Who can say

I renew because to me the benefits I get outweigh the costs. These forums, the website, the professional networks, information papers.

Also some roles "require" CIPD membership.

In reply to Keith:

Those would be my reasons too.

I don't always read the magazine cover to cover, but I probably visit the CIPD's main site once a week to check my facts on something that has cropped up in my work and to keep up with current thinking and research. My main interface with the CIPD is these forums, which are also a great tool for maintaining your professional knowledge and getting exposure to other people's opinions.

Hi Tamara... and I'm glad you found this Community. You're very welcome.

I'm biased... but apart from these forums, I think our information 'hubs' over the past year or two have been great (e.g. Coronavirus). I know hopw hard the people behind them work to keep them up-to-date.

Hi Tamara and welcome to "Communities".

There are many answers to this question, but two that have kept me paying my annual membership for the past 25 years are themselves questions: Can one really say one is a member of a profession without being part of its professional body? (Not just the organisation, but the collective "body" of members that organisation represents).

...And when am I going to need the support, expertise and accumulated knowledge available from that body of colleagues and organisation?

Setting aside the credibility to employers and potential employers awarded by membership: Which day will it be that you are asked the question by your employer, needing a near immediate answer, that will be critical to them not being dragged through a tribunal and coming out the other side with their reputation minced and their bank-balance tens of thousands of pounds lighter? ...And who will be carrying the can if you have no-one to support your limited knowledge from your level three? (Valuable though that qualification is).

Even an internal recruiter position can discriminate, treat unfairly, fail to carefully consider issues of equal (not just "identical") treatment, or fall into one of a dozen other potential bear-traps our practice presents. When you need to check your proposed action, where do you go? Someone internal who has no membership either, so who may in fact have less understanding of the issue than you, even though they have more (irrelevant) administrative seniority?

...Or one of the thousands of members here online who have "bin there and done that" before you?

Our membership fees might seem high but the wealth of databases, advice, and resources, including "real time" advice and support you get for that fee is priceless.

To give a current example from this very week: Five years ago a member asked a seemingly simple question here on the "Community" site that has, after five years of support and contribution from this Community and other CIPD resources, just resulted in a significant change in the law, both resolving the question and, in addition, supporting possibly millions of women over time in retaining their employment when conflicting child-care threatens it.

What was that outcome worth, to any or all of them? 

Today the fee you are asked for might seem a lot, but on which day will it seem nothing when it saves your job, or your professional reputation, or secures your promotion, or avoids your redundancy, or gets you that role you always wanted with the big-bucks and corner office?

Think hard.... :-)

P

Hi Tamara

I have read several responses on LinkedIn recently to this question. For me, HR is CONTINUALLY evolving/changing and not just the employment law/legislation side but also HR itself. For example, it wasn't that long ago that HR were there pretty much for hiring and firing only....In more recent times, furlough was thrust upon HR to have all the answers when the government didn't even know until Friday evening what the new 'rules' were going to be - things changed daily sometimes.

Without CIPD membership and the sharing of up to date knowledge and the more expert and experienced members, it would have been near impossible to know right from left.

I, for one, am proud to be part of this wonderful and supportive community and know that no matter how daft or even complex my question may be, someone is always here to give expert advice and guidance.

 Oh and I love the magazine through the letterbox every month too 

Lisa

In reply to Lisa:

I don't get the magazine, wonder why - Steve Bridger?

In reply to Jules:

You have to confirm you want it on your renewal I think.

In reply to Jules:

Error
I was not getting it for a year.I was to busy to worry about it. I made a phone call and got no sensible explanation but it got reinstated

Hi Tamara.

I graduated with a Postgrad diploma in HR in 2000. Stayed as a graduate member until they did away with that designation, then let my membership lapse. I've worked in HR at management level for 20 years and have never needed or been asked for my CIPD membership status in any role.

You can network easily enough and get professional updates from ACAS or free from many of the big legal firms. You certainly don't need CIPD membership to develop your career or to stay current. The only problem I'm facing now is that I've applied for an International HR Director role based in UAE and they want an internationally recognised qualification. Which means I'm going to have to go through telephone assessment to convert to MCIPD status, which is a bit of a pain.

Up to you, but I've never thought the membership benefits were actually worth the money.

In reply to Emma:

Hi Emma... and welcome to the Community. We've missed you!

In reply to Peter:

Thank you Peter, i've sent a message