Ethical training should be part of CHRP certification process
This is the tough part about being a professional — being put in difficult situations. Indeed, 78.2 per cent of HR professionals who responded to the Pulse Survey reported being put in a difficult professional situation at least once. In many cases, HR professionals have paid a high price for having been caught up in these difficult situations. And yet the whole issue doesn’t seem to garner the exposure one might expect. Perhaps that is because some of these are “no-win” situations that we would rather put behind us.
Dealing with these difficult situations is not an individual matter — it is part of growing up as a profession. As professions become established, the first order of business is to focus on establishing who gets to be a member of the profession. This is followed by a focus on matters of professional conduct. Codes of ethics and codes of conduct are certainly part of the story, but we also need to recognize the difficult situations that we sometimes find ourselves in.
Dealing with these situations is more than a matter of moral fortitude. It is also a matter of skill and experience. By talking about these situations, we can collectively work out and share better ways of handling them. We can also better support HR professionals working through these tough situations.
In previous surveys, a number of respondents suggested the handling of difficult ethical situations should become an integral part of the certification process for HR professionals. A number of professions have ethics hotlines for practitioners — perhaps something to think about.
Our next Pulse Survey takes a look at the “strategic disconnect” — the fact that many of us think of ourselves as strategic but surveys of senior executives usually show they think we are not.
Results will be published in the July 14 issue.
Claude Balthazard is director, HR excellence, at the Toronto-based Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) of Ontario in Toronto. He can be reached at (416) 923-2324 or [email protected] .
Dealing with these difficult situations is not an individual matter — it is part of growing up as a profession. As professions become established, the first order of business is to focus on establishing who gets to be a member of the profession. This is followed by a focus on matters of professional conduct. Codes of ethics and codes of conduct are certainly part of the story, but we also need to recognize the difficult situations that we sometimes find ourselves in.
Dealing with these situations is more than a matter of moral fortitude. It is also a matter of skill and experience. By talking about these situations, we can collectively work out and share better ways of handling them. We can also better support HR professionals working through these tough situations.
In previous surveys, a number of respondents suggested the handling of difficult ethical situations should become an integral part of the certification process for HR professionals. A number of professions have ethics hotlines for practitioners — perhaps something to think about.
Our next Pulse Survey takes a look at the “strategic disconnect” — the fact that many of us think of ourselves as strategic but surveys of senior executives usually show they think we are not.
Results will be published in the July 14 issue.
Claude Balthazard is director, HR excellence, at the Toronto-based Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) of Ontario in Toronto. He can be reached at (416) 923-2324 or [email protected] .
