Human Resource Management Professionals Examinations Board (HRMPEB) is opening up its curriculum in the country to incorporate more disciplines that do not need the ‘caring’ as a way to attract more men into taking HR courses.
HR has for quite some time been seen as a female-dominated profession, and women do, undoubtedly, represent most of its workforce.
HRMPEB board chair Sharon Kisire, says that with the growth in curriculum offering the profession will now open up and will continue opening up for males to do HR and to excel in it.
Human resources are growing into a more data-driven and technology-oriented field, so the professionals will have to leverage both existing and new HR technologies to be more efficient and precise in day-to-day operations.
“We have seen an increase but over the period we have grown to have more positions that can be held by men,” said Kisire.
“We are diversifying the profession into other fields like the data analytics that don’t require one to be female and do the caring. The HR profession is growing and providing other positions that can be held by either person.”
For instance, in the just released June 2024 certification results, a total 1,427 candidates were examined out of which male candidates were 304 (21 per cent) while female candidates were 1123 (79 per cent).
“These statistics highlight the gender disparity within HR programs. I urge more men to join and give a diverse perspective to the profession,” said Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM) chair Dalmas Odero.
Among the initiatives the bodies are undertaking to attract more men, is the overhaul of its old curriculum and introduction of a new one that came into force in 2022.
The fasten the process HRMPEB has increased the number of examinations taken annually from two to three, in an effort to push the 2,900 dormant students who are yet to undertake their exams in the current curriculum.
“We gave our students three years to transition to the new curriculum those who are dormant we are contacting them individually to ensure by the time we face out all curriculum they should be done,” said HRMPEB acting CEO Maragaret Nguu.
The body also decried the low uptake of certification in the country by HR professionals and will be looking to introduce the Recognition of Prior Learning for industry professionals who began operating before 2012.
As of early 2023, Nearly half of the human resource practitioners in Kenya were operating without a licence, putting the institutions they represent at a disadvantage in legal disputes.
Data from the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM), the regulator of the profession, estimated that only 17,000 of the over 30,000 HR professionals operating in the country were certified to practice the trade.
The law requires that HR professionals get a practicing certificate as an indication that they have attained the necessary skills in a bid to weed out quacks.
“We are still very low in terms of certification; we still expect more people to come. There are more people who began working before the Act came into place and they are waiting for Recognition of Prior Learning to undertake part of our examinations to become certified,” added Kisire.