Recently
the Society for HR Management (SHRM) announced that they were withdrawing their
support for the HR Certification Institute an organization they founded almost
40 years ago. This decision to no longer
support this independent organization and create a new certification process
along with a new testing program should be of a concern for all HR
professionals that have pursued the certification process.
In SHRM’s press release
outlining these changes the organization summarized the reasons for this change
this way:
“We
believe this competency-based certification is the new standard for HR
professionals around the globe—and is needed for the ever-evolving demands of
business. We are seeing an increasing number of colleges and universities, and
other SHRM global partners, transition to a competency-based curriculum.
Businesses have been asking—almost demanding—that employees have specific
behavioral competencies to be successful in the workplace. As the leading HR
professional society, it is SHRM’s responsibility to stay ahead of these trends
and better serve the HR professional.”
What is
troubling is that the organization has provided little information to support their
decision. Based upon communication from HRCI
and various SHRM affiliate chapters, SHRM has managed to confuse and dilute the
certification process by changing the rules and offering no alternative to HRCI. SHRM has agreed to outline a new replacement
program at the annual conference this June; however, this is yet another
example of the organization not discussing and obtaining the support from the
membership prior to the roll-out of a new program.
Another issue that
should concern all HR professionals is how this will be perceived by our
employers, colleagues and the greater business community? How will this impact our relationship with
our manager who has supported the certification process by paying for
additional training; specifically the SHRM Learning System and the certification
test? For years SHRM has been promoting
the certification process as a way to improve our profession, add credibility
to our work and add value to our role within our companies. This abrupt change in their support for certification
process would appear to call into question their years of promoting this key business
tool. As a result of this decision by SHRM,
we will need to explain to our company leaders the reason for this change, how
it impacts our ability to support our employees and the whether certification
is necessary in today’s business environment.
So what can you do as a certified
professional? Three key actions can be
taken immediately to register your concern with this decision:
1. Contact
Amy Dufrane the Executive Director at HRCI to indicate your support for the
institute and find out what you can do to better understand SHRM’s decision and
the ramifications for your certification.
HRCI’s telephone number is: (866) 898-4724.
2. Contact
Henry G. Jackson the CEO at SHRM to indicate your concern for this decision. SHRM’s telephone number is: (800) 283-7476.
3. At
the SHRM Annual Conference in Orlando hold the SHRM Board and staff leadership accountable
for their decision by challenging them, ask them to explain their rationale
and their research around specific behavioral
competencies and the reasons for not wanting to work through the existing partnership
with HRCI.
To learn about
the HRCI’s response to this decision by SHRM please follow this link:
To learn more about the reasons behind this decision by SHRM please follow this link: