The HR Certification Flap? It’s About Making Yourself Better, Not Letters

I have some HR friends who are telling me that SHRM’s recent decision to develop their own certification is a non-issue to real trench HR pros around the world.

What do you think? Is it a non-issue?

I think it is, but we won’t see the real effects of the change for a year or more down the road.

Three options for my HR certification

I recertified with HRCI this past year, so basically I’ve got three years before this becomes a real issue for me. At that point, I have a decision to make. Here are my three options:

Recertify with HRCI. It’s easy, I know it. I get to keep my SPHR letters that I’ve become so comfortable with and that most people in the industry view as something that means I know at least something about HR.
Certify with SHRM’s new certification. Get comfortable with a new set of letters – SHRM-SCP which seems overly long, but I think people in industry will recognize the SHRM letters and say, yeah he probably also knows something about HR.
Just skip it all together. I’ve reached that 20 years of experience career mark. Do I really need some letters to tell people I know my stuff? Probably not. Look, any job I’m going to have moving forward in my HR career probably could care less if I have letters behind my name.

But, aren’t there other choices?

You might say, “Wait, Tim! There are other choices!” Like, I could certify with both HRCI and SHRM!

No, I don’t consider that a choice. Why would I do that? Let’s face it — neither organization really has put the best foot forward in this whole mess, and I don’t need a business card that says:

“Tim Sackett, SPHR, SHRM-SCP”

That’s just ridiculous; no one wants to see that, or have to explain that!

I’m wondering if SHRM believes we should just go with “Tim Sackett, SCP,” at which point someone will ask “What’s SCP?” and I’ll go “It’s Senior Certified Professional,” to which they’ll go, “of what?” Then I’ll go, “of Human Resources,” to which they’ll go, “what does the S and the M stand for then?” You see where this is going?

All this being said, I do have to agree with my HR friends. In the large scheme of things this will be a non-issue.

In the end, it’s all about development

SHRM has launched their new certification program. Most people will go down that path. A few will hold out and keep their HRCI certification. I don’t know if it will be enough to save that company, I’m doubting it.

Like I said above, this is a non-issue for me for the next three years.

My reality is that I’ll keep developing myself like I have for the last 20 years. I’ll go to SHRM events. I’ll go to user events. I’ll attend webinars on topics that interest me.

Regardless of the letters, I believe in development. That’s why, in the long run, this becomes a non-issue to trench HR folks.

You either believe in making yourself better, or you don’t really care much about that. That’s what really separates professionals, not letters.

This was originally published on Tim Sackett’s blog, The Tim Sackett Project.