Abstract:
This study explores a gap in the empirical knowledge with regard to the personal
qualities/characteristics expected by the organisations for key HRM jobs in the field of HRM
in Sri Lanka. The research questions of this exploratory study were: What are the personal
qualities/characteristics needed or expected by the organizations which are operating in Sri
Lanka for key HRM jobs? And is it possible to develop a sort of illustration to understand
personal qualities/characteristics expected for key HRM jobs in Sri Lanka? In order to
answer the research questions systematically, an exploratory study was conducted by using
eight key HRM job related employment advertisements appeared in the Sunday Observer
newspaper for the period of 5 years (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010). Time horizon of the
study was longitudinal and HRM related job advertisement was the unit of analysis of the
study.
Comprehensive and systematic content analysis along with descriptive statistics was applied
to generate results and findings. The results of the study revealed that the personal
qualities/characteristics are one of the very important requirements in selecting people for
key HRM jobs in Sri Lanka. At the same time it differs from key job to another key job. When
considering the personal qualities for the selected key HRM jobs, the findings revealed that
there are 39 personal qualities related to the post of HR Director, 29 personal qualities
related to the Group HR Manager, 41 personal qualities related to Head of HRM, 98 personal
qualities related to the HR Manager, 81 personal qualities related to the HR Executive, 50
personal qualities related to the HR Officer, 32 personal qualities related to the Training
Manager, and 15 personal qualities related to the post of Recruitment Manager.
With regard to the personal qualities eleven (11) key dimensions of personal qualities were
identified in addition to the number of personal qualities including attitude related,
personality related, good character related, team related, professional related, business
related, people related, performance related, physical appearance related, leadership traits
related and HR/HRM related aspects. The implications of these findings are useful to all
Sri Lankan Journal of Human Resource Management
An Exploratory Study on the Personal… 33
stakeholders and professionals of HRM especially in developing good professionalism among
current HR professionals in Sri Lanka and prospective personnel who wish to establish a
career in HRM.
