Competencies and 360 do not satisfy any of the criteria on the New HR Charter, argues Paul Kearns. Have they any place in the New World of strategic, business focused, added value HR? Have your say by posting your comments at the end.
Probably the two HR practices that have become most popular over the last 10 years or so are competence frameworks and the use of 360 feedback instruments. I don’t know why because neither of these seem to have any solid basis in theory and make very little sense in practice.
Worse still, there is rarely, if ever, any attempt made to link these to strategic business objectives or any operational performance measures. They are symptomatic of HR departments that want to produce pre-prepared solutions, which they can impose on their organisations. In effect, the activity becomes an end in itself. So let us take a closer look at these methods.
What is the theory of management competence based on? I presume it is a belief that if we know what makes an effective manager then we can deconstruct their competencies and then use these as a means of developing less effective managers. This makes people sound like Lego kits. It is also based on the false premise that there are only a limited number of ways to be effective.
Yet we all know lots of effective managers who are by no means perfect and we also know lots of managers who will never demonstrate all of the competencies we have dreamed up. Then what happens, is 80% OK or are competencies an all-or-nothing proposition?
Competencies then spawned the 360 bandwagon. Let us all feedback to our bosses and colleagues what we think of them. There is nothing wrong with open and honest feedback but why does it have to result in computer software generating pretty pictures?
If I say my boss doesn’t listen to me is that because they don’t listen or because I can’t convince them? What if someone else in the team does not think the boss has a problem with listening? And, just as with competencies, can we just pull whatever levers we want to get the managers we want? If only life were that simple.
Competencies and 360 do not satisfy any of the criteria on the New Charter – so let’s hear from those who would defend these practices. Have they any place in the New World of strategic, business focused, added value HR?
Have your say – simply click on ‘add comments’ below.
New HR Charter series
You can also read all the debates around the New HR Charter and add your own comments by clicking on the links below.
The New HR Charter – Introduction
The New HR Charter Part 1 – Does HR have a reputation problem?
The New HR Charter Part 2 – What does best practice mean in HR?
