Becoming an HR professional

The Foundation for Human Resources Development (FHRD), local agent for CLMS, celebrated the academic achievement of 23 Maltese students who have successfully completed their course of studies with the Centre for Labour Market Studies, University of Leicester.

Dr Margaret Black and Dr Jason Hughes, from CLMS, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Paul Attard, ETC deputy chief executive Felix Borg and FHRD president John Muscat Drago were present for the ceremony.

FHRD appreciates that adding academic commitments to an already busy lifestyle is no mean feat.

FHRD and the Centre for Labour Market Studies have celebrated two and a half years of successful partnership. The Centre is pleased to acknowledge the high academic standard of the Maltese students, their commitment and their belief in lifelong learning and peer support.

In the past two years, FHRD has received over 100 applications. All students who completed their courses were successful in their studies.

The fact that students come from different fields of work is ample proof that there is a growing recognition that people management and development is high on the agenda of business success and that HRM strategies need to be mainstreamed across the whole organisation.

FHRD has often stressed that Malta's main resource is human. Thus, recognition of professional, up-to-date and innovative skills and practices based on strong intellectual foundations is key to the ongoing growth of our national economy, our organisations and our workforce.

Interestingly, 56 per cent of all students have been sponsored or partially sponsored by their employers. The high number of sponsored students coming from both government and the private sector clearly reveals the commitment of organisations to the development of their employees.

This shows that many organisations in Malta are realising that it makes business sense to promote the professional management of human resources in their organisations.

The FHRD endeavours to attain its main objectives of developing people management and development practices and the development of the human resource management profession in Malta. These statistics are tangible evidence which reveal the extent to which FHRD is achieving its aims.

A new intake of students will take place in October. Currently the following courses are on offer: Certificate in Training Practice, Diploma in Human Resource Management, Diploma in Training and Development, and Master's degrees in Training, Training and Human Resource Management and Training and Performance Management.

A new course will be introduced in October, the Certificate in Training and Human Resources Management. This is specifically aimed for those who wish to follow a preparatory course in human resource management.

All CLMS courses are by distance learning, providing the advantage of flexibility; they follow the interdisciplinary approach by drawing from a number of related academic subjects; all programmes are interlinked, giving the possibility of starting with a certificate course following through to a doctorate. Moreover, FHRD provides a wide range of support services.

For more information contact Daniela Gouder on tel 2569-3303 or e-mail fhrd.d.gouder@ipse.org.mt.