SHRM debuts apprenticeship program to diversify HR industry

The Society for Human Resource Management — in partnership with the Department of Labor — has debuted an apprenticeship program designed to help build a more skilled and diverse workforce and expand the HR talent pool.

The SHRM Foundation’s HR RAP will provide reskilling opportunities to displaced workers and upskill incumbent workers from untapped talent pools, such as people with criminal convictions, individuals with disabilities, veterans and military spouses.

“When people typically think of apprenticeship programs they think of the trades, like manufacturing and healthcare,” says Wendi Safstrom, executive director of the SHRM Foundation. “But apprenticeship works for hundreds of interesting industry sectors. We positioned HR as a growing and emerging profession in terms of the demand for highly proficient business-minded people to join.”

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SHRM realized there was an opportunity to utilize apprenticeships to bring in more diverse talent into the HR industry and expand apprenticeship opportunities to sectors that had not had an apprenticeship program before, Safstrom says.

“We see this as an opportunity to diversify the folks who pursue HR as a job or career,” she says. “We'll be working with [employees] who may not have necessarily had the opportunity to consider, or get into a training program to become an HR professional.”

While the field of HR is predominantly caucasian women between the ages of 30 to 50, SHRM is dedicated to diversifying their field.

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“We want HR professionals to be more reflective of these diverse populations that are increasingly making up our workforce,” Safstrom says. “An organization’s best resources are its people.”

Apprentices who join the SHRM program will receive the training and professional development needed in order to start a career in HR. When they have completed the program, apprentices will be eligible to take the exam for the SHRM-CP credential.

“Apprenticeship in general is very valuable and can be used as a retention tool,” Safstrom says. “By participating in apprenticeship programs we have an opportunity to reshape what people know and what their perceptions are of HR.”