This article adopts an assessment center (AC) methodology to understand how the industrial relations (IR) competencies of HR professionals in their early career are evolving. We find that IR competencies are correlated with several other competencies which are essential for professional success. However, IR competencies lag behind the others. It is argued that the erosion of IR competencies embodies a loss of civility in organizations. This loss of civility is closely associated with the proliferation of functionalist and instrumental discourses which severely corrode dialogical possibilities in organizations.