As the new Membership Engagement Lead for CIPD Manchester Branch, I thought I would share how I use the benefits from the CIPD membership and the impact it has on my day to day working life and beyond.
I have been a member of the CIPD now for 20+ years and use…
The employment law helpline
I rang them on Thursday to talk through a complex TUPE situation. Being an independent HR consultant, I find it useful to tap into them as an extension to my ‘team’. They are like that HR colleague that I would have if I were working in an employed capacity.
The knowledge hub
I use the knowledge hub to source factsheets and research. I did a big piece on reward in July and needed to understand what the market trends are and so the annual reward management CIPD report was invaluable for me to read from a trusted and valid source.
People Management magazine
They drop through the door each month! The last edition covered July/August so we can expect to receive another one in September. I love this dropping through the door as that real tangible thing you can pick up, put down, take it anyway, scribble on, turn the page over. I had a similar conversation with one of our Ambassadors, Pip Amey on Thursday and she was of the same view.
Those tend to be the well-known benefits, so I thought I would share some more information on the benefits available to you that maybe less known about…
Wellbeing support
With Health Assured you have access to free help and support 24/7/365 via telephone. I have not used the helpline however I do have the app on my phone. I love the daily mood tracker and using the health hub; it helps me to see my progress over the week from how I am feeling and my water intake, steps taken, and sleep achieved. I love the neck tension release 12-minute yoga video which I do each day as whilst I try my best to move about throughout the day, sitting at the computer can build up that tightness across my shoulders.
HR Inform
HR Inform is something I use daily, using policy and document templates; and referring to the news updates. It is a cost to me; however, I look at the cost of my time that it would take me to keep this updated. I would not have the time! So, I see this as an investment in my business, in my ability to be up to date and to deliver the HR services to my customers.
Profession Map
I need to get better at using the map. I completed the questionnaire a few years ago and made the mistake of completing this for every area and ended up with over a one hundred pages report! I did nothing with this. I had the opportunity recently to provide an insight to a client about the foundation level to support a HR development opportunity for their business which reminded me of the wealth of information and support that is available. So, I am going to take an area a month now and digest that – this was a suggestion from Pip Amey, thank you for that Pip, really useful suggestion and I will share how I get on with that at our upcoming event (noted below).
Get involved!
I am doing a shout out to all the Manchester group members – please contact me if you want to feature in the spotlight member on membership benefits. Three areas I would love to know about are:
- what benefits do you use,
- why do you use them,
- the impact they have had on you / your work.
October membership event
Also watch this space, as our first membership event will be taking place in October 2022 – all about the CIPD Profession Map and putting it into action in the workplace. If you use the map for your personal development or in your workplace, please do get in contact as it would be great to include your experiences as part of the event.
It is important to us that as members you have the opportunity to share your experiences – the more you do that, the stronger the community becomes.
About the author
Pam Molyneux is a HR Consultant and our new Manchester Branch Membership Engagement Lead.
Aside from running her own business, Pam loves to support young people find opportunities that will help them in later life and volunteers through the CIPD Enterprise Advisers scheme.
CIPD Manchester Branch 