Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER JANUARY 2020 18 FEATURES First-year CEO initiates 'redesign' to better serve members in Alberta A fter he began his role as the interim president and CEO of Chartered Professionals in Human Resources (CPHR) Alber- ta in March, Rod Miller wanted to make some major changes. "We did a redesign of our organizational structure and we also took a look a lot of the programs that we're offering to really ask yourself the question 'What programs are serving our members well and what aren't?' and 'Let's focus on those that are doing the work for our members,'" says Miller. "As a result, at the end of Q3, we're actually up in our membership numbers for the first time in four years." e group, which also includes members in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, has grown to about 5,800 members, says Miller. "[at's] net positive, which is a really good story for us because we've been declining for the last number of years." Reaching out to members who live "north of 60" will be a "pet project" for him in 2020 this year, says Miller. "We've started that conversation. We've got people who are members in Nunavut and Iqaluit and in Yellowknife and Northwest Territories that aren't actively engaged with our association and I want to figure out a way that we can get them engaged. "When I was given the opportunity to come in and take on the leadership of the organization, member engagement was really core to me," says Miller. "We're doing a good job, but we can do a much better job." Ensuring CPHR Alberta members continue professional development was also key for Miller as the organ- ization decided to move the annual conference to fall from spring. "ere's a real intentional reason for that because we want to develop a professional development roadmap for our members to look at yearly and say, 'is is what I want to do throughout the year,' with the conference being the capstone of not only professional development but also the connection of our community together." HRPA focuses on chapters, PD offerings, regulatory excellence T he Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) in Ontario always seems to have a lot on the go, and 2019 was no different, according to Louise Taylor Green, CEO. "ings are going really well," she says. "Having the clarity of our strategy with multi-year initiatives has really been beneficial because we're all pulling in the same direction now, and [we are] very clear about what our organizational priorities are over the next few years." One of the association's achievements this past year was conduct- ing an audit of its professional development offerings, she says. "at provided some very important insights about where member learning needs to change, the kinds of things that they're really strug- gling with and need more support and professional development on, as well as some of the areas that they're not really interested in." In 2020, the HRPA will redesign a learning roadmap in partnership with its chapters, says Green. "e 27 chapters do over 400 learning events a year themselves, so when you couple that with our 200-plus learning activities of- fered at HRPA centrally, it really shows that there's an opportunity for synergy and for really elevating the value and impact of some of those programs." HRPA also did a comprehensive chapter review in 2019 and formed a task force to dive into the value of the chapters to members, she says. "e task force came up with over 40 initiatives of how we could deepen the member experience and enhance mentoring and net- working and improve the student journey in the HR profession… and have created a series of multi-year initiatives that we're already starting to see roll out across the chapters." It's been a "massive shift" for the HRPA to really commit to and support its chapters in a really meaningful way, says Green, whether that means better marketing support for their programs and initia- tives or more administrative support. e association has also had "quite the year" in terms of advanc- ing regulatory excellence, she says. at includes finalizing the next stage of its CHRL (Certified Human Resources Leader) certification requirements that will roll out in 2020 this year. "We have built… a professional program, but it's really a series of modules that are focused on what the professional practice of HR looks like in the context of moral and ethical dilemmas that face professionals." Finally, the HRPA is boosting its collaboration with Chartered Professionals in Human Resources (CPHR) Canada. For example, the HRPA has invited the organization to join the awards panel of the HRPA's research organization, the Human Resources Research Institute, which gives out an annual award for the best Master's thesis and best PhD dissertation in HR, says Green. "[CPHR Canada] could both encourage greater participation through some of the academic institutions and students across the country but also really join us in in promoting and advancing re- search excellence in HR from an academic perspective." e Ontario organization also hopes to collaborate on joint re- search topics with CPHR Canada that "would be mutually beneficial, we believe, to our organizations, but also people in the profession," she says. Roughriders help promote CPHR Saskatchewan T he Saskatchewan Roughriders were employed as ambassadors in the latest effort by the Chartered Professionals in Human Resources (CPHR) Saskatchewan to promote the HR profession. In leveraging the national marketing and branding campaign "is is HR," the association also ran some commercials on CTV News, with the focus on educating the public and brand awareness, says Nicole Norton Scott, executive director and registrar at CPHR Saskatchewan. e campaign will carry over into 2020, she says. "Other provinces have a very similar [campaign] and so that's positive, especially when you see yourself out there if you are a CPHR holder and you see the CPHR designation at a Canucks game or Rider game or the Bombers game." In addition to branding efforts, professional development will be a big focus for the organization, which partnered for the first time with local chambers of commerce in 2019 to offer one-day programs. Topics such as intimate violence and Indigenous issues will be discussed during future sessions, says Norton Scott. As in past years, self-regulation remains tantalizingly out of reach, she says. "As we know with anything, it's a long journey. We continue to build relationships with government and stakeholders in this area; we continue to get in front of government committees." But CPHR Saskatchewan is not waiting around for the government to act, says Norton Scott, with the board governance developing a modern set of administrative and regulatory bylaws that were approved. e board will also hold a two-day strategic planning session and launch a membership survey shortly to see the alignment, she says. "[It's about] Do our members understand? And are they aligned to what the board is doing?" e Saskatchewan association has also launched a services di- rectory so local people can access certain services. "If you're looking for somebody who does investigations, who does bargaining — we get lots of calls from the public… so we've developed a directory where people can go," says Norton Scott. Focus on education keeps CPHR Manitoba membership growing L ast year saw a continuation of growth for Chartered Professionals in Human Resources (CPHR) Manitoba — both in membership and strategy. e association helped launch two new post-secondary HR programs in the province, bringing the total to 10, with eight of them accredited. ese programs contributed to a notable increase in membership due to post-secondary students who graduated and applied for HR positions, ac- cording to CPHR Manitoba CEO and CPHR registrar Ron Gauthier. Total membership increased by five per cent over the past year to 1,564 — an all-time high for the provincial association and part of a steady increase over the past five years, he says. CPHR Manitoba hopes to continue this trend in 2020 with an outreach campaign to connect with people working in HR who aren't members — Gauthier estimates there are about 2,500 across the province. e goal is to inform them about the provincial association and different pathways to the designation, as well as to try to have them write the National Knowledge Exam before new requirements come into effect in 2021. In 2019, CPHR Manitoba created a new member engagement co-ordinator position to focus on this "big initiative" of bringing many of these people into the membership fold, he says. "We're really looking forward to how we convert on this campaign in terms of recruiting HR people that aren't members of the provincial association and increasing the numbers and the brand of CPHR in Manitoba." For the coming year, the association decided to take a different approach to its strategy, challenging staff to create a strategic plan for 2020 to present to the board — previ- ously, the board created the plan. Gauthier says he's looking forward to this "exciting initiative" in January and the ideas it could bring. As for self-regulation, movement slowed in the past year due to the September provincial election and the issue being shuffled between different ministers, but Gauthier says CPHR Manitoba hopes progress will be made soon. With strong support from the business community and post-secondary institutions, he hopes to meet with the Manitoba finance minister in the near future to discuss drafting the legislation, he says. "Our big strategic goal is self-regulation… e big challenge is that the decision is out of our control. It's up to the government."

• Cover