“There’s no better time to be in HR in Singapore than now,” said Aileen Tan, group chief HR officer at Singtel.
“This is the first time we are seeing a group of HR people banding together and actively supporting this very big agenda.”
The ‘very big agenda’ she is referring to is the implementation of a National HR Professional Certification Framework announced by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and development supported by
Workforce Singapore ()WSG).
Tan, who leads the taskforce assigned to develop the framework, said they had just run the pilot assessment and the feedback from participants has generally been positive.
In fact, she said, the positive feedback began before the certification framework was announced. HR practitioners have been approaching her to help them get a spot in the initial phase of assessments.
Amid some concerns that the assessment might be too academic, she was quick to note that they will be assessed for practical experience, rather than theoretical knowledge.
“We designed case studies that simulate workplace situations and the questions asked are reflective of what an HR practitioner would face on a day to day basis. You can’t depend on being academically smart to pass this,” she said.
This was confirmed by a feedback that one participant shared with her, “She said the answers were very clear to her as she has experienced a similar situation at the workplace before."
She added that there are three sets of key competencies that the assessment will test for: functional, foundational and behaviour/mindset.
"You need to triangulate these three components in order to navigate the ‘grey zone’," she said.
"Unlike other professions like finance, where most things can be categorised into black or white buckets, HR professionals are often expected to manage the grey areas."
“While each industry is going through disruptions and transformations, this has implications on how human capital are managed – the people, the capabilities and the motivations."
“Who is best placed to help the business in supporting this very vital agenda? Therefore my opinion is that HR practitioners have a wonderful opportunity to step up, shape up, and help enable the business,” she concluded.
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