Toronto, ON (BT News) - As of
2010, individuals who want to become a certified human resources professional,
or CHRP, will have to show they are indeed capable with a new experience
requirement from the HRPA of Ontario.
In response to membership feedback, the call
for the once-popular experience requirement in achieving one’s
CHRP designation has fallen on eager ears. Effective immediately, individuals
who have completed the National Knowledge Exam (NKE) after 2003 can
have their experience assessed by the new HRPA Certification Committee.
The present structure, implemented in 2003,
requires would-be HR professionals to take a two-step system involving
rigourous studying and academic dedication. The first exam, the NKE,
puts neophyte HR professionals to the test with a challenging written
exam that gauges their theoretical knowledge. Successful individuals
who pass this leg of the exam become CHRP-Candidates, though not quite
fully CHRP-certified.
The second exam, the one to be phased out
in favour of the new experience requirement, has individuals applying
their practical knowledge of scenarios which could happen or could have
happened in an HR-based role. Though not nearly as excruciating as the
written exam, it appears more of a common-sense endeavour more than
a skill-testing medium to filter out the bad from the good.
So what does this mean?
HR as a field has become diluted with people
entering into the marketplace getting their CHRPs the moment they graduate.
The amount of people with the qualifications but without the experience
has reduced the exquisiteness of the field. It would seem as though
this new initiative is aimed at raising the standards of quality, making
it more difficult for anyone to enter.
The only sure thing is that those who have
already acquired their CHRP designation do not need to re-qualify themselves
for their existing credentials.
At face value, it would seem as though this
entire ordeal is a last-ditch effort by the HRPA to improve things for
its pool of uncertain membership. Yet when one looks deeper it’s
clearly an honest effort to rekindle that special aura the field one
had prior to this rigourous agenda some years back. And it’s one
that’s actually got a good amount of applicable reasoning behind
it.
Some would-be HR students claim the field
isn’t as great as it once was. At one point it was all the rage,
and then the excitement died down after the harsh reality of having
expendability only a close second to front-line employees.
So this new qualification requirement is turning
out to be a decent filter.
The experience portion requires approximately
three solid years in the coordinating, planning, and administration
of various HR initiatives across several functions within the human
resources field.
With the HRPA responding so quickly to members’
qualms about the exclusiveness of the field and the amount of sub-par
talent entering into it makes one wonder if this is the beginning of
the biggest remodelling of a fractured and bruised field in its history.
It would appear to be so. One thing it ought
to do is remove the rushed studying just to get good marks and the ignorance
the more practical side of the field, which is more in line with other
professional associations, such as the Certified General Accountants.
For business, it means that in addition
to getting a qualified individual with appropriate credentials, you’re
getting the experience along with it. How long the honeymoon will last
is anyone’s guess. But from what we can see, it’s an excellent
move for the profession, its practitioners, and businesses.
*The above article was taken
from The Think Tank eNewsletter's May 25th issue*
