CCHRA working with global associations to be Canadian voice of HR (Guest Commentary)

Mutual recognition, competency framework discussed with CIPD, SHRM

Over the next three years, the Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations (CCHRA) will be working with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, U.K. (CIPD) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) towards reciprocity for the Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation in the United States and United Kingdom — improving the mobility of Canadian HR professionals worldwide.

In October, I met with members of HR associations representing North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Inter-Americas at the World Congress of the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA) in Santiago, Chile.

The World Congress takes place every two years and is hosted by a member nation. I was invited to participate in my role as a board member for the North American Human Resource Management Association (NAHRMA).

The meetings were informative. Many of the other associations across the world are exploring the same issues we are, including knowledge measurement, competency frameworks and the evolving process of certification. This gave us a common base for discussion of these issues — on a global scale.

I also had the opportunity to meet individually with representatives from both CIPD and SHRM, and the CCHRA agreed to work with each association towards reciprocal recognition of our certifications over the next three years.

CCHRA chair to represent Canada
During the congress, SHRM successfully introduced a motion to ensure the chair of the CCHRA board automatically represents Canada on the WFPMA board during its rotation. This is consistent with representation from other countries on the global board.

This is also a strong step forward for the CCHRA. It will provide us with a regular forum to review and discuss worldwide best practices in human resources credentialing that we can bring back to Canadian member associations and HR professionals across the country.

At the Santiago meetings, SHRM also announced it will be moving to a competency- based model — much like the CHRP in Canada. The association expressed interestin the recently released CHRP Competency Framework as a basis
for a certification framework.

With the trend toward global business models, this is an important focus for the business of human resources. The support of SHRM, CIPD and the WFPMA member associations will ensure CCHRA continues to be the exclusive voice of Canadian HR professionals and member associations both in North America and globally.

Cheryl Newcombe is chair of the board of the Toronto-based Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations (CCHRA). For more information, visit www.chrp.ca.

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