HR Certification Institute Celebrates 35 Years of Experience, Knowledge and Distinction

With 35 years of certifying HR professionals, the HR Certification Institute is continuing its focus on experience, knowledge, and distinction. More than 115,000 HR professionals currently hold a certification from the HR Certification Institute and are models of this in their day-to-day work in the profession.

Accredited by Institute for Credentialing Excellence, the HR Certification Institute offers Professional in Human Resources (PHR®), Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR®), Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR®) and California (PHR-CA® and SPHR-CA®) certifications.

In a recent survey, a majority of the 1,500-plus professionals who participated stated that certification is highly valued because it reflects the practical and professional experience of the certified HR professionals, shows a commitment to lifelong learning and helps with career advancement. The survey also showed that 62 percent of U.S. employers and 82 percent of outside of U.S. employer respondents consider professionally certified employees to have a strong impact on a company’s profitability and that most professionals and employers feel that the demand for professional certification in the HR field will grow in the next three to five years.

The objective of the research, conducted by the HR Certification Institute and B2B International, was to understand the awareness, perceptions, and value of HR and other professional certifications, certificates, and degree programs by organizations of varying sizes from the United States and outside of the United States.

Key findings of the survey include:
• Reputation of the awarding body, as well as experience-based exams, recertification and continued education are the key factors that make certification valuable.
• Increases in employee engagement, employment satisfaction and productivity are the top ways of measuring the value of professional HR certification, as are reductions in staff churn, training and recruitment costs. Employers see increasing and updating employees’ knowledge and demonstrating their commitment as the key advantages of professional HR certification. From an employer’s perspective, having employees gain professional HR certification brings numerous advantages to the organization and 97 percent of respondents believe that it is important for people in HR to be professionally certified. In addition, the survey found that:
• More than half (56 percent) of respondents who are in charge of an HR department believe that having professionally certified employees has a positive impact on the profitability of their organization.
• Ninety-six percent of employers feel that an HR certified candidate applying for a job would have an advantage over a non-HR certified candidate.
• 69 percent of employers state that an HR certified person being considered as an independent consultant for an HR department would have a ‘very significant’ advantage over a non-certified individual.

Employers also felt that professional HR certification increases employees’ confidence in their ability to do their job and increases an organization’s reputation and demonstrates that it takes HR seriously.

Texas SHRM
P.O. Box 8058
Tyler, Texas 75711
www.texasshrm.org • info@texassshrm.org • 214-354-8740