Canadian HR Reporter

Credit: Rawpixel.com (Shutterstock) A major rebranding saw most of Canada's HR associations united this past year — including Quebec — while Ontario maintained a separate path HR ASSOCIATIONS FEATURES Pulling together CPHR Canada continues down ambitious path A s the national body for HR, CPHR Canada, the Chartered Professionals in Human Resources of Canada, has had a very busy year. Formerly known as the CCHRA (Canadian Council of Human Re- sources Associations), it offi cially announced a name change in Feb- ruary. e move was about doing what's best for the profession, and having a strong national voice, ac- cording to Shannon Railton, chair of the board at CPHR Canada. "Literally, we've had to rebuild our brand and bring people to- gether in a way that we hadn't existed before. So we've redone everything — our governance model, we have a new strategic plan, we've rebranded." e national association may have faltered in the past in terms of being too operational, says Rail- ton, but now it recognizes its role should be as a governance board. "We are very fortunate to have a very collegial group of people to work with and we have great lead- ership and, with that, we're able to get a lot done," she says. And having Quebec come back as a full voting member — after it relinquished its membership in 2010 — has been important in terms of the national association's strategic goals, says Railton. However, Ontario is still not a member of CPHR Canada, having left the group in 2014. "We would love to re-engage them as a full member, so that continues to be our strategic hope. We are certainly currently in dis- cussions with them about how it would look for them to come back," she says. Railton also became president of the North American Human Resource Management Associa- tion (NAHRMA) for a two-year term starting in September 2016. " e timing is really good for Canada to lead given that we've changed so much, and grown and strategically positioned ourselves well in terms of being the Cana- dian voice for the HR profession," she says. Railton also says she hopes the national association will work on strategic initiatives outside of Canada, such as creating a North American or international standard. "I see that as a real opportunity for us, especially with many of our members working outside of our borders as well, so it's really just positioning our designation to align with others as well." And CPHR Canada is set to em- bark on some exciting initiatives in terms of government relations, she says, along with supporting the member associations with their pursuit of self-regulation. British Columbia and Yukon embrace name change I n March 2017, the Human Resource Management As- sociation (HRMA) on the West Coast changed its name to CPHR (Chartered Professionals in Human Resources of Cana- da) British Columbia & Yukon, making the switch to match the new name for the national asso- ciation and HR designation. "It's been a lot of work leading up to this, but the whole country's pretty energized, obviously, outside of Ontario… about what we've done and who we are and what we're representing," says Anthony Arig- anello, president and CEO of the Vancouver-based group. And a new campaign features the tagline "People leading busi- ness," he says. "It really resonates with business owners, CEOs, COOs who are looking to add value or contribute value to their space, and showing how HR can contribute in that space from a strategic standpoint." e B.C. and Yukon association, which has about 5,700 members, is also keen on self-regulation, but that's been stalled with the focus on the provincial election, says Ariganello. "We'll have to regroup once the election is over." e group also released a cou- ple of white papers during the year, with one looking at mini- mum wage and the other a semi- annual HR Trends Report. CPHR British Columbia & Yu- kon is also staying on top of issues that are of interest to its mem- bers, such as aff ordability, says Ariganello. "Salaries are not keeping up with the cost of living, not here, and that's a problem — people have to move far away from work and commute," he says. "HR managers have to start thinking about that: 'How do we accommodate a workforce that wants to ensure they stay produc- tive but, at the same time, don't lose their whole day in stressful activities, like being stuck in traf- fi c?' So, for B.C., it's a really critical time." Shannon Railton, chair, CPHR Canada Anthony Ariganello, president and CEO, CPHR BC & YK

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