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Beyond HR Competencies: Removing Organizational Barriers to Maximize the Strategic Effectiveness of HR Professionals

The central question posed by Schiemann and Ulrich (2017) focuses on what human resources (HR) leaders need to know or do to deliver business results in the new work environment. Although understanding the knowledge and capabilities that successful HR professionals need is critical, the focal article places an overemphasis on the characteristics of individual HR leaders alone, without fully exploring the environmental inhibitors of their strategic effectiveness. In this commentary, we argue that competencies and the environment must be given equal attention to maximize impact on business and talent outcomes. We first describe the strategic competency gap among HR professionals and discuss four key organizational barriers that impede the strategic impact of HR on the business. We then offer recommendations for how industrial–organizational (I-O) psychologists and HR leaders can help remove these barriers to maximize strategic effectiveness.