occupations/professions. Of the 11 regulated professions sur-veyed,
registered HR professionals fell in at number 10. Only
lawyers, with a rating of 51 per cent, fell below registered human
resource professionals. Accountants achieved a rating of 81 per
cent. The occupations/professions closest to HR professionals
were building contractors at 58 per cent, athletes at 66 per cent
and judges and journalists both at 67 per cent.
The results for both questions were very similar. In both cases,
the results are average in comparison to all occupations, but quite
low in comparison to other regulated professions.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Clearly, the public at large does not seem to think as much of the
honesty and ethical standards of human resources professionals as
human resources professionals do.
At one end of the spectrum of explanations is the idea that
the public has got it wrong and just doesn’t understand HR pro-fessionals.
At the other end of the spectrum is the idea that HR
professionals have got it wrong and overestimate their degree of
professionalism. As is usually the case, the truth is likely some-where
in between. Of course, it may be that the conduct of some
“bad apples” has a disproportionate impact on public perception.
What the public uses to develop their perceptions of HR pro-fessionals
is not well understood, but the main point is that as HR
professionals, we need to pay attention to how the profession and
its practitioners are perceived by the public. n
Claude Balthazard, PhD, C.Psych., CHRL, is the registrar and vice
president, regulation at HRPA
“How would you rate the honesty and ethical standards of
registered human resources professionals?”
Very high
High
Average
Low
Very low
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
6%
23%
26%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
29% Very high
or High
23%
7%
“All things considered, do you have a positive or negative
opinion of each of the following professions?”
Very positive
Somewhat positive
Somewhat negative
Very negative
Not sure
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
14%
50% Positive
16%
16%
3%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
regulatory perspectives
CLEARLY, THE
PUBLIC AT LARGE
DOES NOT SEEM
TO THINK AS MUCH
OF THE HONESTY
AND ETHICAL
STANDARDS OF
HUMAN RESOURCES
PROFESSIONALS AS
HUMAN RESOURCES
PROFESSIONALS DO.
4zevar / 123RF
18 ❚ CONFERENCE ISSUE 2019 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
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