On average, HR professionals in the Asia-Pacific value integrity over intelligence, new research has found.
HRD Magazine’s
2016 Asia-Pacific HR Report surveyed more than 3,000 HR professionals across the region. One revealing result stemmed from which traits were deemed most important within the HR industry.
The most important traits – in order from those deemed most to least critical – are listed below:
- Integrity
- Emotional intelligence
- Business acumen
- Persuasiveness
- Flexibility
- Intelligence
- Assertiveness
- Humility
Other common answers included adaptability, communication, credibility, empathy and resilience.
“A HR practitioner needs to establish a reputation as being reliable, having a high level of integrity, being flexible and supportive of people and leaders,” one respondent said.
Another cautioned that HR may be sacrificing this key quality by too easily succumbing to the needs of those in more senior roles.
“HR can compromise on the quality of their services and their integrity in order to earn or keep the senior managers support,” they said.
This may have severe impacts on the reputation of the HR profession as a whole, another warned, saying that “we continue to allow too many operate in our name with no consequence for their lack of integrity”.
One even asked whether it was worth pursuing a career in HR given their experience with others lacking in qualities such as honesty.
“I have been rocked by a few cases where senior HR have been found to really lack in integrity. It really has me questioning whether I will proceed in my career.”
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