Professional Membership Frequently Asked Questions
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What is Professional Membership?
Professional Membership of HRINZ denotes the achievement of a pre-requisite level of competence, expertise and experience. The qualification is seen as a highly regarded standard of professionalism attained by senior HR practitioners.
Professional membership adds value to HRINZ and the individual. It demonstrates recognition of Human Resources Management as a profession, and at an individual level may enhance career opportunities.
There are three categories of professional membership:
- Generalist - MHRINZ
- Specialist - MHRINZ
- Academic - MHRINZ
Application for Professional Membership is a formal process completed online. All applications are considered by the HRINZ Practitioner Grading Panel, comprised of professional members or, the HRINZ Academic Grading Panel, compromised of academic professional members.
What are the HRINZ HR Competencies?
There are five areas of competency that have been identified as being crucial in the practice of human resources, they are:
- HR Delivery
- Business Knowledge
- Personal Credibility
- Strategic Contribution
- Business Technology
Why apply – what’s in it for me?
The main advantage of Professional Membership of HRINZ is recognition.
Professional Membership Accreditation demonstrates that Academics and HR practitioners have satisfied HRINZ that they have the necessary qualifications, knowledge, skills, expertise and experience as well as possessing an ongoing commitment to HR professionalism and excellence in a tertiary or workplace environment. Accreditation also provides a visual reminder to others that the member has advanced skills, knowledge and credibility in Human Resource Management.
HR practitioners will be able to identify gaps in their experience, competence, knowledge or skills that may hinder their advancement in HR. By recognising and giving attention to these gaps, practitioners will be able to move ahead quicker and achieve the recognition they deserve.
Academics will gain recognition by HRINZ for their teaching and research outcomes which will benefit Human Resource Management in the New Zealand and businesses.
When should a member apply?
The sooner the better!
- Applicants applying for Generalist status must have the minimum of six years of Human Resources experience at Advisory level.
- Applications received from recent immigrants must be conversant with the Employment Relations Act 2000 and compliant with the relevant statutory and legislative requirements pertaining to Human Resource Management in New Zealand.
- Applicants applying for Specialist status must have a minimum of seven and a half years experience at Mastery level.
- Applicants applying for Academic status must hold a least a Masters Degree in HRM or a related field, have taught HRM courses at an effective level in a tertiary environment for a minimum of five years, with effectiveness evidenced by teaching quality assessments of an appropriate kind (typically a mix of peer and student reviews) and/or have spent some years in HRM management at a relatively senior level.
How do I apply?
The process is undertaken online and applications received are assessed by the HRINZ Practitioner Grading Panel.
HRINZ advises applicants to become familiar with the professional membership criteria and steps before applying.
How long does it take to Complete the Applications Process?
Generalist & Specialist Applications
Application must be made using the HRNIZ CV template only - other formats presented will not be accepted. The application process takes approximately 60 to 90 minutes to complete. Applicants are required to provide the names of three referees who submit an online referee report.
The HRINZ Grading process takes around four to eight weeks to complete, depending on how quickly the referees respond.
Academic Applications
Applicants must read the Academic criteria for professional membership and complete the academic online form for professional membership. The HRINZ Academic Grading Panel take approximately four to eight weeks to process applications.
What are the Professional Membership Indicators for HR practitioners' applications?
Applications for Generalist and Specialist 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 spent in an Advisory and/or Mastery HR role
- Relevant qualifications
These indicators are assessed from evidence supplied by the applicant in their CV and the online table. In addition, the Grading Panel will seek verification from referees nominated by the applicant.
How do I apply for Professional Membership?
To apply for professional membership, applicants are required to complete these steps:
1. Read the HRINZ HR Competencies and Accreditation Process
HRINZ recommends that members applying for Professional Accreditation read through and understand the HRINZ HR Competencies, Accreditation Process and check out the HRINZ ‘Experience Benchmarks’ listed in the Members Only area of the website under My Career.
This will ensure applicants understand what the Grading Panel's application criteria is, and what information must be included in their Professional Accreditation application form.
2. Online Self Assessment Table
Using the online self assessment table will allow applicants to compare their career experiences with the competency framework. To complete the online self assessment table applicants are required to:
- Select which level of professional accreditation applying for - Generalist or Specialist.
- List the title of positions held (most recent first).
- Calculate the number of months spent in each position at either the Advisory or Mastery level against each competency.
- Enter their highest completed HR qualification and months spent studying each competency.
- Click Submit.
The system will automatically calculate the total months of experience for the competencies, show the HRINZ benchmark scores for Generalist and Specialist for comparison, and add the applicant's qualification score to the applicant's total experience scores. At a glance applicants will be able to see if their experience and qualifications match or exceed the HRINZ Competency Benchmarks listed for MHRINZ.
3. Completing the CV Template
Applicants CV template must demonstrate specific examples of how the applicant's experience directly relates to the Advisory or Mastery level descriptors in their chosen competencies.
Included within the CV, applicants are required to provide the contact details of three work related referees:
- One of which must be the applicant's current manager/client or immediate past manager/client.
- Applicants must list the names of the referees, organisation and their position held, the nature of the reporting/working relationship, be contactable by phone and email.
- All applicants must give their referees the authority to discuss their work experience with a member of the Grading Panel, who will contact the referees as part of the HRINZ's application verification process.
Generalist Applications:
Once the applicant has drafted their CV, calculate the number of months spent at either the Advisory or Mastery level in the competencies for each position listed. (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).
The final stage is to submit the online assessment and attach the completed CV template document that must be saved as a Word97-2003 document.
Specialist Applications:
Once the CV is drafted, calculate the number of months spent at the Mastery level for each specialist area in the HR Delivery competency and satisfied that the minimum required accreditation indicators listed above have been met, the application is ready to complete the final stage.
The applicant's final stage is to submit the online assessment with the completed CV template document saved as a Word97-2003 document.
What happens to my application after it is submitted?
- The appropriate Grading Panel (Practitioner or Academic) will review all applications received and take follow up action if required with nominated referees.
- National Office will contact applicants to keep then updated and may seek further clarification or additional information to support the application.
- The Grading Panel's decisions are recommended to the HRINZ Board for ratification. The period of time from receipt of application to final decision can take between four to eight weeks, depending on the availability of referees (for practitioners only) and the completeness of application received.
- Successful applicants will be notified by email and followed up with a formal letter from the HRINZ National President.
- Unsuccessful applicants will receive a letter from the Chair of the Grading Panel advising that their application was unsuccessful, provide constructive feedback stating the reasons and what is required to achieve approval status in the future. Please note: that the HRINZ's Practitioner Grading Panel and Academic Grading Panel's comments are subjected to the provisions of the Privacy Act 1993.
- Privacy: All personal information received by HRINZ and the HRINZ Grading Panel and HRINZ Academic Grading Panel relating to the applicant’s application for Professional Membership will be collected, used and stored in compliance with the Privacy Act 1993.
- HR Practitioners professional membership enquiries should be directed to the Research & Education Manager, at HRINZ National Office.
- Academic professional membership enquiries should be directed to the Research & Education Manager, at HRINZ National Office.