enough. CIPD understands professionalism
as something that goes beyond just
professional competency. What makes a
profession is the combination of competence
and ethics for the good of society. A
key CIPD concept is situational judgment,
where competence and principles combine
for ethical decision-making in a given circumstance.
Principles are the how ethical
responsibility works – and that, in essence,
is where it all comes together.
CIPD is still developing its principles,
but from its work to date, it is clear they
will consider ideas such as HR serving
society as a whole; not treating people as
a means to an end; striving for fairness
in considering the interests of all stakeholders;
considering both short- and
long-term perspectives; and not compromising
principles.
HRPA AND ETHICS
The Human Resources Professionals
Association (HRPA) is also taking steps
towards enhancing the professionalism
of the HR profession, including an updated
HR competency framework that
tests an updated body of knowledge, and
the ability to apply that knowledge, at
escalating levels of HR practice; as well
as a government-sanctioned regulatory
framework that grants HRPA powers
to regulate its members in the public interest.
Public interest – mandating that
members abide by a Code of Ethics and
Rules of Professional Conduct that ensures
respect for human rights, equity,
dignity and respect in the workplace – is
essentially the same as the CIPD’s new
direction around HR and ethics.
The good news is that the professionalization
of HR continues on both sides of
the Atlantic, with mutual understanding
that professionalism must be anchored by
both professional knowledge and ethics. n
Brenda Clark, CHRE is chair of the
Human Resources Professionals Association
(HRPA).
Editor’s note: For an in-depth look at
HRPA’s work in professionalizing the HR
profession, read the cover feature in the
upcoming February 2016 issue of HR
Professional, first available at the 2016
HRPA Conference & Trade Show.
tips FROM DispUtE
REsOLUtiON EXpERts GROUP
“Why” IS ThE mOST ImPORTANT qUESTION IN A NEgOTIATION
It gets us information about other peoples’ interests, wants and needs. The
more information we have, the more likely we’ll be able to find a solution that
works for us and for the other side. It’s rare to ask enough questions; we often
ask too few. We are sometimes so focused on getting our point across that
we don’t take the time to learn the information that we need to know in order
to reach an agreement. We make wrong assumptions and get bogged down in
time-wasting and unnecessary debates. Remember that we have two ears and
one mouth and should use them in proportion!
ThE WORD ‘bUT’ IS ThE gREAT ERASER IN A NEgOTIATION
It erases everything positive that you said before the ‘but’. If I say to you, ‘that is
an interesting idea in theory, but it will never work on the ground”, you’re more
likely to focus on the second part of what I said (the ‘it will never work’ part),
and miss the fact that I said you have a good idea. When we use the word ‘but’
in the middle of a sentence, we can lose the good things we’ve said before the
‘but’. If you can restructure your sentence and use the word ‘and’ instead of
‘but’, it can often help. For example, if I had said, ‘you have a good idea and we
also have to look at some of the difficulties we’ll encounter if we go down that
path’, that would have been a lot easier to hear.
ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION WORkShOP
Toronto: February 2-5 Ottawa: February 23-26
“The ADR Workshop was by far the best course I have attended in my 30+ year
career in HR. A must attend for HR Professionals. I have used the tools on a
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“I liked the wealth of knowledge and confidence of all of the instructors and
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throughout the training.”
Mark McGrath, HR, Nalcor Energy, St. John’s
Contact us to speak to an instructor
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10 ❚ JANUARY 2016 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
