HRCP Blog

This week I’ve been updating Unit 3 of the HRCP Program, which covers human resource development. I added a section about reporting training’s return on investment. It reads, in part:

Business managers expect to know the return they are getting for their investments. This is true of expenditures in training, just as is it for money invested in new equipment or technology. One of the ways human resource professionals can demonstrate the impact of training on the goals and objectives of an organization is by conducting return on investment (ROI) analysis and annually reporting the results to management, just as other business units report on their capital investments.

Such an annual report on training serves two important purposes. First, it justifies the training function by showing the value of training to the bottom line. Second, it helps the training department assess itself internally and make adjustments.

Training can be expensive, as those preparing for the PHR and SPHR exams can attest. If you combine the costs of study materials, review courses, and practice exams, and add the value of the study time invested, many HR certification exam candidates are spending several thousand dollars to get ready to take the exam. And that doesn’t include the fee for taking exam itself.

So, how can you get the best return on your PHR or SPHR preparation investment? Treat yourself like a business unit. Have specific study goals. Make reports to yourself on your progress. Squeeze every dollar’s worth out of your investment. Make sure you know what you need to know, then learn everything you can about it. Push yourself. Test yourself.

Oh, and pass. Most especially, pass the exam.

The chill in the air tells me that another year has hurtled past. Yes, the season is upon us. The season for giving. The season for renewal. The season for updating the Human Resource Certification Preparation Program.

We update our PHR and SPHR study materials every year. We collect information throughout the year on emerging human resource practices, on changes in employment laws and regulation, and on studies and statistics that are relevant to the field of human resource management. Now is the time to revise the text of the HRCP Program and incorporate the collected information into the 2008 edition, which is set to be printed, bound, and ready to ship by New Year’s Day. Over the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing some tidbits of information from our 2008 revisions.

Our birthday discount was such a hit, we’re going to extend it another week in celebration of Terri’s birthday. So, $50 off if you use BIRTHDAY as the discount code and order by November 10th.

Click here to order now.

Happy Birthday Terri!

Procrastinators (and other frugal shoppers), it’s your big chance! It’s my birthday this week. To celebrate, I’m offering a $50 discount on the complete HRCP Program through Friday, November 2. Use BIRTHDAY as the discount code.

Click here to order now.

Happy Halloween!

If you have

a) registered for the PHR or SPHR exam for the December/January test window but haven’t begun studying, or

b) not registered yet but are still thinking about doing it (with the late fee) but aren’t sure you’ll have time enough to prepare,

this blog entry is for you.

You still have time, folks. Lots and lots of time. If you start studying now, and you schedule your exam for the end of January, you still have three months to study. Three months. Ninety-three days. That’s long enough to sail across the Pacific, train for a marathon*, hand stitch a quilt, ride a bike from New York to Los Angeles, complete a term of college, or graduate from the Police Academy. It is also long enough to circumnavigate the globe, apparently—with 13 days left over. It is certainly enough time to prepare for the PHR or SPHR exam. But you’ve got to start now.

Terri, the business manager here at HRCP, is preparing to take the PHR exam in December. She has just completed all of the reading and is moving on to the “review” portion of her study schedule. She has covered a specific number of pages of the HRCP Program each day, which usually took her an hour or less. If you take on a similar schedule, studying for an hour each weekday between now and the end of January, there is no reason you can’t be prepared to pass the exam. But you’ve got to start now.

*Disclaimer: Training for a marathon in three months assumes that you’re already in shape. If you’re currently a couch potato, it will take a bit longer.

Don’t think that the irony is lost on me that it’s taken 11 days for me to get around to writing the promised blog entry on beating procrastination. I haven’t really been procrastinating; I’ve just been really busy. (They’re different, right?)

Nearly everyone procrastinates, especially if the task is particularly unpleasant or overwhelming. If you are procrastinating your preparation for the PHR or SPHR exam, here are some suggestions that might help:

• Create a written study schedule. Identify the topics that you need to study and determine how much time you will need to put into each area. Break up the content into manageable chunks so that you don’t become overwhelmed. Be sure to build review and testing periods into your schedule. Also, schedule in some make-up days. If something comes up and you miss a day of study, you can catch up on your make-up day. If you’ve stayed on schedule, you get the day off!
• Calendar it. When you create your schedule, use an actual calendar. You know, the kind with the little squares that each represent a day. Be date-specific in your schedule.
• Make a social commitment. You are more likely to stick to your schedule if others know what you’re doing, and even more so if you are required to report to someone. Studying with a partner or joining a study group are ways to accomplish this. You might also report your progress to your spouse, your children, a friend, a carpool mate, or your parents. Ask those who love and care about you to help you stick to your schedule by not planning other events during your study time. Your loved ones can have an active role in your studies, even if they know nothing about HR. An eight-year-old son, daughter, niece, nephew, or neighbor would get a kick out of quizzing you on flash card terms.
• Reward yourself. Plan rewards for sticking to your study schedule. A little reward each day (a walk, a favorite TV show, a tasty treat), and a bigger reward for completing one of the major functional areas (go out for dinner, order takeout, see a ball game, or have a movie night).

If you have trouble sticking to your schedule, determine if you’ve made your plan too aggressive and revamp it. Ask for more help from family or friends. Adjust the rewards, if necessary.

Are you planning to take the PHR or SPHR exam in the December/January testing window? Are you finding it difficult to be motivated to study with the exam still several months away? HR professionals preparing for the PHR and SPHR exams should know Expectancy Theory, which explains that motivation is determined by the outcomes people expect to occur as a result of their actions. The amount of effort an individual is willing to exert depends on three things:

1. the perceived relationship between effort and performance (expectancy),
2. the perceived relationship between performance and the outcomes (instrumentality), and
3. the value of the outcomes (valence).

An illustration might be helpful. The level of motivation you have to study for the PHR or SPHR exam is determined by

1. Expectancy: “If I study hard, will I learn the required material?”
2. Instrumentality: “If I learn the required material, will I be able to answer a sufficient number of questions correctly to pass the exam?”
3. Valence: “If I pass the exam, will it lead to positive consequences in my professional and personal life?”

If you doubt that studying hard will result in learning the necessary information, or if you don’t believe that the knowledge you attain will help you correctly answer exam questions, then you won’t be very motivated to study. Also, if you don’t believe that obtaining certification will lead to valuable outcomes, you won’t be motivated.

What if you do believe all of the above, but you are still not adequately motivated to study? Perhaps you don’t think you need to study now to attain the desired outcome. Up next: beating procrastination. But right now, make sure you understand and can explain Expectancy Theory.

People looking at the HRCP Program as a possible resource for PHR and SPHR exam preparation study materials often wonder about the program’s authors. I thought I’d introduce you to one of them today.

I am lucky to have the world’s best business partner. David Cherrington is HRCP’s co-founder and the main author of the HRCP Program. I can’t imagine anyone more qualified to lead HR professionals down the road to certification. A professor at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management, David has been teaching human resource management for more than 35 years. He served on the HRCI (Human Resource Certification Institute) Board of Directors, where he was in charge of exam item development. He also conducted the 1993 codification study that helped define and expand the HRCI body of knowledge. He is a seasoned textbook author, a vigorous researcher, and a prolific writer. He’s also a champion runner and hurdler, which shoots him way up in my esteem.

Professional and athletic qualifications aside, David is a terrific guy. I don’t know anyone more honest, caring, and generous. I’m lucky to work with him. Hey, I consider myself fortunate just to know him.

My most recent project at work has been updating the HR QuikStudy Flash Cards.� We’ve decided to begin shipping them as soon as they are printed, rather than waiting for the 2008 edition of the HRCP Program to come out in January. We’ve added a bunch of new terms and revised a few definitions. I made some major changes to the production process (basically re-building the flash cards from scratch) that will make future revisions much simpler. Our new set of flash cards includes 621 terms. If I decide next week that I want 622 terms and definitions, I’ll be able to make the changes in a matter of minutes. I like the added flexibility this will give us in our efforts to keep up with the ever-evolving field of human resource management.

My most recent project at home has been sewing a quick-change dress for my 10-year-old daughter. It’s nowhere near as cool as this one, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. My daughter can completely change her dress in about four seconds.

The kids started back to school today. Early this morning while I watered the garden, I noted a crispness in the breeze. My pumpkins are turning orange. But the most indisputable sign that fall is on its way is that our group orders have started coming in. A number of groups use the HRCP Program for their PHR and SPHR review courses. While our program is designed for self-study, we also provide Instructor Materials for those who teach from the HRCP Program, including PowerPoint presentations and discussion questions. Our relationship with some of the groups that use our materials dates back a decade, and we also have several new groups who will be using the HRCP Program for the first time this fall. We are extremely proud of several of our groups who had 100% pass rates on the May-June exams.

Some people prefer to study on their own, at their own pace, but a review course might be helpful to those who would benefit from an externally-imposed study schedule and an experienced instructor. Plus, there’s the commiseration factor. It’s comforting to know that your classmates are going through the same thing you are. My daughter’s fifth grade class endured an hour-long lecture today on personal hygiene and the use of deodorant. At least the PHR and SPHR review courses won’t be going there. We hope.