The Official Communication for all HR Professionals - SABPP

hr in the workplace
THE YEAR 2012 IN REVIEW continued...
16. Several seminars, workshops, exhibitions and
conferences arranged throughout South Africa;
17. Release of the 3rd annual HR Survey with Knowledge
Resources;
18. Distribution of HR Ethics Guide with clear guidelines for
HR Professionals and Line Managers, as well as an HR
Ethics Position Paper;
19. A 100% increase in new professional registrations during
2012;
20. Launch of SABPP social media strategy and platforms;
21. A formal process of benchmarking with other
professional bodies in order to generate ideas and
actions on how we can improve our relevance and
impact as a professional body;
22. Launch and roll-out of SABPP student membership
model;
23. Launch of Women Empowerment Second Annual Paper;
24. Release of SABPP Remuneration Best Practice paper;
25. Improved governance and tangible outputs from SABPP
committees, including establishing a Labour Market
Committee to address labour market issues.
26. Redesign of a new website;
27. Presenting the HR profession in Parliament at the
debate on amendments to the labour laws;
28. Participation in radio and television shows;
29. Awarding 16 Life-Time Achievement Awards;
30. Successful transition from the 10th to the 11th Board of
SABPP.
Despite the above small wins, it is critical to continue
building momentum and ensuring strategic alignment and
focus in moving forward. Over the next year, five key priorities
will form the basis for leveraging the SABPP rebranding and
transformation strategy:
• Increased visibility in the market and aggressive
marketing campaign to mobilise HR practitioners towards
professionalism;
• Further roll-out of social media strategy to engage with HR
professionals;
• Delivery of professional products and services, in particular
HR competencies, standards and metrics;
• Leveraging all the new alliance partners to advance the HR
profession;
• Innovating the HR profession through knowledge created by
research.
While we will continue to focus on the above priorities, the
biggest challenge remains to raise the standard of HR practice
from a professional perspective. It is time for HR to rise to the
level of other professions as far as standards are concerned.
There are clear standards for accounting, engineering and
other professions, but the same cannot be said of HR. By and
large, accountants present their companies and clients with a
consistent approach to the financial aspects of a company. For
example, balance sheets and income statements are done in
the same way, no matter the type of company or industry, and
this consistent approach is prevalent throughout South Africa
and most other parts of the world.
However, there are many inconsistencies in the standard of
HR work within organisations, between organisations, within
and across sectors and nationally, as well as globally. These
inconsistencies are based on a variance in standards at best,
and the absence of standards at worst. This results in poor
people management practices at most organisations costing
them dearly, despite some pockets of excellence at leading
companies. Setting and raising HR standards is therefore
the top SABPP priority over the next year. Thus, registering
the masses of HR professionals who are still not part of their
professional body, and then supporting them with capacitybuilding
and continuous professional development based on an
explicit HR competency model, is a key step towards gaining
HR professional status and credibility.
There is only one thing more important than our previous
30 years, and that is the next 30 years. Over the medium
term, our energy and resources will be focused on strategic
implementation over the next 30 months. Moving forward
with our transformation strategy towards a high impact HR
professional body with a focus on setting HR standards,
SABPP plans to play a meaningful role in championing the
HR profession. The new national HR competency model will
provide a central focus in building HR capability, as well as the
pursuit of national HR standards and metrics for South Africa.
In essence, HR Voice steers us forward with key strategic
initiatives in raising the bar on HR professionalism and outputs.
I want to thank the thousands of HR and other professionals
for their inputs and encouragement during our stakeholder
engagement process throughout the country and other key
global markets when conceptualising the SABPP rebranding
and crafting of our HR Voice strategy. Your inputs were
extremely valuable during the transition phase and we invite
you to continue engaging with us during the roll-out of our HR
Voice strategy. A special word of thanks to the outgoing Board,
and in particular the leadership provided by our chairperson,
Elizabeth Dhlamini-Kumalo and vice-chair Michael Glensor. I
also want to welcome our new Chairperson, Siphiwe Moyo, and
vice-chairpersons, Linda Chipunza and Kate Dikgale-Freeman
to the SABPP Leadership team. With our focus on 2013, let
us continue building a profession we can all be proud of in the
years to come.
I wish all HR professionals, learners, learning providers, our
alliance partners and other key stakeholders a blessed festive
season. Let us reconnect in 2013.
Marius Meyer, CEO
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