SINGAPORE, 30 September 2026 –The Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI), in partnership with the Asia Pacific Federation of Human Resource Management (APFHRM), has introduced a new Regional HR Competency Model to strengthen HR capability across Asia Pacific.

Led by SHRI, the initiative brings together HR bodies across APFHRM’s network of 19 countries to develop a more consistent regional approach to professional capability, while recognising the diversity of individual markets.

The Model will provide a common foundation for regional assessment, capability development and accreditation.

It comes as organisations become more regional, workforces more complex and expectations of HR continue to evolve. Across Asia Pacific, HR professionals must navigate technology, demographic shifts, changing employee expectations and new business models within very different regulatory, cultural and labour environments.

The Model responds to this by combining regional consistency with local relevance. At its core is an outside-in approach, which focuses on how HR contributes to organisational and stakeholder outcomes, rather than looking only at internal HR processes.

It is also anchored in Values and Ethics, recognising that HR professionals increasingly need to balance business priorities, workforce needs, technology and broader stakeholder interests.

“As businesses and workforces become increasingly regional, HR professionals need a common foundation that supports consistency while remaining relevant to different market contexts.

“This Competency Model is intended to strengthen professional capability across Asia Pacific, while recognising the diversity of the region. It also places values and ethics at the centre, because the quality of HR decisions matters not only to employees, but to organisations and the wider communities they serve,” says Ms Low Peck Kem, President of SHRI.

“The role of HR is changing rapidly. HR professionals today are expected to understand the business, anticipate workforce needs, navigate trade-offs and use technology responsibly.

“This Competency Model offers practitioners across the region a common language to build those capabilities and contribute more meaningfully to organisational and stakeholder outcomes,” says Mr Alvin Aloysius Goh, Chief Executive Officer of SHRI.

SHRI will continue working with HR associations, employers, practitioners and education partners across Asia Pacific to validate, refine and support adoption of the framework across participating markets.

About SHRI
Established in 1965, SHRI is Singapore’s longest serving HR Institute, empowering the HR profession for more than six decades by building capability, strengthening connections and advancing its influence. As Singapore’s sole representative in the Asia Pacific Federation of Human Resource Management (APFHRM) and the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA),

SHRI connects Singapore’s HR community with the wider profession across Asia Pacific and globally.

About APFHRM
The Asia Pacific Federation of Human Resource Management brings together 20 national HR associations across the region to advance the HR profession and strengthen collaboration and capability development across Asia Pacific.

Media Contact:
Kaye Zhao
Head (Communications, Events & Membership)
Email: kaye.zhao@shri.org.sg
Hp: 96288340