This chapter includes three sections. First, it summarizes all the results of this study. Secondly, the research limitations and implications are discussed. Lastly, suggestions for future research also are provided.
Conclusions
The main purpose of this study was to examine how six different types of competencies of an HR professional may have an impact on HR effectiveness in private sectors in Mongolia. The research aimed to understand the relationship of six different self-evaluated HR competencies and its’influences on three types of employees perceived HR effectiveness (HR Service, role, and contribution) with the impacts of Challenges and Hindrance stressors. Specifically, all six HR competencies of HRCS 2012 model (Strategic Positioner, Credible Activist, Capability Builder, Change Champion, HR innovator, and Technology Proponent) were found to have a positive and significant impact on overall employees' perceived HR effectiveness. This overall finding of the study is precisely consistent with the main concept and result of HRCS 2012 model (Ulrich et al., 2011). According to the authors, each competency of this model was found to show impact on the individual effectiveness of an HR professional as well as the business performance; however, this study revealed that, among these six competencies, the competencies of Strategic Positioner, Capability Builder and Change champion have a stronger and positive predicting power as well as an impact on each element of HR effectiveness. It means that if HR professionals in Mongolia obtain these three competencies mentioned above, they can be more effective, and productive managers in their organizations when HR Service, role, and contribution are concerned to be measurement indicators of their performance and contribution. Also, it is possible to assume that these three competencies can be highly demanded competencies for HR managers in the private sector in Mongolia.
HR contribution is the third element of HR effectiveness found to have a significant and positive relationship with all six competencies of an HR professional. It means that the employees who participated in this study agreed that their HR managers could add some contribution to the organization with the current competencies they have earned so far.
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Even though HR managers in the private sector in Mongolia are perceived and valued to be effective managers by their employees through the service they provide, the role they play, and the overall contribution they add; however, HR service and HR Role are found to be less associated elements of HR effectiveness with each competency of an HR professional. It may mean that HR managers in Mongolia lack some necessary competencies to be either a good HR service provider or a skillful HR role player in their organizations. According to Ulrich et al., (2011), if HR managers possess and demonstrate these six core competencies, their performance and contribution are supposed to be recognized as effective and valuable by their employees.
Concerning challenge and hindrance stressors, the data of this study did not support moderating effects of Challenge and Hindrance stressors on the relationship between overall HR competencies and overall HR effectiveness. The stressors did not serve to influence all five different types of HR competencies except the competency of Technology proponent. It means that these stressors at work may be not entirely sufficient to impact the overall individual effectiveness of an HR professional together with the current competencies HR managers have gained. The result may infer that the ‘challenge stressors’ is not a single factor that pushes HR managers to produce effective outcomes. Similarly, ‘Hindrance stressors’ is also not a factor alone that obstructs HR managers to perform better in the private sector in Mongolia.
Implications
Based on the findings of this study, some implications and recommendations for top management as well as HR managers are discussed as follows:
Implications for Top Management
Top management in Mongolia needs to realize that an HR position should be filled with professional and qualified people who have gained the necessary competencies to manage HR functions strategically and professionally. The demographic finding of this study indicated that 57.8% of HR participants are non-professional to carry an HR job because of the fact that they do not have a degree in HR. Khatri (2000) stated that pursuing a non-specialist career path could be resulted in reaching a counterproductive in the long run.
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The demographic data also revealed that 76.7% of HR participants have 1 to 5 years of seniority at an HR related job in their current organizations. Therefore, top management is suggested to encourage their HR managers to pursue a degree program in HR, and push them to perform better in order to add more values to their organizations. A degree program in HR can be recognized as competency-based (Yeung, 1996).
Furthermore, when it comes to recruite a new HR manager, top management should evaluate whether candidates could have acquired these six HR competencies of HRCS 2012 model. In this way, they can hire the best candidate who can function effectively in their organization.
When a company invests in a training and development program for its HR manager, top management should consider whether the program focuses on developing or strengthening these competencies.
The performance appraisal system for an HR manager can be linked to the six tested competencies in this study in order to maximize the effectiveness of an HR manager in an organization as well.
Implications for HR Managers
Regarding HR service and HR role, HR managers in the private sector in Mongolia are assumed to be not a credible activist, HR innovator as well as a technology proponent in their organizations.
In other words, the finding of this study can say that the surveyed HR managers may lack some of the necessary competencies to be a competent service provider and role player in their current organizations. Therefore, the following steps can be suggested for HR managers to take: the first step is to evaluate your competencies in order to identify your exact degree of competencies. After that, taking an appropriate and efficient action to develop your lacked competencies is necessary.
In this stage, pursuing a degree program in HR (Yeung, 1996) or reading HR related academic materials (Rynes, Colbert, & Brown, 2002; Sanders, van Riemsdijk, & Groen, 2008) are highly recommended. Ulrich (1997) stated that HR professional could not influence the business outcomes cause they lack the knowledge of business and management related theories. For this reason, the academic and theory-based approaches are recommended for HR managers to use.
Finally, being proactive and self-initiative is essential for HR managers in order to be a productive and valuable player in an organization.
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Limitations
First, with regard to the sample size, the data collected from 90 HR managers in the private companies in Mongolia have a limited power to test HR competencies as well as Challenge and Hindrance stressors. According to the National Statistic Office of Mongolia (2016), there are officially registered 141,502 enterprises operating a business in Mongolian territory. Compared to the overall sampling population, the data accumulated for this study may not be able to represent the whole population.
Secondly, all scales utilized in this study were established and developed in the Western context.
For this reason, some items are not entirely presented what they are supposed to measure in the Mongolian context. In other words, there may be occurred some misinterpretation between the original items and the translated items due to the cultural difference and the development stage of HRM in the surveyed country.
Thirdly, in this study, the researcher intended to bring the different points of view of HR effectiveness by collecting data from multiple levels of employees within organizations. However, different levels of employees may perceive the effectiveness of their managers differently regarding their general knowledge about HR functions and HR activities. Therefore, it causes inconsistent assessment results across different respondents from one organization.
Fourth, this research did not control the number of HR managers in an organization as a control variable. Although the most data gathered in this study came from the companies in where only one HR manager takes care of HR functions and activities, it might be better to consider this factor in order to see how it influences the results of this study.
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Suggestions for Future Research
Based on the research limitations discussed above, some recommendations are introduced as follows:
First, this study did not include these reasonable control variables such an organization size and an industry difference. HR effectiveness may vary across the different industries and the size of enterprises (Yeung, 1996). Therefore, it is suggested to control these two variables.
Secondly, this study is allowed for all levels of employees to evaluate the effectiveness of their HR managers. In fact, the bottom level- employees may be not truly right participants to assess the performance of HR managers because some HR functions can not directly be observed by all level of employees in an organization (Han et al., 2006). Thus, collecting data from the middle-level employees is strongly recommended.
Thirdly, this study utilized the HRCS competency model 2012 and other established items created in the Western context to measure HR competencies as well as HR effectiveness. On the other hand, Management style in Mongolia is heavily influenced by a nomadic life so that it is highly recommended for future researchers to consider the cultural difference while choosing the measurements.
Fourth, it can be more efficient and useful to conduct a study to reveal what kinds of HR competencies are truly required for HR managers in order to perform effectively in the strategically key sectors in Mongolia such as mining, agriculture, the construction.
Fifth, when it comes to the workplace stressors, it can be more practical and effective to conduct qualitative research in order to explore what kinds of stressors truly influence the contribution as well as the performance of HR managers in Mongolia. As we know, the qualitative study helps researchers to "measure and create new concepts simultaneously with the process of gathering data" (Neuman, 2014, p.203).
Finally, it would be a good beginning in the HR filed in Mongolia to conduct research how HR managers upgrade their professional competencies and cultivate their skills and abilities in order to catch up the rapid changes in today's competitive market.
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