Canadian HR Reporter

The CHRE designation is an important tool in O'Dowd's professional kit, because it provided her with skills and expertise in new areas of high-level HR. "When I started my HR designation, I had been in HR for a few years, but I had not had exposure at all to some aspects of HR. I was able to take the courses that were part of the designation... and I was able to learn about balance sheets, fi nancial statements, the whole process around unionization, and the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers. And that was really helpful grounding that I'm now using in my career," she said. "The designation is really important for not only the experiences that you acquire while getting it, but also for keeping you current. I think it's very easy in an organization to only look at HR or the business from the aspect of the business that you're in. But the designation does require you to keep current and get experiences in different areas." Claire Silvester, CHRE VP Human Resources, Vector Aerospace Claire Silvester relocated from the UK to head HR at Vector Aerospace. When she made the move, she wanted to update her designation, as well. "I was a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and the CHRE is the equivalent in Ontario for my level of experience and my designation," she said. "I got my [CHRE] designation because I felt a bit vulnerable being an HR professional in a fairly senior job without a designation that was applicable to the country that I was working in. "I really wanted to make sure that as quickly as possible, I could have something that to the outside world would show my experience, my qualifi cations, that I really was accepted by a validated organization in the country where I was living and working." Businesses really value the designation because it gives them a benchmark, she says. "This gives them a nice hard edge for employers to be able to assess, 'Is this person really serious about the business of HR?'" But more than that, the designation gives senior leaders access to a lot of different organizations and a lot of different senior people, so they can see what other organizations are doing, she says. "The thing that I love the most about my HR role is when I'm presented with problems that I need to fi nd a solution for that involve people," said Silvester. "And when you're talking about people, and you're talking about payroll costs and you're talking about all of the issues that happen when you lose people [or] when you gain people, it's really great to see that [HR] has its own designations and that employers are asking for it – no, insisting on it." AD Space Now a fully-formatted digital experience, HR Professional has even more in store for you. Read our leading-edge insight and content online at hrprofessionalnow.ca – or, keep up on the go by downloading the HR Professional mobile app straight to your phone. The online experience is convenient and easy to navigate, and most of all, it delivers even more of the great content you know and love straight to your devices – anytime, anywhere. Now a fully-formatted digital experience, INSIDE: NINE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HARASSMENT INVESTIGATIONS | WAYS WOMEN CAN PRESS FOR PROGRESS AT WORK hrprofessionalnow.ca THE MAGAZINE OF HUMAN RESOURCES THOUGHT LEADERSHIP | MAY 2018 THE CONTINGENT WORKFORCE WILL BE A MAJOR PART OF YOUR HR STRATEGY IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE. ARE YOU READY? GIG CHANGES AHEAD GIG CHANGES AHEAD YOUR HR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE HAS EVOLVED.

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