An article on Business Today dated 24th July 2023 dubbed Five Reasons HR Professionals Need Foreign Certification negates the whole point of HRs being recognized locally refers. In the piece, the writer cited global recognition, HR best practices, continuous professional development, personal and professional growth and network opportunities as benefits HR professionals will get if they go for foreign certification.
While the writer might have special consideration for foreign certification, the fact is the aforementioned benefits don’t fall away from what the Certified Human Resource Professional (CHRP), by Human Resource Management Examinations Board offers.
Charity begins at home is a common adage, therefore, before any HR professional thinks of getting foreign certification, it is imperative that they are Certified, Gazetted and Recognized in their own country.
According to the HRMP Act of 2012, the CHRP certification is a mandatory requirement for HR practitioners to practice the human resource profession. The certification is therefore supported by legal provision. Additionally, it is recognized by the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM), the regulating body of the HR profession as key qualification for registration as a human resource practitioner.
The CHRP curricula underwent quality review and checks by Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) and it was categorized at Level 7. In its quest to push the HR Profession to greater heights, HRMPEB (Human Resource Management Professionals Examination Board) has revised the CHRP curricula which incorporates competencies required by current HR practitioners locally and globally.
Based on a survey of HR competencies conducted locally and internationally as a result of benchmarking, the new curricula equip the learners with more relevant HR skills and competencies than the old curriculum. As such, the training offers learners skills that not only serve them well locally but also globally. They don’t need foreign certification to acquire what they can locally.
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CHRP course is designed to equip individuals with the competencies and knowledge required by human resource professionals for effective job performance in both the public and private sectors. The course is made to reflect the employers’ demand for qualified personnel to manage the human resource function in a dynamic and competitive environment
This enables professionals to be best equipped with the industry’s best practices that make them marketable not only locally but globally. To boost networking, CHRP offers HR professionals the opportunity to benchmark with global bodies through seminars and partnerships with relevant industries and stakeholders.
Revised CHRP Curriculum
This platform has enabled HR professionals to get exposed to experts and learn best practices that can be applied to their respective organizations and grow professionally. Important to note, there are lots of interventions being made to make CHRP certification better and more competitive and accepted globally.
Some of the new subjects introduced in the Revised CHRP Curriculum include organizational development and transformation, human resource audit, strategic human resource management, performance management and productivity, HR consultancy and advisory, strategic leadership ethics and governance, industry based management, HR accounting metrics and analytics as well as research methods for HR Practitioners.
Certifying HR practitioners
The Board also introduced private candidature to expand the market for CHRP and adaption of new innovative ways of certifying HR practitioners who have many years of experience in the HR field. The need to purge out rogue HRs has been cured by the HRMP Act which ensures gazettement and certification of all competent and professional HRs.
The Ministry of Public Service, Gender and Affirmative Action, is on the other hand working towards having all our HR practitioners attain CHRP progressively. This will be done through the inclusion of CHRP qualification in the Career Progression Guidelines for the HR cadre in the Public Service.
CHRP Nicholas Kanisa FIHRM, is the Secretary/ Chief Executive Officer, HRMPEB. Email: [email protected]
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