New recertification requirements took effect for all newly certified professionals in 2003 and for existing certificants whose certification expires in 2006 or later.

The requirement changes that were made recognize the rapidly changing workplace practices and policies, benchmarking with similar certification programs, and feedback from certified and noncertified professionals.

RECERTIFICATION CREDIT CHANGES AT-A-GLANCE

Because needs assessments can take many different forms, from a formal written analysis to constructive feedback from a supervisor or mentor, HRCI does not require any particular needs assessment tool. Documentation of having conducted a needs assessment is not necessary when recertifying.

The HRCI test specifications define strategic management as “the processes and activities used to formulate HR objectives, practices and policies to meet the short- and long-range organizational needs and opportunities, to guide and lead the change process, and to evaluate HR’s contribution to organizational effectiveness.” This definition will be used as the basis of the new strategic management requirements for SPHR-certified professionals.

A review of the “responsibilities” area under the strategic management functional area of the HRCI test specifications shows that the types of continuing education experiences which count toward the specified credit hours in strategic management actually give certificants the opportunity to explore areas beyond the conventional “HR-related” seminars and workshops.

For your guidance, the responsibility areas and examples of what would fulfill the strategic management requirement appear below.

01 Interpret information related to the organization’s operations from internal sources, including financial/accounting, business development, marketing, sales, operations and information technology, in order to contribute to the development of the organization’s strategic plan.

This responsibility area recognizes that to be effective strategic partners, HR professionals must know the “business of business” and how it relates to the HR function and the organization’s strategic goals. Types of continuing education experiences that may count toward the strategic management requirement might include upper-level business writing courses (e.g., writing business contracts, technical writing or writing business-development plans), marketing workshops, finance for nonfinancial managers, and seminars that discuss emerging trends in the workplace (for example, labor supply shifts, innovative benefits options, or employee engagement).

Programs specific to the certificant’s industry (i.e., health care) may earn strategic management recertification credit hours if the program provides broad-based knowledge that will lead to the certificant’s greater understanding of the field. You should be prepared to demonstrate in writing why an industry-specific program (for example, “Challenges in the Health Care Industry”) added to your strategic management skills and enhanced the human resource management function. Programs that teach specific industry-related skills would generally not be considered strategic (for example, “How to Process a Medical Claim”).

02 Interpret information from external sources related to the general business environment, industry practices and developments, technological developments, economic environment, labor pool, and legal and regulatory environment, in order to contribute to the development of the organization’s strategic plan.

This responsibility area recognizes that strategic-minded HR professionals should be able to take work-related information from various resources, synthesize it and apply it to their own work settings to assist in developing the organization’s long-term plan. An example of an applicable “recertification” experience that would count under the strategic management area would be the research and development of an environmental scan for presentation during an organization’s strategic-planning meeting. Another example might be the establishment of a formal process whereby the HR function regularly informs executives of industry trends and discusses how they may affect their own organization. Another example: attending a seminar or workshop on how to make forecasts. In all of these examples it is essential that you can produce documentation should an audit be conducted.

03 Participate as a contributing partner in the organization’s strategic-planning process.

You would receive credit for first-time participation as an active partner in a strategic-planning process within your organizations.

04 Establish strategic relationships with key individuals in the organization to influence organizational decision-making.

You should be able to demonstrate how you have worked with your organization’s leadership to affect measurable changes to the overall culture and how those changes affected the organization’s policies and practices. Examples would include executive coaching or providing leadership training. Courses in communications or public speaking would not apply.

05 Establish relationships/alliances with key individuals in the community and in professional capacities to assist in meeting the organization’s strategic goals and objectives.

Certificants would receive strategic management credit for HR-related work that includes an organizational social-responsibility component such as a welfare-to-work or school-to-work program, philanthropic activities or alliances with community-based organizations. Recertification credit would not be awarded for merely participating in company-sponsored activities. You must be prepared to demonstrate your involvement in conceptualizing, selling and/or leading the program, and how your HR expertise helped to develop or further the program.

06 Develop and utilize metrics to evaluate HR’s contributions to the achievement of the organization’s strategic goals and objectives.

This responsibility area acknowledges that it is not enough to introduce new programs and initiatives within an organization, but to also constantly evaluate its return on investment. Recertification credit would be awarded for designing and implementing such programs or for participating in workshops to learn how to measure HR’s contribution to organizational effectiveness and the “bottom line.”

07 Develop and execute strategies for managing organizational change that balance the expectations and needs of the organization, its employees, and all other stakeholders.

Demonstrated on-the-job leadership in change management following a major organizational transition (such as change in ownership, restructuring or re-engineering) would qualify for strategic management recertification credit hours. Additionally, strategic management credits would be awarded for learning more about one’s industry, organizational operations, projected needs based on one’s industry, and how to best serve your organization’s customers in order to identify and implement needed changes. Using a tool such as the SHRM Human Capital Benchmarking Study can help to identify an organization’s human capital strengths and weaknesses, and create a framework for managing change and encouraging employees toward continuous improvement. In order to receive credit you would need to provide a description of how you used the tool and what organizational changes occurred as a result.

08 Develop and align the organization’s human-capital management plan with its strategic plan.

Credit would be considered by demonstrating first-time, on-the-job experience in developing organizational policy based on your organization’s specific needs, such as instituting a phased retirement program or developing a talent- management strategy. You must describe the link between the HR initiative and the specific business strategy it supports.

09 Facilitate the development and communication of the organization’s core values and ethical behaviors.

Strategic management recertification credits related to this responsibility area include personal participation in leadership training, development of your organization’s code of ethics, or integration of the organization’s mission, vision and values into a formal program to be implemented organization-wide.

10 Reinforce the organization’s core values and behavioral expectations through modeling, communication and coaching.

Providing training in ethical behaviors, incorporating organizational values and ethical behaviors into performance management programs, and establishing a methodology to identify and reward valued behaviors are examples of activities that could be submitted under this responsibility area.

11 Develop and manage the HR budget in a manner consistent with the organization’s strategic goals, objectives and values.

This responsibility area recognizes that to be leaders, HR professionals must have knowledge of budget development and review. HR professionals who may need additional training in this area would earn strategic management recertification credits for continuing education in finance for nonfinancial managers, budget development and project management (as it relates to HR).

12 Provide information for the development and monitoring of the organization’s overall budget.

Continuing education in areas such as forecasting or the development of metrics to measure human capital would qualify for strategic management credit. In addition, participating in the development of a formal system to provide ongoing needed human-capital data to the finance or budgeting function could be submitted as a first-time work experience under this responsibility area.

13 Monitor the legislative and regulatory environment for proposed changes and their potential impact to the organization, taking appropriate proactive steps to support, modify or oppose the proposed changes.

Strategic management recertification credits would be awarded when participating at the state or federal level to influence the outcome of workplace legislation or legislation that would affect your industry. This would include providing testimony to or meeting with legislators. HRCI awards one recertification credit hour (with a maximum of three hours per recertification cycle) in this category for testifying to Congress or a state legislative body (if you are doing so as a representative of your organization or industry). These activities would be reported under the “on-the-job” category. Participating in “Legal Updates” or other activities once legislation has already been passed would not qualify for strategic credit.

14 Develop policies and procedures to support corporate governance initiatives (for example, board of directors training, whistleblower protection, code of conduct).

Continuing education in the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or others designed to support sound corporate governance practices would qualify for strategic management credit. In addition, developing and communicating programs such as the organization’s whistleblower protection policy or a code of conduct applicable to the board of directors could be submitted for first-time work experience credit under this responsibility area.

15 Participate in enterprise risk management by examining HR policies to evaluate their potential risks to the organization.

This responsibility involves auditing the HR function, identifying risks and developing a follow-up plan to mitigate those risks. You would receive strategic management credit for the first time you conducted such an audit and took follow-up action based on the results. Additionally, a formal continuing education program on auditing the HR function would qualify.

16 Identify and evaluate alternatives, and recommend strategies for vendor selection and/or outsourcing (for example, HRIS, benefits, payroll).

This category recognizes the value of HR’s ability to improve its performance through the reasoned use of third-party providers. In order to make an informed decision on how to best perform HR functions, the HR professional must be able to analyze possible courses of action and make recommendations based on sound business reasons. The ability to prepare and evaluate a Request for Proposal (RFP)–as well as marketing and implementing the selected approach–is included in this responsibility. To qualify for strategic credit, the certificant must have been directly involved in the recommendation and implementation process. Merely changing providers for an existing program or system or upgrading service would not meet the definition of a strategic activity.

17 Participate in strategic decision-making and due-diligence activities related to organizational structure and design (for example, corporate restructuring, mergers and acquisitions [M&A], offshoring, divestitures). SPHR ONLY.

First-time work experience participating in due diligence and/or integration planning, participating in a corporate re-engineering or restructuring, or helping to make the decision to outsource certain functions of the business are examples of activities that could be submitted for strategic credit under this responsibility area. Certificants must describe their direct involvement in the decision-making and strategizing; carrying out an activity that has been determined by others, such as a workforce redeployment, would not qualify for strategic credit, although it may be granted general credit as first-time work experience in another functional area. In addition, formal training to improve the HR professional’s ability to contribute in this area (“Understanding the Merger and Acquisition Process”) could qualify.

18 Determine strategic application of integrated technical tools and systems (for example, HRIS, performance-management tools, applicant tracking, compensation tools, employee self-service technologies).

An example of a strategic management activity under this responsibility area would be the development of an integrated HRIS system resulting in more relevant information being provided to stakeholders throughout the organization on a timelier basis requiring less manpower. Another example would be an automated performance management system that feeds information directly into compensation and budgeting systems, thereby reducing cycle time and improving the completion rate of multiple processes. Certificants must be able to describe the benefit derived by the organization from the integrated systems. To qualify for strategic credit, the certificant must have been directly involved in the process of recommendation and design, not simply a user of the new system.