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HR STRATEGY

SHRM’s certification debate

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Early this year, Kelly Baureko, a recruitment manager in the New York City metropolitan area, took her first SHRM certification exam.

Despite spending nearly 20 years of her career in HR, Baureko had never before tried for an HR certification. But, recently beating colorectal cancer had her rethinking the opportunities she’d taken for granted, including professional development.

“I came out, I finished treatment, and I just decided: It’s now or never. Let me just dive into everything that I did not initially do, or missed out on,” she told HR Brew.

Baureko passed the exam, earning the SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) certification, and is now studying for SHRM’s Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) test.

She considers SHRM the “crème de la crème” of HR certifications. But something bugged her: Several exam questions featured hypothetical situations, but the expected answers didn’t reflect Baureko’s lived experience.

For more on the debate in HR circles surrounding SHRM’s certification exams, keep reading here.—PM

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TECH

Seeing double

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Most people would love a personal assistant. Imagine leaving a pile of dishes on the counter next to the sink after dinner, directing an assistant to take care of the rinsing, scrubbing and drying, and focusing on putting your kids to bed. Brush those teeth! Are you sure you brushed them?

Well it’s not possible. For now, you’ll have to continue to handle the dishes and bedtime routine. Sorry.

At the office, on the other hand, Eightfold AI is betting on “digital twins,” generative AI-powered tools that can document employees’ work as they’re doing it and provide customized replies to queries related to it.

“In near future, over next three-to-five years, each and every one of us will have our own digital twin, or digital replica, a digital clone that knows everything that we have done, has our full knowledge, understanding all our experiences,” said Eightfold AI’s cofounder and co-CEO Ashutosh Garg at Eightfold AI’s customer event and conference, Cultivate, in Southern California this week. “That is the world that is unfolding right in front of our eyes.”

For more on this digital twin technology and its implications for the workplace, keep reading here..—AD

DEI

Nation’s first

Morning Brew

Disabled people face an uphill climb (often literally) to employment in most countries, but one Middle Eastern country just took one more step towards workplace disability inclusion.

Qatar has been in the news a lot over the past week, as President Trump visited the country just days after it gave him a luxury jet. But before all the presidential fanfare, Qatar had a different type of milestone: its first career fair for disabled people. The May 10 event was hosted by Life Skills Hub, an organization that provides a range of services to disabled children, with support from the US Embassy in Qatar and Qatari Ministry of Labor, the Peninsula (Qatar) reported.

The day featured panels on how organizations in Qatar can support disabled workers, employers, and many job seekers. Some US-based organizations participated as well, including Hilton Hotels and the Minnesota Center for People with Disabilities.

Roughly eight in 10 Qataris with disabilities are out of work, and experience discrimination on the job and misunderstanding from non-disabled peers.

For more on the uneven barriers disabled people continue to face at work, keep reading here.—KP

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WORK PERKS

A desktop computer plugged into a green couch.

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s worth noting that 42% of workers say their mental health is worse due to RTO mandates. (Businessolver)

Quote: “When done right, remote work gives people the autonomy they need to stay focused and productive. But autonomy without structure? That’s a fast track to burnout and disconnection.”—Clark Lowe, president of The O’Connor Group, a home construction company, on how leadership can limit the potential negative mental health impacts of remote work (Quartz)

Read: The pandemic made people think more about death, and it changed their relationship with work. (Inc.)

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