11 Burning Questions I Have About SHRM’s New Certification Program

Can someone in-the-know please answer my questions?

What’s the real difference between HRCI’s certification program and SHRM’s certification program?
Per the Internet and life, a competency is a set of defined behaviors that provide a structured guide enabling the identification, evaluation and development of the behaviors in individual employees. Has the new SHRM certification program been validated as an instrument that accurately measures competencies? Who validated it? How does the SHRM test differ from HRCI’s exam?
The HR Certification Institute program was accredited and (allegedly) carried the same weight as a CPA (Don’t tell that to CPAs). Does the new Society for Human Resource Management program carry that weight?
Has anyone tested how valuable and meaningful SHRM’s program is to the marketplace? Is there any data showing how SHRM’s program measures against an MBA? Or how the program is measured by Chief HR Officers and CEOs?
Will the SHRM Board and leadership team be required to participate in the SHRM certification program?
Can you be a CHRO or CEO without these new credentials?
Is this program appropriate for any talent acquisition professionals or recruiters who work in human resources? Or is this program just focused on business partners and generalists?
What was the HRCI funding scheme? How did state and local chapters benefit from the certification program? How does SHRM measure against HRCI in this regard? Should anyone profit from HR professionals who take the test?
There’s currently a mechanism in place to gain your SHRM certification quickly if you’re already certified from HRCI. Doesn’t the quick certification process prove the similarities between the two programs more than it demonstrates the differences?
If I’m in human resources, can someone give me one good reason how the SHRM certification program enhances my career prospects — and is worth my time?
How do Hank Jackson, Bob Carr or anyone in SHRM’s public relations or marketing department still have a job after the failed SHRM-HRCI integration and the poor launch of this program? Who on the SHRM Board has been held accountable for this mess? Does the Board see this for the shabby exercise that it is? How will SHRM do better by its members in the future? Why am I talking to myself in this bullet point? Why don’t I just shout into the wind a little more?

Those are my questions. Do you have questions? Did I miss yours? Do you have any answers? Let me know!

This was originally published on the Laurie Ruettimann blog.