Development of a Competency-based Credentialing Exam for Human Resource Professionals

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has served human resources professionals for over 65 years. They have worked to ensure that HR professionals can effectively apply HR concepts and requirements in the workplace in support of organizational goals. To accomplish this goal, SHRM established two behavioral competency-based certifications, the SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP®) for early- and mid-career professionals and the SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP®) for senior-level practitioners. These certifications were based upon the SHRM Body of Competency and Knowledge (SHRM BoCK™) in order to demonstrate to the global business community that the credential-holder has strong capabilities in both aspects of HR practice—competency and knowledge—that are required for effective job performance.

AIR developed the competency-based credentialing program that focused on the knowledge and behaviors needed to succeed as mid- to senior-level HR professionals. AIR managed the development of the SHRM-CP® and SHRM-SCP® exams, which include both knowledge items and situational judgment test (SJT) items. This process included creating the exam specifications, contributing to policy decisions, overseeing item development, and developing and maintaining the item bank. AIR also designed and facilitated item writing workshops to train subject matter experts (SMEs) to write items for both the knowledge and SJT portions of the exam. AIR managed the item review process, collaborating with item writers, editors, and SHRM to conduct quality item reviews and facilitate SJT item scoring consensus meetings. Additional responsibilities included building exam forms, conducting data analyses, designing and facilitating the standard setting process, and preparing score reports.