In 1962, the CIPD (then the Institute of Personnel Management (IPM)), together with sister associations in France, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland, founded the European Association of People Management (EAPM). In 1976, to aid the development and improve the effectiveness of professional people management all over the world, the IPM Director General, Geoff Armstrong, led the EAPM to establish the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA) with the Interamerican Federation of Personnel Administration (now FIDAGH) and the American Society for Personnel Administration (now SHRM).

The WFPMA, through its five continental associations, covers over 90 people management associations across the globe. Then, as now, the CIPD envisioned the management of the workforce as a profession, skilled and serious in the pursuit of safe and well-managed workplaces. This is served by a global network of associations, sharing good practice, knowledge, and the belief that the profession is central to the modern organisation..

In championing better work and working lives, the CIPD continues to work closely with our sister organisations, producing research and reports that reflect the experience of people professionals across a wide range of geographies:

• In 2018, working with the EAPM, we published a European pilot study on HRM practices, the People Profession Survey. 
• In 2020, we worked with SHRM, WFPMA and AHRI to develop a global survey, launched at the Applied Research Conference 2021.