Society for Human Resource Management


The Society for Human Resource Management is a professional human resources membership association headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. SHRM promotes the role of HR as a profession and provides education, certification, and networking to its members, while lobbying Congress on issues pertinent to labor management.

History

Founded in 1948 as the American Society for Personnel Administration, the organization operated on a volunteer basis until 1964, when it established headquarters in Berea, Ohio, and began hiring staff members. In 1984, the headquarters was moved to Alexandria, Virginia, and in 1989, the organization changed its name to the Society for Human Resource Management.
SHRM was ranked the twelfth largest association in the United States in 2015. The association has more than 575 chapters in the United States and around the world, which provide certification, education and networking opportunities. The organization is currently focused on the Department of Labor's new overtime regulations, health care reform, the skills gap, workplace flexibility, sexual orientation nondiscrimination, and compensation equity.
SHRM has more than 400 staff members and more than 300,000 members in 165 countries. The President and Chief Executive Officer is Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP.

Recent history

The Society had to cancel its 2020 annual conference due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To replace the conference, SHRM debuted monthly learning opportunities. The content is scheduled to continue up until the 2021 conference and can be used for recertification credits. SHRM also transitioned its April talent conference to a virtual event.
In April 2020, the SHRM Foundation and Workplace Initiative by Understood released a free training program for HR professionals and hiring managers. The training aimed to help businesses improve disability inclusion in the workplace. In May, SHRM began offering several courses about background screening in its eLearning Library. The courses are presented by Lester Rosen, an attorney and the founder and CEO of Employment Screening Resources.

Research

The organization's Survey Research Center produces research on workplace issues and their implications for the HR professional and business leaders. Among its products are the annual Employee Benefits Survey and Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Survey and the monthly Leading Indicators of National Employment report. SHRM conducts Customized Research Services for organizations.
In 2019, SHRM released its report, The High Cost of a Toxic Workplace Culture. The company polled American employees in order to determine the impact of culture on workers’ well-being and business’ financial health. According to the report, 20% of employees left their jobs between 2014-2019 because of toxic workplace cultures. Partly to help combat these issues, SHRM designed its People Manager Qualification learning and development program.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, SHRM sponsored several surveys that studied the new working environment .  According to one study, SHRM found that 71% of people struggled to adjust to remote work .  In another, released in June, 29% of organizations said they would probably or definitely allow workers to work from home through the end of 2020 .  86% of organizations planned to implement the required use of personal protective equipment . Additionally, the Society produced a biweekly Business Index study focused on the effects of COVID-19 .

Conferences

SHRM holds annual conferences and regional student conferences. The individual state conferences are organized by SHRM's State Councils.
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SHRM's national conferences include:

Lobbying activity

SHRM lobbies governmental bodies regarding workplace law and industry practice. For example, in April 2008, SHRM announced in a press release that its representatives had appeared before the US Senate to petition for changes in the administration of the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The organization announced in the November 2003 issue of its HR Magazine that it had submitted a position paper to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suggesting factors the agency should consider when determining how to amend the definition of the term "job applicant" for the purposes of record keeping required by companies in order to comply with affirmative action and anti-discrimination laws.
In 2003, SHRM conducted an e-mail survey of its members to gauge the effectiveness of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission It presented the results of this survey to the EEOC at a meeting on September 8, 2003.
In November 2006, the Office of Disability Employment Policy of the U.S. Department of Labor established an alliance with SHRM to encourage and promote the employment of people with disabilities.
In 2015 and 2016, SHRM worked to oppose the United States Department of Labor's Fair Labor Standards Overtime regulation. The rule greatly increases the salary under which employees are eligible for overtime and the number of the employees who qualify for it.

Academic alliances

The SHRM Body of Competency and Knowledge™, which is based on the SHRM Competency Model outlines the content of SHRM's certification examinations, the SHRM Certified Professional exam for early-career and mid-level practitioners, and the SHRM Senior Certified Professional exam for senior-level and executive practitioners.

COVID-19 Pandemic

SHRM prepared a number of coronavirus resources for its members. These included forms and templates that covered how to manage epidemics in the workplace, an infectious disease control policy, and how to communicate with employees. The Society also produced a biweekly Business Index study focused on the effects of COVID-19.
In May 2020, SHRM joined with branded content studio Heve to produce a commercial targeted at SHRM employees and the American workforce at large. SHRM president and CEO, Johnny C Taylor Jr., was featured in the video. The commercial was entirely self-shot from actors’ homes. Its focus was on reassuring everyone that SHRM would continue supporting employees and companies.
In May 2020, SHRM released its research on the state of small businesses during the pandemic. 52% reported that they expected to be out of business by the end of the year. SHRM repeated the survey again in June 2020.

Products and services

SHRM offers two membership options: SHRM Professional Membership and SHRM Global Online Membership. This first is available to U.S.-based and global professionals, the second only to professionals outside the U.S. Members have access to HR news, document samples and templates, compliance resources, community chats, and advisors.
The society also offers two main certifications: the SHRM Certified Professional Certification and the SHRM Senior Certified Professional Certification. The CP certification is designed for those in operational positions, while the SCP is designed for senior HR professionals.