Canada Council of Human Resources Management in Canada
Economic outlook
The Canadian economy remains solid Despite the several strikes that slowed down production in the early fall of 2005, the third quarter ended on a positive note for the country. The economy remained solid during this period, particularly thanks to investment and export growth. More specifically, the gross domestic product was up 2.8% over the preceding quarter, which represents an annual growth of 6.2%. In December the unemployment rate was pegged at 6.5%, constituting a decrease of 0.6% over the year. A 2% increase in full-time jobs was offset by a loss of 1% in the part-time sector. Lastly, average weekly earnings climbed by 4.42% to total $739 in the third quarter of 2005.
Changing of the guard in Ottawa The beginning of 2006 was marked by the advent of a new minority Conservative government in Ottawa. The Conservative win could spark some major changes in Canada’s economic and social policies. After thirteen years of Liberal rule, a change of course could be in store on a number of fronts. Since the Conservatives are more to the right of the political spectrum than the Liberals, some analysts are predicting repercussions on such issues as the Kyoto Protocol, the military budget and certain social policies. Furthermore, most experts believe that Stephen Harper and his Conservative teams’ accession to power should strengthen our relations with the United States and even modify Canada’s position on international conflicts.
However it will take some time before we know just how well founded most of these predictions are. With only 124 out of a total of 308 seats in the House of Commons, the new government has very little room to manoeuvre. It will therefore most likely have to adopt a more centrist position if it wants to stay in power. That’s probably what the majority of Canadians were hoping for as they went to the polls once again, only 17 months after electing the former Liberal minority government. The one certainty on the horizon is that the fragility of the current government could undermine Canadian political stability and, accordingly, have a certain impact on the economy and unemployment. That’s something to keep a close watch on.
CCHRA ACTIVITIES
Throughout 2005, CCHRA forged ahead with the implementation of 3 major components of its strategic plan:
1. Establish CCHRA as the voice for HR on national issues
2. Forge new ties with the federal government to provide input on HR issues
3. Continue to promote the CHRP designation
The National Forum held in June was deemed a rousing success by all participants. Planning is now under way for the second forum to be held in June 2006. The 2006 forum will follow up on issues identified as critical for Canadian HR professionals.
The Government Affairs Committee is continuing to make progress in forging ties with federal government officials and we are being approached to provide input on pending legislation.
CHRP designation update In 2006, our focus will be to implement improvements and enhancements to systems and operations involved in the administration of national standards of assessment.
National code of ethics – Discipline Model. A Discipline Model proposal was approved by the CCHRA Board at the fall Board meeting. It is a companion piece to the National Code of Ethics and a communication/implementation plan is now under way. A detailed plan is necessary to ensure consistency of application and interpretation nationally; however, enforcement of discipline is a provincial responsibility.
Body of Knowledge – Certification Exams:
National Knowledge Exam (NKE)
Professional Practice Assessment (PPA)
GROWTH IN NUMBER OF EXAM WRITERS
Exam Date |
NKE |
PPA |
Total |
Sept 03 |
316 |
- |
- |
May 04 |
221 |
209 |
430 |
Oct 04 |
520 |
375 |
895 |
May 05 |
603 |
506 |
1109 |
Oct 05 |
1079 |
548 |
1627 |
TOTALs |
2379 |
1638 |
4377 |
The chart above shows the impressive growth in the number of exam writers since the inception of national standards in 2003.
In September 2005 we launched a second on-line prep course, one to assist those preparing for the Professional Practice Assessment.
Updating the body of knowledge During the fall, focus groups across the country met to review the competency statements that form the basis of our exams. Their comments have now been gathered and we will be analyzed to determine what, if any, modifications are required to ensure that the competency statements continue to accurately reflect the needs of Canadian business in the realm of HR.
Recertification A meeting of volunteer and staff representatives from our member associations is planned next month to review the recertification process and develop a handbook that will provide additional guidance for recertifying members.
II. MEXICO
A. MEXICAN ECONOMIC, POLITIC AND LABOR INDICATORS
Macroeconomic trends During the last quarter of 2005, Mexican peso slightly loose ground versus the US dollar. Starting the first days of January 2006, unpredictably the Peso gained ground improving its commercial alliances but not its export’s to other countries. Economic experts predict that during the second half of the year the Peso exchange rate will be around 11 -1 (peso-dollar).
ASPECT |
2006 |
2005 |
TREND |
GNP |
3.2 |
3.0 |
+0.2 |
INFLATION |
3.6 |
3.3 (The lowest in the past 2 years) |
+0.3 |
INTEREST RATE |
7.95 |
9.19 |
-1.24 |
EXCHANGE RATE |
11.02 |
10.89 |
+0.13 |
Political Trends 2006 will be a pre-election year for the country. During the following months, five political parties will start their campaign to the Presidency for the 2006-2012 period. Some parties are already looking for alliances with small parties to start a never seen before race, other parties will try to gain by their own.
Five parties, four men and one woman will look for the Presidency under the following schemes:
PARTY |
CANDIDATE |
PAN |
Felipe Calderón |
PRI/PVEM |
Poberto Madrazo |
PRD, PT & Convergencia Democrática |
Andrés Manuel López Obrador |
Partido Alternativa Socialdemócrata y Campesina |
Patricia Mercado |
Partido Nueva Alianza |
Robert Campa |
Social Trends In order to obtain political positions in the electoral game, some of the mainl Ministers of President Fox’s cabinet quit and others from lower levels are expected to do the same in the following months. However, to stop this trend and to avoid further debilitating the last period of the Fox administration, it has been officially stated that no more changes will be accepted.
Unemployment According to official numbers from the INEGI, the unemployment rate for December 2005 was 2.84% hitting annual records at a lower level for 2005 with a 3.58% rate. The common feel between Mexicans is that unemployment rates are keeping high and no economic reactivation has started.
Human Resource Issues During the last months of 2005, contract negotiations ranged an increase of 4.60%, with a maximum of 8% and a minimum of 1.4%. For the next six months it is expected to keep the same tendency.
Minimum wage salaries received a general increase of 4%, keeping 3 different zones according to the geographical areas.
Legislation On the last days of 2005, a modification to the 74th chapter of the Labor Law was promoted and passed becoming effective January 16th, 2006. This modification allows, just like in the United States, that three official holidays (February 5, March 21 and November 20) will be commemorated on the first and third Monday of each month, with the objective of promoting an increase in local tourism and allowing heads of households to spend more time with their families.
President Fox administration is promoting as never before, “senior employment” in some productive areas.
B. ASSOCIATIONS UPDATE
a) AMEDIRH
Membership In spite of the economic situation of human resource departments, during 2005 AMEDIRH experienced a slightly increase in its membership. Acting with a new recruitment strategy to increase membership, tailoring products to cover specific needs of new members, and promoting social responsibility activities such as senior employment among other activities, 2006 will be a great challenge for AMEDIRH.
Social Responsibility Human resources must keep in mind that “senior employment”, is part of the social responsibility that first world companies, are engaged with. AMEDIRH will promote “senior employment” through a social responsibility agreement with official government Secretariats and other professional associations in Mexico.
Training Programs Organized by AMEDIRH and directed to all human resources levels, more than 50 training programs will take place from January to December 2006, maintaining the HR community updated in all related areas.
During 2006 three meetings are planned with Grupo RH+, the most prestigious group in the HR community, and human resource issues will be analyzed.
Annual conference The 12th Human Resources Forum will be held on September 13 & 14 at Centro Banamex in Mexico City. The Forum will feature an exhibition hall, well known international speakers, and four general sessions followed by ten concurrent sessions. Regular attendees to this event include HR executives from all over Mexico. The event is considered at the top HR event in the country.
Publications Projection Humana Magazine. After more than 3 years, our monthly official publication “Proyección Humana Magazine” was released this January with a new fresh image. During the first months of the year, the magazine will also experience changes in its editorial content.
Websites AMEDIRH offer its members two websites: www.amedirh.com.mx and www.empleate.com.mx. Both of the sites have been redesigned with new user friendly features that allow easier navigation and finding of news, articles, and candidates for all positions and other human resource tools.
Certification Program. The new AMEDIRH Council together with professional advice finished analyzing all matters regarding certification. It was agreed that during the current administration, all operational issues will be resolved by the end of this year.
b) COMARI
1. COMARI will continue offering e-learning seminars to stimulate the updating efforts and continue spreading HR knowledge in Mexico.
• Seven workshops developed by COMARI associates will be offered via satellite.
• Continue offering the Certification of Basic HR Competencies Program
2. COMARI together with Universidad de Monterrey will organize a national congress on Human Capital: Human Capital The Competitive Advantage: INNOVATION (Monterrey N.L. September or October)
3. COMARI will continue supporting regional initiatives around critical topics together with its associated regions in the country.
Main topics: First semester: Unemployment; Second semester: Mexico Federal Succession Planning, Mexico Economics, Productiveness and Competitiveness, HR Best Practices, Human Capital Technology Expo, etc.
4. COMARI will consolidate signed agreements of professional collaboration with the more prestigious universities in Mexico :
• 2 in 2003 (Universidad Regiomontana , Universidad TEC Milenio)
• 6 in 2004 (UANL) and
• 1 in 2005 with Monterrey TEC with 35 campus all over Mexico
• Will continue working together in the HR basic competencies development and certification program for Mexico.
5. COMARI through ERIAC (Monterrey HR Association) was invited to participate in the consultation process for compensation in the government of the State of Nuevo Leon. COMARI played an important role in the HR community with its professional point of view.
III. USA
Following Hurricane Katrina the country watched with interest how this devastation might affect economic growth and employment. Months later, the US continues on a path of economic growth, although some sectors have seen a decline.
Employment Overall employment growth remained stable among manufacturers in January, while the service sector growth weakened, due largely to cuts in hourly positions. Employment fell for both sectors in January, but more employers reported plans to actively recruit skilled workers in the next month. Even with the continuing employment declines, more manufacturers are finding it difficult to recruit highly qualified individuals to fill key positions compared with year ago. More are also increasing the wage and benefits packages used to recruit new hires.
These findings are reported in the January Leading Indicator of National Employment (LINE™), a collaborative effort between the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations.
The SHRM/Rutgers LINE™ data are collected through a survey of human resource executives at more than 500 manufacturing and 500 service sector firms. The SHRM/Rutgers LINE™ is a weighted average of five component indexes—employment, vacancies, recruiting difficulty, new hires compensation and employment expectations.
SHRM Hurricane Response Efforts An unexpected focus for SHRM in the last few months has been responding to the enormous impact of Hurricane Katrina, and soon after, Hurricane Rita. Following is a summary of the varied activities that took place across the organization in support of our many affected members.
A cross-divisional team developed an organizational initiative to fulfill a three-pronged goal to provide support to our members affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The response focused on three goals:
1. Locate members directly affected by the hurricanes and help them return to productive work in the profession;
2. Tap into the HR expertise of SHRM members and staff to share vital information and resources; and,
3. Leverage partnerships with other organizations that can help serve the needs of SHRM members and their organizations.
While the effects of the hurricanes rippled through the HR community in a variety of ways, SHRM had 814 professional and student members who lived in the areas that were directly affected.
SHRM response plan included the following:
• Direct donations to the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity
• Matching employee contributions to these and other organizations
•“Joining Hands Project” partnership with Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA), which provided free short-term counseling for SHRM members
• Assisted in successfully obtaining a 45-day reprieve on I-9 (U.S. Immigration) requirements
• Provided extensive web-based resources
• Created relevant articles in SHRM publications
• Created a toll-free help line, +1-866-SHRM-AID
• Extended the memberships of those members in the impacted zones for six months
• Made grant funds available to chapters and/or state councils employing initiatives to assist in the relief efforts (e.g., job fairs for evacuees, training programs, etc.)
• Coordinated and facilitated conference calls for volunteer leaders in the impacted zones
• Partnered with the Department of Labor (DOL) on a variety of issues including filling reintegration counselor positions
• Established the Hurricane Response Employment Center to assist members who have been displaced
• Conducted a 30-minute response web cast for volunteer leaders
• Solicited volunteers to support the Red Cross need for HR expertise
• Provided web hosting for the New Orleans and other affected SHRM Chapters
The toll-free number, Joining Hands Project, and the grant opportunities were scheduled through December 31, 2005 at which time an assessment of their effectiveness and viability was planned. They have had limited usage to date.
In response to the hurricanes, the first temporary special expertise panel was created, comprising SHRM volunteer experts. The temporary panel –now called the Disaster Response Panel– was formed with two members from each of Employee Health, Safety & Security Panel, the Total Rewards/ Compensation & Benefits Panel, the Workforce Staffing & Deployment Panel, and the Workplace Diversity Panel along with regional volunteer leaders from the Southeast and Southwest Central regions. The panel met in October for a face-to-face meeting to discuss SHRM’s response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita and help develop a template for SHRM’s response to future disasters. The temporary panel has provided SHRM with the expertise and experience of volunteers that have been affected by the devastation and expertise on how to assist the SHRM members in the affected areas.
Related, SHRM released the following research:
• A research quarterly Crisis Management in Today’s Business Environment: HR’s Strategic Role.
• 2005 Disaster Preparedness Survey Report which examines reparedness from the perspective of HR professionals and employees.
• A Future Focus series article “Disaster Readiness” about the increasing need to take demographic changes into account in disaster planning.
SHRM has now begun an organizational initiative to address issues that could arise due to an influenza pandemic. Planning would support both SHRM itself and its members who would be expected to support their organizations.
