As people professionals, we need to be experts in our knowledge of people, of work and of change. An important part of this is having a core knowledge of a range of people practices, and understanding how different practices impact each other and work together in an integrated way.

People practices are the processes and approaches that we use across the employee lifecycle. Learning needs analysis, creating talent pools, developing people policies, analysing people data, managing grievances, recruiting people: all these are examples of people practices.

Some people practices sit within our specialist knowledge areas (such as resourcing, learning and development, and ER). But there are some people practices that are fundamental to all practitioners, whether you’re a generalist or a specialist.

This area of the Profession Map covers these key practices, and includes regulation and law, workforce planning, diagnosing capability needs, performance management, wellbeing, inclusion and diversity, and flexible ways of working (such as hybrid or remote working).

People practice standards

Each standard progresses through four levels of impact. Which level do you most embody in your day-to-day work?

Foundation level Associate level Chartered Member level Chartered Fellow level
At this level you'll understand: At this level you'll understand: At this level you'll understand: At this level you'll understand:
Understanding people practices The employee lifecycle, and where the work you do sits within it The employee lifecycle and how other people practices impact your work and vice versa A range of people practices, and how to design them in an integrated way People practices across a range of specialisms, and how to integrate these to create a holistic people offering
Law and regulation Policy, regulation and law relevant to your work Policy, regulation and law relevant to your work and how to ensure people practices are compliant Current and future regulation and law relevant to your work, how to apply it, and how to mitigate risk Current and future regulation and law relevant to your work, and how to assess impact and risk for organisations and industry sector
Workforce planning What workforce planning is and why it's important How workforce planning can inform your work How workforce planning informs other people practices and wider business planning How workforce planning informs people and organisation strategy
Skills and capabilities How your organisation assesses people's skills and capability How to conduct skills or capability audits and gap analyses in your area of work How to assess current and future capability needs How to build future organisation and sector capability
Performance management Performance management approaches in your organisation Different approaches to performance management and their pros and cons The impact of different performance management approaches, and how performance management data can be used to drive improvements The impact of different performance management approaches on organisation culture and performance
Wellbeing What wellbeing is and why it's important Why wellbeing is important, and the different factors that impact wellbeing How to integrate wellbeing into people practices How to integrate wellbeing into people strategies
Equality, diversity and inclusion What equality, diversity and inclusion is, and why it's important How to build equality, diversity and inclusion into your work How to integrate equality, diversity and inclusion into people practice to create value in your area of work How to build equality, diversity and inclusion approaches that positively impact an organisation s culture and performance
Optimising flexible working The benefits and challenges of different flexible ways of working (eg, hybrid, remote, job-share, variable hours) How to apply flexible working approaches appropriately and fairly, to deliver business benefits How to balance stakeholder and business needs through a range of formal and informal flexible working approaches How to develop a flexible working strategy which supports the workforce plan and delivers organisation benefits

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The Profession Map

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    The Profession Map

    The Profession Map is for everyone in our profession – individuals and teams, members and non-members. Learn more about the Profession Map and how you can use it. 

    The Profession Map overview