Canadian HR Reporter

FEATURES HR ASSOCIATIONS What's new at your HR association? Self-regulation on the agenda for several associations in 2014 'Status quo' not a bad thing in B.C. Simon Evans, CEO, BC HRMA T his will be a year of mixed emotions for Simon Ev- ans, CEO of the Vancou- ver- based British Columbia Hu- man Resources Association (BC HRMA) — he's retiring in June after 10 years at the helm of the 5,500-member group. He's "absolutely" looking forward to the change and pleased he'll be passing the torch to a new leader with the association sitting on sol- id ground. Despite the fact B.C.'s economy has had its challenges and membership growth has been relatively fl at, the fi nancial books are strong, says Evans. e association has seen dra- matic growth in its student mem- bership — going from about 50 to 900 over the last several years — but some of those individuals don't retain their membership because they don't stay in HR, he says. e association is also looking at the issue of segmentation and whether diff erent groups are satis- fi ed with their membership. "Are they getting fulfi llment for themselves or do we need to adjust our off erings to them, whether that's content, profes- sional development or current af- fairs — or is it something else? Do they want diff erent types of ses- sions, are they getting the service they want from the fi eld offi ces we have? Just to make sure we're meeting the needs of members by segmentation." Overall, members seem pretty happy with the association, giving it an average score of seven out of 10 in the annual membership sur- vey (1,458 members responded in 2013). e range has always been between 75 and 85 per cent, says Evans. "We fi nd that you get to a point where you can't really do much more without spending a whole bunch more money or investing diff erently," he said. "I hate using the word 'status quo,' but it's a good status quo at the moment." Key areas of growth There are three key areas of growth where members would like BC HRMA to focus its eff orts, according to the survey: •Be the voice of the HR profession by providing the news media with information about employ- ment issues. •Focus on practices, trends and statistics. •Provide a range of prices for pro- fessional development. In 2013, BC HRMA also con- tinued to deepen its relationship with the provincial government, various provincial MLAs and members of the opposition. e association hosts a government relations roundtable with guests from various levels of the provin- cial government. And having hired a public rela- tions fi rm and an ad fi rm in 2012, BC HRMA's rebranding will be unveiled in 2014, probably at the annual conference in April. e association is also start- ing to get more serious about the question of self-regulation. It's a learning curve and while there's desire among membership, the costs still have to be investigated, says Evans. " ere's a lot of legwork to be done and we know only too well from (the Human Resources Professionals Association in On- tario) how many kicks at the can they had to take, so it's not a quick run." BC HRMA is also looking into the possibility of an HR student competition and could join up with the Human Resources Insti- tute of Alberta (HRIA), which just held its fi rst student competition in March. e heads of the associations for Ontario, Alberta and B.C. meet every few months to discuss such projects, says Evans. As for the HR Metrics Service, the B.C. association is adjusting how these numbers are present- ed to employers, he says. At fi rst, they were more blanket metrics, but now many companies are re- ally looking to focus in on just a few metrics. "We're trying to make it so they don't have to buy the whole enchi- lada and just a section of it." CCHRA focusing on maintaining 'strong national exam' T he Canadian Council of Human Resources As- sociations (CCHRA) is a national federation of eight provincial human resources associations representing nine provinces (Quebec is not a member) and one territory. e eight members collectively rep- resent more than 30,000 mem- bers, it says. When contacted by Canadian HR Reporter, CCHRA refused to be interviewed for this annual feature that lets HR professionals get a glimpse of what their asso- ciations are planning. Instead, Cheryl Newcombe, chair of the Toronto-based as- sociation, provided the follow- ing emailed statement on the CCHRA's 2014 plans: "It is incumbent upon all pro- fessional organizations to periodi- cally review the scope and prac- tice of their profession. To that end, CCHRA has just completed our professional practice re- view to update the Canadian hu- man resource profession's body of knowledge. "CCHRA is currently undergo- ing a strategic planning process, establishing appropriate plans and goals for our future opera- tions. We are focused on main- taining a strong national exam, and providing a national platform for our member associations that will enable them to enhance the recognition, value and infl uence of the human resources profes- sion in Canada."

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