Continuing education in strategic business management is designed to help you make a greater contribution to your organization’s success. Here are examples of activities or course topics that we consider for strategic business management credit:
- your employer's industry practices and developments
- technological developments
- current economic environment
- labor pool/demographic trends
- strategic planning at the organizational level
- budgeting
- corporate social responsibility
- corporate governance/ethics
- due diligence for mergers and acquisitions
- legislative advocacy on behalf of your employer's industry
In addition, if the primary focus of an activity is aligning your HR activities with your organization’s business plan, the activity is considered strategic business management so it may qualify for recertification credit hours. Some examples include
- developing metrics to measure HR's contributions
- integrating technology into HR applications
- establishing leadership-development systems tied to organizational goals
Taking a “strategic approach” to an issue or developing a “strategy” does not qualify as an activity for strategic business management credit.
To begin to find out whether an activity qualifies for recertification credit as strategic business management, look up its specific functional responsibility area (01-18 under the “Strategic Business Management” section of the PHR/SPHR Body of Knowledge). Then cite the responsibility or knowledge statement when you describe the activity in your recertification application. The activity's title alone may not provide enough detail.
Here are examples of activities that do not qualify as strategic business management:
- taking courses that show professionals how to do their jobs, such as communications techniques, customer service or time management
- attending conventional HR-related seminars and workshops -- these typically qualify for general, but not strategic business management, recertification credit hours
- participating in, rather than developing, community-related activities related to your organization's mission
- participating in community-related activities that are unrelated to your organization’s mission (such as being a Girl Scout Leader)
- implementing, but not developing, an initiative
- establishing standard HR programs, such as performance-review policies or health care provider selection (again, this would qualify for general credit)
- participating in activities that make your organization comply with established labor laws and/or regulations
Typically, if the activity is described in a different section of the SPHR Body of Knowledge (Workforce Planning & Employment, Human Resource Development, Total Rewards, Employee and Labor Relations, and Risk Management), it does not belong to Strategic Business Management.
Linking Strategic Business Management Activities to HR Knowledge
Your application should clearly support why each activity should earn strategic business management hours. If we find that your activity does not qualify for strategic business management hours, it may still count toward general recertification hours.
Click here for examples of strategic business management activities for each responsibility areas found in the PHR/SPHR Body of Knowledge.
