By Alan Bostakian

You’ve completed your degree, amassed considerable work experience, and are in or on your way to the job you want. For the lifelong learner, this is just the beginning of an ongoing journey of education—a fact of life taken to heart by HR professionals.

Aware of the onus upon HR professionals to stay on the cutting edge, the Human Resources Management Association (HRMA) has launched “SmartPass”—an innovative pathway to high-calibre professional development and continuing professional development (CPD) hours.

SmartPass Offers World-Class Education
SmartPass is an on-demand and all-access continuing professional development opportunity, showcasing content streams developed and delivered by three world-class education providers: Harvard Business Publishing, Chartered Management Institute and getAbstract. Through these collaborations, HRMA members will receive full access to quality learning and development. As an added benefit, a wealth of online resources—videos, templates, checklists, publications—are also available.

“Well-designed continuing professional education is important because it delivers benefits to the individual, to their employers and clients, to their profession, and to the public,” says Rock Lefebvre, HRMA’s chief regulatory officer. “The pace of change continuously escalates, so it’s more important than ever to stay current and to be aware of changing trends and best practice. If one stands still, they simply get left behind. SmartPass helps individuals to continue to make meaningful contributions to their teams and to remain effective, all the while assisting to advance your career prospects to influence, manage, coach, mentor, and lead.”

An Investment in Organization and Self
Featuring strong professional development opportunities in leadership, HR, change management, strategy, coaching, innovation, project management and personal development, the full range of specialized content is a core component of the SmartPass experience—as are the practical tools, templates and tips designed for immediate application in the workplace.

Fixed with an annual, all-inclusive price, SmartPass is an investment in self and organizational leadership. While functioning as an accredited program for CPD requirements, the integrated technologies involved provide certificates and badges for garnering online accolades and social engagement.

“The relevance and importance of continuing professional development should not be underestimated and HRMA is raising its game in bringing it to you,” says Lefebvre. “Advancing personalized learning has been identified as one of the biggest challenges facing us, and HRMA has been focused on creating interactive,
engaging e-learning courses for busy professionals. Practical and relevant, our programs and trainers
are here to help you meet your ongoing educational requirements.”

HR professionals now have the capacity and the responsibility for contributing to profitability. Investing in professional development improves HR productivity, organizational image and ultimately, the bottom line. The value of professional development for HR goes well beyond a single ROI. When HR professionals develop their own skills and resources, that goes directly to help employees learn and develop their own
skill sets.

HRMA Extends Education Outreach
To further elevate HRMA’s professional development offering, the Association has also signed agreements with top-ranked universities and organizations such as the UCLA Extension (the continuing education arm of UCLA), University of California – Berkeley Extension, UBC Continuing Studies, Simon Fraser University,
Harvard Business Publishing, the Global Association of Corporate Universities and Academies, Duke University Continuing Studies, Chartered Management Institute, and California State University. From multi-week programs to hot topic webinars, and further on-demand learning to fit your busy schedule, these evolving relationships only serve enhance the SmartPass opportunity.

Without doubt, enhancing institutional performance through high-quality HR is bolstered by the continued pursuit of quality professional development. Ongoing education is not only “smart” thinking; it is essential for maintaining the standards of HR professionals, including managing self, embracing change,
reinforcing accountability, putting people first, forging a holistic view, and optimizing the human capacity. All of this helps in securing increased public confidence in our work and within our profession.

It’s time to do the “smart” thing. For more information, please visit: hrma/smartpass

Alan Bostakian, PhD. is HRMA’s manager of professional development.

(PeopleTalk Spring 2016)