Canadian HR Reporter is the national journal of human resource management. It features the latest workplace news, HR best practices, employment law commentary and tools and tips for employers to get the most out of their workforce.
Issue link: https://digital.hrreporter.com/i/917946
Government relations high on CPHR Canada's agenda R ecently, CPHR Canada has been focusing its ef- forts on two areas that somewhat overlap: research and government relations. "In terms of being able to in- fl uence policy and be there to be the voice of the HR profession in Canada, one of our goals was to try to make those connections with government, to provide them with information as to who we are, what we do, what our members can of- fer, and also make sure that we're engaging in diff erent aspects, like researching topics of interest so that we can provide that informa- tion for our members, but also for government to consider and look at," says Shannon Railton, chair of the Vancouver-based association. As an example, the group is- sued the white paper Canada 150 and Beyond: e Role of Human Resources in Canada's Prosperity, and presented it to MPs at a parlia- mentary reception in Ottawa. "There's an employment and workplace aspect to a number of things that our members could be off ering expertise on and we could be commenting on that would be helpful for government," she says. CPHR Canada is also partnering with the North American Human Resource Management Associa- tion (NAHRMA), of which Railton is president. e two are working on a research paper looking at the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). " at will be very interesting for our members, as well as it's some- thing that will be of interest to our government, for sure," says Railton. CPHR Canada is working through NAHRMA in producing a set of general code of conduct standards that it can use and bring forward to the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA), she says. "We're looking for ways to bring something forward as models that others can follow," says Railton. CPHR Canada is also working on research with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in the United States. "Research has been hugely im- portant for us, to make sure we're contributing more on a national scale and international scale to support the needs of HR profes- sionals. But also I think that it looks good for Canada to be lead- ing some of this as well," she says. As for the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) in Ontario (which left the national body in 2014), CPHR Canada is "exploring conversations right now" about the two associations working together, says Railton. "They'll have a new CEO at some point, and so hopefully that will spark some further conversa- tions for us." Shannon Railton chair, CPHR Canada B.C., Yukon focus on rebranding, self-regulation T his past year was an inter- esting one for Chartered Professionals in Human Resources (CPHR) British Co- lumbia & Yukon, largely driven by its rebranding, according to Anthony Ariganello, president and CEO. "We've been successful at launching a new designation, a new brand, and I think what I'm most proud of is the fact we have consistency, not only with the des- ignation — which we had with the old CHRP (Certifi ed Human Re- sources Professional) — but more so from an entity standpoint, an organizational standpoint, so ev- erybody is now known under the CPHR umbrella with the prov- inces associated to it, which is something we never had before. It was always confusing, when you talked about HRMA (B.C.), HRIA (Alberta) — the letters didn't stand for much — now you can associate much stronger." As for self-regulation, that con- tinues to be a challenge for the association because of changes in government. But CPHR Brit- ish Columbia & Yukon is initiat- ing discussions with some of the ministers, says Ariganello, who's based in Vancouver. "With the old Liberal govern- ment, there was a lot of confusion as to who owns the fi le," he says, so it became a "hot potato." "Ultimately, we ended up with the (BC) Public Service Agency who is going to support our ini- tiative, and then the election trig- gered and everything stopped, and now we have a new govern- ment. So we have to start the whole process again, so we've be- gun discussions with a number of MLAs and key people in govern- ment," says Ariganello. "It's a very slow process… but one we're not letting go (of )." Under the accreditation pro- gram, there are now nine diff erent colleges and universities involved across British Columbia, he says. "It's gone very well, the response from the educators has been very positive, as well as the students, so we're happy with that initiative." e 5,800-member association also negotiated a new HR Toolkit with omson Reuters (publisher of Canadian HR Reporter) that is being off ered nationally to mem- bers of CPHR Canada. It's a catalogue of forms, tem- plates and checklists that can be downloaded for free, such as sample off er letters, self-appraisal worksheets for performance re- views, employee vacation request forms or health and safety orien- tation checklists, says Ariganello. "It launched just a month ago, we're really proud of that," he says. "Essentially, any member of our organizations, the provincial bod- ies, can access various forms with respect to what they do in terms of their HR functionality… that a lot of small businesses don't have the capacity to do." Anthony Ariganello, president and CEO, CPHR BC & Yukon FEATURES Following in the footsteps of Ontario and Quebec, most of the provincial HR associations are vying for self-regulation, along with focusing on membership offerings, partnerships and tools for HR HR ASSOCIATIONS