The CIPD has announced a complete overhaul of its professional standards to better serve HR and to adapt to future demands.

Speaking at the CIPD HRD 2009 Conference at the Excel Centre in London, the organisation's chief executive, Jackie Orme [pictured], said: "The HR profession is changing. More will be required of the HR professional of the future, and today's practitioners need to be equipped with the capabilities to meet these demands. Roles are more diverse, career paths more complicated and the capacity to impact on the strategic future of the business greater than ever before."

As part of the overhaul, the CIPD has introduced an HR Professional Map, which will set out the new foundations for professional competency in HR and the criteria for new and revised CIPD qualifications.

The map highlights 10 professional areas at four different levels and the eight key behaviours HR professionals need to operate.

Orme added: "The map will allow us to maintain rigour while improving flexibility: the flexibility to meet the needs of generalists and specialists and to support professionals at all levels, and the rigour to ensure HR professionals and employees alike can be confident that a CIPD qualification delivers not just the capabilities needed for today, but the capacity to adapt to the growing demands that will be placed on the profession in the future."