By Amelia Chan, CHRP

The Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation was created to identify a baseline for all human resources professionals.  Although our profession isn’t brand new, it is very young in regards to what what HR do professionals in the field do and what body of knowledge they require to deliver a certain level of HR.  While your average lay-person recognizes designations such as a CA or LLB, the HR professional doesn’t necessarily enjoy the same kind of understanding.  The HR professional is truly an emerging role; in many cases we are still reconciling what we do in the organization, in the industry, and even amongst our own peers.

In Canada, we have HR associations for every province and each of these professional bodies has slightly different laws and regulations with which to contend.  The HR professional who provides support in more than one location has to be informed of provincial laws and regulations, as well as the overall federal strictures.  The current CHRP standards and Body of Knowledge was established in 2001 and updated in 2007.  Collectively, we have professionally evolved in a relatively short period considering that HR management was referred to as Personnel not too long ago.

Guiding the evolution of the CHRP is the Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations (CCHRA), a body that brings together HR associations from across Canada, representing more than 37,000 professionals, 18,000 of whom now hold the CHRP designation.  The Professional Practice Analysis (PPA) is the first step of many in the CCHRA’s efforts to stay in tune with the profession’s evolution.  Through ongoing feedback from association membership and CHRP candidates, challenges to the relevancy of the CHRP exam structure have emerged.  It is an ongoing challenge to stay relevant and true to the ever changing human resources role; we need to consistently and objectively review the key knowledge, skills, and abilities to maintain the integrity of the certification process.

Starting the Process…
Working with Castle Worldwide, a firm that specializes in professional accreditation, the PPA Steering Committee recently came together to take a fresh look at the Canadian HR professional.  They were collectively tasked to create a document that captures the role of the HR professional, as well as what knowledge, skills, and abilities is required to fulfill that role.   Comprised of representatives from across Canada and evidencing a wide range of experience, areas of expertise/specialty and practice, the challenge was significant.

As we worked through the team cohesion and group dynamics, the passion of each committee member emerged, as did their integrity and respect for the process. Each one of the members contributed strong individuality while contributing to a greater team strength. It was by no means a groupthink or half-hearted attempt; the entire team worked long and hard on difficult tasks. In fact, we continue to work together and provide feedback as the process proceeds to the next step.

The Challenge…
How do you put a document together that is relevant to all levels of the human resources profession from the new graduate to the senior executive?  With great difficulty — lots of differing opinions, animated discussion, and a commitment to consensus.  With some minor hiccups, the committee was able to stay on task because of the group cohesion and tutelage of our experienced facilitator.  We established a baseline of practice domains, critical tasks, and responsibilities and recognized that they must exist regardless of the level of individual experience.  As a result, the words and terms were carefully chosen to reflect the widest range of sophistication.

It was an ongoing struggle not to get sidetracked by our individual opinions and ideals; but the diversity and conscientiousness of the team kept us focused.  It was amazing how much difference one word over another made in the interpretation and meaning to a statement.  Each domain, task, and responsibility (and ultimately the related knowledge, skills, and abilities) was scrutinized with careful consideration.  The end result will be a job analysis that a HR Generalist should be performing.  We realized that there are also myriad specialties within the HR profession and providing an exhaustive list of these roles would be impossible.  Therefore, we came to the consensus that the CHRP designation is generalist at its very core.  Regardless of whether the individual chooses to pursue further specialist areas, the same core knowledge, skills and abilities of a CHRP should be present.

The Future…
Everyone has a responsibility to uphold the integrity of their own profession.  We, as HR practitioners, are challenged constantly with ongoing business demands, unenlightened stakeholders, and changes in HR practice.  It is vital that we work well and play well with others.  In other words, we are the best ambassadors for what a truly great HR person should be.  Granted, each environment, industry, and organization has its unique challenges, but how we approach our role to support the organization we work in should remain consistent and professional.

Under this umbrella of thought, the PPA Steering Committee, learned as much about each other as from each other during our intensive conference.  We are a part of a great profession. Our challenges are unique, but common and it is important to remember that we have colleagues dealing with similar issues all over Canada.  We need to partner with each other to bring awareness to what we do, establish a worthy baseline for our credentials, and build a mechanism for ongoing professional competence.

Amelia Chan, CHRP, CCIC (amelia@hr-options.com) is the principal of Higher Options Consulting Services, a consultancy providing a wide variety of HR services to small to mid-sized businesses, as well as immigration and relocation solutions.