Is HR a Profession?

There is a perception within the federal government that HR offices in most agencies are the place where people are placed when there’s no place else to put them. I have heard over the years that HR is the location where the “problem” people land. It’s often viewed that all HR employees do is process personnel actions and ensure that people get paid on time. I have spent most of my career in an HR-related jobs and wanted to share my views of the profession.

What is a profession?

Let’s start with the definition of a “profession”. Below are four definitions from different sources that define the word “profession”.

1) a paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged training and a formal qualification,

2) a vocation requiring knowledge of some department of learning or science,

3) Occupation, practice, or vocation requiring mastery of a complex set of knowledge, and skills through formal education and/or practical experience.

4) a type of job that requires special education, training, or a skill

Each of the four definitions mention some form of specific knowledge, skill, or training. These words seem to be the common terms that link the definitions. So the question is, does the work that HR employees do require a specific set of knowledge, training, and skills?

What do federal HR employees do?

According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Federal HR employees have technical specialty areas that include the following:

• Classification,

• Compensation,

• Employee Benefits,

• Employee Relations,

• Executive Services,

• Human Resources Development,

• Information Systems,

• Labor Relations,

• Military,

• Performance Management,

• Policy, and

• Staffing.

Each technical specialty area requires specific knowledge, training, and skills, that are linked to competencies, to be effective and successful. HR in the federal government meets the qualifications of being a profession.

So, the answer is YES!

In 2002, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the largest organization for human resource management professionals, predicted the future of the HR would include professionals serving as strategic partners, collaborating with corporate leaders to improve employee engagement, achieving efficiencies in the way work was done to support employees, and developing metrics to make data-driven decisions. The “future” that SHRM predicted is now. HR professionals need specialized knowledge, skills, and training to be able to accomplish their work in today’s complicated and global environment. Specific skills that HR employees need include business, leadership, consulting, technology, and a global/corporate mindset, just to name a few. The complete and quite extensive list of HR competencies is provided on HR University.

OPM has created success factors for HR employees to assist them in continuing to develop in the profession. These success factors focus on career movement, how to focus learning opportunities, skills to develop during one’s career, ways to stand out, and techniques to work more effectively with customers.

What would happen if…

So the next time you encounter someone who questions whether HR is a profession or not, ask them a series of what if questions such as these below.

What would happen if HR professionals did not have specific knowledge, skills, and training to strategically partner with other components in the organization to conduct job analyses which are necessary to classify jobs and bring in the right people, with the right qualifications?

What would happen if HR professionals did not have specific knowledge, skills, and training required to write position descriptions or policies that adhere to the laws of prohibited personnel practices?

What would happen if HR professionals did not have specific knowledge, skills, and training to effectively develop employees and guide them through their career paths?

What would happen if HR professionals did not have specific knowledge, skills, and training to advise employees on benefits packages and conduct workforce analyses to assess future workforce needs?

If HR professionals did not have specific knowledge, skills, and training to perform the technical aspects of their jobs, the entire Federal workforce would be in trouble.

Deadra Welcome is part of the GovLoop Featured Blogger program, where we feature blog posts by government voices from all across the country (and world!). To see more Featured Blogger posts, click here.