HR past, present and future: A call for consistent practices and a focus on competencies

HR's past is relatively long and humble. The present is both positive and challenging, and the future of HR presents the profession with opportunities and even more thought-provoking challenges. This article will briefly discuss where the profession has come from and where it is today, and focus primarily on the opportunities and choices available to those individuals who deeply care about the profession and those who may take more notice of the profession in the future. Among the opportunities are HR standards, HR competencies, consistent HR curriculum, HR professional development and HR research. This article is intended as a practical, not theoretical, discussion that will offer a set of recommendations for students, academicians, practitioners, and HR professional associations.