The Human Capital Management Institute has announced a major membership recruitment drive. The HCMI, established in 2006 through the International School of Human Capital Management (ISHCM), is a not-for-profit organisation representing a new phase in the HR profession.
Membership is open to both CIPD and non-CIPD members. The organisation’s main aim is to promote professional standards and with it, the HR function’s standing and contribution within industry.
As such, the current annual membership fee (£24.95) is being waived until the beginning of 2009. Thus new members can enjoy the benefits and association for a limited period without expense, for example discounts off ISHCM courses.
Honorary president Nicholas J Higgins, who is Dean of ISHCM, the specialist practitioner-based business school, stated that, “The HCMI is designed to be ‘lite-touch but heavy hitting’ when it comes to professional competence. All current practitioners and people managers are welcome to join – we aim to represent the profession as a whole in terms of its status and to that extent we are interested in promoting effective evidence-based management at ground level.
In that respect it is a return to basics – a membership body that focuses on professional competence and evidence based management and which is free of more commercial aspects. We acknowledge that many practitioners are busy and short of time to devote to extra-curricular activities, even those related to proving/upgrading professional competence. The HCMI is designed around this but with a couple of stipulations, set by its charter, which must be followed to maintain status.
Some may think that the current membership fee is, shall we say, derisively cheap. We just believe it’s the new way forward – the member pays for basics and then decides by choice rather than for the bundling of set things that he/she doesn’t need, as is the current practice.”
The HCMI promotes what is termed ‘pro-active membership’ – the idea that individuals are actively involved in terms of, for example, ‘regular focus pulse panels’ and are encouraged to network via communities of practice of similar interest/geography rather than through extensive (and costly) branch structures. These are supported by monthly professional e-mail updates and practitioner summits.
Continuing professional development is seen as a much more focused event-driven learning programme as opposed to the ‘anything goes’ sprawling bureaucratic and, to some extent, questionable process that some CPD schemes have become.
HCMI, in conjunction with the International School of HCM, is looking to run two annual HCM summits in Birmingham and London. These are designed to be free of exhibitions and concentrate on learning/competence and focused networking.
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The inaugural HCM summit is planned for November 2008 in London (see separate announcement to follow) and will contain a number of speakers presenting on evidence based case studies from around industry, both public and private sector, as well as newly designed interactive delegate-based case study sessions.
There are five main categories of Practitioner based gradings. The MHCMI is awarded to those who have passed the International School of HCM’s HCMI qualification. The HCMI qualification represent Practitioner based expertise and are designed to compliment any existing industry qualifications individuals may possess.
