Value of membership rated as 7.8 out of 10, up from 7.6
Satisfaction with overall service value is high and growing for the British Columbia Human Resources Management Association (BC HRMA), according to its annual member value survey.
The overall value of a BC HRMA membership was rated as 7.8 out of 10 in 2012, which is up slightly from 7.6 in 2011 and close to the association’s 2014 strategic goal of eight, according to the survey of 873 members.
Generally, respondents said they continue their membership with association to:
•have and maintain the certified human resources professional (CHRP) designation — BC HRMA continues to promote awareness and value of the CHRP designation to the business community and is working closely with Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations (CCHRA) to improve the value and benefits of the CHRP
•network — there are now more than 35 different roundtables running throughout the province and events such as the HR Café have grown to include more than 12 participating educational institutions while peer-to-peer opportunities such as the annual conference continue to break attendance projections and satisfaction levels
•have access to job postings
•gain insight into best practices and HR data — the HR Metrics Service has experienced 50 per cent year-over-year growth and BC HRMA has introduced research briefings and continued improvements to both PeopleTalk and HRVoice.org.
Areas for improvement
When asked, “What one thing could BC HRMA do to increase the value of your membership?” three areas emerged in the survey:
Increase the value of membership
Increasing value of membership has been a key focus of the BC HRMA board and staff in recent years, according to the association. Member benefits such as the Career Path Tool, Professional Mentoring Program and the Career Advancement Network provide members with options to support their careers at no additional costs, while the Government Relations Forum is an effort to raise the profile of the importance of the HR discipline.
Membership dues have remained unchanged for the past eight years and are competitive when compared against other like professional associations while 100 per cent of professional dues are reinvested back to the development and growth of the CHRP designation, said BC HRMA.
Increase member offerings available outside the Lower Mainland
BC HRMA is committed to engaging its full membership and continues to explore services and offerings that are accessible throughout the province, according to the association. Webinars, offered live or on demand, have increased as the association has partnered to provide more online options. This year, BC HRMA partnered with the Canadian Working Group for HIV & Rehabilitation to provide two courses at a special price. Also, for the first time, BC HRMA recorded three sessions from the annual conference and offered them as a webinar series to those unable to attend the event in-person.
Continue to build the value of HR and the CHRP designation in the business community
The association issued more than a dozen press releases and had more than 50 print, electronic, radio and TV media appearances. In February, BC HRMA launched its first radio campaign promoting the value of the CHRP designation with the business community as the target audience. And a recent survey of general business leaders found 53 per cent could correctly identify the association and 45 per cent could correctly identify the CHRP designation. This is up from 2007 when only 10 per cent of this group were aware of BC HRMA and 20 per cent had heard of the CHRP.
