OPM unveils new online tool for federal HR employees

The federal government has launched a new Web-based platform to provide training and development resources for federal human resources professionals.

The Office of Personnel Management and the Chief Human Capital Officers launched the first phase of the training initiative, named HR University (HRU), today.

“The roles and responsibilities of the HR profession are emerging and growing and the HR University is the first step at creating a single source for consistent human resources training,” OPM Director John Berry said in a release. “This training resource will save taxpayer money and improve the quality of our HR services. It will pool resources between agencies and reduce duplicative courses across the government.”

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The platform for HRU is a website that includes a course catalog of OPM-approved, HR-related courses from federal agencies and vendors, a common core curriculum and criteria that emphasize technical knowledge and expertise, and a career guide for current and future HR professionals.

Participants will be charged to participate in HRU courses, which will be a combination of classroom, online and Web-based offerings. OPM, federal agencies and private training vendors will provide the courses.

The second and third phases of the program are expected to launch in the next several months and will include building relationships with private vendors, as well as, creating a certification program for federal HR employees.