Canadian HR Reporter

Canadian HR RepoRteR February 23, 2015 12 FeAtures Manitoba puts focus on partnerships c reating more partner- ships and being visible in the community are among the key focus areas this year for the human resource management Association of manitoba (hrmAm). "We've been focusing on trying to create more partnerships, get out there more in the commu- nity. We've really been involved focusing on the Winnipeg Cham- ber of Commerce," says CEO Ron Gauthier. at particular partnership is important because the chamber solicits the province in terms of making policy recommendations — which could help as HRMAM continues to pursue self-regu- lation for the HR profession in Manitoba. Last year, HRMAM created a self-regulation task force to do research with other provinces that are already self-regulated or at some stage in the process, says Gauthier. at committee made a report towards the end of 2014 and now HRMAM has created a self- regulation steering committee. HRMAM, which has about 1,300 members, will also focus on partnerships in its professional development off erings for 2015. "Our members told us that they want relevant and timely PD that's relevant for them, and so… we launched an accredita- tion program, where we're sort of the facilitator and we accredit courses that members can take," says Gauthier. It's also off ering a rejuvenated mentorship program and working toward the goals in its fi ve-year strategic plan, announced in 2014. e association is in a strong fi - nancial position and the board has set up a special projects fund with a portion of its surplus. Another focus is around work- ing with post-secondary institu- tions, says Gauthier. "We've communicated with all of the institutions the new CHRP framework that was launched last fall — changing from the knowl- edge-based to the competency- based — so that they can map their courses appropriately and do that change," he says. "We've also increased our in- volvement with the students in all the institutions." Ron Gauthier, CEO, HRMAM Pursuit of self-regulation strong in Saskatchewan s et to celebrate its 10-year anniversary in 2015, the saskatchewan Association of human resource profession- als (sAhrp) is doing lots of good things to elevate the profession within the province, according to Greg honey, president of the board of directors. The theme at last year 's SAHRP conference was "Elevate the profession," with the objec- tive to inform members of the move towards being a Level 1, full-fl edged profession in the eyes of stakeholders that include the public (and therefore the public interest) and employers. "We create a competitive ad- vantage for our organizations through… programs and poli- cies and procedures and creating the culture environment, all of that through people. And then the end result of all that is we're actually a true profession," says Honey. "If we project this out into the future... then we'll start to have more CHROs becoming CEOs of the organization because people are understanding that's where the competitive advantage is." The association's pursuit of self-regulation is in full tilt, ac- cording to Nicole Norton Scott, executive director and registrar at the Regina-based association. SAHRP made a submission to government and continues those discussions. e process has included updat- ing the code of conduct, tightening complaints and discipline policies and procedures, and developing a strong governance process. This is driven by separating governance of the organization from operations and is supported by revised bylaws and a gover- nance manual. " e government has not only accepted but they are very en- couraging about the potential for our legislation," says Honey. e association continues to work on elevating both the pro- fession and the governance of the profession in the province to be able to support that, he says. e 1,500-member SAHRP also ran a campaign to build awareness of the CHRP designation and em- phasize that the association is committed to one certifi cation. "We believe that one designa- tion (for Canada) is the way to go," says Honey, referencing the move by the Human Resources Profes- sionals Association (HRPA) in Ontario to off er its own designa- tion. e Toronto-based group is trying to attract HR professionals from other provinces, he says. "We're not worried about that in Saskatchewan because we're going down the path of self-regu- lation," says Norton Scott, adding Saskatchewan hopes to attain its goal by the fall of 2015 or, more likely, in the spring of 2016. e association also decided it would no longer grant the Senior Human Resources Professional (SHRP) designation earlier in the year, as did HRPA. "It actually confused the profes- sion and professionalization and it was based more on competencies than… a defensible knowledge ex- amination and education that un- derpins it, which is where you've got to go to support true profes- sionalization," says Honey. e association is also focus- ing on programming based on its new educational framework. And all professional development will be based on the nine functional domains of HR professionals, says Norton Scott. SAHRP's annual conference will be held Oct. 6-7. Ontario gets down to business t he theme for this year's human resources pro- fessionals Association (hrpA) conference was "the Business of hr" — and it was an appropriate one. "It sort of ties together what we've been doing in the act and in the designations in the sense that all the work we've done is all about how HR professionals can add value to organizations," says Bill Greenhalgh, Toronto-based CEO. e theme encapsulated much of the major work HRPA — which has more than 21,000 members — did in 2013 and 2014, fi rst around getting a provincial act to self- regulate the profession, and then creating three levels of HR desig- nations in late 2014. e new designations — CHRP (Certified Human Resources Professional), CHRL (Certified Human Resources Leader) and CHRE (Certified Human Re- sources Executive) — are compe- tency-based and that's where the value-add is for organizations, says Greenhalgh. "It's added a lot of clarity and it's updated the knowledge and the competencies," he says. "To have one designation that covers the complete spectrum, from entry level right up to the se- nior level, didn't really work very well. So now, organizations can look at the three levels and un- derstand very clearly what we're validating." A key focus for 2015 will be around marketing the new desig- nations, says Greenhalgh. "We now have to introduce the validation processes — the exams, the tests, all the accreditation processes that go with it," he says, adding that that will be a steady rollout throughout the year. "We've also started working on a memorandum of understanding with other countries to recognize that body of knowledge." HRPA will also be rolling out new logos and branding that will be an evolution of its current branding, he says. Another focus will be working through a couple additional requirements of the act, such as taking on three gov- ernment appointees to the HRPA board. ere have been a lot of chang- es recently, but they have all greatly enhanced the credibility and visibility of the association, says Greenhalgh. "You take all that together and it basically jumped the association to a whole new level." Bill Greenhalgh, CEO, HRPA Nicole Norton Scott, executive director and registrar, SAHRP Greg Honey, president of the board of directors, SAHRP Alberta waiting for word on self-regulation t his past december was an important month for the human resource institute of Alberta (hriA) — it submitted its application for self-regulation to the Alberta government. "That was significant because there was an incredible amount of work done by the board, the staff and the members who vol- unteered to put the application together," says Chris McNelly, the organization's Calgary-based CEO. "It's a big step." It will take some time for the ap- plication to be reviewed by gov- ernment, says McNelly, who took the reins as CEO in 2014. "It's difficult to gauge as to how low it'll take — we're cau- tiously optimistic that we'll get some progress done in 2015. I think right now with the current economic climate in Alberta, there've been a few ripples I'm sure. But we hope that won't de- ter the progress," he says. "We're very optimistic, based on the support we've received from our members as well as the public in general." HRIA, which has 6,058 mem- bers, will also be focusing on ad- vocacy of the HR profession this year, says McNelly. "We want to continue to raise awareness with employers, in- dustry, post-secondary and other key stakeholders out there that will support the HR profession and see the value of it being rec- ognized under a self-regulated model," he says. "We want to en- sure that we're aligning with other provinces, and we're not getting left behind." HRIA's annual conference will take place in April, with the theme "Share, learn, be inspired." Another focus will be profes- sional development, says McNelly. " is is a very important area for our members." Research will also be impor- tant, he says. "We want to ensure that we're providing members and indus- try employers with credible and valid industry research in terms of HR trends, compensation." Chris McNelly, CEO, HRIA

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