC to inform the focus areas and content of his course materials to ensure these are relevant to emerging market trends and practices.
The BoC is an important reference tool for HR professionals who are preparing for the IHRP certification assessments. You can find out more about the different IHRP certification levels and assessments here.
How is the Body of Competencies structured?
The BoC is organised into three competency areas represented in the form of concentric circles.
It is this inter-relatedness of the various competencies, that when brought together holistically, will enable HR professionals to create value and deliver positive impact to the business.
HR Mindsets and Behaviours
These are characteristics that manifest in the way HR practitioners think and behave as they approach theirHR work, deal with people, and manage work-related situations.
Functional Competencies
They are required for HR practitioners to successfully deliver their functional roles. For each phase, the performance statements for interrelated tasks are set out in a way that, when taken as a whole, they deliver a desired functional outcome for the organisation.
Foundational Competencies
The Foundational Competencies underpin and span acrossthe HR Functional Competencies. They serve as core enablers supporting HR functional activities.
The refreshed BoC reflects the four IHRP certification levels, including the IHRP Certified Associate (IHRP-CA) level, which was introduced in the earlier part of 2020. You can find out more about the different certification levels, and the related sub-competencies, by navigating the diagrams below.
Key Components of the IHRP BoC
IHRP Certification Level Definitions
IHRP Certified Associate
New and aspiring HR professionals, HR consultants, swith less than 3 years of HR working experience and support the HR team in day-to-day HR operations and HR intervention strategies. Also applicable for students and mid-career switchers who are interested in pursuing HR related roles.
IHRP Certified Professional
HR professionals with more than 3 years of HR working experience, 150 HR training hours and responsible for developing and implementing HR policies and programmes to deliver HR services and operate the HR function. Consultants at an equivalent experience level whose work is directly relevant to HR are also eligible.
IHRP Senior Professional
Seasoned and experienced HR leaders with more than 8 years of HR working experience, 2 years of strategic experience, 150 HR training hours and responsible for leading a HR function, designing and developing HR policies and programmes, as well as provide day-to-day guidance to the team for HR service delivery. Consultants at an equivalent experience level whose work is directly relevant to HR are also eligible.
IHRP Master Professional
Top HR leaders from MNC, Public Sector and Small-Medium Enterprises, who are recognised and well-regarded by the HR community for their active contributions to the HR industry.
The BoC follows a “building block” or cumulative approach; this means that at the higher levels, such as Senior Professional, the ability to demonstrate the performance statements of the lower levels is implied.
Beyond the IHRP Body of Competencies, how do other international bodies currently articulate the competencies required of HR professionals?
IHRP has partnerships with three international HR bodes: CIPD, AHRI and SHRM. You can find out more about the competency frameworks which these organisations publish for HR professionals by visiting their websites.
A comparative analysis of these frameworks played a key role in shaping the BoC refresh, guiding the definition of the six emerging trends and themes anchoring the IHRP competency framework update. The table below reflects a quick mapping of the select key competencies referenced from these respective frameworks.
CIPD
Strategic Business Enabler
• Business acumen
• Commercial drive
Digitalisation
• Digital working
• Analytics & creating value
Work Transformation
• Organisation development and design
• Change
Employee Experience
• Employee experience
• Culture and behaviour
Ethics, Purpose & Sustainability
• Ethical practice
Empathy & Economics
• Situational decision making
• Professional courage and influence
• Working inclusively
AHRI
Strategic Business Enabler
• Business driven
• Strategic architect
• Solutions driven
Digitalisation
• Critical and enquiring thinker
Work Transformation
• Future oriented
• Workforce and workplace designer
Employee Experience
• Culture and change leader
Ethics, Purpose & Sustainability
• Ethical and credible activist
Empathy & Economics
• Understand and care
• Courageous
• Collaborative
• Resolver of issues
SHRM
Strategic Business Enabler
• Business and competitive awareness
• Strategic alignment
• Evaluating business challenges
Digitalisation
• Data advocate
• Data analysis
• Evidence-based decision-making
Work Transformation
• Vision
• Change management
Employee Experience
• Listening
• Employee engagement and retention
• Designing HR solutions
Ethics, Purpose & Sustainability
• Ethical agent
• Navigating the organisation
• Corporate social responsibility
Empathy & Economics
• Negotiation
• Delivering messages
• Influence
• Personal integrity
• Professional integrity
CIPD
AHRI
SHRM
Strategic Business Enabler
• Business acumen
• Commercial drive
• Business driven
• Strategic architect
• Solutions driven
• Business and competitive awareness
• Strategic alignment
• Evaluating business challenges
Digitalisation
• Digital working
• Analytics & creating value
• Critical and enquiring thinker
• Data advocate
• Data analysis
• Evidence-based decision-making
Work Transformation
• Organisation development and design
• Change
• Future oriented
• Workforce and workplace designer
• Vision
• Change management
Employee Experience
• Employee experience
• Culture and behaviour
• Culture and change leader
• Listening
• Employee engagement and retention
• Designing HR solutions
Ethics, Purpose & Sustainability
• Ethical practice
• Ethical and credible activist
• Ethical agent
• Navigating the organisation
• Corporate social responsibility
Empathy & Economics
• Situational decision making
• Professional courage and influence
• Working inclusively
• Understand and care
• Courageous
• Collaborative
• Resolver of issues
• Negotiation
• Delivering messages
• Influence
• Personal integrity
• Professional integrity