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Six Leader Competencies Critical for Navigating Today's Economy

Human resource leaders have the potential to play a significant role in capitalizing on today's economy. While managing costs across the organization through careful examination of compensation, training, and recruiting practices is important, corporate leaders are also relying on HR departments to identify strategic opportunities that will position their organization for long-term success. It's clear that strong human resource leaders are needed now more than ever.

The best human resource leaders continue to have an eye on the future and see the economic decline as both an opportunity and a catalyst for change in their organizations, from recruiting new talent now available by struggling rivals to transforming organizational culture. HR leaders focused on specific abilities and capabilities are well-positioned to implement meaningful and lasting action.

After 20 years of research with over 30,000 individuals, globally-renowned HR guru and University of Michigan Ross School of Business Executive Education Professor, David Ulrich with Professor Wayne Brockbank and their colleagues havedefined a set of standards for human resource leaders to deliver on. In their book – HR Competencies – and through their teachings, they identify six competencies for successful HR professionals:

• Credible activist: Earns and maintains the trust of employees and managers, while taking proactive business positions.
• Business ally: Possesses a solid understanding of the business financials, strategies, and context to make better decisions.
• Strategic architect: Shapes the strategic story and guarantees it is translated into HR practices and leader behaviors.
• Operational executor: Ensures things happen on time, every time.
• Talent manager and organization designer: Shapes HR practices that deliver talented people and capable organizations.
• Change agent: makes change happen and shapes new cultures that link the internal values to external expectations.

When our top leaders are in search of someone to coach, architect, design and deliver these capabilities, they first look to their organization's human resource leadership. When HR cannot deliver on these objectives, they may look beyond the organizational and/or departmental borders for someone who can.

"When this type of outside sourcing happens," Ulrich says, "it is truly a missed opportunity for HR to really have a lasting impact on the organization."

Don't let today's economy hold you back, now is the time to review your human resource playbook and build on your competencies. Learn more about upcoming HR courses in Strategic Human Resource Planning at U-M Executive Education, and acquire proven tools for managing strategic change throughout your organization.

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