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A new association has been set up by a group of senior HR professionals disillusioned with what they say is the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's (CIPD) lack of focus at high-ranking levels.
The Commercial Added Value HR Association is made up of senior people who want to improve the profession's skillset and promote commercially-driven HR.
It is the brainchild of Neil Griffin, a former professional with more than 20 years' experience in corporate HR. "The CIPD is good for people on their way up the profession, but there is nothing for senior level HR," he said.
Senior professionals are concerned they should be adding more commercial value, Griffin said. "There is a belief that HR is only taken seriously when the CEO is pro-HR. We are intent on setting the agenda to take HR forward."
Speaking at the inaugural meeting last week, Griffin – a fellow of the CIPD – said one of the main themes to emerge during his research was the need to move the reputation of the HR function away from 'pay and rations'.
Richard Green, senior HR business partner at HSBC and founding member, said: "The message here is let's do ourselves a favour and be better at what we do."
The CIPD said it has about 15,000 senior level members and engages with them in many other ways.
Duncan Brown, assistant director general, said: "Of course we do not hold a monopoly on the profession, and we regularly speak at and participate in networks organised by other organisations.
"We've been talking to some of the most senior HR professionals in the FTSE 100 companies, and are working on a number of projects designed to further improve our services to this level of the profession, for example on HR executive development."
