For HR professionals around the United States, updating your certification just got little bit easier. No, you won't be required to take an online course or sit through a lecture series. You'll just have to start blogging. The Professional in Human Resources (PHR®), Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR®), Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR®) and California Certification (PHR-CA® and SPHR-CA®) certifications will receive the change, according to the HR Certification Institute. The institute cited a number of conditions for blog posts to qualify for credits under the Research and Publishing Category. Each post will be worth 0.5 certification hours (with a maximum of 2 hours per year). The author must provide links to their articles when submitting a request for credit. All posts must:

• Contain 700 words or more on a subject related to the field of human resources;
• Contain facts/data and not be an editorial/opinion article;
• Be published on a site that is open to the public. It can be posted to the writer’s blog or as a guest post.

The institute cited blogging as an acceptable way for 21st century HR professionals to distribute their research and knowledge. The HR Certification Institute's Director of Products and Services Cornelia Springer said:

There is a small, core group of HR professionals who already are writing educational blogs on a regular basis, but we felt that this trend would grow and wanted to ensure that we are prepared for it. Our new policy is specific to fact-based blog posts that are on sites open to the general public, and is a step in the right direction as more and more HR professionals take advantage of the web to help one another through educational and thoughtful blog writing.

The institute was influenced by a number of HR professionals who were already blogging without receiving recertification credit. The Professional in Human Resources Certification is one of the first professional certifications to consider blogging/social media as a means of updating one’s qualifications. Sharlyn Lauby, SPHR and HR Bartender blogger, said:

I believe the HR Certification Institute realizes good human resources content has value. Whether it’s published in print or online is immaterial. I think the Institute recognizes the future of web-based publications and sees the importance of linking that to the development of HR professionals.

Image courtesy of Flickr user Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com