The document provides an overview of advancing the HR profession in South Africa. It discusses trends in HR, benchmarks for HR functions, and proposes an HR competency model. Specifically, it notes that HR is increasingly seen as a strategic partner, and highlights priorities like talent management, leadership development, and skills development. Workforce analytics and metrics are still limited in many organizations. An HR competency model is presented as a way to enhance professionalism in the field.

1. ADVANCING THE HR PROFESSION:
Towards HR Competencies, Benchmarking &
Benchmarks
Marius Meyer, CEO
25 January 2013
marius@sabpp.co.za
@MariusSABPP & @SABPP1

2. How we have changed

3. Economic impact on companies
This financial crisis is forcing
government and local agencies
to make some tough decisions.
If things continue for much
longer, there's a real risk that
we may have to lay off Jose.

4. Agenda
• Part A: HR trends and best practices
• Part B: State of HR profession
• Part C: HR Competency Model

5. Part A:
HR Trends & Best Practices
Where is HR going globally and in South Africa?
What are the major HR trends and best practices?

6. IBM CEO Study 2012:
Factors impacting organisations
IBM CEO Study 2012
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Technology factors (71%)
People skills (69%)
Market factors (68%)
Macro-economic factors
Regulatory concerns
Globalisation
Socio-economic factors
Environmental issues
Geopolitical factors

7. Top 10 HR priorities
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Creating a high performance culture / climate
Leadership and management development
Skills development
Focus on corporate values, ethics
Industrial/employee relations
HR Survey
2011
Customer service
Employee engagement
Change Management
Crafting and implementing HR strategy
HR policies and procedures

8. HR Trends
•
•
•
•
•
HR as Strategic Partner and Talent Management
HR Governance
HR Risk Management
New role to impact ethics in organisations
HR contribution to CSR and socio-economic
situation - sustainability
• HR Technology and Social Media
• HR standards and metrics – integrated reporting
• HR Competency models - professionalism

9. Biggest Opportunities for HR
• Cultivating creative leaders
• Mobilising for greater speed and
flexibility
• Capitalising on collective intelligence
i.e. collaboration
IBM: Working beyond Borders

10. Use of workforce
analytics remains limited
Measuring collaboration and knowledge sharing across
the organisation
14% 5%
Enhancing workforce productivity
39%
Evaluating workforce performance
40%
15%
38%
19%
Retaining valued talent within the organisation
Sourcing, recruiting and onboarding individuals from
outside the organisation
Developing workforce skills and capabilities
Allocating the workforce across the organisation
14%
40%
30%
35%
Developing strategy linked to business strategy
28%
Developing future leaders
29%
20%
22%
23%
25%
26%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
IBM: Working beyond Borders
Can identify
historical
trends and
patterns
Can develop
scenarios and
predict future
outcomes

11. Planning for growth
Improving operational
efficiency
Developing new
product/service offerings
Expanding into new
markets/geographies
44%
35%
31%
64%
Today
48%
44%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
IBM: Working beyond Borders
Three years

12. Most important organisational
capabilities over the next five years
Leadership
37%
Execution speed
34%
Client connectivity
33%
Innovation
31%
28%
IBM: Working beyond Borders
30%
32%
34%
36%
38%

13. Most important leadership qualities
over the next five years
Creativity
60%
Integrity
52%
Ability to balance work and life
demands
35%
0%
IBM: Working beyond Borders
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

14. Part B:
State of HR Profession in SA
What is the current state of HR in SA?

15. HR positions 2011
HRM
R&S
5%
L&D
REM
3%
3%
OD
EW
ER
HRIS
HRA
2%
23%
12%
14%
22%
16%

16. New SABPP Model: HR Voice for
Professionals
Knowledge
Human resource
development
Ethics
Research - info
Quality
assurance
Value &
visibility
Open for
alliances
Learning
growth &
development
Innovation
CPD
Excellence
Self-governance
Duty to society

17. SABPP BENEFITS
RECOGNITION =
PROFESSIONAL STATUS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Professional registration
NLRD Upload (SAQA)
RPL
Awards
Advocacy
HR Assessors/Moderators
registration
Accreditation of providers
University accreditation
RESOURCES =
PRODUCTS/SERVICES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
HR Competency Model
Social media discussions
Knowledge Centre
Booklets/DVDs
Guides/toolkits
Charts/posters
Fact sheets
One-stop info
Updates (laws)
Ethics help-line
Newsletters
Website
HR Internships/jobs
HR policies
Mentoring
Workshops/seminars
Access to alliances
CPD
Students
RESEARCH =
INFORMATION
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Research papers
Position papers
Books
Articles
Cases
Benchmarking
Magazines
Labour market
information

18. Professional registration levels
MHRP
(Master)
• M/D degree + 6 years top level experience
• LoW = executive level
CHRP
(Chartered)
HRP (Professional)
• Hons degree + 4 years sr experience
• LoW = senior management
• Degree/ND + 3 years experience
• LoW = middle management
HRA (Associate)
• 2 year dip + 2 years experience
• LoW = junior level
HRT (Technician)
• Certificate + 1 year
experience
• LoW = entry

19. Top 7 SABPP priorities 2013
•
•
•
•
•
Rebranding & visibility (all provinces)
National HR standards & metrics project
National HR competency model
HR social media strategy
SAQA pilot project – professional
designations upload on NLRD
• Professional products & services
• Research papers

20. L&D Benchmarks
(ASTD/SABPP)
BENCHMARK
USA
RSA
CHANGE
Average % payroll
2,24%
3,94%
+ 0,83
Hours /employee
36
40
- 12
Spend/employee
$1068
R 6898
+R 1700
Employees/trainer
253
157
+19
% companies elearning
31%
43%
+ 10%
% outsourced
22%
62%
+10%

21. Papers published

22. Importance of ethics

23. Research Projects
•
•
•
•
•
•
Annual HR Survey (completed)
Annual L&D State of Training in SA (ASTD)
Green HR (new)
Talent Survey (new)
HR Social Media (new)
HR Standards & Metrics (new)
For access to our research, contact
Penny Abbott on hrri@sabpp.co.za

24. Cost of labour as a % of revenue
Too confidential
2%
Not done
4%
Don’t know/Not applicable
25%
61 - 70%
11%
51 - 60%
14%
41 - 50%
9%
31 - 40%
7%
21 - 30%
12%
11 - 20%
7%
> 10%
9%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%

25. Revenue per full-time employee
Not applicable
15%
?
3%
It’s confidential
4%
Don’t measure/Don’t know
23%
R10 million+
2%
R1 million to R 10 million
12%
R100 000 to R1 million
16%
> R100 000
24%
R0
1%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%

26. LTO rate
Indicate LTO rate:
44%
Don't measure
21%
Don't know
35%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%

27. Absenteeism rate
Indicate absenteeism rate
35%
Don't measure
31%
Don't know
34%
29%
30%
31%
32%
33%
34%
35%
36%

28. The basic metrics they propose as
essential for investors to know are:
1. Spending on human capital
a. Total amount spent on employees (salaries, benefits, taxes)
b. Total amount spent in support of employees
c. Total amount spent in lieu of employees (contractors, etcetera)
d. Total amount invested in training and development
e. Total headcount and total FTE (full-time equivalents) at the end of the
period
2. Ability to retain talent
a. Voluntary and total turnover
b. Broken down by subset of EEO-1 job types
c. Industry standard formula of (# of terminations during the period) / (average
active headcount during the period)
3. Leadership depth
a. Percentage of defined positions that have an identified successor
b. Percentage of open defined positions filled internally during the period
SHRM (April 2012)

29. The basic metrics they propose as
essential for investors to know are:
4. Leadership quality
a. Index of relevant questions from employee survey
b. Information on the response rate and methodology/tool
5. Employee engagement
a. Index of relevant questions from employee survey 287
b. Information on the response rate and methodology/tool
6. Human capital discussion & analysis (HD&A)
a. Narrative to provide context and discussion of the reported metrics
b. Disclosure of any material risks or any other material information related to
human capital
Note: Organisations may wish to include breakdowns of these metrics by unit
or region; it simply depends on what makes sense to the organisation and its
investors.
SHRM (April 2012)

30. HR manager’s response to
metrics?

31. Change themes for 2012
26%
Finding talent
Developing programmes for retaining talent
Learning and development
Change and transformation
Motivation of the workforce
BEE
Strategic business partnering
Focusing on business growth
New HR Information Systems
Remuneration
Introducing or fine-tuning performance management
Utilising social media
HIV
Strategic alliances
Increasing budget
20%
10%
9%
8%
6%
5%
4%
3%
3%
2%
1%
1%
1%
1%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%

32. Changes planned for the
next two years
25%
None
14%
Re-engineering and restructuring
11%
10%
9%
8%
6%
5%
3%
3%
3%
2%
2%
Attracting talent and succession planning
Strategic business partnering
Be more efficient
Training, development, upskilling
HRIS and shared services
Performance management
Leadership development
Talent retention
Outsourcing aspects of HR
Do more transformational work
Use of coaching and mentoring
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%

33. KR/SABPP HR Survey (2011))
GOOD NEWS
• HR on boards/excos of 81%
of companies
• 74% of HR professionals say
that line management
accepts HR as strategic
partners
• HR professionals in SA is
better qualified than
counterparts in USA
• Talent management is 4th
most important priority for
HR for 2012
•
•
•
•
BAD NEWS
Talent management is only
priority no 17 for HR
Talent management is
ranked HR’s 22nd best
competency area
Only 55% of HR
departments have HR
succession plan
Only 20% of SA companies
have a competency model
for HR

34. HR/Line relationship?

35. SCARCE AND CRITICAL SKILLS
Pos. Type of scarce and critical skills area
Magnitude of scarcity
1 Industrial & Mechanical Engineers and Technologists
2 Medical Technicians
3 Training & development professionals
4 Metal fitters & machinists
5 Specialist managers
6 Agriculture & forestry scientists
7 Chemistry, food & beverage technicians
8 Electrical Engineering, draft persons & technicians
9 Social workers
9 Medical and laboratory scientists & technologists
10 Motor mechanics
11 Structural steel & welding trade workers
11 Advertising, marketing & sales managers
12 Civil engineering, draft persons & technicians
13 HR Professionals
14 Advertising, marketing & sales professionals
15 Production & operations managers
12 665
10 000
9 260
8 340
6 955
6 175
6 145
5 145
5 000
5 000
4 205
4 045
4 045
3 960
3 855
3 095
3 130
(DHET, 2011)

36. Risk + readiness

37. SABPP HR Risk Study
Source: SABPP (2010)

38. Identifying high-risk groups
No
21%
Yes
79%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%

39. Retention programmes geared
towards high-risk groups
No
53%
Yes
47%
44%
46%
48%
50%
52%
54%

40. HR Risk Management Framework
CAPABILITIES
RESULTS
People
Human
Factor
Risk
Leadership
Human Factor
Risk Policy &
Strategy
Human
Factor
Risk
Management
Processes
Human
Factor
Risk
Handling
Outcomes
Partnerships
INNOVATION AND LEARNING
Adapted from EFQM & IMOR (Michael Robbins)

41. Getting the balance right…
Professional
knowledge and
standards
(competence)
Doing good
work
(excellence)
Accountability
Responsibility
Professional ethics
(conscience)
Ethical
behaviour
and conduct
(ethics)
Fairness
Transparency

42. SocialHR Social Media Strategy
media strategy
engage for
empowerment towards
excellence
e❸
Connecting HR professionals in
professional social media
networks
Contact us on voice@sabpp.co.za

43. Are we ready for s-learning?

44. Utilisation of social media in HR
120%
100%
3%
13%
6%
11%
2%
11%
17%
80%
16%
28%
18%
17%
20%
0%
21%
9%
18%
22%
22%
19%
18%
25%
21%
Great extent
15%
15%
11%
16%
44%
32%
10%
28%
17%
40%
4%
25%
25%
26%
60%
2%
35%
43%
40%
4
From time to time
2
38%
25%
33%
Not at all

45. A social media strategy for the
HR department
No
88%
Yes
12%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%

46. Social media policies exist
No
62%
Yes
38%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%

47. Employees allowed to
access social media
No
60%
Yes
40%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%

48. Are people trained?
No
87%
Yes
13%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%

49. HR risks of social media

50. SABPP HR System Standards Model
BUSINESS STRATEGY – HR BUSINESS ALIGNMENT
Prepare
HR Risk
Management
FUNCTIONAL & CROSS FUNCTIONAL HR VALUE CHAIN
Implement
Workforce
planning
Learning
HR Service
Delivery
Review
Performance
Reward
Wellness
HR VALUE & DELIVERY PLATFORM
MEASURING HR SUCCESS
HR Audit: Standards & Metrics
ERM
OD
HR COMPETENCIES
Talent
Management
Strategic
HRM
HR Technology
(HRIS)
Improve

51. SABPP HR Standards & Metrics
Roadmap
PHASE 2:
PHASE 4:
HR
Functional
standards
Integrated
Reporting
PHASE 1:
PHASE 6:
Management
System
Standard
HR
integrated in
King IV
PHASE 5:
PHASE 3:
CPD &
Support Tools
HR Metrics
2012
2013
2017

52. The need for consistency and quality

53. Part C:
HR Competencies
What competencies do we need to deliver worldclass HR work?

54. Wisdom from the Free State
Prof Jonathan Jansen
“Competence is the quality of
being adequately or well
qualified physically and
intellectually. I have not for a
long time heard that word
used to describe a politician –
or any public servant, for that
matter. Make competence a
respectable word again.”

55. BACKGROUND & METHODOLOGY
• First SABPP HR Competency Model (1990)
• Project driven by 2 top HR Talent specialists:
Lydia Cillie-Schmidt & Terry Meyer
• Good inputs from market – Steel company,
Nedbank, Sasol, DPSA, Ethekweni Municipality,
Qbit, Catalyst Consulting
• Continuous engagement and consultation
• Analysis of global and local HRCMs & research
• Integration of key elements into an SA HR
profession map and competency model

56. NEED FOR COMPETENT HR
PROFESSIONALS

57. Design principles
• Based on overarching HR profession map
• Learn from the previous models, integrate best
elements – leading competencies world-wide
• But not copying from global models
• Relevant to South Africa – unique/local
• Alignment of personal and business
competencies and HR competencies
• Focus on present and future

58. ULRICH MODELS 1 - 4

59. ULRICH 5.0

60. CORPORATE LEADERSHIP
COUNCIL

61. CORPORATE LEADERSHIP
COUNCIL

62. RBL HR COMPETENCY STUDY

63. CIPD

64. Competency levels of the top 10
HR priorities
Priority Area
Priority
Weight
Competency
Weight
Priority
Rank
Competency
Rank
Creating a high-performance culture /
Performance management
3.91
3.42
1
6
Leadership and management
development
3.79
3.36
2
8
Skills development
3.77
3.58
3
3
Focus on corporate values, ethics
3.71
3.45
4
4
Industrial / Employee relations
3.69
3.70
5
2
Customer service / relations
3.68
3.43
6
5
Employee engagement
3.68
3.35
7
9
Change management
3.68
3.22
8
16
Crafting and implementing HR strategy
3.64
3.40
9
7
HR policies and procedures
3.62
3.71
10
1
HR Survey (2011)

65. HR COMPETENCY HOUSE

66. Professional seat at the table
“For HR to continue having a
seat at the table, thinking
and behaving like
professionals are
paramount.”
Getty Simelane CHRP
HR Consultant
SABPP/ Knowres:
Wisdom from HR Mentors (2011)

67. SOUTH AFRICAN HR COMPETENCY MODEL
STRATEGY
5 HR
CAPABILITIES
TALENT
MANAGEMENT
HR GOVERNANCE, RISK,
COMPLIANCE
ANALYTICS & MEASUREMENT
HR SERVICE DELIVERY
HR & BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE
SOLUTION CREATION & IMPLEMENTATION
INTERPERSONAL & COMMUNICATION
CITIZENSHIP FOR FUTURE: INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, SUSTAINABILITY
4
PILLARS
DUTY TO SOCIETY
5 CORE
COMPETENCIES
ETHICS
ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITY
PROFESSIONALISM
LEADERSHIP & PERSONAL CREDIBILITY

68. Top management perspective
“The human resource professional in
an organisation needs to be an
integral part of the leadership and
the ‘right hand’ of the chief
executive. Establishing and sustaining
an ethical ethos, the HR professional
must work closely with the executive
leadership team to define and
promote the culture of an
organisation based on the underlying
values and then entrench the culture
through all the touch points in the
human capital value chain.”
Edward Kieswetter, CEO: Alexander Forbes

69. HR excellence: It is all about alignment

70. Conclusion
Professionalism in HR is important to acquire
and improve knowledge as professionals.
Join us on the journey towards HR
competence and benchmarking.

71. Let us rise to the challenge and
deliver excellence

72. Let us build a great HR profession!
professional@sabpp.co.za (Professional Registration)
kenneth@sabpp.co.za (Stakeholder Relations)
penny@sabpp.co.za (Research)
naren@sabpp.co.za (Learning & Quality)
marius@sabpp.co.za (Strategy inputs)
voice@sabpp.co.za (Social media)
Website : www.sabpp.co.za
New office: 8 Sherborne Str, Parktown
Tel: 011 482-8595 Fax: 011 482-4830
Cel: 082 859 3593 (Marius Meyer)
New
office