Systematically Develop Your HR Department

Create a simplified process that addresses both department-wide and individual employee development needs.

Executive Summary

McLean & Company Insight

HR’s own development often falls to the wayside because of competing priorities and capacity constraints. Use a simple process to assess and address gaps and increase the likelihood of adoption.

Situation

Effective HR departments drive organizational success: organizations that had highly effective HR departments were more likely to achieve organizational goals (McLean & Company, Trends Survey 2019; N=773).

However, many HR departments have not yet reached this level of effectiveness. In fact, only 38% of HR professionals rate their HR department as highly effective, and this is 1.8x more than stakeholders rate their HR departments – meaning stakeholders view their HR departments as less effective than HR views itself (McLean & Company, Trends Survey 2020; N=365)

Complication

The requirements of HR are continuously increasing with the growing needs of stakeholders.

However, HR rarely has the time to focus on its own development to effectively support stakeholder needs. This is often because HR usually spends most of its time prioritizing the needs of employees outside of HR over its own needs. Compounding this is the fact that few HR departments provide internal development opportunities for HR employees (McLean & Company, Trends Survey 2019; N=471).

Solution

Use McLean & Company’s three-step process to identify the competencies key to delivering on the HR department’s priorities, assess the HR team against these competencies, and develop a plan to address competency gaps.

Weigh time, budget, and the size of the competency gap when determining how to address each gap (e.g. by developing the team with department-wide training and individual development plans, bringing new employees with the desired competencies into the HR team, or by exploring offboarding employees who are not able to develop).

Highly effective HR departments positively impact organizational success

An effective HR department is important not just for HR, but for the entire organization:

Organizations that had highly effective HR departments were more likely to achieve their organizational goals (McLean & Company, Trends Survey 2019; N=773).

High-performing HR departments drive organizational impact by:

• Delivering exceptional customer value.
• Responding proactively to disruptive change.
• Driving innovation.
• Attracting the talent the organization needs.
(Mercer (a))

“When HR does it right – when those organisational[sic], social or cultural capabilities are aligned to the technical core competencies which drive the strategy to deliver a pattern of consistent earnings – this raises investor confidence in the future.” (Norm Smallwood (quoted in Bolza))

However, many HR departments have not yet reached this level of effectiveness

64% of HR departments are not a partner in planning and executing strategy (McLean & Company, Trends Survey 2020; N=718)

Only 38% of HR professionals rate their HR department as highly effective. However, this is 1.8x more than stakeholders rate their HR departments (McLean & Company, Trends Survey 2020; N=365)

HR leaders report feeling less prepared than their peers in all other leadership roles for the following:

Senior executives are twice as likely to view HR as reactive than HR itself

Many HR departments lack development opportunities to ensure their effectiveness

Only 22% of HR departments are highly effective at HR development (McLean & Company, Trends Survey 2019; N=907)

Few HR departments provide internal development opportunities, which are more effective than external learning opportunities. This is concerning since HR development has the largest association with higher overall HR effectiveness (McLean & Company, Trends Survey 2019; N=907).

• 9% — Rotation into other departments or business units
• 18% — Rotation into other HR functions
• 21% — Internal communities of practice
• 26% — Mentorship (internal or external)
• 38% — Stretch assignments
• 39% — Coaching
• 50% — Access to learning resources
• 57% — HR specific courses, programs, or certification
• 68% — HR association membership
• 73% — Attending conferences
(McLean & Company, Trends Survey 2019; N=471)

McLean & Company Insight

When faced with capacity constraints, development is often the first thing to fall off. Dedicating time, effort, and resources is key to making the shift toward HR effectiveness. The problem is, this isn’t happening – usually because HR departments spend most of their time prioritizing the needs of employees instead of their own needs.

Developing the HR team elevates the performance of not only HR, but also the organization

HR often spends most of its time focusing on the needs of those outside of HR over its own needs

As a result, HR employees’ development needs, among other HR needs, are often left unaddressed

This impacts the organization since the work performed by HR supports and enables all employees

McLean & Company Insight

For HR to focus on its own development, HR leadership needs to act as an advocate and demonstrate the link between HR development and HR effectiveness and efficiency to senior leadership and the organization.

Develop your HR department with McLean & Company’s competency framework

Functional Competencies

• Managing through change and uncertainty
• Needs analysis
• Facilitation
• Problem solving and decision making
• Strategic mindset
• Conflict management
• Dynamic learning mindset
• Branding and marketing
• Technology enablement
• Customer focus
• Communication
• Project management
• Program planning and development
• Coaching
• Influence
Competencies for strategic HR
• Relationship building
• Data literacy
• Business and financial acumen
• Organizational awareness

Use McLean & Company’s three-step process to develop your HR department

McLean & Company Insight

Effectively develop your HR department by keeping it simple. Identify department-wide and individual employee competency gaps, then provide development opportunities using a variety of learning methods to increase the likelihood of adoption and success.

Step 1

Identify Required Future HR Competency

After completing this step you will have:

• Identified key HR departmental priorities.
• Selected key strategic competencies.
• Defined competencies for each role.

Use McLean & Company’s HR Development Workbook throughout this blueprint to plan to develop the HR team

Use this tool to in Step 1 to:

• Record departmental priorities
• Document selected competencies needed to deliver on departmental priorities
• Map the competencies to each role in the HR department

Use this tool to in Step 2 to:

• Assess competency levels across the HR department
• Identify department-wide and individual employee competency gaps

Use this tool to in Step 3 to:

• Create an action plan to address competency gaps

Identify key HR priorities

The work of identifying priorities may have already been done. If they exist, consult the talent strategy as a starting point, or review other organizational documents to determine departmental priorities from scratch.

1. Talent (HR) Strategy This identifies the organizational priorities that HR supports (those that are the most impactful on achieving organizational goals) and how it plans to do so. Review:
   • Talent implications: The requirements, effects, or consequences of the organizational strategy on talent.
   • Strategic pillars and HR outcomes: The vision for HR and what HR needs to accomplish to achieve it.
   • HR metrics selected as part of strategy.
2. Or, from scratch If a Talent (HR) Strategy doesn’t exist, leverage McLean & Company’s HR Stakeholder Management Survey.
   1. Examine the results of the survey, including the list of priorities identified by stakeholders.
   2. Select the top three to five priorities HR will focus on over the next one to two years. Focus development around these priorities over others.
   3. Brainstorm how HR will drive success of the priorities identified by the survey.
   4. Decide who is responsible for implementation.
   For example, if stakeholders identified Talent Acquisition (TA) as a key priority and also identified they are experiencing issues with this HR function (e.g. long time-to-fill times, difficulties hiring top talent), prioritize development related to TA over functions identified as lower priority or with fewer problems.
3. Alternatively, conduct any or all of the following activities
   to identify the organization’s priorities. From there, identify the three to five priorities that HR will focus on over the next one to two years.
   • Business SWOT
   • PESTLE
   • Business Model Canvas
   • Stakeholder Interviews
   • Document Review
   • Porter’s Five Forces

Refer to the Strategy Exploration Guide for more information on these activities.

Record HR priorities and those responsible for implementing in tab 2 of the HR Development Workbook.

Select metrics to demonstrate the impact of HR development

Create goals for HR development that are aligned with the HR priorities identified previously to maximize business impact.

Example

Refer to McLean & Company’s HR Metrics Library for a full list of metrics.

Record selected metrics in tab 2 of the HR Development Workbook.

Leverage McLean & Company’s HR competency model when selecting competencies

This competency model consists of competencies identified by McLean & Company through extensive research as being key to an effective HR department.

For competency definitions and proficiency levels, refer to the Human Resources Competency Library and/or the Comprehensive Competency Library.

Select key competencies required for the entire HR team to achieve HR priorities

What is a competency? It is made up of:

• Knowledge
  • A body of information that a person possesses that may be applied directly to the performance of a function.
  • Examples: Facts, events, systems, ideas, theories, methods, procedures, principles, or concepts.
• Skills
  • Demonstrated and observable ability to perform a task with ease and proficiency.
  • Implies measurable performance.
• Attributes
  • An individual’s demonstrated personality traits. Often broader and more abstract than skills or knowledge.
  • Examples: Characteristics like attitude, motivation, ambition, values, and demeanor.

Use or build upon the following to select competencies for all of HR:

• McLean & Company’s competency model Refer to the Human Resources Competency Library and/or the Comprehensive Competency Library.
• Your own competency model Refer to Develop a Comprehensive Competency Framework for guidance to update your competency model.
• A professional association’s model. For example:
  • SHRM
  • CIPD
  • CPHR
  • HRPA

Identify and record the competencies in tab 3 of the HR Development Workbook.

Base HR competencies on key HR priorities

To select competencies, ask:

• What behaviors will HR need to embody to ensure the success of HR initiatives?
• What skills are key to deliver on departmental goals?
• What knowledge is required to be able to reach goals?
• What abilities will allow the department to achieve success?
• What are the future competencies required in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment?

Evaluate the following four competencies if there is desire to develop HR employees’ strategic behavior

McLean & Company found the following four competencies are key to being a strategic HR professional. If one or more of the competencies is already well established within HR, no need to focus on those now. Select the others for additional development focus.

Business & Financial Acumen

Makes decisions based on a solid understanding of the business and the wider industry – a broader business mindset. Maximizes results by understanding and aligning actions with the organization’s goals, core functions, needs, and values. Applies financial knowledge to address organizational needs.

Organizational Awareness

Aligns decisions with the organizational context. Contributes to the organization by understanding and aligning actions with the organization’s goals, core functions, needs, and values.

Data Literacy

Leverages data to drive decision making and identify opportunities. Identifies, collects, and interprets quality data that informs human capital decision making. Communicates, and acts on, information and insight from relevant data (including metrics, visualizations, and analytics).

Relationship Building

Builds relationships to communicate effectively and obtain buy-in for decisions. Develops internal and external professional, trusting relationships. Purposefully develops networks to build value through collaboration.

Outline the roles within HR

1	Segment the HR department according to what is appropriate for your organization. List the segments that exist. You may choose to segment by functions, teams, or job families.
2	Record all roles within the HR department, for each segment. Note that not all roles will fit into a function or job family (e.g. specialized roles such as employment lawyer, ergonomist).

Outline roles using tab 5 of the HR Development Workbook.

Identify key role-specific, technical skills that aren’t captured by the competencies selected earlier

The purpose of this activity is to capture any outstanding key skills that are not captured in the previously selected competencies.

• Complete this for all roles, if time allows. Otherwise, prioritize key roles (roles that, if left vacant, would have a large impact on the organization’s productivity).
• This activity is meant to capture key skills – not all skills – associated with each role.

McLean & Company Insight

The objective is not to identify every single skill (e.g. MS office) involved in a role. Identify skills that are most critical for achieving the core purpose of the role.

Record skills in tab 4 of the HR Development Workbook.

To do this, use one or more of the following options:

1. If you used McLean & Company’s process to Redesign Your HR Structure, review the accountabilities and responsibilities outlined for each role.
2. Use the Job Analysis Questionnaire to collect information from internal job experts and build outlines describing the skills required to perform in the role.
3. Complete any of the following four methods to identify key skills:
   
   
   1. Job descriptions: Review the following components of the job descriptions and identify the skills that lend themselves to those items.
      • Main responsibilities and accountabilities
      • Required qualifications
      • Preferred qualifications
      • Competencies (core and functional)
   2. Job postings, if updated more recently than job descriptions. Look at the following:
      • Job summary
      • Main responsibilities
      • Required qualifications
   3. External definitions: Look to industry or function reports and programs to help inform current skills, e.g. Occupational Information Network, Burning Glass.
   4. Technical definitions: If the skills are technical in nature, certification programs are a good starting point for defining these skills.

Transform the outstanding skills into competencies

Create new competencies that capture the role-specific skills identified on the previous slide.

Do this by:

1. Taking one role and grouping together similar or related skills
2. Repeating step 1 for each role to ensure the resulting competencies apply fully and appropriately to each role
3. Reviewing the skill groupings holistically (across roles) to identify opportunities to consolidate groupings (e.g. combine duplicate groupings)
4. Assigning a competency title to each grouping

Why transform skills into competencies?

A skill is a demonstrated and observable ability to perform a task proficiently. It implies measurable performance.

Competencies consist of groupings of skills, among other things, such as knowledge (i.e. a body of information a person possesses) and attributes (i.e. demonstrated personality traits, including attitude, motivation, ambition, values, and demeanor).

Capturing skills within competencies, rather than leaving them as separate from competencies, will:

• Help avoid confusion about competencies versus skills
• Allow for the use of a single set – rather than multiple sets – of assessments and analyses (e.g. one set for competencies and another set for skills)

Complete this using tab 4 of the HR Development Workbook.

Do not force skills to fit within competencies. If a skill does not fit naturally within a grouping, capture it separately.

Example:
Role – Specialist, Compensation

Map competencies to each role and identify proficiency levels

Select competencies for each role by evaluating the outcomes and responsibilities of each. Use Mclean & Company’s HR Structure Workbook if a summary of each role’s accountabilities and responsibilities doesn’t exist.

Keep it simple by focusing on competencies most critical to each role. Not every competency will be appropriate for every role. Don’t overburden or overwhelm employees by assigning them to develop every competency – select a maximum of three to five competencies per role.

In addition, strategic competencies don’t need to be mapped to every HR role.

Best practice is to select 3-5 of each type of competency (core, functional, and leadership competencies) for no more than 9-15 combined competencies per role.

McLean & Company Insight

Developing HR is not only about strategic competencies. An effective HR department balances operational excellence with a strategic approach.

Record specific competencies for each role identified in tabs 4 and 5 of the HR Development Workbook.

Next, identify the level of proficiency that is required for each competency

A proficiency level is a detailed statement that describes what a competency looks like when it is performed by a person in the job. It describes the observable behaviors. For example, an HR coordinator may require a Level 1 in Communication, whereas a CHRO may require a Level 3 or 4.

Example: General Proficiency Levels

This shows a progression in behavior demonstration for a competency:

• Level 1 — Baseline behaviors
• Level 2 — Practical application of the behaviors
• Level 3 — Role models, coaches, and influences the behaviors
• Level 4 — Envisions and innovates the next generation of behaviors

Step 2

Assess Current HR Competency

After completing this step you will have:

• Selected an assessment method.
• Assessed against selected competencies.
• Evaluated the results of the assessment.
• Prioritized competency gaps.

Communicate the project’s vision to HR employees to ensure accurate assessment results

HR employees might be apprehensive about a competency assessment, especially if they fear losing their jobs or feel they lack the competencies required for the future.

To ensure an honest and accurate assessment of your current department, communicate the project purpose or vision, as well as the big picture:

1. Reinforce the goal of the assessment is to determine a department-level baseline to support the HR department in striving to effectively deliver on your talent (HR) strategy.
2. Explain the competencies selected will equip them with the knowledge, skills, and ability to be more effective in their roles and to achieve the strategy.
3. Emphasize what they and the organization will gain from the improved HR competencies.
4. Put the challenge on the table. Ask the team to discuss potential personal and group gains, and potential impacts (risks, losses, challenges) from departmental change.
5. Agree upon ground rules to minimize the potential that self-interest will derail the project.

McLean & Company Insight

Treat tenured employees with care. They have extensive organizational knowledge and are experienced with current processes. They are tenured employees because they have successfully adapted to the organization’s expectations in the past; don’t assume they will not be able to adapt again.

“When you have the vision outlined, you can get your HR employees thinking about the future, and what their role in it is.” (Andrew Spence, HR Transformation Director, Glass Bead Consulting)

Review competency assessment options

Select the tool that will be used to assess competency across the department:

• McLean & Company’s HR Development Workbook aggregates individual and departmental competency levels.
• Alternatively, the 360 Degree Feedback Diagnostic could be used to assess competencies.

Both options have merit. The HR Development Workbook is a faster assessment method, while the 360 Degree Feedback Diagnostic is more robust as it contains input from a wider variety of sources (peers, direct reports, others). Keep it simple by picking the option that is the most readily available. The following slides provide more detail on the two options.

Review any HR technology available in house. Some HR technologies (e.g. talent management software) have competency assessment functionality.

For more information on 360-degree feedback programs, please refer to the blueprint, Design a 360 Degree Feedback Program.

Other competency-based assessment options can be used, but are not covered in this blueprint

A competency-based assessment evaluates employees’ knowledge, skills, and attributes against an organization’s competency framework or a vendor’s identified competency framework.

Competency-based assessments can include one or a combination of multiple assessments, such as:

• Self-assessment
• Manager assessment
• Behavioral interviews
• Simulations

From the assessment, a proficiency level can be mapped to the candidate, allowing for the implementation across all role levels and the personalization of development plans.

For more information about these assessment options, review McLean & Company’s High Potential Assessment Catalog.

Tips

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

• Assessments must be based on observable behaviors, mitigating biases.
• Ensure the competencies being assessed are inclusive.

Validity and Reliability

• A common framework should be used to objectively and consistently assess employees using observable behaviors.
• Validity decreases with the fewer assessments administered, e.g. only managers assess the competencies without self-assessment.

Vendor Assessment

• Ready-made assessments can be quickly deployed and easily reviewed.
• It may be difficult to find competency frameworks that align perfectly with the organization’s definition.

In-House Assessment

• Can be cheaper to administer if done in-house and there’s a competency framework in place.
• Administering in-house will be cheaper in terms of costs, however not in terms of resources, as they must create and administer the assessment on an ongoing basis.

If using McLean & Company’s HR Development Workbook to evaluate competencies

Create the assessment

Create manager and self-assessments for each role, using tab 6 of the HR Development Workbook. Alternatively, if preferred, create only a self-assessment or only a manager assessment.

To do this:

1. Specify the function and role.
2. Copy and paste the competencies and proficiency levels outlined in the previous tab into the spaces provided in the assessment sheet.

This tab should be distributed to every member of the HR team and their managers. It is also is print-ready should you choose to distribute a hard copy.

Changing the rating scale in the Workbook will break the formulas used to aggregate the results. The assessment in the Workbook is designed with a four-point rating scale.

Complete the assessment

Provide all HR employees with a copy of the Comprehensive Competency Library or a copy of the organization’s competency definitions and proficiency levels.

HR employees and managers should complete the competency assessment individually, then discuss assessment results together. Ratings should be completed on a scale of 1-4; be careful not to confuse ratings with proficiency levels.

During the discussion, managers should focus on where assessment results differ and work to reach a consensus that represents the final rating.

Aggregate the data, evaluate results, and prioritize competency gaps

If using the Workbook…

1. Aggregate the results by transferring the data from the individual assessments into tab 7 of the HR Development Workbook. To do this:
   • Record the function, role, employee name/ID, and the rating (on a 1-4 scale) for each competency. Based on the rating, the cell will turn red, yellow, or green.
2. Review the aggregate results in tab 7 and look for:
   • Competencies that have substantial red areas – these are areas that the entire HR department needs to focus on.
   • Competencies and skills that are mostly green – this indicates areas of strength.
3. Examine department assessment results on tab 8 to identify departmental strengths and gaps.

OR...

If using McLean & Company’s 360 Degree Feedback Diagnostic:

1. Review the aggregate data results:
   • Review the average overall score for each competency, one by one.
   • For competencies mapped to management roles, review the average score from the Direct Report column to identify how leaders are performing.
   • For competencies mapped to staff roles, review the average score from the Manager column to identify how managers view their performance.

Prioritize departmental competency gaps in tab 9 of the HR Development Workbook.

Lastly, prioritize competency gaps based on:

• Prevalence: Prioritize competency gaps that are widespread over ones that only affect a few employees (have those employees address those competencies in individual development plans).
• Importance: Develop competency gaps most critical to the achievement of HR and organizational priorities identified in Step 1. Leave the rest for individual development plans.

Step 3

Plan to Address Competency Gaps

After completing this step you will have:

• Customized the HR Competency Development Guide with relevant competencies and development opportunities.
• Developed an action plan to address HR competency gaps.

Ensure development plans created during this Step consist of a variety of learning methods

McLean & Company recommends using a blend of the following types of learning methods:

Determine how to address department-wide competency gaps — Develop

Build competencies within the existing team

1. Review the prioritized competency gaps created at the end of Step 2.
2. Review competency development options in the HR Competency Development Guide and identify the development opportunities that will be used to address each competency gap department-wide.
3. Maximize development with a combination of experiential, relational, and formal learning. Finding the right mix of learning methods to suit various learning styles, the organization, and goals is essential.
   • While it may be tempting to only select formal courses and training, without an opportunity to apply and practice formal learning (which provides experience and feedback), the foundational knowledge will be lost.
4. Create a plan to communicate and implement development opportunities.
5. Identify evaluation methods (self-assessment, 360-degree program, PM appraisals after the first year, etc.).

Document department-wide development initiatives in tab 9 of the HR Development Workbook.

Leverage McLean & Company’s Elevate HR program. It develops strategic HR leaders by focusing on the four key strategic competencies (see Step 1) through research-driven facilitation, engaging activities, and peer learning.

Address gaps not covered by the department-wide development opportunities — Develop

Require employees to work with their managers to create individual development plans (IDPs)

Provide development material to HR managers and staff:

• HR Competency Development Guide
• Chosen competency library
• Employee competency assessment

Have managers work with employees to review the results of their competency assessment (from Step 2) and create an IDP:

• Ensure employees’ aspirations are aligned with the department’s new direction. Transparent conversations will allow employees to self-select out if appropriate.
• Create an IDP that incorporates a variety of learning methods.

Use the Learning Methods Catalog for development ideas.

Use the Individual Development Plan Template to guide conversations with employees.

Explore alternative solutions if development isn’t sufficient to address each competency gap

Identify alternative solutions to address competency gaps that cannot be fully closed with development opportunities:

• Buy/Borrow: Bring new employees with the desired competencies into the HR team
• Exit: Explore internal opportunities outside of the HR team or offboard when employees are not able to develop

See the following slides for more information on these two solutions.

Resourcing decisions should be driven by three factors:

• Size of the development gap
  • What is the magnitude of each competency gap?
  • How difficult is it to develop each competency?
• Time
  • How quickly is this competency needed?
  • Is it riskier to leave the position undeveloped for a time (e.g. develop an existing employee) or to make a quick decision (e.g. hire a new employee)?
  • Is there sufficient development time available to HR team members?
• Budget
  • How much will it cost to address the gap using each option?
  • Is there a premium attached to hiring for this competency?
  • What represents a better long-term investment?

Bring competencies to the team through hiring — Buy/Borrow

McLean & Company Insight

Don't assume you need to hire permanently to fill a skills gap. You can hire externally on a temporary basis while the HR team upskills.

External hiring:

• Brings in new perspectives and ideas and can drive innovation.
• Is faster than upskilling current employees.

Hire for ability to coach and then encourage new employees to share their expertise with others on the team.

However:

It might be more appropriate to “borrow talent” in the form of consultants, contractors, or advisory services. This approach can be:

• Faster than hiring externally.
• A temporary solution while the team is developing.

Borrowing options:

• Engage a contractor or consultant
• Research outsourcing parts of work, either permanently or until the competency has been developed internally
• Search for internal transfers

For more information review the blueprint Develop an Agile Talent Acquisition Strategy.

Review options for employees not meeting development expectations

McLean & Company Insight

Wherever possible, give employees dedicated time, resources, and support to learn and develop new competencies before making any changes.

If an employee is not performing after they were provided with time and opportunity to develop the new competencies, explore the root causes of the low performance:

Performance inhibitors

• Clarity – Lack of clarity on their role expectations.
• Motivation – Lack of motivation to complete their work, either in quality of output or amount of work they are completing.
• Ability – Lack of ability due to resourcing, technology, organizational change, or lack of skills to do the job.
• People Skills – Problematic people skills, externally with clients or internally with colleagues, affecting their performance or the team’s engagement.
• Personal Factors – Personal factors, usually outside the workplace, affecting performance in their role.

Address low performance using McLean & Company’s blueprint Equip Managers to Improve Poor Performance.

If performance doesn’t improve after these steps have been taken, review options for moving the employee out of the position:

• Redeploy
  Identify if there are other roles in the organization for which the employee may be more suited.
• Offboarding
  Prepare to offboard the employee if there is no other role that is appropriate and desirable.

Create a plan to develop HR competencies

Use tab 10 of the HR Development Workbook to document the process to develop HR competencies, now that competencies and development opportunities have been identified

1. The actions necessary to develop HR competencies. For example:
   • Communicate expectations for development planning to managers.
   • Design, communicate, and implement selected development opportunities.
   • Offboard members of HR who will not be remaining with the organization.
   • Hire X number of new members of HR.
2. Those responsible for the action.
3. A timeline and progress marker.
4. The required resources and expected cost.

McLean & Company Insight

Today's critical HR competencies will evolve as the world of work continues to change. Regularly assessing your development priorities ensures the development plan remains current and impactful.

Align the new competency framework with existing HR programs and processes

McLean & Company Insight

Competencies in isolation are not going to move the dial for the HR department’s performance (e.g. goal achievement, strategy execution) nor towards attaining the desired future state. Ensure competencies are woven into other HR programs to ensure success.

Continue to evaluate progress and impact

Review metrics selected in Step 1 to determine progress and make changes where required

Measure progress toward competency development

• Self and manager assessments
• Progress against individual development plans
• Other feedback mechanisms (e.g. performance management ratings)
• McLean & Company’s 360 Degree Feedback Diagnostic

Measure impact of developing HR competencies

• Stakeholder satisfaction ratings
• Ability to complete tasks on time
• Decreased time to complete tasks
• Expected versus actual HR budget spend
• Number of strategic projects completed
• HR team engagement
• McLean & Company’s HR Stakeholder Management Diagnostic
  • Overall perception and satisfaction with HR
  • Look for evidence of growing HR business impact and credibility

Key insights

Insight 1

HR’s own development often falls to the wayside because of competing priorities and capacity constraints. Use a simple, straightforward process to assess and address gaps and increase the likelihood of adoption.

Insight 2

When faced with capacity constraints, development is often the first thing to fall off. Dedicating time, effort, and resources is key to making the shift toward HR effectiveness. The problem is, this isn’t happening – usually because HR departments spend most of their time prioritizing the needs of employees instead of their own needs.

Insight 3

Systematically develop your HR department while keeping it simple. A targeted approach to identifying department-wide and individual employee competency gaps, supported by simplified development opportunities that are aligned to each competency gap, will increase the likelihood of adoption and success.

Insight 4

Developing HR is not only about strategic competencies. An effective HR department balances operational excellence with a strategic approach.

Insight 5

Wherever possible, give employees dedicated time, resources, and support to learn and develop new competencies before making any changes.

Insight 6

Today's critical HR competencies will evolve as the world of work continues to change. Regularly assessing your development priorities ensures the development plan remains current and impactful.

Workshop Overview

Workshop Overview

Leverage Feedback to Drive Performance

Identify impactful initiatives using our diagnostic programs to collect feedback from employees, stakeholders, and the HR team.

Optimize the HR Department for Success

HR Stakeholder Management Survey
Align HR initiatives with business strategy and stakeholder needs.

HR Management & Governance
Improve HR’s core functions and drive project success.

Improve Employee Experience and HR Processes

Pandemic Engagement Pulse Check
Assess the effect of pandemic response plans on employee engagement.

New Hire Survey
Ensure recruiting and onboarding programs are effective by surveying new employees.

Employee Engagement
Move beyond measuring job satisfaction with a comprehensive view of engagement.

McLean Employee Experience Monitor
Evolve to leader-driven engagement with a real-time dashboard and results.

Employee Exit Survey
Understand why people leave the organization to proactively retain top talent.

360 Degree Feedback
Empower employees with a holistic view of their performance to prioritize development.

View our diagnostic programs for more information.

McLean & Company offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

Research Contributors and Experts

• Heidi Allen
  HR and Transformation Leader
• Anonymous
  Senior Director, Leadership Development Services
• Anonymous
  Senior Director, Research and Advisory Services
• Trent Burner SHRM-SCP
  Founder of Global People Solutions, LLC and Former VP of HR at Walmart Stores, Inc.
• Anjana Dhaliwal
  HR Transformation
  Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG)
• Carol Ann Malinowski
  Vice President of People Operations, Analytics and Rewards, Vitals
• Michael Messier
  Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Excelitas Technologies
• Megan O'Brien
  HR Business Partner
  Vale Canada Limited
• Joanne Renaud
  Manager− HR Business Partners
  Bruce Power
• Robin Schooling
  Vice President of Human Resources
  Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge
• Dr. Cecile Schultz
  Senior Lecturer and Academic Section Head
  Tswhane University of Technology
• Andrew Spence
  HR Transformation Director
  Glass Bead Consulting
• May Tran CHRL, SPHRi
  HR Transformation Lead
  Walmart Canada
• Eric Lacroix
  Director, Total Rewards and Performance
  Business Development Bank of Canada
• Sandra Wallace
  Human Resources Officer
  City of Brandon
• Jennifer Wenzel
  Senior Director, People Services - International Operations, Canadian Red Cross
• Sherri Wimes
  SHRM-SCP, CEC, Human Resource Consultant
  Human Resource Innovations, LLC

Works Cited

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Charan, Ram, Dominic Barton, and Dennis Carey. “People Before Strategy: A New Role for the CHRO.” Harvard Business Review, July 2015. Web. July 2017.

“Facing Future Challenges: Transforming the HR Function.” Ernst and Young, 2017. Web.

"Global Leadership Forecast 2018: 25 Research Insights to Fuel Your People Strategy". DDI, 2018. Web. 14 August 2020.

Haak, Tom. “10 HR Trends for 2017.” HR Trend Institute, 23 November 2016. Web. July 2017.

Ingham, John and Ulrich, Dave. “Building Better HR Departments.” Strategic HR Review, 15:3 (July 2016): 129-136. Web. June 2017.

Kalra, Aditi Sharma. “Companies in Asia are most likely to invest in HR upskilling in 2016.” Human Resources Online, 12 April 2016. Web. July 2017.

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Richardson, Todd. “Don’t Replace Your HR Department, Refocus It.” Forbes, 17 January 2017. Web. July 2017.

Seth, Manav. “Inside the Mind of a CHRO: Korn Ferry Survey.” People Matters, 11 May 2017. Web. July 2017.

Stroud, Jen. “Why You Spend 70% of Your Time Processing the Same Request.” Service Now Blog, 15 September 2016. Web. July 2017.