HRPA mend broken bridges with global “memorandum of understanding”

Will HRPA’s new international network mend broken bridges with the HR community or is it too little too late from the increasingly unpopular organization?

When HRPA revised designations in October, readers condemned the move as “money-grabbing” and worried the changes would damage the integrity of industry titles but the association’s most recent move – to sign a “memorandum of understanding” – might prove more popular as it seeks to strengthen HR accreditations on an international scale.

“HR needs exchangeable, valued and credible designations based on a global body of knowledge,” said HRPA’s CEO Bill Greenhalgh. To address this need, HRPA in Ontario has initiated a closer working relationship with the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) and Human Resources Institute of New Zealand (HRINZ), to develop a mutual recognition of professional HR designations.

The international collaboration comes just weeks after HR professionals overtly expressed their disappointment at HRPA’s decision to modify industry certifications.

One reader, James McKeever, labelled the CHRP a joke and said; “After all that work to get the CHRP recognized on equal footing with other designations, they've now wasted all that effort with further confusion and watering down of all that was built up.”

Alberta Union representative Larry Dawson agreed and said; “The whole profession is devaluing itself every time they come up with these new "certifications".

“This whole tiered certification is a vexatious effort to try to convince the legislature the profession is worthy of being self-regulated, but the reality is they are just devaluing the CHRP designation to the point that the legislature won't see the profession as anything more than mediocrely-skilled managers,” he continued.

While HRPA’s intention to develop an international network could help mend broken bridges with the HR community, many practitioners who aren’t interested in Australasian employment may see it as too little too late from the increasingly unpopular organization.

What do you think? Is HRPA finally listening to what HR professionals want or is the move simply an attempt to placate discontented members? 

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