the last word
THE CHRP
A REFLEXIVE
VALUE PROPOSITION
The most important thing to keep
in mind about the value proposition
for the Certified Human
Resources Professional (CHRP)
designation is that it is a ‘reflexive’ value
proposition. This is the case for all voluntary
designations. The ultimate value for
the professional of having any voluntary
designation derives from the value it has
for the public (or users of the professional
services). Thus, if we want to increase the
value the CHRP holds for those who have
it, we need to increase the value it has for
consumers of HR professional services.
Let’s look at what creates value for the
users of a voluntary professional designation.
First and foremost, consumers of HR
professional services are looking for competent
and ethical professionals – individuals
who they can trust to know what
they are doing and who will conduct
themselves in a professional and ethical
manner. With voluntary designations, it
will be a fact that a good number of nondesignated
professionals will also be competent
and ethical. The difference is in the
quality assurance – the probability that a
given designated professional would be incompetent
or unethical should be very low,
whereas with undesignated professionals,
it might be more of a ‘crap shoot.’ This
consistency is very important because it is
what gives users of a professional service
peace of mind.
There are two key aspects to quality assurance
for professional services. First, it
is important for the standards to be high
enough (ensuring safe and effective delivery
of services) to be of value to the users
of professional services. Secondly, it is
important that the standards be enforced
effectively. Without this effective enforcement
of standards, the quality assurance
will be hollow – all promises, no delivery.
For the CHRP designation, it is important
that the quality of professional service
provided by individuals with the designation
be noticeably better than the ‘average’
non-designated professional. If the consumers
of HR professional services cannot
see a difference, the designation will be of
little value. The standards have to be high
enough to make a difference.
The other aspect of quality assurance
is enforcement – the processes and procedures
in place to ensure that the quality
is there. The rigourousness and thoroughness
of the processes and procedures in
place to ensure quality is what gives credibility
to the designation. Not only that, the
higher the standard of quality, the more
rigourous and thorough the quality assurance
processes and procedures need to be.
The challenge, of course, is that those
aspects that create value for the public
are those same aspects that make the designation
more of an investment for the
professional to obtain and maintain. This
is especially true with a self-regulation
model of professional regulation because
By Claude Balthazard, Ph.D., C.Psych., CHRP
the standards of quality and the processes
and procedures to enforce those standards
are set by members of the profession. In
other words, the standards and the processes
and procedures that back these up
are largely self-imposed.
The ‘reflexive’ value proposition model
suggests that we should look to the users
of the professional service to set the
standards – standards of qualification, of
practice, of professional conduct and of
knowledge, skill and proficiency.
The main point is there is nothing
wrong in concerning ourselves with the
value proposition of the designation for
those who have it or might choose to pursue
it, but what we should really be concerned
about is the value proposition the
designation creates for users of the professional
service. n
Claude Balthazard, Ph.D., C.Psych., CHRP
is Vice-President, Regulatory Affairs with the
Human Resources Professionals Association
(HRPA).
Photo by Mark Skalny / Photos.com
IF WE WANT TO INCREASE THE
VALUE THE CHRP HOLDS FOR
THOSE WHO HAVE IT, WE NEED
TO INCREASE THE VALUE IT
HAS FOR CONSUMERS OF HR
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES.
56 ❚ JANUARY 2014 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL