Let me know if you ever want to be a guest blogger or write an article for the site. How are things? Shoot me an email response at C.Scroggin@comparehris.com.

Clay

It’s the letters after your name that carry the clout, not the title itself. Call me a business analyst, project management, implementation specialist, or onboarding consultant but if I have CPP, PMP at the end of my name, you know that I’m a specialist in managing payroll-related projects.

Each of the certifying organizations has a specific description of Project Manager (PMI), Program Manager (PMI), HR Professional (SHRM), and Payroll Professional (APA). It’s simply a matter of time before the rest of the industry becomes more familiar with the descriptions.

The CPA certification has been around for long enough that people understand what are qualifications are implied by the title. As the software profession and the certifying agencies cement themselves further in the culture, SPHR, CPP, PMP and the others will become as commonly understood.

You’ll still have organizations try to distinguish themselves by attaching different titles, but look to the letters at the end of the name for the truth.

We must simply continue to educate our clients and business partners about the meaningfulness of the certifications in the industry while we wait for the public to catch up.

Thanks for the comments. I wrote the orginal blog about people in general not just our industry but you are correct on how this same issue applies within the technology world and human resources.

I’m not real sure if other industries have the same problem. If you are a CPA, you had to pass an exam and meet the requirements of a particular state to hold that title. If you are an engineer you have had to do the same to be hold a title of professional engineer.

What are the requirements for product manager, project manager, HR manager or HR director?

Clay

Just how out-of-synch is our industry if the most basic of fundamentals (knowing what you need) is unclear or is being embelished to those needing the resources? A fancy title and $5 will buy a cup of mojo at any coffee shop — aren’t we are supposed to be counting the beans here (and not brewing them) until the project is complete?? Many are doing the same to job titles — giving out titles that are above the job descriptions only waters down the titles and does nothing to enhance them or create value to them…

Because we can not regulate ourselves we have organizations that regulate for us — examples being PMI, IHRIM, SHRM, etc… if they fail to regulate properly then the next step will be government mandates… and once the titles have been watered down, then what? New titles? Government intervention?

We already know how ineffective both of those are… We as an industry have to regulate ourselves — or someone else will do it for us.