Singapore, 7 October 2020 – Singapore Management University (SMU) has launched a certified programme on future-ready skills, called the Advanced Certificate in Future Workforce Architect programme. The curriculum has been developed in partnership with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and accredited by the Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP).

This customised 12-day programme, which comprises 7 modules, is part of a Collaboration Agreement between SMU Academy and IHRP to provide future-ready programmes to HR leaders and professionals so that they can enhance their skillsets to meet organisational challenges. Participants can choose to complete individual modules only or to stack their learning towards the full Advanced Certificate.

Speaking at the virtual launch event on 6 Oct 2020 where the agreement between SMU Academy and IHRP was signed, Dr Lim Lai Cheng, Executive Director of SMU Academy, said, "This programme is aligned with Singapore's SkillsFuture movement and empowers HR professionals to take ownership of their learning and growth, and instils in them the spirit of lifelong learning. Apart from learning future-ready skills, we encourage HR professionals to experiment with new skills and innovate at work. Other professionals who are looking to move into the HR field or who intend to expand their roles to include HR functions will also benefit immensely from this programme".

CEO, IHRP Mayank Parekh said the course supports the upskilling of HR in new competencies that have been refreshed in IHRP's Body of Competencies (BOC) for HR professionals.

"The HR profession is undergoing unprecedented changes due to COVID-19, shift in demographic preferences, industrial adoption of smart technologies and availability of big data. Coupled with the rise of the experience economy, competition and ever pressing business risks, the need to stay current is now more urgent than ever. We believe these courses will help prepare HR leaders for these challenges."

CP Tham, Representative and Master Facilitator of SHRM in South-East Asia, shared, "We are happy to lend our expertise to develop this series of first-of-its-kind courses for HR practitioners. The courses will be in key areas such as analysing workforce gaps in business strategy, using Design Thinking to design a better workplace, re-design work for the future (job re-design), workforce planning, change management, monitoring and evaluating workforce using dashboards and analytics”.

Fermin Diez, IHRP's Dean of HR Studies, said, "SMU has adopted IHRP's BOC competency framework and turned them into a comprehensive curriculum. IHRP is pleased to accredit the Advanced Certificate in Future Workforce Architect programme. Participants will also have the opportunity to apply skills on the job and attain a IHRP Future Workplace Architect Skills Badge".

The first intake will begin their lessons in January 2021. The entire certificate may be completed over 6 months. The first graduating batch will receive certification for their newly-honed skills in July 2021.

Since 2017, IHRP has embarked on its CPD upskilling programme across all levels in the certified community, introducing a blended learning approach including e-learning, mobile learning, and face-to-face contact through accredited training and certification programmes.

- End -

This is a joint press release by SMU, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP).