Recertifying on a Budget
Feb. 5, 2009 — The recertification program, while voluntary, is an important part of the certification process. It allows WorldatWork Society of Certified Professionals to attest not only to your mastery of the initial exam requirements, but also to your continuing efforts to remain up-to-date in the profession. This comes into play during job searches and in other situations where a stakeholder is verifying your designation. The vast majority of certification verifications and/or background checks request both certification and recertification status.
But in uncertain economic times, many designees are looking for low-cost methods to keep their designations current. The recertification program includes many allowable activities that earn recertification credit at little or no cost. Examples include on-the-job projects, benchmarking survey participation, article reviews, board service, committee membership with local or national HR/rewards groups, presenting, writing and attending seminars/webinars related to total rewards topical areas.
Review the various activities you can use for recertification at www.worldatworksociety.org/society/certification/html/recert1.jsp or contact a Customer Advisor at 877-951-9191. We would be happy to walk through the application with you and identify activities you’ve completed or may want to pursue that would earn credit.
There is still no better way to recertify than through WorldatWork membership, conferences and education. In addition to receiving the most targeted and relevant total rewards content to keep you up-to-date in the profession, all of your activities and recertification credits are automatically posted to your online recertification application. If you earn all 12 credits every three years through WorldatWork activities, it is entirely possible to recertify without ever accessing or filling out your recertification application.
New Research and Discussion What’s the Future of Attraction, Motivation and Retention?
Earlier this year, WorldatWork embarked on a literature review. The purpose of this review was to reveal the critical points of current knowledge on two topics:
Critical environmental circumstances that will affect the ability of organizations to attract, motivate and retain workers.
Implications for the practices and professions associated with attracting, motivating and retaining workers.
An exhaustive literature review of futurist books and articles formed the basis of the effort. Several themes surfaced consistently and are captured in a white paper. The Future of Attraction, Motivation and Retention Literature Review white paper offers eight predictions about the future of work and the implications on the total rewards and human resource professions. The authors note that "the future" might already be here for some progressive organizations.
Following are the eight predictions on the future of work:
The successful organization of the future will excel at acquiring, organizing and strategically deploying global resources.
There will be increased global connectivity, integration and interdependence in the economic, social, technological, cultural and political spheres.
Technology will advance at an even more rapid pace than in previous decades.
There will be continuous, dramatic changes in the labor force.
Human capital will become an even greater source of value.
The way work is organized and performed will evolve and change continuously.
Outsourcing will increase.
Self-paced, self-directed individualized virtual learning will dominate business training.
The full text of this article will be published in the December issue of workspan.
If you would like to participate in an online discussion about the future of attraction, motivation and retention, please visit our microsite at http://www.futureoftotalrewards.org.
Automatic Recertification Credit for Eligible WorldatWork Surveys
The automated recertification application has recently been enhanced to automatically populate your recertification credits for qualifying surveys sponsored by WorldatWork.
When you complete a WorldatWork survey, credit will be automatically posted to your WorldatWork recertification application. This includes WorldatWork Salary Budget Survey, benefits surveys and many others. Opinion and customer satisfaction surveys that do not provide a continuing education experience in compensation, benefits or total rewards do not earn credit.
A maximum of two WorldatWork and two non-WorldatWork surveys may be used for credit in any three-year recertification cycle. For more information on this change or other questions on recertification, please contact certification@worldatworksociety.org.
GRP Celebration in Spain
Oct. 3, 2007 — This summer, WorldatWork welcomed a new band of total rewards professionals to the global arena as the first class of GRP designees from Spain were recognized for their achievement in Madrid.
The inaugural class of eight Spanish GRPs worked through WorldatWork partner PeopleMatters to administer the courses. One designee, Arancha Lara Sanchez, spoke at a certification reception to her fellow professionals about the significance of her certification and the impact it has had on her career.
Spanish GRP Designees (l to r): Luis Hernández, Arancha Lara Sanchez, Javier Patón, Gilda Vargas, Fernando Impuesto, Ana Solana, David Pinto. Not pictured: Iñigo Capell.
WLCP Exam Requirements Announced
Aug. 17, 2007 — WorldatWork Society has announced the requirements for earning the Work-Life Certified Professional (WLCP) designation will be based on passing four exams (W1, W2, W3, W4).
The WLCP designation was introduced in 2006 and designed to meet the growing need for effective strategies and work-life programs to improve an organization’s bottom line and the lives of their employees. WorldatWork WLCP preparation courses associated with the designation include:
William McPeck Earns First WLCP Designation Aug. 17, 2007
— WorldatWork Society of Certified Professionals is excited to announce that William McPeck, director of Employee Health & Safety, Maine State Government, in St. Albans, Maine, is the first to earn the new Work-Life Certified Professional (WLCP) designation.
“I think it’s kind of exciting to be the first, and neat to be recognized. I was very surprised to get the call,” McPeck said. “I’m the first of hopefully many to come.”
McPeck, who earned his WLCP on Feb. 21, 2007, didn’t know that more would come in close succession, as Leonard Comberiate, CCP, CBP, GRP, senior director Benefits & Collectively Bargained Funds, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, in New Jersey, and Shalini Maharaj, human resources officer, Guardian Holdings Limited, in Trinidad, earned their WLCP June 1 and June 12, 2007, respectively.
With three decades of service to the state of Maine, McPeck became interested in work-life when WorldatWork developed the W3 course on wellness programs. But he didn’t plan on obtaining any certification in work-life until he started to think more and more of his own changing relationship with his employer. “I think the whole issue of work-life and total rewards is going to become increasingly important with this changing relationship. I’m looking forward to becoming a part of that process,” he said.
“I took a local week-long course that addressed the issue of the organization of the future,” McPeck recalls. “One of the things that stuck with me was the whole issue of the changing paradigm between employer and employee. It made me take a deeper look at work-life. I made the decision then to do the certification program because it fits into this whole employee-employer changing relationship.”
Comberiate, a WorldatWork member since 1982 and first to earn the CBP designation in 1993, said, “Years ago, you could get away with compensation and benefits to get the right employees. Now it’s not enough. You need work-life, recognition and career opportunities to attract the best,” said Comberiate. “The whole work-life curriculum was an eye-opener. Even though I’ve been in this business 33 years, I learned a lot, with respect to the important value to employees.”
Comberiate said that like his company, many organizations have a flexible workplace and a wellness program. “A lot of times if you’re with one company, you get the one-company approach. Getting to know the entire body of knowledge with respect to work-life gives you the opportunity to re-think what you’re already doing.”
When the opportunity became available for Shalini Maharaj, she jumped at it, even if it meant doing it on her own. “I have been waiting for classes like this to come along as I have always been interested in gender, diversity and work-life. When I learned about the designation, I could not sign up fast enough,” said Maharaj, who joined WorldatWork about a year ago and completed the four “W” courses through self-study.
Work-life programs and initiatives take on a very different form in different regions and cultures, and perhaps no one knows that better than Maharaj, a practitioner working in Trinidad who always had questions surrounding work-life effectiveness.
“All [employees] of all nationalities face the dilemma of balancing work and family commitments, however the support systems that exist and the way society views the choices will differ,” said Maharaj, whose four years in the workforce has come after studying psychology, human resources, and gender and development in university.
A limited flexible work arrangement exists at Maharaj’s company, but the young practitioner who is currently pursuing a master’s in human resource management hopes to expand and enhance work-life. Her priorities include developing a directory of elder care, child care and other service providers, as well as an on-boarding program for mothers returning to the workplace.
“My organization fully supported me in my pursuit of my designation, so I take that as a sign as well that they are committed to doing some serious work in this area. I am hoping that I can share this knowledge with others within my organization and add a work-life component to HR and company initiatives,” she said. “For me, the fact that the qualification exists shows a commitment to funding, research and education in this area that is hopefully linked to changes in the way we do business on a global scale.”
HR Certification Institute Strategic Management Recertification Credit Available for Select WorldatWork Courses
If you hold the SPHR designation granted by the HR Certification Institute (HRCI), you may know that to recertify the SPHR, designees need 15 recertification hours in the "Strategic Management" category. While the majority of WorldatWork courses approved for HR Certification Institute recertification credit earn credit in the "General" category, a number of courses have been approved for recertification credit hours in strategic management. These courses are T2: Accounting and Finance for the Human Resources Professional, C11: Performance Management and B3A: Health and Welfare Plans – Strategic Planning and Design. Course C15: Global Compensation, earns recertification credit in the “Specified – International” category. Please note that only the live classroom and live CourseCasts are pre-approved for HR Certification Institute recertification credit. For further information, please contact Customer Relationship Services or certification@worldatworksociety.org.
Additional WorldatWork Courses Approved for CE Credit
Individuals who hold the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) may now use attendance at WorldatWork courses C12 (Variable Pay), C15 (Global Compensation) and T6 (Mergers & Acquisitions) for continuing education (CE) credit towards maintenance of their CFP designations.
This is in addition to courses B1, B2, B3, B3A, B5, C6, C6A and T11, which had previously been registered with the CFP Board. If you wish to use one of these courses for CE credit toward your CFP designation, please notify the Society at certification@worldatworksociety.org with your CFP registration number after attending the course so that we can report your credits to the CFP Board.
What Can You Do to Recertify?
WorldatWork classroom and online courses and Webinars are an excellent way to keep current, stay engaged with others in the field and also earn recertification credit. There are plenty of activities that you can count toward recertification. Here are some real-life examples of what your peers are doing to earn credits toward recertification:
Membership (0.5-1 credit per year)
WorldatWork
National Association of Stock Plan Professionals
Chicago Compensation Association
Mid South Compensation Association
Society for Human Resource Management
International Personnel Management Association
Conferences (0.5 -2.5 credits per event)
WorldatWork Annual Conference and Exhibition
Society for Human Resources Management Conference
Teaching/Speaking Activities (0.5-1 credit per event or "credit hour")
Compensation and benefits class for Ottawa University
Human resource management class for Regis College
Writing (2-4 credits per work)
workspan
WorldatWork Journal
Journal of Nursing Administrators
On-the-Job Projects (1 credit per project, up to 2 credits per year)
Develop and implement HIPAA training program
Implement global broadbanding
Develop company compensation and ranking process
Health and dental union contract
Leadership within the Profession (.5-1 credit per year)
Mid South Compensation Association board member
Education (0.5-5 credits per event)
Webinars offered by various consulting firms
Certificate in Professional HR Management from Villanova University
Designation Verification Form Available How Can I Get the Society to Verify My Designation?
A major part of the value of certification is using your designation to further your career at a current employer or to help make you more marketable to prospective employers. To verify your designation(s) and/or your currency status, while protecting your privacy, the Society requires written authorization from you on an official Society Release of Information form in order to respond to specific inquiries about your certification status. You can request these forms at certification@worldatworksociety.org or by calling toll-free, 877/951-9191.
The signed form, indicating the party to whom you wish us to provide your information, can be faxed to WorldatWork Society of Certified Professionals, Attn: Business Information and Support Services, 480/483-8352.
This process allows you the peace of mind of knowing that your information is not being distributed without your consent and allows us to contact you prior to fulfilling any verification requests if there are any questions about the information that you have asked us to provide. If you have any questions or comments regarding certification verification, please contact us.
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Aug. 17, 2007
— WorldatWork Society of Certified Professionals is excited to announce that William McPeck, director of Employee Health & Safety, Maine State Government, in St. Albans, Maine, is the first to earn the new Work-Life Certified Professional (WLCP) designation.
Comberiate, a WorldatWork member since 1982 and first to earn the CBP designation in 1993, said, “Years ago, you could get away with compensation and benefits to get the right employees. Now it’s not enough. You need work-life, recognition and career opportunities to attract the best,” said Comberiate. “The whole work-life curriculum was an eye-opener. Even though I’ve been in this business 33 years, I learned a lot, with respect to the important value to employees.”