By Amy Schabacker Dufrane
Every HR professional is familiar with creating growth opportunities for employees. Mentoring, leadership development, tuition reimbursement and project-based learning are a few examples of ways that employers help employees advance in their careers. But what about HR? What contributes to your own professional growth and development?
This issue weighs heavily at HRCI. It’s why we commissioned a third-party research firm to survey HR professionals about how certifications support their career growth and whether they prepare them to lead their organizations. The research firm received 2,536 completed responses from HR professionals across various employment types, titles, educational backgrounds, and industries. Ninety-three percent of the respondents are employed full-time in an HR position and 31 percent hold manager titles.
What did we learn? I’ll fast-forward to the end result: 79 percent who added HRCI credentials after their name received the opportunity to pursue challenging assignments and jobs. Eighty-two percent said their HRCI certifications allowed them to engage in assignments that required new knowledge and skills. Delivering a competitive edge for HR leadership roles, complementing an existing or in-progress formal education, forging a path forward to higher pay, and greater career growth and satisfaction topped the list of key benefits provided by HRCI certification.
Why is all of this so important? The accelerated and unpredictable pace of work has created unprecedented change. As we strive to rebalance and recalibrate what work looks like moving forward, HR professionals are pressured to contribute to business outcomes through more strategic workforce programs and management.
Among the many changes are the increase in remote workers and corresponding requirements for virtual collaboration and engagement. Also taking center-stage are skills-based hiring, data-driven talent planning, and new employee benefits such as menopause support. Technology is yet another force to reckon: artificial intelligence is creating new jobs, with recent count of 77,000+ open in the U.S. according to LinkedIn. Top specialized skills that employers are hiring for include Figma and Jira Align – terms that were unfamiliar a few short years ago. “Digital nomads” – the trend of working remotely from anywhere in the world – is no longer a unique phenomenon. In fact, the number of these workers has significantly increased, having gone from 3.2 million in 2019 to 11.1 million in 2022 according to recent research.
Our research underscored that HRCI certification is a strong indicator that an HR professional has both the competence and confidence to navigate the toughest business challenges. Certification can also be a conduit for historically underrepresented groups to improve their earnings and access to professional opportunities. A means to higher pay, our research showed a correlation between higher earning potential and opportunities for promotion with many HRCI certified professionals receiving salary increases after achieving certification. Sixty-five percent of respondents said that HR certification is preferred at their organization, as it signals that a candidate is dedicated to the profession. In select industries, the research pointed to high rates of preference. The mining, healthcare and chemical industries (75 percent, 72 percent and 71 percent respectively) said HR certification was preferred for some or all HR positions.
It’s hard to argue with such compelling data. Having achieved their HRCI certification, 77 percent of respondents were satisfied or extremely satisfied with their progress towards meeting personal skill development goals. A marker of progress and potential in the field, HRCI certification validates the ability to apply strategic HR concepts to support the organization.
Changes in work will only continue to increase the demand for HR expertise. Ensuring that you stay up to date on human capital trends means even in a climate of unrelenting change and disruption, you will become more confident in your ability to solve problems and anticipate your workforce’s needs. Honored to support your ongoing success, we’re here at your service.
Did you know? The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has appointed HRCI as the International Secretariat for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 260 on Human Resource Management. The leadership of Global Standards under the ISO umbrella allows HRCI to continue to serve its HR professionals and organizations as they continue toward excellence in HR Management.
To learn how you can earn your individual certification, please visit www.hrci.org. To become a preferred employer through organizational-level certification, please visit www.hrsi.org.
