The following reflects the culmination of two year’s work, ending in 2007, to update Canada’s Human Resources (HR) Body of Knowledge that was initially developed in 2001. The Body of Knowledge is specified in the Required Professional Capabilities (RPCs^®), which have also been updated in this document.

Two characteristics of a profession, as defined by Webster’s dictionary (see the CCHRA web-site “What defines a Profession?”), are a common body of knowledge and benchmarked performance standards. The goal of creating a national standard for HR professionals was set by the CCHRA in 1995. In 1997, the CCHRA, working in conjunction with the federal government department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) and researchers from across Canada, set out to define the HR body of knowledge in Canada. In a broad professional practice analysis, they gathered input from across Canada from HR practitioners, business leaders and academics in the field of HR to determine the knowledge, skills, abilities and other attributes (KSAOs) required for an individual working in HR to show their professional competence in the workplace. Focus groups, interviews and surveys were used to collect critical incidents describing the KSAOs necessary for an effective HR professional to know and apply. These KSAOs were grouped into 203 Required Professional Capabilities which were validated by survey analysis with HR practitioners who confirmed that all were necessary for a competent HR professional. The 203 RPCs^® were also grouped into eight dimensions describing HR functions and a cross-functional area of professional practice which covers strategic contributions, business acumen, written and oral communication, managing client relationships and professionalism. The functional dimensions were: organizational effectiveness; staffing; employee and labour relations; total compensation; organizational learning, development and training; workplace health and safety; and human resources information management.

The RPCs^® are based on the core capabilities of the HR profession as well as HR policies and practices used in Canada. In 2000-2001, teams made up of HR professionals developed assessment standards related to the RPCs^®. These formed the test specifications of the profession’s national standards of assessment, the National Knowledge Exam^® (NKE) and the National Professional Practice Assessment^® (NPPA). These exams test academic knowledge (in the case of the NKE) and judgement (in the case of the NPPA) and, when successfully completed, lead to the national designation of a Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP).

The original RPCs^® were introduced in 2001. The NKE exam was developed and introduced in the fall of 2003; the NPPA was introduced in the spring of 2004. To date there are more than 19,000 CHRPs in Canada.

In keeping with best practices in certification, in 2005, the Professional Standards Committee (PSC) of the CCHRA directed that a review be conducted in order to update the HR Body of Knowledge and the RPCs^®. The CCHRA Independent Board of Examiners (IBE) recommended a two-stage approach for this review. The two stages, approved by the CCHRA Board, were a review of the RPCs^® by member association task forces composed of representatives from the HR, business and academic communities and a survey of qualified HR professionals to validate the RPCs^® and determine which of the new RPCs^® represented academic knowledge versus experiential knowledge.

In the first stage, task force members were asked to review the existing KSAOs and RPCs^® and consider whether they were required for a competent HR professional to know and apply them to successfully function in their profession. The task forces were asked to indicate which RPCs^® should stay the same, be deleted or modified and to identify new RPCs^® which would reflect the evolving nature of HR function over the past five years. Task forces were also asked to record their rationale for each change or addition they recommended. Provincial associations were also asked to provide feedback on the results. The results were reviewed by the PSC and were validated by the IBE. This stage was completed in June 2006.

In the second stage, a survey was administered to all Canadians who possessed the CHRP designation, i.e., HR professionals. They were asked to validate the RPCs and indicate what emphasis a successful HR professional would place on each functional dimension and whether each RPC^® was an indicator of academic knowledge (and thus should be measured in the NKE) or judgment (and therefore should be measured by the NPPA). A total of 2,265 HR professionals from across the country participated in the survey during April and May 2007. Results of the task force stage and the survey work were combined to produce new and updated RPCs^®. The final results were also reviewed by the PSC and validated by the IBE.

The final results consolidated the functional dimensions into seven areas. The functional dimensions are: professional practice; organizational effectiveness; staffing; employee and labour relations; total compensation; organizational learning, training and development; and occupational health, safety and wellness. The previous functional dimension of Human Resources Information Management was determined to be too specific to be considered a function and it was subsumed into the function of professional practice. Recognizing the increasing role that effective HR professionals play in business, more emphasis was placed on business knowledge. Individual RPCs^® were modified, some were deleted and some new ones were added resulting in 187 RPCs^® written with greater clarity. As well, the weighting of functional dimensions was adjusted to reflect today’s requirements.

The seven functional dimensions and their 187 RPCs^® reflect the Canadian Human Resources Body of Knowledge. Each functional dimension reflects a unique proportion of the HR Body of Knowledge, as can be seen in the table below:

The National Knowledge Exam^® reflects the seven functional dimensions. The weighting reflects the importance of each functional dimension to the academic knowledge requirement of a professional in HR. The NKE is weighted as follows:

The National Professional Practice Assessment^® also reflects the seven functional dimensions and is weighted accordingly. The importance of experiential knowledge to an HR professional is reflected in this weighting. The NPPA weighting is as follows:

All of the results of this two year professional practice analysis were approved by the CCHRA Board in October 2007.

The new and updated RPCs^® developed from the two year review and analysis of their currency and relevance to the profession have formed the basis for the NKE and NPPA exams since October 2008.

CCHRA is committed to the continued respect and value of the CHRP designation. Aligning our testing and recertification to current market standards ensures the CHRP designation remains current, credible and continues to bring value to our members and the organizations that hire them. CCHRA’s frequent review of the HR Body of Knowledge and, as a result, the Required Professional Capabilities (RPCs^®), is necessary to ensure current and future members are well prepared to meet changing market needs.

Readers should remain cognizant that the Functional Dimensions, Required Professional Capabilities (RPCs^®) and Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other Attributes (KSAOs) are intended to describe the Body of Knowledge of Human Resources professionals and are in no way intended as a study guide for examinations.