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Upgrading from Chartered to Fellow in an SME

Emma

| 0 Posts

26 Sep, 2018 16:37

Hi everyone

Today I received an email from CIPD suggesting that I could consider upgrading to Fellow, no doubt because of my updated profile following membership renewal back in June together with 8 years of Chartered membership status.

In looking at the requirements my biggest concern that as I work as standalone in HR in an SME with offices internationally, whilst there are elements of strategy and the long-term,  I also have to cover operational work too so not sure I will ever meet this requirement below:

To achieve Chartered Fellow status, you’ll need to demonstrate at least three years’ current experience working consistently at a senior level. The scope of your role will be strategic in nature, with an impact across many functions; you’ll rarely work operationally.

One of my ambitions in the next three years is to achieve Fellow status, but my concern is that the CIPD assessment may not allow for the fact I have to wear a few hats.

Does anyone else have any experience or suggestions at all please? Or is this perhaps more of a pipedream that may remain elusive in the meantime?

Thanks in advance

Emma

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  • Anka

    | 0 Posts

    26 Sep, 2018 17:27

    Hi Emma

    Similar set up to your's here. I did not consider myself suitable for upgrading for that reason.

    If anyone here can shed light, I would also be interested to hear!
  • Keith

    | 0 Posts

    26 Sep, 2018 19:49

    Contact the membership adviser at your local branch. They can talk through your experience and how you match up against the criteria.
  • Steve Bridger

    | 0 Posts

    Community Manager

    27 Sep, 2018 22:17

    Hi Emma,

    We absolutely recognise the challenges for those of you working in SME's and the need to wear a number of hats.

    I've checked in with Zoe Ryan, who is Head of Membership Assessment here at CIPD. Zoe told me that achieving Chartered Fellow status comes down to whether you are accountable for the HR strategy and the people agenda and how you can demonstrate that.

    You might want to update your CV to reflect the key aspects of your role and send it through to the Upgrading team at memupgrading@cipd.co.uk. They'll be happy to review this for you free of charge and give you some feedback as to how your current experience aligns to the Chartered Fellow criteria.

  • Robey

    | 0 Posts

    28 Sep, 2018 11:52

    I recently (like, last week) participated in a meeting with the CIPD in which I raised this as a specific issue. I'm in a similar situation and raised with the CIPD that the professional development pathway assumes that the move into larger organizations at a higher level of responsibility is the default trajectory, but that the CIPD was missing a trick.

    I didn't get to expand on it hugely at the time, but it seems to me that many high-quality HR practitioners may prefer to remain in SME roles for reasons of life balance, family obligations or other interests, but deserve to be recognized as dealing with many of the same challenges as their peers at larger organizations.
  • Emma

    | 0 Posts

    3 Oct, 2018 09:51

    In reply to Keith:

    Thanks Keith, that's a useful suggestion
  • Emma

    | 0 Posts

    3 Oct, 2018 09:55

    In reply to Steve Bridger:

    Hi Steve

    Thanks for the advice and for checking in with Zoe on the principle of the Fellow, I guess in some ways acting as a standalone may mean responsibility for the HR strategy if only by default ;-).

    In looking at the criteria, I think the experience may still elude me as of yet in terms of time spent but it's useful to have next steps as to where I can focus on.
  • Emma

    | 0 Posts

    3 Oct, 2018 09:55

    In reply to Anka:

    Hi Anka

    It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one in this scenario looking at the criteria and perhaps ruling myself out of the game.
  • Emma

    | 0 Posts

    3 Oct, 2018 10:00

    In reply to Robey:

    Thanks for sharing Robey and great to hear that you raised this at a CIPD event too, as I realise that the SME path may not get the celebration that it deserves.
    I feel incredibly lucky to work in an SME and agree that it offers great opportunities. Sadly not the multi-million pound budgets but challenges, demands and the chance to influence working lives for the better.