Focus on craft and the role of professional bodies

In our previous blog we mentioned the word craft. An article in Entrepreneur quotes it thus:

‘If you invest in developing and helping committed individuals become great at their craft, you’ll surely see a positive yield from that investment.’ 

Perry Timms, IPM Annual Convention and Exhibition 2015 keynote and TEDx speaker talks about craft too. He mentioned it on our platforms in his address on the Future of Work last year. You can find a storify board of the tweets from his session here.

So why all the talk about craft?

According to Ms Miranda Lee, director of people and change management at KPMG in Singapore, workers will show greater commitment to their own trade or craft, rather than to the organisation. That means that for HR, we need to start thinking about whether it is time to shift our thinking and focus from primarily the permanent workforce to the contingent one. The self-employed workers of the contingent workforce take more control over their own time, offering their expertise in places where it is needed and to the employer willing to pay for it. They also take responsibility for their own learning and development so that they can remain ‘in demand’ and employable. In Perry’s words from The Future of HR:

‘Socialised, self-directed learning keeps everyone sharp; agile and making the changes necessary to keep the wheels turning.’

That’s why we continue to believe in the essential role of professional bodies as we look and move to the future. Professional Bodies aim to provide a one-stop shop to support career growth and profession, as well as recognising members professionally for their achievements.

If you would like to find out more about IPM Professional Membership for HR, the Professional Designations and the range of courses and programmes we run to support your development and career progression, you can find all the information here.