The importance of HRD has increased in the rapidly changing management environment, due to the fact that it has become a source of competitiveness for corporations. According to this, the purpose of this study is to analyze the practice level of competencies needed for Korean HRD practitioners, and to provide directions and implications for their competency development hereafter. For this study, a survey about the recognition of required competencies and the level of practice for HRD practitioners was conducted on 200 HRD practitioners of 6 large Korean enterprises. The survey has been developed based on the ASTD competency model completed by a research on 100 HRD experts and 2,128 HRD practitioners. In this study, the recognition level of the degree of importance conducted by the ASTD competency study and the gaps in recognition between the degree of importance for the needed competencies and the level of actual performance of HRD practitioners were compared and analyzed through t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) so that the preference and current level of the necessary competency required for HRD practitioners were examined. The findings of study are as follows. Firstly, the field of HRD is recognized as a field with common competencies related to traditional training & development rather than a strategic partner. Secondly, in the case of Korean HRD practitioners, there was a gap between importance perception and performing level in competencies categories of business/management, interpersonal relations, and specialty matter and all of sub competencies. Thirdly, it is urgent for Korean HRD practitioners to develop competencies of business/management and specialty matter. Finally, as traditional HRD roles in instructional design and training are changing to that of strategic partner, it as found that HRD roles are moving toward specialization in learning and developing performance. The results of this study suggest that Korean HRD practitioners have acknowledged the importance of paradigm shift, from a role as a traditional HRD practitioner into a strategic partner or performance consultant, but there are huge gaps among individuals when applying the acknowledgement to the actual working conditions. The results of this study will be used as fundamental data to provide implications for competency development of corporate HRD practitioners.
Key words : HRD, Required Competency, Performance Consultant, Strategic Partner