Canadian HR Reporter

FEATURES HR ASSOCIATIONS Credit: cheda (Shutterstock) Despite an uneven economy, Canada's HR associations are focused on member needs, self-regulation and collaboration CCHRA stays quiet on developments, plans T he Canadian Council of Human Resources As- sociations (CCHRA) is a national federation of seven provincial human resources as- sociations representing eight provinces (Quebec is an associ- ate member and Ontario is not a member) and one territory. When contacted by Canadian HR Reporter, CCHRA declined to be interviewed for this annual fea- ture that gives HR professionals a glimpse of what their associations have in the works. British Columbia sees success in rebranding campaign T he Human Resources Management Associa- tion (HRMA)'s rebrand- ing campaign was well-received, according to president and CEO Anthony Ariganello, citing re- sults from surveys done before and after. For example, 28 per cent of the business community strongly felt there was a strategic advantage to having an HR professional on staff, compared to 15 per cent prior to the campaign. And 20 per cent said they were aware of HRMA's presence in the market- place before the rebranding, com- pared to just fi ve per cent before- hand, he says. On the self-regulation side, HRMA has met with the govern- ment a couple of times. "We submitted to them our ap- plication in terms of the needs of why we're seeking it, the public protection interest piece and all that, and they seem very support- ive of it," says Ariganello. HRMA has also prepared draft legislation in case the government requires assistance there. "If you help them along and demonstrate to them the goals you're trying to pursue with re- gards to legislation, that makes it easier," he says. e association was also recog- nized in 2015 for its best practices and innovative solutions to immi- grant employment and integra- tion by the Immigrant Employ- ment Council of BC. "If individuals are better- equipped to be able to hit the ground running, that's really key… understanding what their needs are when they're settling in Cana- da, what the requirements are so that it's not a complete surprise in terms of what you have to be aware of and the requirements," he says. And Canada's Public Policy Forum published a paper with HRMA looking at how to create more human capital in the prov- ince to keep up with demand. "It's really important to work with other organizations or like- minded bodies, whether it's simi- lar HR associations or sister affi li- ates… for the simple reason that things are very diff erent," he says. Anthony Ariganello, president and CEO, HRMA Alberta hopeful about self-regulation process T he Human Resources Institute of Alb er ta (HRIA) has already seen signifi cant progress on the road to self-regulation, and 2016 will hopefully lead to further advances. "We're (working towards) ad- vancing the HR professional overall, so much of our focus and our resources and eff orts are to promote self-regulation of the profession for the benefi t of our members and our stakeholders, and to ensure the protection of the public through self-regula- tion," says Chris McNelly, CEO of HRIA, adding the 6,005-member association has already submitted its application to the government of Alberta and is waiting to hear back. But HRIA has other key strate- gic initiatives, he says. " ey're primarily focused on recognition of the profession it- self, working with industry, busi- ness, post-secondary (institu- tions) to promote the HR profes- sion, to promote the professional designation, and to just ensure the credibility and integrity of the professional designation and of the certifi cation process." HRIA is also continuing to ad- vance its professional develop- ment and networking opportuni- ties and products and services for members, says McNelly. "In addition to that, (we are focusing on) establishing those partnerships with post-secondary institutions in particular to ensure that we are growing our member- ship with students as sort of that pipeline," he says. "We're developing accredita- tion programs with Alberta post- secondary institutions and we're expecting a lot of research on both current and emerging HR trends." Another key undertaking this year is HRIA's a semi-annual HR trends report, says McNelly. "2016 will be the fi rst year that we'll have a comprehensive west- ern Canada HR trends report that will include research from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Mani- toba. So it's the fi rst of its kind that will provide HR analysis, trends, data across western Canada." e research was done in part- nership with the other HR asso- ciations, with HRIA spearheading the project, says McNelly. Chris McNelly, CEO, HRIA

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