For the second consecutive year, the Foundation for Human Resources Development (FHRD) is offering, as from 31 January, its own Competency Certificate HR vocational programme for employees and managers wishing to further enhance their careers in people management. The beauty of this course is that it is even suitable for beginners who are interested in eventually furthering their careers in becoming team leaders, and managers. This four-hour-a-week course spread over 48 weeks aims to cover all aspects of people management and development based on practical work, case studies and experiential learning and is accredited by The Malta Qualifications Council at Level 4 (VET). Sessions conducted by hands-on practitioners having both formal qualifications and experience, will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 5 and 7pm and this important course will cater specifically for the needs of Maltese companies.

An information meeting will be held on 15 December at FHRD’s offices in Robert Samut Square, Floriana at 5pm for anyone interested in the course.

FHRD’s practical experience, acquired over the last 20 years in the human resources field, ensures that this programme will leave its mark on each participant and respective employer alike, as learning acquired during the sessions will be easily transferable to the workplace. FHRD president Annika Galea said, “This competency-based programme came as a response to the emergency needs identified by the Foundation in a research it conducted where it identified the underlying people concepts/ practices that today’s managers and leaders require in order to ensure that organizational talent is captured, maintained and nurtured in order to achieve performance optimisation.” Undoubtedly, this down to business programme provides participants with the opportunity to develop and enhance the necessary qualities and skills that can be transferred to their own individual workplace immediately So this programme is not only about theory but about acquiring the ability to do the job.

Being a mover for nurturing people competencies within the local environment, Joe Gerada, FHRD’s CEO, points out, “This programme will help participants build a network of alliances, as well as acquiring, sharing and applying knowledge on people skills that lead to organisational excellence.” Mr Gerada assures that the programme will take a strategic and pragmatic approach that will enable participants to capture “the information of today, in order to create and influence the practices of tomorrow”. The CEO also asserts that the Human Resources Competency course “aims to be among the key programmes any supervisor or manager would seek to embark on in order to support her/him better deploying the human resources capital within the organisation, and hence attain maximum business effectiveness”. In this respect, Mr Gerada argues that this programme goes far beyond other HR courses available on the island so far and assures that it truly has something different to offer its participants. “This vocational training programme is about doing the right things effectively first time round.”

The programme really comes with an edge, as it supports participants to further develop their people skills, becoming full-service generalists who can provide leading-edge solutions in all facets of HR functionality, from recruitment processes to performance management, training and introducing best practices in line with organisational exigencies.

Amy Mifsud, HR Officer with Gasan Enterprises Ltd who has just finished this programme is of the same opinion. “This course focused on how to equip us better with the right knowledge and skills to become better HR professionals. Our tutors were able to provide us with first hand experiences from the field and encouraged us to come up with innovative answers and solutions through group discussions which exposed me and my colleagues to different ideas and approaches.” Ms Mifsud also said that “this programme was the first in its field to provide” participants with a module fully dedicated to “career planning and self development”. Having undergone training with the Foundation, this HR manager also emphasised the great opportunity this course offered “to network with other professionals in the same field”.

On the other hand, Patricia Refalo, Principal Officer of Human Resources Section, Corporate Services Department at the Ministry for Gozo said that she “willingly grasped the opportunities of life-long learning” which is why she took the Competency Certificate in Human Resources offered by FHRD. She said that, “this course was an asset and a reward for me. It was very well designed and extremely well delivered by professional lecturers”. Keeping in mind that it was a certificate level, Ms Refalo assures that “it was with doubt extremely efficient, very detailed, effective and useful for anyone performing HR-related duties”. Having participated in this course which, “covered all HR objectives such as: strategic policies, planning and coordination, payroll, time and labour management, benefits administration, people management and development, industrial relations, etc,” she would recommend this experience to anyone working in HR. This goes especially to HR Managers since it is comprehensive and covers what really matters in the day-to-day management of people. Apart from gaining a high level of insight relating to HR management, Ms Refalo also mentions that she widened her circle of friends, who worked as a team throughout the whole year. 

The Human Resources Competency Certificate Programme has been structured to also allow participants the flexibility of enhancing one’s competences while balancing family and work. Gordon Fitz, Finance Officer at the Office of the Ombudsman said: “The course, which in my opinion permits a good balance between study, family and work commitments, is delivered by different experienced HR practitioners.”

FHRD has succeeded in putting on the market an innovative, practical HR course that is fully accredited and which employers have been demanding for a long time. This programme is a tool in the hands of those who seek a career in people management. Funding opportunities through CDRT and ETC are also available. For more information please contact FHRD on 2137 0685 or [email protected].