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Functional Competencies Support Increased Transparency in Career Pathing, Performance Management, and Learning & Development: New Research From McLean & Company

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Global HR research and advisory firm McLean & Company’s new resource explains that functional competencies provide the greatest possible return when developed to address specific functional and organizational needs.

TORONTO, Feb. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ – As HR’s role within organizations becomes increasingly diverse and strategic, survey data from global HR research and advisory firm McLean & Company suggests that although 59% of HR organizations believe competency frameworks are highly important to successfully meeting organizational and HR goals, fewer than one-fifth of organizations’ HR departments feel their competency framework is adequate. In response, the new research explains that a comprehensive competency framework comprises core, leadership, and functional competencies.

The competency framework is a formal structure that lists a collection of competencies, where each competency defines one aspect of behavior an employee must exhibit to perform well in their job. To guide HR leaders through strategically investing resources to develop functional competencies that will best support long-term organizational success, the firm has published its new blueprint, Create Functional Competencies.

“Functional competencies are part of a broader competency framework and are often seen as the next logical step after the development of core and leadership competencies,” says Grace Ewles, director of HR Research and Advisory Services at McLean & Company. “However, functional competencies will not be part of every organization’s competency framework. Functional competencies deliver the best return on investment when developed to address specific functional and organizational needs, such as increased hiring within a particular function, to justify the time and energy required.”

McLean & Company explains that there is often confusion in differentiating technical skills and functional competencies. Technical skills are a demonstrated ability to perform a specific task with proficiency and often require the use of equipment, machinery, tools, or automated systems. Functional competencies, on the other hand, are based on observable behaviors demonstrated across various job responsibilities within a specified function and comprise a set of knowledge, skills, and attributes (KSAs).

To build out functional competencies to include in a competency framework, HR leaders can follow McLean & Company’s three-step process for developing and integrating functional competencies. The approach is outlined below:

Step one: Identify the need for functional competencies. 
Define key project roles and responsibilities, assess the capacity to develop functional competencies for each function under consideration to create a shortlist, and conduct an internal and external needs analysis for shortlisted functions. Next, prioritize functions and explore alternative solutions to make an informed decision about proceeding with functional competency development.

Step two: Define functional competencies.
Collect required data to create functional competencies, select a method for competency development, and draft competencies and behavior-based proficiency statements. Additionally, HR leaders can assign proficiency levels based on roles, conduct a sensitivity and accessibility review, and validate competencies with functional leaders and a cross-section of managers and employees.

Step three: Integrate and communicate functional competencies.
Create a plan for functional competency integration across HR program areas then plan the necessary communications to manage resistance and increase buy-in with functional leaders, managers, and employees. Finally, develop a plan to sustain and update functional competencies as required.

McLean & Company reminds HR leaders that while functional competencies are often associated with performance management, the application of functional competencies goes beyond performance and can target functional-specific needs across HR program areas, such as learning and development, career pathing, employee development, succession planning, and talent acquisition.

To access the full blueprint, please visit Create Functional Competencies.

Additional McLean & Company resources to support functional competency framework initiatives are available below:

Develop a Comprehensive Competency FrameworkCompetency Implementation GuideDevelop a Job Architecture FrameworkReconceptualize Job Descriptions

To register for upcoming free webinars on a variety of topics or to explore the publicly available archive of recorded sessions, please visit mcleanco.com/workshops. Please note that a selection of McLean & Company’s research-based webinars are now offering professional development credits for recertification with SHRM, HRCI, and HRPA.  

Media interested in connecting with McLean & Company analysts for exclusive, research-backed insights and commentary on leadership diversity, DEI, generative AI in HR, HR trends in 2024, the future of work, and more can contact Senior Communications Manager Kelsey King at kking@mcleanco.com

About McLean & Company

Through data-driven insights and proven best-practice methodologies, McLean & Company offers comprehensive resources and full-service assessments, action plans, and training to position organizations to meet today’s needs and prepare for the future.

McLean & Company is a division of Info-Tech Research Group.

Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software and hundreds of industry analysts through the firm’s Media Insiders program. To gain access, contact kking@mcleanco.com.

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SOURCE McLean & Company

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Haier Showcases AI-Powered Smart Home Ecosystem at IFA 2026

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Connected products understand and adapt to everyday needs

BERLIN, Sept. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Haier, the world’s No. 1 brand in major home appliances for 17 consecutive years*, showcased an AI-powered smart home ecosystem at IFA 2026 spanning garment care, refrigeration, cooking, entertainment, digital services and robotics. Under the theme “Home of Intelligent Possibilities,” the showcase demonstrates how connected appliances can evolve into a coordinated home that senses conditions, understands context, learns from user habits and adapts the way devices operate, creating a more intuitive and responsive experience at home.

AI That Adapts to Everyday Life

Across the portfolio, AI turns real-time information into practical adjustments. The Vision 15 washing machine uses an internal camera, sensors and algorithms to detect factors such as load size, balance and foam levels, and then adjust water levels, detergent dosing, drum movement and program settings. In refrigeration, the Maestro prototype brings several preservation technologies together. Its AI Food Care System 2.0 recognizes stored ingredients and recommends suitable conditions to help users manage food more effectively.

The ID Ultimate Series 6 oven applies the same approach to cooking. Its internal camera recognizes food, monitors cooking progress and can stop the program when the desired result has been reached. In the living room, UltraSense AI analyzes content and ambient conditions to adjust picture and sound on Haier Smart TVs in real time.

Together, these technologies extend AI into coordinated home scenarios across laundry, food care, cooking and entertainment. The hOn app brings Haier Europe’s connected products, services and home experiences together in a single digital environment, enabling them to work together around daily routines and translate connected technology into practical benefits at home.

This progression from individual products to coordinated home scenarios is already reaching users at scale. According to Euromonitor International, Haier Smart Home was recognized as the world’s No. 1 smart home enterprise based on global smart home revenue in 2025. Haier smart home platform has surpassed 130 million registered users worldwide and recorded 86.1 billion smart scene interactions in 2025.

Extending Intelligence Into Physical Interaction

Haier also showed how AI and embodied intelligence could translate smart home intelligence into physical tasks. The showcase featured humanoid robots interacting with appliances, robotic cleaning systems designed to recognize objects and different types of dirt, along with companion robots developed for voice assistance and personalized support.

The Haier Exoskeleton extended this theme beyond the home. Its sensors and algorithms interpret movement intentions in real time and adjust the assistance provided to each user, supporting mobility while preserving natural movement. Together, the demonstrations reflect Haier’s work to connect AI, appliances and robotics around practical human needs.

This technology portfolio is supported by Haier’s “10+N” open innovation system, which connects global research resources with local user insights. In the first half of 2026, Haier topped on IPRdaily’s global smart home invention patent list for the 15th consecutive time. Looking ahead, Haier plans to invest at least 13 billion euros over the next five years, with a focus on foundational technologies including artificial intelligence, semiconductors and IoT security to underpin its AI-native transformation.

Haier’s presence at IFA also highlights its global sports partnerships under the “Play with the Number Ones” concept, connecting the pursuit of excellence in sports with the brand’s focus on innovation, performance and better user experiences worldwide.

Visitors can experience Haier’s smart home technologies in Hall 3.1 at Stand 101 during IFA 2026 in Berlin from Sept. 4 to 8.

*Source: Euromonitor International Limited; Consumer Appliances 2026 Edition; % unit share, 2025 volume sales data

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Over 400 media professionals seek new drivers for Asia-Pacific growth

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GUANGZHOU, China, Sept. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — This is a news report from South: 

According to Xinhua News Agency, the Asia-Pacific Media Forum will kick off in Shenzhen on September 5.

Over 400 domestic and foreign media professionals will gather in Shenzhen to explore China’s opportunities and identify new growth drivers for the Asia-Pacific within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/over-400-media-professionals-seek-new-drivers-for-asia-pacific-growth-302870778.html

SOURCE South

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Tuya Smart Brings Full-Stack AI into Everyday Life at IFA 2026

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BERLIN, Sept. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Tuya Smart (NYSE: TUYA; HKEX: 2391), a global AI cloud platform service provider, is showcasing its latest advances in physical AI at IFA 2026 under the theme “Hey Tuya.”

Headlining the exhibit is the global debut of the new AI companion robot Doova, alongside the European debut of Tuya’s AI Home, AI Energy, and AI Robot ecosystems, the Hey Tuya whole-space intelligent interaction experience, a full-stack Matter portfolio, and development tools designed to help turn AI hardware concepts into working products.

The showcase illustrates how Tuya is connecting cloud intelligence, devices, and developer tools to move AI beyond screens and into practical use across homes, energy systems, robotics, pet care, and personal assistance.

Doova Extends Physical AI to Home Companionship and Assistance

Following the debut of Aura, Tuya’s AI companion robot for pets, Tuya is expanding its robotics portfolio with Doova, a home companion robot designed for independently living seniors to combine emotional companionship, everyday assistance, health-related reminders, and home monitoring. Doova is equipped with LDS LiDAR, sound source localization, and AI vision-based posture recognition algorithms.

Doova can respond to a simple voice request for help and navigate to the user’s location, assess their posture, and, if necessary, place a video call to family members. Day to day, it can hold conversations, play audio and video, help users understand complex bills and letters, flag potential fraud risks, and guide them through the operation of smart appliances. It can also provide medication, weather, and schedule reminders, along with practical suggestions related to meals, gardening, and clothing. When users are away, Doova can patrol the home and generate a security report.

Together, these capabilities demonstrate how physical AI can combine contextual awareness with connected-device control to support more responsive and accessible living experiences.

AI Home, AI Robot, and AI Energy Make Their European Debut

At IFA 2026, Tuya is presenting its AI Home, AI Robot, and AI Energy application ecosystems together in Europe for the first time, combined with the Company’s full-stack Matter solutions.

AI Home brings together a range of AI-powered devices, including an AI radar sleep speaker, AI printer, baby monitor, AI flower pot, and AI learning companion, extending AI capabilities into everyday scenarios such as home care, pet care, and plant care.

For example, the AI radar sleep speaker integrates millimeter-wave radar technology to accurately detect user activity and trigger adaptive smart home functions—such as automatically turning off the lights once the user falls asleep. It can also monitor heart rate, breathing, and snoring in real time to generate daily sleep analysis reports. In addition, built-in white noise, natural soundscapes, and meditation music help users relax and drift into sleep more easily.

The smart pet collar uses sensitive audio capture and AI-based emotion analysis to interpret changes in a pet’s vocalizations and breathing. The AI radar speaker combines natural-language control of connected devices with contactless radar sensing for heart rate, breathing, snoring, and sleep quality, alongside functions such as alarms, focus timers, and white noise.

AI Robot products span pet care, interactive collectibles, and desktop tools, including Aura, Fuzozo, Walulu, an AI owl, and an AI robot dog. Aura combines behavioral analysis and sound recognition to interpret a pet’s emotional state, while features such as laser play, treat dispensing, and simulated pet sounds support interactive companionship.

Tuya AI Energy connects balcony solar and storage, smart metering and distribution, and EV charging into a household energy network spanning generation, storage, measurement, management, and consumption. By integrating real-time and dynamic tariff data from more than 800 electricity providers and more than 1,000 dynamic tariff service providers across Europe, the system intelligently shifts household loads to help reduce overall energy costs, improving energy efficiency and reshaping the value proposition of home energy storage. The exhibit demonstrates how Tuya’s energy management capabilities coordinate infrastructure and connected devices across the home.

A Full-Stack Matter Portfolio for Interoperable Products

Tuya is also showcasing an end-to-end Matter portfolio spanning chip modules and cloud services. The offering supports Matter over Wi-Fi, Matter over Thread, and Ethernet, as well as bridges from Zigbee, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi to Matter. It covers product categories including gateways, central control panels, lighting, plugs, sensors, curtain motors, thermostatic radiator valves, locks, and cameras.

Beyond standard Matter capabilities, Tuya layers on distinctive features — remote management, energy tracking, music-synced lighting — and integrates ecosystem tools like Amazon Frustration-Free Setup and the Google Matter API — allowing products to achieve cross-platform interoperability while preserving a differentiated user experience.

Hey Tuya Coordinates the Connected Home through Natural Language

Built on a multi-agent collaborative architecture, Hey Tuya is designed to coordinate services and devices across everyday scenarios rather than operate as a single-device assistant. Users can issue natural-language commands such as “Turn on the dining room lights” or “I’m leaving — activate monitoring,” allowing multiple devices and scenes to respond together.

The experience centers on four capabilities: round-the-clock home security monitoring; energy analysis and personalized efficiency recommendations; natural-language control and automation across multiple devices; and personalized services that adapt to household routines and preferences.

Tuya plans to continue improving the reliability, response speed, and task execution of Hey Tuya, while exploring subscription and value-added services in areas such as energy optimization, pet care, and video understanding.

Developer Tools Shorten the Path from Concept to Working Hardware

Tuya’s developer showcase presents a full technology stack for AI hardware development, where visitors can experience firsthand how ideas can be rapidly turned into functional AI applications that interact with and enhance daily life through the TuyaOpen open-source framework, Tuya Cobuilder, and Tuya AI Coding.

Tuya Cobuilder is an end-to-end Physical AI Builder designed for AI hardware developers. By simply describing an AI hardware concept in natural language, users can complete the entire development workflow in one place, ultimately enabling the application to run directly on real hardware. Tuya AI Coding, the Company’s AI-native no-code application development platform, lets users turn ideas into AI-powered applications with a single prompt—enabling non-technical creators to become builders of AI-powered experiences.

By bringing AI applications, interoperable device infrastructure, and development tools into one ecosystem, Tuya aims to help its global AIoT developer ecosystem create practical AI products more efficiently. The Company will continue advancing AI Home, AI Energy, and AI Robot applications and collaborating with developers and partners to make intelligent living safer, more convenient, and more responsive to individual needs.

About Tuya Smart

Tuya Inc. (NYSE: TUYA; HKEX: 2391) is a leading global AI cloud platform service provider dedicated to bringing AI into everyday life. Through its TuyaOpen open-source development framework and universal AI Agent engines, including the AI Agent development platform, Tuya integrates multimodal AI capabilities to lower barriers for AI development, efficiently advancing the realization of AI-driven lifestyles and accelerating AI integration with the physical world. Tuya offers innovative physical AI solutions for smart devices, commercial applications, and industry developers through its cloud computing and spatial intelligence capabilities. It also provides a complete, open, and neutral global AIoT ecosystem.

As of June 30, 2026, the Tuya AI Developer Platform had over 2,092,000 registered AI developers from more than 200 countries and regions.

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