PMAP NATIONAL

The People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) is a strictly professional, non-stock, not-for-profit organization of over 1,800 member companies and individual management executives engaged or interested in human resource management (HRM) and industrial relations (IR) work. Founded 50 years ago, PMAP continues the tradition of its forefathers in advancing the profession, the science and the art of human resource management.

As a professional association, PMAP helps institutions mold an enlightened, competent, socially responsible and influential sector of people managers who can effectively participate in nation-building. PMAP also helps its members become more effective on the job by teaching the human aspect of management via numerous career development forums and training programs.

With nineteen (19) Chapters throughout the Philippines, PMAP encourages local participation if national affiliation is geographically difficult. In fact, what further enhances PMAP’s solid reputation as a national association is the dynamism of its local chapters, proven by the success of its respective programs and projects.

Fifty Years of Professional Traditions
On September 29, 1956, thirty-seven (37) executives representing varied industrial and business establishments in Manila, held the first organization meeting of what would become known as PMAP at the Rizal Hall of the U.P. Institute of Public Administration. They believed then – as members still do today – that an association must be organized in a manner that directly addresses its members’ needs and responsive to individual, institutional, and even to national growth. Guided by this belief, these executives set into motion the establishment of what is today’s premier organization of human resource management professionals.

Thus on October 13, 1956, the PMAP Constitution was ratified and the first Board of Directors and Officers were elected. Mr. Perfecto Sison of AG&P Manila was elected as the first PMAP President. And so began the impressive professional growth of PMAP.

Organized for Growth and Stability
The PMAP organization is structured in a strategy-oriented thrust to make it truly responsive to its members’ needs, as well as to ensure that the Association is able to attain continued growth and stability. The fifteen-man Board of Directors are elected annually from among the members, and define the policies and establishes the annual work program of the Association. An Executive Committee (ExCom), composed of the Association’s officers, assists the Board in formulating policies and in managing PMAP’s abundant activities.

Various functional committees composed of company representatives and individual members – all volunteers – are organized to operationalise the program thrusts of the Association. These committees cover areas such as industrial relations, membership, fellowship and sports, awards, community relations, research, publications, advocacy, leadership development, and many others. The functions of these working committees vary yearly, depending on the planned program of service of the incumbent Board of Directors.

The Association is also actively involved in youth development thru its Junior PMAP (JPMAP) arm, with the aim of raising future people managers imbibed at the onset with the ideals of PMAP. The JPMAP itself is a microcosm of the totality of PMAP as it maintains its own committees, conducts monthly meetings and a national conference, and with its membership roster coming from colleges and universities nationwide.

The Council of Past PMAP Presidents, an advisory group composed of the former presidents of the Association, provide guidance to the PMAP Board regarding policies, thrusts and strategies. The HRM Foundation, moreover, ensures the long-term funding requirements of PMAP for its professional development programs, organization growth strategies, and capitalization requirements.

The Philippines Society of Fellows (PSOF) in Personnel Management is an affiliated body in PMAP that offers opportunities for further professional growth of individual HRM practitioners. Membership into the PSOF requires the fulfillment of certain sets of professional standards and accomplishments. Professional titles of Fellow in Personnel Management (FPM) or Associate Fellow in Personnel Management (AFPM) are conferred to HRM practitioners by the PSOF through its Accreditation Council, in recognition of their level of professional competence.

More recently, an additional affiliated body in PMAP emerged with the conception of the Center for Human Resource Management (CHRM). Led by a preliminary Board of Trustees, the CHRM is tasked with formulating the policies, thrusts and strategies of creating an HR School, the first-ever in the country. The school will be granting a degree in Master of Business and Human Resource Management (MBHRM) in the near future, with its educational core drawn from the collective expertise of seasoned HR practitioners from within the ranks of PMAP.

The PMAP Professional Staff
For the efficient delivery of services, the Association has a full-time, 15-man PMAP Professional Staff (PS) headed by an Executive Director. The PS acts as the operational information center, secretariat, and hub of all activities in the organization. Housed in the PMAP Center, the PS provides technical and administrative support to the work programs of the Board, ExCom, and the affiliated bodies within PMAP. The committee thrusts are likewise complemented by the PS and dynamically coordinated to ensure that plans and programs are successfully realized.

Since the PS plays a critical role in the organization, their emphasis is on deliberately providing increased excellence and competence in delivering quality service to PMAP members. In terms of committee involvement, the PS are duty-bound to ensure continuity of the many projects formed by the volunteers. As these volunteers come and go, the PS are relied upon to ensure the smooth transition, stability, and linkage from the former to the present; so that continuity is assured. Moreover, after having been elected in this capacity recently, the Executive Director also serves as the Secretary General of the Asia-Pacific Federation of Human Resource Management (APFHRM), the regional umbrella institution of human resource management organizations, making the PMAP PS internationally recognized.