Professional Human Resource Management for the Digital Age

This paper presents initial findings from a bi-national comparison of the professionalization of human resource management in Hong Kong (HK) and the United Kingdom (UK). It identifies, through principal component analysis, the knowledge and behavior profiles of 900 professionally-qualified members of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management (HKIHRM). Compared, the results of the analysis suggest that whereas UK-based knowledge components vary according to professional and administrative practice, in HK a combination of ‘strategic financial leadership’ and ‘core HR administration’ components materialize. Secondly, for the behavior profile, the addition of a ‘low professional HR administrator’ component amongst the HKIHRM sample is intriguing because it reflects a more traditionally held notion of HR. At the same time, although a strategic dimension emerges from the CIPD behavior profile, the sample continues to lack a strong leadership profile. The implications of the findings are duly considered for future research and practice.