HR professional capability
Ulrich HR Competency Model
What great HR professionals are actually good at, based on the multi-decade RBL and Michigan research rounds (paraphrased here).
At the center is a paradox: the credible activist, trusted by the business and willing to push it.
- Problem
- HR professional capability
- Altitude
- HR function
- Effort to run
- Light
- Evidence base
- Strong
Theory & origin
The HR Competency Study, run by Dave Ulrich and the RBL Group with the University of Michigan across multiple rounds since the late 1980s, is the largest empirical study of what makes HR professionals effective. Its recurring finding is the paradox at the center: the credible activist, trusted enough to be listened to, and willing to take a position anyway. Around that sit competencies like strategic positioner, capability builder, and analytics proponent. Because the rounds keep evolving, check the current iteration before anchoring a development program to it.
Key components
The parts at a glance. Click any term for the full definition, a field example, and the common failure, in the model below.
Explore the model
How a consultant runs it
- 01 Assess the HR team against the current competency set using 360 input, not self-rating.
- 02 Prioritize development against the business's biggest gap, usually strategic positioning and analytics, rarely relationships.
- 03 Pair HRBPs with a P&L mentor and require an analytics-backed talent review per business unit, to build the muscles that are actually missing.
- 04 Rewrite HRBP role profiles and hiring scorecards around the competencies, so new hires reinforce the shift.
- 05 Fix the operating model first if it is broken. Individual competence cannot make up for a broken structure.
When to use
- 01 Assessing and developing an HR team during a transformation
- 02 Writing HRBP role profiles and hiring scorecards
- 03 Explaining to HR professionals what "being strategic" concretely requires
When not to use
- 01 As a certification checklist detached from the business's actual needs
- 02 Assessing non-HR roles. This model is specific to the HR profession.
- 03 When the HR operating model itself is broken. Fix the structure before individual competence.
Worked example
A CHRO inherits 12 HRBPs rated highly by HR but largely ignored by the business. Assessment against the model shows real strength in credible-activist relationships, but weakness in strategic positioning and analytics.
The development plan pairs each HRBP with a P&L mentor and requires an analytics-backed talent review per business unit. A year later, three HRBPs sit on their business unit's leadership team.
Common pitfalls
- 01 Training all competencies equally instead of targeting the business's biggest gap
- 02 Using the model's labels as job titles instead of as capabilities
- 03 Ignoring that the rounds evolve. Check the latest iteration before anchoring a program to it.
Sample deliverable
One real engagement, start to finish. Watch the numbers travel from raw input, onto the chart, into the finished artifact.
Input
- Credible activist4.1 / 5
- Change champion3.2 / 5
- Strategic positioner2.3 / 5
- Analytics proponent1.9 / 5
Process
360 scores are averaged per competency across the team
Capability assessment: 12 HRBPs
- Strengthtrusted relationships at 4.1
- Gapspositioning at 2.3, analytics at 1.9
- PlanP&L mentors plus evidence reviews