‘HR staff must speak up, take on bigger role’ in firms

SINGAPORE — If a firm resorts to laying off workers as a cost-cutting measure, human resource (HR) leaders can “say no, we can do things differently”, said a member of the taskforce behind a national framework to certify the skills of HR practitioners.

Citing this scenario as an example in an interview with TODAY on Monday, Ms Karen Blal noted that HR professionals here lack the courage to speak up on key business decisions, and this is the biggest challenge confronting the 43,000-strong sector.

The Asia-Pacific regional director at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development stressed that many HR leaders are already having their voices heard in boardrooms, but “we just need more people doing it”.

“Traditionally, HR has been an implementer rather than an activator,” added Ms Blal, who also sits on the National HR Professional Certification Framework taskforce.

The certification, piloted with more than 100 HR professionals last month, is meant to give practitioners the “confidence booster” to speak up by sharpening their competencies, said Ms Aileen Tan, the taskforce’s chairperson.

“You’ll be a lot more credible because you have the right set of knowledge,” said Ms Tan, Singtel’s group chief HR officer.

The framework — comprising three levels of certification depending on the size and complexity of a practitioner’s role — aims to raise the bar for the profession, such that HR executives become key enablers in their organisations.

Before its roll-out in the second quarter of next year, the taskforce is seeking the public’s feedback on the framework and the competencies underpinning the certification through a one-month e-consultation starting today via the Workforce Singapore website.

Ms Tan believes that there is “no better time” to be in HR, given the large focus on “human capital” across all sectors here.

When asked whether business leaders are receptive to the views of HR practitioners, she said that HR leaders must earn the right to express such views.

For example, they could show business leaders how HR practices, such as engaging employees, correlate with better staff and business performance.

Besides the “holy trio” of the chief executive, chief operating and chief financial officers, Ms Blal said HR leaders must also have a role in charting a firm’s direction.

Ms Tan said that HR professionals here range from those who see themselves as key leaders in their firms to those content with taking a backseat, mired in administrative tasks.

But increasingly, a new breed of HR practitioners who are able to grasp changes in the manpower landscape is needed, she added.

To cater for emerging skillsets needed by firms years down the road, proactive HR executives would, for instance, consider starting a scholarship or apprenticeship programme.

“We’re hoping to see the next generation of HR people really stepping up to take on a very strong business-partnering role,” said Ms Tan.

In recent months, government leaders have underscored the need for HR professionals to take the lead in areas such as nudging workers to retrain as the economy undergoes restructuring.

On helping workers whose skills have become obsolete, Ms Blal said the role of HR professionals is to identify those workers at risk of being laid off and to assess if they have the aptitude to be retrained in new skills.

They can then nudge the workers to retrain through an institute or internally, she added.