A roller-coaster year for HR associations

Associations play a pivotal role in HR. They help practitioners to network and provide professional development through seminars and conferences. They elevate the profession through certification and they lobby government and other regulatory bodies with HR’s best interests in mind. Canadian HR Reporter talked to the heads of the provincial associations, along with a few niche associations, to find out how 2009 went and what’s on the agenda for 2010.

Debbie Bennett
President
Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations

After a year of consultation, reflection and discussion, Debbie Bennett, president of the Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations (CCHRA), expects all of the pieces to come together in 2010.

Over the past year, CCHRA has consulted with hundreds of HR professionals from every provincial association to update the profession’s common body of knowledge. The professional practice analysis is expected to wrap up in the next few months.

“The findings from this initiative will ensure that the knowledge and skills which are evaluated in the steps leading to the Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation reflect the most updated requirements for HR professionals today,” says Bennett.

The organization’s board of directors is also finalizing its strategic plan, which will focus on the profession, governance and CHRP designation.

Interest in the designation is continuing to grow “at an incredible rate,” she says. Last year, more than 2,000 HR professionals obtained the CHRP, with record numbers writing the National Knowledge Exam (NKE) and the National Professional Practice Assessment (NPPA).

The CCHRA is also moving toward a new board structure and will unveil several new bylaws in the coming months. The organization is taking a fresh look at how it serves its member provincial organizations to improve membership at both levels as well.

“We are now very much looking forward to seeing the fruit of that labour come to bear in 2010,” says Bennett, who took over the position of president in November.

Canada is also hosting the 2010 World Human Resources Congress in Montreal this fall. It’s the first time the conference will be held in Canada and it’s been a huge undertaking, says Bennett.

“HR professionals from coast to coast have worked together to develop an extraordinary program and we look forward to bringing together some 2,500 professionals from Canada and all corners of the world for this unique event,” she says.

Simon Evans
CEO
British Columbia Human Resources Management Association

Last year, the British Columbia Human Resources Management Association (BC HRMA) launched an HR metrics service as part of its new research and learning department.

The service helps HR professionals become more strategic by using people and financial data to make workforce planning and HR decisions. The more than 35 organizations that have signed on for the service provide a minimum of 20 data points, such as median revenue per full-time equivalent (FTE) and voluntary turnover cost per FTE, on a quarterly basis.

BC HRMA then analyzes the data and participating organizations have access to a full report while members can access a summary of the metrics.

“That is a huge strategic shift for us in terms of delivering value to our members and through to their member companies and through to the business community,” says Simon Evans, CEO of BC HRMA.

The service has been well-received and the association is partnering with Manitoba’s HR association to provide the same service in that province.

The new research and learning department, headed by Ian Cook, also surveys members on various issues such as how they view the CHRP and how their organizations or regions are being affected by the economy, says Evans.

This gives the association good, reliable information to take back to the board to be used strategically in developing programs or guiding the association’s direction.

“We didn’t do a lot of that in the past,” says Evans.

But asking members what they want has always been important to the association. Surveys about professional development offerings help the association tailor programs to members’ needs.

“There’s no point in providing services if they’re not the services our members want,” says Evans.

It was a member survey that helped BC HRMA decide not to offer the new Senior Human Resources Professional designation (offered in Saskatchewan and Ontario). Instead of a senior designation, members made it clear they wanted the association to focus on continuing to strengthen the CHRP, says Evans.

“The national designation is the most critical issue for the HR profession in Canada. If we don’t continue to grow it collaboratively across Canada, then the HR profession won’t be as strong,” he says.

BC HRMA has done a good job promoting the designation, as 62 per cent of members have the designation, up from 25 per cent five years ago, says Evans.

Charlotte Bouchard
President
Human Resources Institute of Alberta

By the end of the year, the Human Resources Institute of Alberta (HRIA) will have finalized its collaboration initiative with five of the province’s six regional associations — a process several years in the works.

The collaboration will allow the associations to ensure consistent programs are available to members across the province and there will be a new blended membership fee allowing members to pay one fee for HRIA and their regional association, says Charlotte Bouchard, president of HRIA.

“There are people who are members of HRIA who aren’t necessarily members of the local regions. With the collaboration model, they have the opportunity to be members of both so they get their local networking and professional development events,” says Bouchard.

The Human Resources Association of Calgary was the only regional association not to sign on to the initiative but HRIA is still in talks to get the association on board.

“It’s something we’re still working on but we’re very optimistic of a good outcome,” says Bouchard.

Even with the poor economy, HRIA membership grew from 3,400 members in 2008 to more than 4,000 at the end of 2009.

To continue to promote the value of the designation, the association invites members of the business community to attend professional development events to show them the value HR professionals bring to the business, says Bouchard.

Members of HRIA also sit on university and college advisory committees to ensure HR programs remain current and tied to the designation’s required professional capabilities.

“You always want to make sure you’re up to speed on what’s going on out there, what’s current, what’s important,” says Bouchard.

The association hired Nora Molina as executive director in May 2009 and Molina and her staff have taken over the day-to-day running of the association. This has allowed the board to step back and focus on developing a new governance model, says Bouchard.

The association is also working on creating new networking opportunities across the province, offering new professional development programs and putting the annual general meeting online so all members can be involved.

Bob Bayles
President
Saskatchewan Association of Human Resource Professionals

Last year, the Saskatchewan Association of Human Resource Professionals (SAHRP) was one of two provinces to offer the Senior Human Resources Professional (SHRP) designation, which recognizes the accomplishments of experienced HR professionals.

“Saskatchewan was very involved in getting that kicked off,” says Bob Bayles, president of the association.

So far, 37 members have begun the process to get the senior designation, says Bayles.

“We’re still in the process of communicating with our membership and getting more people involved,” he says.

Communication has become an important focus for the association. About two years ago, SAHRP launched a bi-annual magazine, HR Saskatchewan, and more recently it launched a monthly e-newsletter, which won an award of excellence from the Canadian Society for Association Executives last year.

“We were just blown away by that,” says Bayles. “To be able to win that newspaper award, I think it shows the value of what we’re offering our members.”

The senior HR designation is just one of the ways the association has been trying to engage more senior professionals in the province. At the last two annual general meetings, the association has had a senior HR leaders group, which will form the foundation of the association’s new executive forum.

The details of the forum are still being worked out but it will definitely include networking opportunities and possibly roundtable discussions, says Bayles.

“We’re really excited about getting our senior HR leaders more involved in the association,” he says.

The association is also reaching out to younger people in the province and for the first time is sponsoring a team from the University of Saskatchewan in the 24th annual Excalibur, a university tournament in HR.

The association also wants to ensure professionals in more rural locations, such as Yorkton, Swift Current and Prince Albert, have the same opportunity for professional development as members in Regina and Saskatoon, where it’s often easier to book presenters.

To make that happen, the association taped the events held in the larger cities last year and in 2010 will offer the videos to members in the smaller communities, says Bayles.

Appealing to a wide range of HR practitioners has helped the association, entering its fifth year, continue to see incredible growth, says Bayles.

Membership has increased 25 per cent in the past year, growing from 1,100 to nearly 1,400, he says.

Mark Hollingsworth
Executive director
Human Resource Management Association of Manitoba

Reflecting its desire to gain greater prominence in the HR industry, the Human Resource Management Association of Manitoba (HRMAM) moved in 2009 from the fringes of Winnipeg to the downtown core. The headquarters are not only more central but feature a 1,500-square-foot state-of-the-art learning centre, with a large videoconferencing suite that can be used by 52 people at desks or 100 people in a theatre-style setup.

The centre can be used for training courses offered by HRMAM or outside sources. Already, organizations such as the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the University of Winnipeg have taken advantage, bringing in additional revenue for HRMAM while exposing more people to the HR industry.

“We really felt it was time to increase our public profile,” says Mark Hollingsworth, executive director of HRMAM. “Members have been asking for a greater public presence.”

The move is part of a three-year plan detailing a new vision and mission for the association, with 28 strategic objectives approved in April 2009. Already HRMAM is “heavily into the bulk of those” and well on target, he says.

“We’re growing and there’s an energy about this association that you can touch and you can feel,” he says.

HRMAM has seen “exceptional growth” in the past two years, going from 1,100 to 1,400 members. As a result, the association is building a membership database that, for one, will allow for better surveys that can segment down to particular groups with specific needs for more meaningful data, he says.

The association is also creating a new look for its website, with webinars and blogs to “really lift us where we should have been or need to be,” says Hollingsworth.

The group is also encouraging members to sign up with the HR metrics program offered by the British Columbia Human Resources Management Association. By March, the Manitoba group hopes to have at least five organizations involved to make the data valid, says Hollingsworth.

The organization has also started rolling out a mentorship program. The first stage will involve 10 matches between March and May and this pilot will be evaluated over the summer to see if HRMAM can launch on a bigger scale in the fall, he says.

Bill Greenhalgh
CEO
Human Resources Professionals Association

In 2010, the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) plans to continue its efforts to help corporations integrate internationally educated professionals (IEPs) into the Canadian workforce, says Bill Greenhalgh, CEO of the Ontario HR association.

“It’s a huge resource and there is a challenge when they come to Canada for them to understand what corporations need, but also for corporations to understand what they can bring,” he says.

Last year, HRPA, along with Ontario’s Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, undertook a research program designed to “bridge the gap” between the needs of corporations and skills provided by IEPs.

Part of the program aimed to identify the challenges companies face when recruiting IEPs. The consensus from the 90 participating Ontario companies was many are struggling with how to reconcile the normal recruitment process with the variables presented by IEPs, says Greenhalgh. (For more details on what HRPA is doing, see page 1, “Foreign-trained HR professionals face barriers.”)

Another important goal for 2010 is to make the HR profession more professional, says Greenhalgh. Part of this will involve making some changes to the act that governs HRPA.

Last year, the organization offered a new senior designation and introduced rules of conduct for HR professionals. It has also expanded the list of training programs available.

“It’s about regulation, it’s about being a mature, professional association,” he says. “Going into this coming year, it’s mainly a continuation of these things.”

Efforts to amend the act come down to protecting the public, says Greenhalgh.

“One of the things we want to do is be much more open with people,” he says.

He cited education and certification programs offered by HRPA as an example of that increased openness.

“All that material is out in the open, it’s on our website, members can go there to see what they need for certification,” he says.

HRPA is also working with government departments to ensure members are educated on new labour laws, he added.

Another aim for the new year is the renewal of the Human Resources Research Institute. That organization will be used as a vehicle to offer student bursaries, raise funds and conduct research that has practical applications, he says.

The Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés (CRHA) started 2010 on high note: It announced it will be organizing the 13th World Human Resources Congress in September 2010 in Montreal. The three-day conference will involve five keynote speakers and more than 80 concurrent sessions in French, English and Spanish on a variety of topics.

About 2,500 people are expected at the conference, which is held every two years but rotates by continents. CRHA is consulting with the Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations and the other provinces about issues, trends and speakers appropriate for the conference.

“If you look at the program, it clearly has a Canadian perspective,” says Florent Francoeur, president and CEO of CRHA. “We have great support.”

There are, however, other matters that will be addressed by the association in 2010, such as compliance around Quebec’s pay equity law, which has a compliance deadline of December.

“It means 65,000 companies have to prove that they are OK with the act, so that probably will be one of the big trends,” he says.

Despite the challenges, CRHA had a very good year in 2009 and continues to work very hard on professional development, he says. The association has close to 9,000 members and its annual conference did well.

CRHA launched a competency model in the spring of last year, based on the required professional capabilities that are the basis for the Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) exams and consultations with members and academics.

“This model is clearly for us to make sure our members first of all are ready to do the job and, more than that, we want to make sure, ‘What is the trend?’ how our people can adapt to the change in the workforce and things like that,” says Francoeur.

The response has gone well and universities now include the model in the way they build bachelor’s degrees, says Francoeur, “so it’s truly something important for the HR profession in the province of Quebec.”

Fran White
President
Human Resources Association of New Brunswick

Last year marked somewhat of a turning point for the Human Resources Association of New Brunswick (HRANB), which now has about 1,000 members, according to Fran White, president of HRANB.

“We recognized we’re at a point where we needed to start doing things a little more formally,” she says.

As a result, HRANB came up with its first-ever strategic plan in 2009, which has four elements: governance, certification standards and education, recognition and marketing and communications.

“That’s really all around the whole idea of recognizing that we’ve grown from a mom and pop organization to an organization that needs to be certainly more sophisticated and better in tune with the times in order to serve our members,” says White.

This has involved taking a look at HRANB’s vision, purpose and mandate, with alterations to areas such as the mission statement.

“Essentially we want to be a leader for our HR colleagues, we want to be a go-to organization, we want to be able to have the kinds of links and references and knowledge that our members would expect us to have,” she says.

As part of the transformation, HRANB revamped its website to make it more interactive and funding has just been approved for the next two phases to provide additional functionality.

Also transformed was HRANB’s new logo.

“We wanted to reflect not only that we were a current organization, our emphasis is people, we’re kind of innovative and moving forward,” says White.

The Atlantic conference in June was also a huge success, with a very positive response from members, she says.

“We really stuck our neck out on that one,” she says, citing the additional investment and “terrific” speakers, with attendance numbers exceeding expectations.

HRANB has also expanded its chapters, with two new ones in Bathurst and Edmundston, for a total of five.

The organization has done really well considering everyone involved is a volunteer with a full-time job, says White.

Patrick Hartling
President
Human Resources Association of Nova Scotia

The Human Resources Association of Nova Scotia (HRANS) spends considerable time polling members in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island to help develop and refine its strategies. In 2009, HRANS continued to work on a business plan to ensure its efforts were aligned with member concerns around execution.

“I like an evidence-based approach that reflects what members are asking for,” says Patrick Hartling, president of HRANS in Halifax.

For example, it looked at what should be offered to senior leaders and has done some different programming as a result.

“We haven’t been attracting and engaging senior leaders in ways we’d like,” he says.

The association would like very much to do something similar to the senior HR designation offered in Ontario and Saskatchewan, he says, but it doesn’t want just a certification strategy, it wants a services strategy.

“I think we’re getting closer.”

HRANS has seen about 10-per-cent growth among members, with about 1,200 currently, he says. And job postings seem to be on the rise in the province, so 2010 is looking more promising. The past year was tough with the drop in job postings, which affected HRANS’ revenue, so the association had to adjust its projections, says Hartling.

The annual conference went well but was scaled back a bit, he says.

“We were cautious of the context in planning and delivering professional development events and regular conferences.”

HRANS also worked on conveying H1N1 information to members, a major concern for many organizations.

“We tried to present a systematic way to deal with it, rather than run after the concerns,” says Hartling. “So (with) anything that we put forth in terms of the website or training, we tried to deal with the basics.”

The group also put a lot of attention into trying to attract volunteers for elections and saw success in that area, with many more people involved, he says.

“You have to go out and reinforce with members why it’s worthwhile to belong to an association, what an association membership can do for them both individually and collectively.”

Leroy Murphy
Director of certification and education
Human Resources Professionals of Newfoundland & Labrador

CHRP certification is the top item on the agenda this year for the Human Resources Professionals of Newfoundland & Labrador (HRPNL), according to director of certification and education Leroy Murphy.

With only 45 HR professionals in the province holding the designation, HRPNL is trying to entice and support more people with the exam process.

“We need to give them better tools to do the exams,” says Murphy. “Until now, the only tools available were things they could find online. We’re small so we didn’t have a lot to offer.”

This year, the association will have CHRP-certified members lead study groups for those writing certification exams. The CHRP-certified members will also be available to answer questions.

“We want them to know they are not alone,” he says. “In the past, there were few ways to network and people had so many questions.”

HRPNL is also hoping to boost its membership base. The association is just shy of 150 members. The International Personnel Management Association designations are still dominant in the province, he says. The association hopes to “sway people over” through seminars and the annual conference this spring.

HRPNL is also hosting events on university campuses to attract student members before they enter the profession, as well as a general community event for those already working in the field.

The association executive is mostly new to the job this year, says Murphy, which makes promoting HRPNL more challenging.

“We’ve lost a lot of corporate knowledge and we’re still putting it all together,” he says.

Stephen Cryne
President and CEO
Canadian Employee Relocation Council

Labour mobility between Canada and European Union countries will be a focus of the Canadian Employee Relocation Council (CERC) this coming year. Stephen Cryne, CERC president and CEO, says he will be carefully watching negotiations between the two and lending CERC’s support.

Late last year, CERC released a paper on a Canada-EU trade and investment agreement. The organization raised three major concerns among employers relocating workers across borders: credential recognition, immigrant and work permits, and spousal and dependent work permits.

“We’ll continue to take a lead role in the area of workforce mobility and advance dialogue about the challenges that lie ahead for Canada’s labour force,” he says. “We’ll continue to advocate for elimination of barriers that impede the efficient and effective deployment of human capital.”

CERC will also concentrate on growing its membership after the challenges of last year’s economy. This spring, CERC will host “Relo 101,” an introductory, hands-on, interactive workshop for people who are relatively new to the field of corporate relocation management.

The focus of the annual conference in September is cost management. Cryne hopes to build on the success of CERC’s 2009 symposia, “Building Canada’s Workforce for the New Economy.”

The strength of the organization’s volunteer base is what allows CERC to offer such a variety of professional development, he says.

“Our largest success is our ability to engage our volunteers who are at the centre of much of the work we do in the organization,” he says. “Despite having to balance significant challenges in their own organizations, they still found time and energy to commit to CERC.”

Elizabeth Mills
President and CEO
Safe Workplace Promotion Services Ontario

Ontario’s 12 health and safety associations are amalgamating into four new organizations to better meet the needs of Ontario businesses, says Elizabeth Mills, president and CEO of the newly formed Safe Workplace Promotion Services Ontario (SWPSO), which comprises the Farm Safety Association, Industrial Accident Prevention Association and Ontario Service Safety Alliance.

“We believe it is possible for every organization in Ontario to achieve zero injuries, illnesses and fatalities. So we are joining forces, knowing we can do more together to keep Ontario workplaces safe and healthy and to put an end to workplace tragedy,” says Mills, who has also been the CEO at the Ontario Service Safety Alliance since 1997.

The goal of SWPSO is to provide more resources to more workplaces, provide more front-line staff and make it easier for customers to access safety resources, products and services, says Mills.

The four amalgamations officially took place on Jan. 1 but the Farm Safety Association, the Industrial Accident Prevention Association and the Ontario Service Safety Alliance began the process in spring 2009 and it will continue throughout 2010. The amalgamation should be complete by the end of the year, says Mills.

The decision to amalgamate the 12 associations was a collaborative one involving the Ministry of Labour, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (Ontario’s workers’ compensation board) and the associations themselves.

“We sat together and realized that what we pursued as our mission — zero injuries in the province — couldn’t be achieved the way we were structured,” says Mills.

In the coming year, SWPSO will review all products and services from the three original associations to determine which it will to continue to provide, and to which organizations, going forward.

The association plans to work closely with representatives from the different sectors to ensure the product offerings meet their needs and there isn’t any duplication of products or services, says Mills.

“We certainly need the help of professionals in the HR community and the help of safety professionals who already work in those workplaces to really support that dialogue for us and help us make wise first choices about what they need first,” she says.

The association will continue to focus on core health and safety issues, including supporting organizations in setting up joint health and safety committees, internal responsibility systems and the top four hazards in the province: slips, trips and falls; motor vehicle incidents, musculoskeletal disorders; and being struck by objects.

Patrick Culhane
President and CEO
Canadian Payroll Association

For the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA), 2009 represented a year of growth on numerous fronts. The CPA’s membership, public profile and professional recognition all increased in what president and CEO Patrick Culhane calls a “great year.”

Membership grew by 10 per cent to 14,800 members, with about 8,000 of them certified payroll professionals. The association’s transition from a seminar-based organization to a certification-based one bore fruit as certification registration reached 13,000, thanks in part to the expanded presence of its certification program in Quebec and at colleges and universities, says Culhane.

The association’s profile also grew through its work on legislative changes with the federal government and the success of National Payroll Week in September. Its national survey of what employees do with their pay conducted in conjunction with National Payroll Week received coverage in the national media.

“It was a very good year from a public relations perspective,” says Culhane. “From my perspective, people attending seminars, conferences and certification programs shows the payroll profession is coming along.”

CPA’s success didn’t seem to be tempered by the economic uncertainties of the past year as it continued to launch new programs and maintain solid certification levels. Though early in 2009 there were soft spots in Ontario and British Columbia, things improved in the second half of the year, says Culhane.

“We have a good strategic plan, a board of directors that supports it and engaged staff,” he says. “Our focus is to have more professional members completing certification and that is a key driver in allocation of our efforts.”

CPA expects steady growth in membership as it continues its certification push in 2010, though it will likely be more moderate now that the bubble effect of transition has receded. Six per cent is a more likely target, which is still solid, says Culhane.

CPA plans to roll out a continuing professional education program, which should be available online by mid-2010. The program will make it easier for certified members to stay current and is part of the association’s plan to support members and make payroll a legitimate certified profession alongside HR and accounting.

“We’ll continue to represent employers’ interests and work with the government with the idea of continuing to raise the profile of the profession,” says Culhane. “We’re in good shape with a good plan, looking for continued growth.”

Lynn Johnston
President
Canadian Society for Training and Development

As the economy kicks back into gear, the Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD) is hoping to expand its newest designation — the Certified Training Practitioner (CTP) — across the country.

The designation was introduced last year and is aimed at instructors and facilitators. It complements the Certified Training and Development Professional (CTDP) previously in place.

“It was time to set those standards and ensure there was rigour in the field,” says president Lynn Johnston. “People are having to fill cross-functional roles because of layoffs in companies, so training is becoming more important than ever.

“Especially in Ontario, things are starting to come back and training is very much on companies’ minds as we head into our new economy. We want to make sure those involved in the training know what they’re doing and have demonstrated their skill.”

Both certifications require experience and knowledge but the real focus is on how well trainers use their skills, says Johnston.

“We want to be sure those involved in training know what they’re doing and have demonstrated their skill,” she says. “Transfer of knowledge is key.”

Although 2009 saw a slower growth in the 2,500-plus membership, she expects to see an increase this year, especially with 19 chapters across most of the country.

The competencies for both designations are available in French but this year the entire program will be rolled out in Canada’s second official language.

In September, CSTD will also host its annual Learn @ Work week, where employers do everything from recognizing people who have completed training to offering training fairs to let workers know what kind of training and development is available.

CSTD is also developing a tool kit to assist trainers with promoting Learn @ Work week and to help them address the issues that impact learning.

“There are lots of issues that impact on learning in the workplace,” she says. “For example, mental health in the workplace, diversity, safety.”