Professional Membership of the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand (HRINZ) for hr practitioners

What is Professional Membership?
What are Professional Indicators?
What is the Application Process?
What Happens When HRINZ Receives Your Application?
Rules and Other Information

professional membership

Professional Membership denotes the achievement of a pre-requisite level of competence and experience, and is a qualification that is increasingly being seen as a highly regarded standard of professional attainment for HR practitioners.

This grade of membership adds value to both the institute and the individual.

It demonstrates recognition of Human Resource Management as a profession, and at an individual level, enhances career opportunity.

There are two categories of Professional Membership for HR Practitioners:

Generalist - MHRINZ
Specialist - MHRINZ

Generalist & Specialist Applications for HR Practitioners

Applications for Generalist and Specialist Professional Membership is a formal process completed online.

All HR Practitioner applications are considered by the HRINZ Grading Panel, which is comprised of Professional Members.

Click here to view an article on the practical value of obtaining Professional Accreditation .

professional Indicators for HR Practitioners seeking professional membership

Applications for Professional Membership are assessed on the basis of three indicators:

A proven level of attainment of competency in the HRINZ competency framework;
Length of time in an HR role at the Advisory or Mastery level;
Relevant qualifications.

These indicators are assessed from evidence supplied by the applicant in their CV and in an online table (see the Application Process for details). In addition, the Grading Panel will seek verification from referees nominated by the applicant.

1. Level of Attainment of Competency in the HRINZ Competency Framework

Generalist- MHRINZ

A successful Generalist is expected to have proven attainment of either:

a) All five competencies (Business Knowledge, HR Delivery, Personal Credibility, Strategic Contribution, Business Technology) at a minimum of Advisory level.

b) Four competencies which will include HR Delivery, Personal Credibility and Strategic Contribution, plus one other. At least one of the four competencies will be at Mastery level.

Specialist - MHRINZ

This category offers an opportunity for Specialist members to be recognised as professionals in their specialist field of expertise. This requires proven attainment of the following competencies:

a) Personal Credibility and Business Knowledge at a minimum of Advisory level.

And

b) Mastery level in one specialist area of the HR Delivery competency from a choice of Recruitment/Staffing, Development/Training/Learning, Employment Relations, Remuneration, or Health and Safety.

The HRINZ Competency Framework is provided in the link accessed at the start of the Application Process that follows.

2. Time employed in an Advisory or Mastery HR role

In addition to qualitative evidence supplied in the CV about the level of attainment of the HRINZ competencies, consideration is given to the length of time an applicant is employed in a Human Resource Management role where he/she has gained practical experience in the functional areas of HR and contributed to the organisation’s strategic objectives. The minimum period of time is measured in the following competencies:

Generalist - MHRINZ:

HR Delivery Competency: Minimum total of five years at Advisory level.
Strategic Contribution Competency: Minimum total of three years at Advisory level.
Experience is required in both of these competencies and could be gained concurrently, provided the minimum period of time is achieved.

Specialist - MHRINZ:

A minimum of seven and a half years at mastery level should be spentin the specialist area of the HR Delivery competency.

The length of time criterion is recorded by the applicant in an online table and compared with established HRINZ experience benchmarks, which relate to the required number of months of experience expected of a Professional Member at “Advisory” and “Mastery” levels.

3. Qualifications

In addition to practical experience in the HRINZ competencies, Generalist members are expected to have a tertiary qualification in HR, either as a major in HR related papers, or as part of a relevant qualification which is included in the total benchmark score.

Specialist members are expected to have a tertiary qualification that covers their specialist area of expertise in addtion to experience. Qualifications include: PhD, Master's Degree, Post Graduate Diploma, Undergraduate Degree, Diploma and Certificate.

Any applicant with no qualifications will need to have an extra three years of experience in the relevant competencies.

Please note that some HRINZ courses will be credited at certificate level. The level of qualification is allocated as a credit in terms of months.

Application Process

HRINZ recommends that you read through all the steps in the process and check out the HRINZ ‘experience benchmarks’ in the online table before you apply. (Check out the pathway to Professional Accreditation for further information).

Compare your own career experience with the Competency Framework.

1. Using the online self-assessment table will allow you to compare your own career experience with the competency framework, you will need to list:

Select with category you wish to apply for Specialist or Generalist on the drop down field. This selection is purely for distinguishing the two different assessment criterias.
(Please note that all successful applicants will be awarded MHRINZ as a Specialist or Generalist).
Title of positions held (most recent first).
Number of months spent in each position at either the Advisory or Mastery level in the fields for HR Delivery (Generalist and Specialist applications) and Strategic Contribution (Generalist applications only).
Select your highest completed HR qualification from the menu, which will appear when you click on “Qualifications”.

The system will automatically calculate your total months of experience for the HR Delivery and Strategic Contribution competencies. This will show the HRINZ benchmark scores for Generalist/Specialist for comparison, which will include your qualification score to your overall total experience scores.

2. If you believe your experience and qualifications match or exceed the HRINZ Accreditation Benchmarks in the competencies for Generalist orSpecialist, you will need to start preparing your CV using the HRINZ CV Template as a guide in a “Word” document.

Your HRINZ CV template document should demonstrate how your experience directly relates to the Advisory or Mastery level descriptors in your chosen competencies, providing specific and detailed examples. Ensuring your CV template document aligns directly with your experience totals listed on your self assessment application form. All applicants must include the contact details of three work related referees (one must be your current employer). Applicants must give your referees permission to discuss your work experience with a member of the Grading Panel who will be in contact with them to verify the information provided in your application.

Generalist Applications:
Once your CV is drafted, calculate the number of months spent at either the Advisory or Mastery level in the HR Delivery and Strategic Contribution competencies for each position listed in your CV.
(The easiest way to do this is to consider the “Context Statement” for each competency level and estimate the proportion of time spent at the Advisory or Mastery level as a whole rather than calculating how much time was spent on each competency descriptor).
Specialist Applications:
Once your CV is drafted, calculate the number of months spent at the Mastery level of your specialist area in the HR Delivery competency.

3. Once you have completed your CV template document and are satisfied you have met the minimum required HRINZ benchmarks and professional accreditation indicators listed above, you are ready to submit your completed application.

If any HRINZ members would like the HR Careers & Education Manager, to check, verify and provide feedback on their HRINZ CV template document to ensure that they have covered all the approperiate areas required. Please contact HRINZ on 04 499 2964.

Otherwise, members will need to upload a copy of their CV template document to accompany their online application form and click on the submit button at the bottom of the page for the Grading Panel to assess.

**Please note that once you have submitted your online application, members cannot access their application.

Your application will be acknowledged by the HR Careers and Education Manager within three days of submitting your application for accreditation. If you have any queries or comments, you should contact them directly.

What Happens When HRINZ Receives Your Application?

The HRINZ Grading Panel reviews your application and follows up reference checks from your nominated referees.
The HRINZ Grading Panel Secretariat will keep you informed of your application's progress and may contact you to request further clarification.
The HRINZ Grading Panel decision is recommended to the HRINZ Board for ratification. The period of time from receipt of your application to final decision typically takes four to eight weeks, depending on the availability of referees and the completeness of your application.
If your application is successful, you will be informed of the decision by letter from the HRINZ National President.
If your application is unsuccessful, we will provide you with a summary of the HRINZ Grading Panel's comments (subject to the provisions of the Privacy Act 1993) as well as feedback and suggestions on career development to assist you with a successful application in the future.

Grading Panel Rules

You have the right to request the Grading Panel to reconsider its decision, this must be done in writing to HRINZ. The Grading Panel will re-assess your application and if the result does not change, you can appeal to the HRINZ Board. The HRINZ Board's decision is final.
Privacy: All personal information received by HRINZ and the HRINZ Grading Panel relating to a member’s application for Professional Membership will be collected, used and stored in compliance with the Privacy Act 1993.
The HRINZ Grading Panel members comments contain the opinion of each individual HRINZ Grading Panel member compiled for the purpose of determining a member's suitability and eligibilty for accreditation of HRINZ's professional award. These comments are evaluative material supplied under a promise of confidentiality to the HRINZ Grading Panel members to protect each individual Grading Panel's identity. Therefore, any comments will be supplied to a member only in summary where and to such an extent that, the comments are not capable of being attributed to any identifiable Grading Panel member.
Any enquiries regarding the professional accreditation process can be obtained from HR Careers & Education Manager, at HRINZ National office.

To access application process, click here.

more relevant professional membership pages

For feedback, please e-mail us at hrinz@hrinz.org.nz