Canadian HR Reporter - Sample Issue

CANADIAN HR REPORTER October 2, 2017 NEWS 3 Greenhalgh steps down as HRPA's CEO Leader was driving force behind Ontario's self-regulation, competency framework model BY MARCEL VANDER WIER BILL GREENHALGH'S time of transforming Ontario's Human Resources Professionals Asso- ciation (HRPA) has come to an end. He resigned as CEO of the 24,000-member association last month. Effective Oct. 1, longtime HRPA vice-president of finance and information technology, Gary Monk, has assumed the role of in- terim CEO, with a formal search for a permanent replacement ex- pected to follow. "ere comes a time for every- thing," said Greenhalgh, 70. "I've been with the association com- ing up to 12 years and I'd never intended to stay that long. Seven years after I thought I would leave, it's time to leave." As CEO, Greenhalgh led the HRPA through the integration of the association's 28 chapters. e HRPA also achieved regula- tory status in Ontario in 2013 with passage of the Registered Human Resources Professionals Act. "We're the only HR association in the world with a legislative act that appoints us as a regulator," he said. "at in itself is something significant, because it changed our philosophy as an association in terms of what we do and our priorities." One result of the legislation was an overhaul of HRPA's com- petency framework, from one designation to three — Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP), the Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) and Certified Human Resources Ex- ecutive (CHRE). Changes in the profession made the move necessary, as HR was no longer a transactional-type activ- ity, said Greenhalgh. In the past, HR was restricted to organiza- tional backrooms, but over the last quarter-century, the profes- sion has become intertwined in all levels of the organization — including boardroom strategy. "We created a competency framework that recognizes that," he said. "It's a complete underpin- ning structure of HR." While the framework didn't immediately catch on across the country, HRPA's model puts the association in line with many other countries, said Greenhalgh. "We're not the outlier. I think, ultimately, there will be some kind of recognition (in Canada). It's so fundamental to understand that the profession has changed dra- matically in the last 20 years… You can't just have one single designation." The only province to offer a three-tier designation, HRPA cancelled its membership with the former Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations — now Chartered Professionals in Human Resources (CPHR) Canada — in 2014. Taking charge Fascinated with HR, Greenhalgh became CEO of HRPA in 2006, having held leadership positions at Nortel, the Globe and Mail, Cinram and Shred-It. "I always thought that HR got the bum's rush in the professions, basically," he said. "It was the most important (role) and the least understood." e HRPA grew exponentially during Greenhalgh's tenure, from 10,000 members in 2006 to more than 24,000 today, said Phil Wil- son, chair of the HRPA board of directors from 2013 to 2016. "When Bill came in, there was a lot of work (needed) to make the association profitable," he said. "e key is Bill managed the HRPA as if it were a business. e busi- ness grew tremendously during his tenure and the money was rein- vested back (into the association)." e HRPA was seeking a busi- ness leader who understood HR but didn't necessarily have that background, said Wilson. "rough a number of man- dates, he really provided the vision for HRPA and, more importantly, how to move the human resources profession forward," he said. "Bill has positioned the HR profession in Ontario on a global basis." Greenhalgh surrounded him- self with an excellent team, but also had a clear vision of elevating HR professionals to a regulated profession through a "very clear and strong competency model," said Wilson. Looking ahead e next wave of changes to the profession will ultimately require the guidance of another leader, said Greenhalgh. The intelligence revolution means automation, machine learning and technology will drive further change in Ontario work- places, and human resources will need to adjust. "e reality going forward is that pretty much any job that's be- ing done will have some level of automation applied to it," he said. "The question for HR be- comes: How do they integrate this level of automation? What skills do computers have that people don't? And what skills do people have that are better than computers? And how do you then create an integrated environment where you maximize the capabili- ties of both?" "I think that's the challenge," said Greenhalgh. "e importance of HR is going to dramatically change in the next five to 10 years." "He really provided the vision for HRPA, and how to move the profession forward." Bill Greenhalgh

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