Canadian HR Reporter

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Price subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. Visit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation Perfectbound Published December each year On subscription $77 One time purchase $80 L88804-677 Multiple copy discounts available. Plus applicable taxes and shipping & handling. (prices subject to change without notice) business strategy and executive compensation — based on experi- ence or through an exam. e response so far has been incredibly good, according to Greenhalgh. Within hours of launching the new designations, about 200 people contacted the HRPA to see how they could ap- ply for the CHRE and about 500 people have called in to see how they can be reinstated, he said. Marcia Buchholz, associate vice-president of HR and CHRO at the University of Calgary, ap- plauded the move, saying it raises the bar for HR professionals. "While the changes at HRPA may cause some minor confu- sion for those looking to transfer membership to another province, overall the attempt to continue to enhance the CHRP designation will behoove the HR profession." e move makes sense, accord- ing to Caroline Fellin, a recruiter at Everest Management in Toronto. "It's great," she said. "I truly be- lieve that as business has evolved and the HR function has evolved, then this too has to evolve with it." The old CHRP didn't have enough of a business focus, said Fellin, and hopefully the compe- tencies will be streamlined. "So if you are hiring a senior person and you're asking for the (new) senior designation, then at least you know they've dem- onstrated the competencies that they've indicated," she said. While it's debatable whether a professional designation should require a university degree, col- lege students will benefit from the CHRP requirements, said Sarah Gayer, HR consultant and founder of Sare and Associates in Toronto. "ese people who don't have the experience and don't have a degree, it'll be an easier way for them to get a job because they'll have the designation." It's opening that door up again for people who have certification courses or a diploma program, said Allan MacKenzie, program chair of management at McMas- ter University in Hamilton. "At that level, many of them would be involved in recruiting or payroll or health and safety and that's a starting point — you don't necessarily need a degree to do that type of work." e new process will give mem- bers a designation with a nominal amount of experience and vali- date what they're able to do, said Greenhalgh. "It will be much clearer for or- ganizations and when they hire someone with the designation — whether it's CHRP, L or E — they'll have a much clearer idea now of what those people are capable of." Anything that promotes the profession and its credibility is a good thing, according to Roma orlakson, chair of the board at the Human Resource Manage- ment Association of Manitoba (HRMAM) in Winnipeg. However, member response to the new designations so far has been mixed. "We have many that like that kind of tiered approach," she said. "ere's some, of course, that are very opposed." It's questionable whether three levels is right for the profession, and the new process will be time- consuming and require more work, said Gayer. "If you want to have an entry- level designation, then have the entry-level designation and then the CHRP." MacKenzie is also confused by the change, he said. "I get the fact that we had a CHRP and we had a senior des- ignation but I'm not sure about three levels of designations. As somebody with a CHRP desig- nation, my assumption was that I was going to be working, and I do work, at the level that would be seen as the leader one now. So it's quite surprising." But the range of the CHRP was from entry level to senior execu- tives, so organizations weren't sure what it meant, said Greenhalgh. "e problem is not with the new designation suite, the problem is with the way the CHRP was orig- inally positioned and it migrated and got a bit fuzzy over the years, and the new designation suite is designed to correct exactly that." In other professions, there are different associations that certify at different levels of practice, said Greenhalgh. "ere isn't a junior associa- tion below the professional HR level — we've covered the whole spectrum," he said. "at's why we had the problem with the CHRP, because it was trying to cover too much ground." Having headed up the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada — which has worked to have common standards and eliminate market and stakeholder confusion — Anthony Arigan- ello, CEO of British Columbia's Human Resources Management Association (HRMA), said he was surprised by the three levels. "Why would we want to cloud the market with several designa- tions and then having to explain what the differences are...? It's confusing," he said. "Our resources would have been better spent working with the business community, work- ing with our various stakeholders to promote the fact that we are a designation and that this is the one that should resonate." With the HRPA calling the CHRP an entry-level designation, and the other provinces equating it to the intermediary level, it re- mains to be seen whether this will be a challenge for employers, said orlakson. "ose are all the things that we have to look at. at's what the provinces are now saying we have to do. One of the challenges will be how do we review their desig- nations, does it compare to ours?" e name change will definitely complicate things, said Gayer. "e CHRP is known because it's been around so long so they'll assume somebody who has a CHRP is somebody they should be contacting — but now the CHRP is just entry level, no de- gree," she said. "If I say to some- body 'I'm CHRL,' they'll say, 'What's that...?' If I have a CHRP from another province, now it's being diminished." MacKenzie is not about to stop using the CHRP designation. "at's really the only recog- nized one out there in HR." For now, it's about putting both on a resumé, said Fellin. "As time goes on, you're not go- ing to need to do that, so just put (CHRP and CHRL) on." People don't have to use "CHRL" if they don't want to, said Greenhalgh. "And the people that have got the new designation can keep the existing one for their life — they can use it as long as they want." ere are also concerns about the costs involved with the new requirements. But many people will be grandfathered into the new designations and may actually have more exemptions because university courses are in line with the educational component built into the new designations, he said. "Overall, this is not going to make any difference to the total cost of getting the designation and, in fact, in many cases, people will find it a lot cheaper — they'll get exemptions right away." Will other provinces adopt Ontario's model? What remains to be seen is wheth- er the other provinces adopt the HRPA model or choose another path, under the Canadian Coun- cil for Human Resources Associa- tions (CCHRA)'s initiative. For B.C., it's too early to say, said Ariganello. "I'm a believer... that we need to do what's right for the profession and the members collectively, not just in one province," he said. "I'm just disappointed that (the HRPA) would have proceeded in this way, on their own, with- out consultation with the rest of the provinces as to whether this makes sense." Any development in the HR profession is worth at least look- ing at, said orlakson. "is (is) a great opportunity to have some dialogue with our members. It gives them a chance to get educated on what were the plans for the designation. And so we are, at this point, having that dialogue and hoping to get feedback." In 2012, a professional analy- sis study brought about recom- mendations on how to move the CHRP designation to a level four, said orlakson, and the CCHRA is going to want to continue the work it's started in that area. "There's a saying that says, 'When you want to go fast, you work alone and when you want to go far, you work together.' So, based on that, I think it is taking us more time because we're co- ordinating efforts across Canada," she said. "We feel that our strength is we provide a designation that has the voices of many provinces." People can either stay with the existing CHRP, which is 20 years old and in need of change, or "they can use ours as the basic frame- work and have some discussions about how we might move for- ward jointly and come up with a designation suite that everybody's happy with," said Greenhalgh, adding the HRPA has been "abso- lutely clear" with the other prov- inces about its plans. "Our whole goal in this whole thing has been all around the des- ignation. It's got nothing to do with money, it's got nothing to do with anything but having a desig- nation that's valued, credible, vali- dated in (the) same way based on a national standard — that's our intent." 'CHRP was trying to cover too much ground' hrpA < pg. 1 "organizations now will have a much clearer idea of what people are capable of."

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