Profiling the knowledge and behaviors of qualified HR practitioners in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom: results from an exploratory factor analysis

DOI: 10.5176/2251-2349_HRMPD14.15

Authors: Paul Higgins, Ian Roper, Man Fung Lo

Abstract: This paper presents initial findings from a bi-national comparison of the professionalization of human resource management (HRM) in Hong Kong (HK) and the United Kingdom (UK). It identifies, through exploratory factor 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). Inventory items were operationalized from associated core professional standards and membership documentation and factor analyzed from responses of a representative sample of professional members from each institute. Compared, the results of the survey suggest that whereas the knowledge factor profile for CIPD broadly varies according to professional and administrative ability, in HK, a combination of ‘strategic financial leadership’ and ‘core HR administration’ components materialize. Secondly, for the behavior standard, whereas the HKIHRM dataset segregates broadly into strategic HR leadership and low professional HR administration profiles the CIPD one contains professional strategic, low administration and low supervision and leadership factors. Overall, the evidence suggests that while it is possible to identify a shared normative vision for HRM in HK and the UK it is far more difficult to consistently replicate this aspiration in practice.

Keywords: CIPD, HKIHRM, membership criteria, professional standards, scale reliability, principal component analysis