Message from CEO & Chair and 2023-2024 Annual Report

Click here to view the 2023-2024 Annual Report.

This past year, we continued building connections among our members, businesses, and the public. We focused on building relations with the new government. We worked on aligning our bylaws and government processes with The Chartered Professionals in Human Resources Act, to be effective on proclamation.

We made a significant investment to foster and demonstrate the credibility for the CPHR brand with the public through three Member Spotlight videos showcasing the value of being a CPHR and the important role CPHRs play in their workplaces.

This was a year of mostly in-person events, where we met and engaged with members. We noticed that in-person events exceeded expectations with more delegates and sponsors than in previous years.

We continued to move forward on our strategic plan:

Promoting the CPHR brand

Investing in the promotion of CPHR is investing in the future of our profession.

This year, along with our member spotlight videos, we continued our partnership with Bell Media and to work with numerous strategic partners, the Chambers of Commerce throughout the province, and other groups.

We saw the results from our efforts reflected in the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce’s Business Outlook Survey:

o   Awareness of CPHR increased by 9% since last year (61% in 2022 vs. 70% in 2023).

o   When looking at Manitoba Chambers of Commerce members, 72% of members value CPHR, and almost one-third of members see it as “very” valuable (32%). This shows us that our work with Chambers is going well as our perceived value increases with the Chambers' members.

o   This year, we introduced a new question asking whether respondents feel the HR profession protects organizations and people who work in them. The feedback for this question was positive, the results showed that 75% of respondents believe the profession provides protection.

The number of CPHR Manitoba members, designates and candidates is growing too:

o   CPHR Manitoba membership grew to 1,964 members.

o   The number of CPHRs and CPHR Candidates are at an all-time high with 591 CPHR Candidates and 650 CPHRs.

Focus groups, educator interviews and a survey were conducted to know more about DEI, hiring practices, Canadian work experience and pay transparency. Results were shared with the public and the Minister of Labour and Immigration.

We also continued to invest time and resources into reaching potential CPHRs through ongoing student relations efforts at our partner post-secondary programs.

Supporting CPHR development

In our ongoing efforts to support our membership, we continued to offer member programming across a wide variety of topics and targeted members at various stages of their professional development including the Walk & Talk Program, Community Building Groups, the Campus Ambassador Program, and the Mentorship Program.

This year, 273 people attended the HR Excellence Awards and 400 people attended our HR Conference. Our in-person events, including the Diversity Forum, Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace Conference, and HR Legislative Review exceeded expectations with more delegates and sponsors than in previous years.

We partnered with CPHR BC & Yukon again to offer 16 quality and relevant webinars to our members.

The Spring 2024 Validation of Experience (VOE) intake was completed under the new VOE education and experience requirements. This new VOE requirement process resulted in more applications and an increased success rate than in previous years.

Fostering public confidence in CPHRs

The Chartered Professionals in Human Resources Act has achieved royal assent and will come into force on a day to be fixed by proclamation. Staff continue to work with legal counsel and government on moving The Chartered Professionals in Human Resources Act into proclamation.

Budget and revenue

The Association’s goal is to have half of our revenue from member dues and half of our revenue from non-member dues to be more consistent with what is seen in the association industry and mitigate risk. Historically member dues have made up 40%-45% of our revenue. We are working towards creating a better balance between non-member and member dues revenue by focusing on growing the membership and ensuring member dues keep up with inflation.

With an operating surplus of $133,936, the board has put another $100,000 into our internally restricted reserve, bringing it to $750,000. Our target remains 100% of our annual operating budget.

Membership survey findings

Finally, we are pleased to share the results of our Membership Survey:

o   92% of members are satisfied or extremely satisfied with CPHR Manitoba overall.

o   93% of members who required customer service were satisfied or extremely satisfied with their experience.

o   95% of members are satisfied or extremely satisfied with the stewardship of CPHR Manitoba by the Board of Directors.

o   91% of members indicate that HR is considered a strategic partner at their organization either fully or partially.

Looking ahead

Next year, we will continue to build on our efforts to move the strategic plan forward.

This year, our focus continues to be on interpreting The Chartered Professionals in Human Resources Act and implementing the changes that come with it. Staff have been working with Government Ministers and we hope to receive a proclamation later this year.

We are working with a wide variety of strategic partners to connect with business leaders to increase awareness of CPHR and ensure they understand the value of hiring CPHRs. We will continue to connect with professionals outside of the HR profession to raise awareness.

We will continue to work with our post-secondary partners to build awareness of the CPHR designation and reach out to current HR professionals who are not yet members. We will continue to hold our signature events in-person and will hold other events and workshops in-person and online.

At a national level, our involvement with CPHR Canada remains very active. We will continue to participate in various working groups including a marketing group.

The HR field has come a long way in the last ten years, but as an Association, we still have work to do in promoting the value of HR professionals in the C-suite to the business community. We will continue to support and encourage our members to be champions of business and strategic development in their workplaces.

Thank you

As we wrap up the 2023-2024 fiscal year, we want to thank the Board of directors for their continued support and governance of the Association; the volunteer committees for helping to keep programs and services moving forward; and our partners, sponsors, and advertisers for their enthusiastic and unwavering support of the HR community in Manitoba.

We want to thank our members for continuing to be great stewards of the profession.

Finally, CPHR Manitoba would not be where it is today without the hard work of our staff. Thank you for your resourcefulness, creativity and dedication.

We look forward to continuing to advance the human resources profession in 2024-2025.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lana Adeleye-Olusae Chair, CPHR Manitoba Board of Directors	Ron Gauthier CEO, CPHR Manitoba