This exploratory study treats specifically the professional competence of Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) and Certified Industrial Relations Counsellor (CIRC) and their counsultation activities.
This research aim to test a conceptual definition of professional competence with an interpretative approach. The second goal is to develop a better understanding of consultation activities of CHRP and CIRC.
We used a semi-structured questionnaire which composed 29 questions as main instrument of collecting data. The questionnaire was designe to investigate knowledge, skills, attitudes and the understanding of work in relation of consultation activities.
The data was collected from June the 29th up to July the 4th included. 547 people were surveyed in total which corresponds to approximately 8,9 % of CHRP and CIRC's population of the province of Quebec
The main purpose of this research project was to identify the profile of professional competence CHRP and CIRC in relation of their consultation activities. We identify a general profile of professional competence for CHRP and CIRC within 16 elements. The majority of CHRP and CIRC have a bachelor's degree or more. The most important KSA for CHRP and CIRC are : build on a trust based relationt with their client; analytic reasoning and thinking; attention to details; efficiency orientation; business knowledge; strategic thinking.
For a great majority CHRP and CIRC work like the consultant as a process facilitator according to a contingency model of consultation Margulies and Raia (1978). However, we identify some differences in the profile of professional competence between internal consultants and external consultants and between CHRP and CIRC too.