Two Decades of Dedication: HR Professional Leads Others to SHRM Certification

Bentonville man teaches U of A course available online, in person for test prep

Cliff Sandsmark came across an interesting artifact on a bookshelf of his Bentonville, Arkansas, home recently. He found an instructional booklet he used to teach human resource professionals, dated 2005.

With the discovery, Sandsmark realized he’s been teaching a course for the University of Arkansas for 20 years to help HR professionals pass the certification test of the Society for Human Resource Management. Commonly known as SHRM, the organization is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to human resources with 340,000 members in 180 countries.

In addition to the publication date, the booklet also carried a large red sticker with white lettering advising the user that it had to be returned to the U of A after completion of the course or a $300 fee would be imposed.

With his continuous two decades of teaching a SHRM preparation course twice a year, Sandsmark probably is off the hook for the fine, which would be about $490 today, according to the Consumer Price Index.

 

Years of Service

Sandsmark was recruited to teach the course through his association with the Northwest Arkansas Human Resources Association, or NOARK. The U of A partnered with SHRM to bring the SHRM Learning System Course, a training and exam preparation course, to Arkansas in 2005.

“We had many instructors come and go,” Sandsmark said, “and we taught a lot of students. People come up to me and say, ‘I was in your class.’”

When he encounters former students at conferences or other business settings, they often ask if he remembers them, and Sandsmark’s good-natured reply is always, “Of course, I do.” 

Sandsmark’s career in HR spanned many years with J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. based in Lowell. He retired three years ago. He occasionally thinks about retiring from his SHRM teaching career, too.

“But every year, they ask me, and every year, I think, ‘Do I really want to do this?’ and I always say ‘yes.’ Maybe in another five years, I’ll hang it up,” he said. “We are very proud of our success. Our pass rates are higher than the national average.”

 

Changing with the Times

In recent years, most people take the SHRM course online, but Sandsmark routinely teaches it from a physical classroom. The locations have moved throughout the years, with the Professional and Workforce Development division of the U of A Global Campus now operating from the Collaborative in Bentonville, about a 10-minute drive from Sandsmark’s home. The division is moving soon to the Global Campus location in Fayetteville.

Technology has changed pretty extensively since he began teaching, too, from compressed interactive video that required people to be in a classroom fitted with special video equipment to today’s Zoom and other video-conferencing apps that can be used on laptops, tablets or phones. Nowadays, students can log in to watch Sandsmark teach live or they can watch a recorded session later.

Sandsmark also has taught in the College of Engineering’s Master of Science in Operations Management program, a graduate degree that can be completed 100% online or students can take some in-person courses if it suits them. That gives Sandsmark experience in both an academic credit program and a non-credit program. Unlike courses for a degree, the SHRM training course leads to certification opportunity but awards no academic credit.

 

What HR Is

A professional who wants to work in the HR field can be a generalist, addressing all areas of the field that focuses on managing people in the workplace. Or, an HR professional can specialize in areas such as employer relations, benefits, compensation, legal, recruiting, and training and development, Sandsmark explained.

“It depends on the company, too,” he said. “You may work in a small, one-person department or for a company like Walmart that has a huge HR department. I helped develop the compensation department at JB Hunt. I spent 15 years building pay plans, salary plans and commission plans.”

Regardless of the path an HR professional takes, success requires a strong foundation in business principles, Sandsmark said. A successful HR professional must know how to speak the language of the company’s executives, he said.

“You need to know what is happening in the other departments – marketing, research and development, operations ...,” he said. “You have to know your company, your business, your markets and speak to the C-suite with credibility.”

C-suite typically refers to a company’s top executives whose titles begin with “chief.” Sandsmark said SHRM works as an organization to help elevate the HR profession, leading to companies creating the position of chief HR officer.

 

Educational Avocation

Sandsmark enjoys teaching. He takes seriously the opportunity to pass on knowledge, but he also has fun.

“I like working with students, tormenting students, watching them learn and grow,” he said.

He has also been certified by the HR Certification Institute and WorldAtWork and has been involved professionally with the organizations, including serving on a panel writing test questions for WorldAtWork. It’s another organization that provides training and testing for various certifications.

Whether a student attends his SHRM courses in person, watches live or watches a recording, they learn in an instructor-led classroom.

“I focus on information they need to know to pass the test,” Sandsmark said, and he adds detail from his career. “I give them stuff that is not in the book, how to handle situations. I make sure they understand what topics to focus on.”