Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER November 14, 2016 10 NEWS 䬀攀礀渀漀琀攀 匀瀀攀愀欀攀爀猀㨀 䴀愀礀 ㈀㐀ⴀ㈀㔀Ⰰ ㈀　㄀㜀 簀 吀漀爀漀渀琀漀 䨀漀椀渀 䌀愀渀愀搀愀✀猀 椀挀漀渀椀挀 吀愀氀攀渀琀 䄀挀焀甀椀猀椀琀椀漀渀 ☀ 䠀刀 䰀攀愀搀攀爀猀栀椀瀀 挀漀渀昀攀爀攀渀挀攀⸀ 䨀䔀一一夀 䈀䰀䄀䬀䔀 䄀甀琀栀漀爀 漀昀 倀䤀嘀伀吀 ☀ 䌀漀ⴀ䌀爀攀愀琀漀爀 漀昀 䜀漀漀最氀攀ᤠ猀 䌀愀爀攀攀爀 䜀甀爀甀 倀爀漀最爀愀洀 䐀刀⸀ 䘀刀䄀一䬀 匀䌀䠀唀䰀吀娀 䘀愀挀甀氀琀礀Ⰰ 唀䌀 䈀攀爀欀攀氀攀礀 䠀䄀䄀匀 匀挀栀漀漀氀 漀昀 䈀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀 一䤀一䄀 䨀伀䠀䄀䰀 匀攀渀椀漀爀 䐀椀爀攀挀琀漀爀Ⰰ 䜀氀漀戀愀氀 䔀砀攀挀甀琀椀瘀攀 吀愀氀攀渀琀 䄀挀焀甀椀猀椀琀椀漀渀Ⰰ 䴀椀挀爀漀猀漀昀琀 (CHRL) and Certified Human Resources Executive (CHRE). "We would have proceeded with aligning our associations na- tionally under the previous CHRP banner," said Railton. "However, the Human Resources Profes- sional Association (HRPA) of Ontario opted to create a three- tiered designation for their prov- ince and defined CHRP, which was shared across the country, as their entry-level designation. So the rest of Canada was required to either accept the tiered model or make this change. We collec- tively determined that it was in our members' best interests to proceed with one designation." One designation ere was market misunderstand- ing in Canada with the three-tiered approach, said Tony Ariganello, president and CEO of the Human Resources Management Associa- tion (HRMA) in Vancouver and CEO of CPHR Canada. "It causes confusion with mem- bers, with stakeholders, universi- ties, government — everyone's confused and I don't think that does a favour to the profession because we're here to represent the profession of HR and the members. How does this help? It does not." To protect the public and for greater clarity, Les conseillers en ressources humaines agréés (CRHA) in Quebec believes hav- ing one designation minimizes stakeholder confusion and is in the best interest of the HR profes- sion, said Manon Poirier, execu- tive director. "We think that the value of a designation becomes hampered by having a three-tier designa- tion," she said. "One designation is consistent with other interna- tional partners; and one designa- tion helps us establish and share a strong and cohesive brand, with- out confusion." e important part about a des- ignation is the understanding of the community at large, not nec- essarily the HR community, said Debby Carreau, CEO and founder of Inspired HR in Calgary. "e average business owner is not going to understand three tiers of an HR designation, nor do they care — they want to know that it's going to be someone that's professional, that's skilled in their trade, that's held to the highest standards, that relates to their profession, and that they're up to speed. at's really what's impor- tant is the credibility externally." For Kristie Searle, it's not about the letters after the name but the designation itself. "When you start getting into different levels of one designation, to me it devalues the designation — you either have it or you don't because it's really my years of ex- perience that's a separate thing," said the proprietor and certified HR business strategist at People- biz Consulting in Vancouver. Wendy MacIntyre, principal of ResolveHR in Charlottetown, P.E.I., said she agrees. "It's the same as other chartered professionals and, honestly, On- tario may have the critical mass to do that, whereas other places don't. I don't see other chartered professionals, which is what we're moving to... having different tiers of designations." Ontario's decision to take a di- vergent path from the rest of Can- ada has created market confusion and devalued the old CHRP, said TJ Schmaltz, vice-president of HR at Impark in Vancouver. "We've still got a way to go for a single HR designation to really make sure it resonates with the public and the business commu- nity, so add three and that cer- tainly didn't help." Entry-level concerns In addition, the rest of Canada does not consider the CHRP an entry level designation, he said. "Because there's a difference, there was a need to really distin- guish," said Schmaltz. "And for the last little while, it was a little difficult to tell our story because there were two designations with the same name but with very dif- ferent qualifications and meaning — and we've clarified that." e change makes a lot of sense, according to Poirier. "The three-tier designation model initiated by Ontario a few years ago for their province made CHRP, which was shared across the country, the entry-level des- ignation, therefore affecting the perceived value and competence of all other CHRP professionals in the rest of Canada," she said. "is change aligns all mem- ber associations to be stronger together, as the human resources role continues to become more critical to accelerating economic growth through business suc- cess, and improving the lives of employees." Ontario 'surprised' However, recent changes to the CHRP pathways in the other provinces has seen a lifting of the degree requirement, said Claude Balthazard, vice-president of regulatory affairs and registrar at HRPA in Toronto. "Some of the changes that some or most of all of the provinces have done to the then-CHRP, this sum- mer, was to bring it even lower, as I understand it." And the CHRL, for example, is a notch above the other designa- tions, he said. "By the time it's all said and done, it's going to be a much more vigorous or demanding certifica- tion process than the CHRP." e Ontario association is also a bit surprised the other provinces would "jettison" the CHRP name, said Balthazard, because it has such a recognition attached to it. When HRPA was trying to decide on the names of its new designa- tions, "our members were quite adamant that somewhere in the scheme, the 'CHRP' had to re- main, so there was lot of value in the name," he said. Considering the CHRP has brand recognition that the other designations don't yet have, HRPA is thinking of having a grandfa- thering period, said Balthazard, "where members... who have their CHRP from other provinces and who want to keep that des- ignation, the CHRP... we would grandfather them into our CHRP. So people who are attached to the CHRP designation can maintain that designation." New beginnings But name recognition of the CHRP was not particularly high in the public and business com- munity, and only a small number of people know what CCHRA stands for, said Schmaltz. "e two (new) names speak a little bit more clearly to who we are and what we do. Try and go to another country to talk about CCHRA and have to explain what it is, versus really talking about our designation and then our na- tional body that oversees the des- ignation — it's very clear." Because HR is becoming so im- portant for businesses and people are recognizing just how critical human capital management is, having a consistent designation is important, said Carreau. "It's unfortunate about the On- tario piece of it but for credibility, I'd love to see it expand beyond Canada and actually align with SHRM (the Society for Human Resource Management) in the U.S. — because I know we have a partnership there as well — so that the designation not only crosses provincial boundaries but also it'll be great when it's north- south as well. It's a profession whose time has come, from a self- regulation standpoint and also just from a professional standards (standpoint) that the average busi- ness person will understand, so that means that they're getting a quality HR professional that truly knows their trade." But there's still a lot of work to be done, said MacIntyre, such as standardizing the designation logs. "Right now, it almost seems like it's based on people's judgment, so it's fairly subjective… when you're putting in your hours and your information and then you wait to find out if you're actually going to be approved or not. So, with this change, they're going to be working more with educational institutions to say, 'If you take this course, it's going to be worth this many points.' So that's going to be a really nice change." And the push for self-regula- tion will also be welcome, said MacIntyre. "I don't get a strong feeling that they really monitor the HR prac- tices of people with the designa- tion, so it's a move in the right di- rection — but perhaps the change in the title is a bit premature. But I can see where they're going." e new CPHR brand and new certificates for designated profes- sionals are expected to roll out in the coming months. Market confusion concerns CPHR < pg. 1 "One designation is consistent with other international partners."

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