Indian HR Competency Modelling: Profiling, Mapping And An Investigation Of HRM Roles And Competencies

Abstract

This paper profiles and maps the existing Indian HR competency models against similar Western models in order to assess their contemporary relevance. Secondly, it analyzes the diverse HRM roles and competencies associated with a sample of different Indian organization types and sizes. This study was exploratory in nature and based on the AHRI Model of Excellence. Three key HR roles - namely, strategic business partner, functional HRM specialist, and administrative expert - and seven HR competencies included in the model were selected for the analysis of Indian HRM professional practice. A questionnaire based on this model was constructed and administered to HR professionals representing HR departments in a range of Indian industry sectors. Respondents were chosen to represent a separate HR/personnel department containing at least one HRM professional. Further, it was required that the respondents had a minimum of two years' HR work experience. This paper reports the findings from the sample of one hundred Indian organizations. Of the three Indian HR competency models profiled in the study, the HR Compass Model is the most relevant and similar to the Western models. It includes almost all the important western HRM competencies in its framework. Conversely, the two other Indian models (RPG and TVRLS) need to incorporate more 'competencies' as per the AHRI model. The study further noted that the majority of the Indian HRM professionals considered their key role to be that of a functional HRM specialist, followed closely by a strategic business partner role. The competencies of credible activist and workforce designer recorded higher levels of expertise levels across all organizations. The findings demonstrated consistency with previous Western and Indian studies on the key roles and competencies of HR departments in India. The decreasing reliance on the administrative expert role supports a degree of convergence of HRM practices in line with western HR practices, which can be possibly attributed to the overseas expansion of Indian companies, as well as their exposure to the HRM practices of multinational corporations in India.