Welcome to your E-Newsletter
Click on the links below to jump to the articles listed.
At the end of the newsletter will be a page of e-mail and
site links, as well as in the articles themselves.
President’s Message
ImplementingLean Hiring
Mandatory Retirement Officially Retires
The Cultural Challenge
Back to the Future
Getting to Know You
Achieving & Sustaining Superior Performance
WelcomeNew Members
Change of Information
Links Page
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Page 5
Page 6
Page 8
Page 10
Page 12
Page 14
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President:
Susan Marlow, CHRP
Past President:
Bonni Titgemeyer CEBS, SPHR, CHRP
VP & Government Liason:
Frances Laming-Vancer, CHRP
President Elect/
Professional Development DIrector:
Leona Wilson, CHRP
Treasurer:
Tammy Ward, CHRP
Programs Director:
Paula Deering, CHRP
Publicity Director:
Monika Chawla, CHRP
Student Liason Director:
Lynn Sharer, CHRP
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
2006 UPCOMING EVENTS
Membership Director:
Karen Gerhardt, CHRP
Compensation Co-Directors:
Margaret McLuckie, CHRP
Jennifer Roberts, CHRP
General Enquiries: hrpap@bellnet.ca
March 1
In-Transition Group Meeting
March 15
Lunch with Amanda Levy –
Does Change Have to be Painful?
March 24
Focus Group Meeting
March 29
CHRP Dinner
April 5
Connect for Success/In-Transition Meeting
April 6
Professional Development Day
April 19
Lunch with Jill Birch –
Leveraging your Leadership
Click on names above to email
NEWSLETTER February 2006 ISSUE #42
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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
As a chapter, we recently initiated a Membership Survey. As this report is being written there
are just a few days left to participate. Your feedback will allow us to better target our programs,
timing and locations to better meet your needs.
As we have a very large and diverse membership,
your responses will be carefully reviewed so we
can use this in our planning process for the 20062007 year. Thank you to all of you who participated.
Happy New Year to you! We hope that this
article finds you well.
To start off the New Year, we are excited to
report some positive news.
Long-time Peel member Harry Garner has
been awarded the Honourary Life Award by the
HRPAO. This is awarded for a member’s exemplary leadership at the provincial or chapter level
of HRPAO. Harry has served as Chapter President
of Peel and on HRPAO’s Board of Directors over
his 30+ year long career.
Congratulations and well done!
As January is now behind us, how are your
resolutions holding up? At the HRPAP we resolve to do what best meets your needs. We thank
you for your continued support!
During the recent HRPAO Board of Directors
election, Diane Fortune of Peel was elected. She
will now begin her 3 year term with the HRPAO.
Another Peel member currently on the HRPAO
Board of Directors is Alex Gallacher.
Board members are mandated to best represent the profession and we wish them well as
they continue to serve behalf of HR professionals
throughout the province.
Sincerely,
Leona Wilson, President-Elect (left)
Bonni Titgemeyer, Past President
This year we have a superb new line up of speakers for the luncheon series. Coming up soon!
MARCH 15, 2006 – AMANDA LEVY – MANAGING CHANGE – DOES CHANGE HAVE TO BE PAINFUL? –
We are expected to manage change and the good news is we can, if we first manage ourselves. Come and hear
Amanda lead a discussion on the possibilities and pitfalls of change, explore some practical perspectives on how we
can stimulate positive change, and then refine and sustain change to meet stated objectives and make a positive difference for all concerned.
APRIL 19, 2006 – JILL BIRCH – LEVERAGING YOUR LEADERSHIP –
Surveys of top executives have confirmed that leadership skills are the most important factor in a manager’s career
progress; rated above intelligence, knowledge or job skills. Jill’s presentation will explore new research and developments in the leadership arena and discuss what’s changed in leadership; the difference between management and
leadership; emotional intelligence and the leader as brand.
Great topics to choose from and great speakers! Mark the above dates on your calendar and I look forward to meeting you at one or all of these events.
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Implementing
Lean Hiring
effectiveness must be immediate, and it must directly
measure candidate quality.
•
Stage 2: Yellow Zone. This is the stage of processing people who have applied to determine if they
are qualified for the current job opening. Typically, 5%
of applicants will meet these criteria. Processing applicants can be a huge time-waster, so recruiters shouldn’t
do any of it personally. Yellow Zone processing must be
done automatically, with the few candidates meeting the
selection criteria pushed, not pulled, to the recruiter’s
desktop.
To gain more insight into what it takes to create a systematic process for hiring top talent, go to the source:
world-class manufacturing companies. They offer
excellent role
models for how to
systematize multiple activities with
limited resources
and under intense
time pressures.
“Lean” is one of
these manufacturing concepts that
can be directly applied to the hiring
process. Here’s
the translation
from lean manufacturing into lean
hiring:
Lean hiring is a
systemic approach
to hiring which
is based on the
premise that anywhere work is being done, waste is
being generated. Productivity can be increased by the
elimination of this waste. Lean hiring is a core step to
achieving a Six Sigma process.
Eliminating big chunks of waste in the hiring process
is a good way to quickly obtain improved performance.
To begin implementing lean hiring, it’s useful to break
the hiring process into four broad stages:
•
Stage 3: Red Zone. This is the stage where
potential candidates are further evaluated to determine
if the hiring manager should interview them, if they are
worth networking with, or if they are a strong candidate for another position. Recruiters must only talk
with these important people, and do everything they
can to prevent dealing with anyone else. Above all else,
recruiters must be careful of how they spend their time.
•
Stage 4: End Zone. This is the stage when
strong candidates are interviewed, assessed, tested, and
reference-checked to see if they are a candidate worthy
of an offer of employment. If so, the offer must then be
prepared, negotiated, and closed. For most positions,
three to six strong Red Zone candidates are needed in
order to have one finalist. You must make sure that everything you do ensures that a top person you’ve made
an offer to accepts it. If not, everything you’ve done up
to this point has been wasted.
How much time do you waste reviewing resumes of unqualified people, calling unqualified applicants, inputting and processing data into your ATS, data
mining, direct sourcing to find names, trying to recruit
people cold, and handling unproductive administrative
activities? Recruiters need to spend at least 80% of their
time on Red Zone and End Zone activities. If you’re
a recruiting manager, assess your team to see where
they’re spending their time. How much is spent dealing
with unqualified people in some way? Audits of over
200 corporate recruiters indicate that the best recruiters
(the top 10-20%) spend 80% of their time in the Red
and End Zones, and fight like heck to minimize their
time in the Yellow Zone.
•
Stage 1: White Zone. Except for networking,
this relates to everything that is done to get candidates
to apply. This could be branding, advertising, website
design, sourcing channel development, writing ads,
referral programs or college recruiting. The big timewaster in this zone is developing sourcing programs
that don’t work and not knowing it soon enough. Writing boring ads is an example. To make matters worse,
metrics come out too late to be useful, and when they
do, they ignore candidate quality. Sourcing channel
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tomer also needs to sort through? By accepting this state
of affairs, we’re then forced to buy an applicant tracking system based on how well it sorts these unqualified
candidates. Recruiters and hiring managers then need to
spend unnecessary time cleaning up the mess that these
job boards create. Why can’t job boards pre-screen candidates before we ever see them? Most of the resumes
should never be submitted in the first place. I believe
job boards should be responsible for cleaning up this
mess.
Here are some short-term things you can do to minimize
your time in the Yellow Zone:
1.
Pre-qualify all applicants before you call or look
at their resume. This means all referred candidates (from
vendors, employees, other candidates, or anyone) must
pass a qualification filter of some type before getting
into the pool. When networking, make sure you ask
the referrer why they think the person is qualified. For
employee referrals, add a qualification screen.
If you want to become a better recruiter, first
categorize everything you do into these White, Yellow,
Red, and End Zone activities. As a first step, you must
minimize your time spent doing Yellow Zone activities. They will only slow you down. Instead, you must
figure out a way to spend 80% of your time in the Red
and End Zones. Once you achieve this balance, you then
must become great at all of the necessary one-on-one
recruiter skills.
2.
Proactively seek out pre-qualified candidates.
Get your best employees, vendors, and candidates to
give you the names of highly qualified people. These are
candidates who instantly make it into Red Zone.
3.
Turbocharge your applicant tracking system to
batch process resumes. Most applicant tracking systems
do a decent job of sorting and rank-ordering resumes.
Go through the first group of 20 resumes. Once you get
one or two potential candidates, start your Red Zone
processing to push them through the system. You need
to get good candidates into the system immediately to
make sure someone else doesn’t pick them up. If you
don’t find enough good candidates in the first group of
20 resumes, go through another batch of 20 resumes. Do
not look at any more resumes if the best 40 don’t pan
out. This is the biggest Yellow Zone time-waster of all.
Change or improve your sourcing programs instead.
Lou Adler (lou@adlerconcepts.com) is the president of
The Adler Group, a training and consulting firm helping
companies hire more top talent by implementing performance-based hiring. His Amazon bestseller Hire With
Your Head (John Wiley & Sons, 1997, 2002) started
the performance-based hiring and selection movement.
This was followed-up with the award-winning Nightingale Conant audio tape program, POWER Hiring: How
to Find, Assess, Hire and Keep Great Talent (1998).
Adler is a veteran recruiter and founder of CJA Executive Search. His early industry career included general
management positions with the Allen Group, as well as
senior-level financial management positions with Rockwell International’s Automotive and Consumer Electronics groups. Adler holds an MBA from UCLA and a B.S.
in Engineering from Clarkson University, New York.
4.
Don’t ever (ever, ever) call a data-mined candidate unless you have some proof that the person is highly qualified. This is another big time-waster. Instead,
send an email describing your opportunity in compelling terms. Then ask the person if they are still available
or would be open to exploring an opportunity if it were
better than their current situation. If yes, then ask them
to send you a current resume and a one-paragraph summary of their most significant accomplishment related
to your job needs. This is an example of how you can
automate a Yellow Zone activity.
Longer term, you’ll need to change how you
source candidates. Why do we tolerate a job board that
sends in large amounts of unqualified candidates? Why
should the customer be responsible for sorting through
thousands of unqualified candidates that some other cus4
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Mandatory Retirement
of termination is owed to employees regardless of their age,
unless mandatory retirement is proven to be a BFOR. The
government does not plan to change the severance pay exemption for those employees who receive an actuarially unreduced
pension. It remains unclear how this will affect reasonable
notice under the common law.
Impact on Benefit Plans
Pension Benefits
The elimination of mandatory retirement will not affect employee entitlements to employer-sponsored pension benefits.
Health, Disability and Life Insurance Plans
The good news for employers is that the provision of these
types of benefits to employees who are aged 65 and older will
be at the employer’s discretion. The government is defending
this position by calling it “a deliberate, reasoned and cautious
approach that should not jeopardize exiting benefit entitlements that employees, including employees with disabilities,
have now”.
Officially “Retires”
On December 12, 2005, the Ontario Human Rights Code and
other applicable laws were amended to prohibit employers
from forcing employees to retire at age 65. The legislation
provides for a one year grace period and will not take effect
until December 12, 2006.
Workplace Safety and Insurance Benefits
The government is also maintaining the status quo on WSIA
payments by continuing to cease loss of earnings benefits at
age 65 for workers who were less than 63 years old at the time
of injury. Workers who were 63 or older on the date of the
injury will still be entitled to receive up to two years of loss of
earnings benefits.
The employer’s obligation to re-employ will still end at age
65.
Impact on Existing Policies
If you currently have a mandatory retirement policy, you can
continue to require employees to retire if they turn 65 before
the legislation takes effect on December 12, 2006. After December 12, 2006, you will no longer be able to force employees to retire, although you can provide retirement incentives.
Conclusion
It will be very interesting to watch as the issues surrounding
this change to the law emerge. No doubt there are confusing
times ahead for employers.
To avoid confusion and make the transition as smooth as possible, review your current policies and contracts to eliminate
any mandatory requirement provisions. You would also be
wise to provide an information circular to all of your employees indicating how these changes will affect them.
Human Rights and the Duty to Accommodate
You may be able to impose mandatory retirement at a particular age (e.g., 65), if you can show that you have met the test
for a bona fide occupational requirement (“BFOR”). To do
so, you must establish that the requirement is necessary for a
legitimate, work-related purpose and that it is impossible to
accommodate the employee without undue hardship.
How Does this Effect Terminations
As a result of this change, you will no longer be able to terminate an employee simply because he or she is 65 years of age.
If you terminate an employee because he or she is 65 years
old or older, you may be found to have discriminated against
the employee, contrary to the provisions of the Human Rights
Code. Therefore, you will need to be cautious when terminating an older employee without cause.
Although it has not yet done so, the government plans to
change the Employment Standards Act to clarify that notice
Lauren M. Bernardi is a Mississauga lawyer and human resource
advisor with the firm of Bernardi Fairbairn. She is the author of
“Powerful Employment Policies” and the “Recruitment Workbook
& Disk”. Lauren’s advisory and training services help organizations direct their human resources in a strategic and legally sound
manner. To find out how Bernardi Fairbairn can help you, contact
Lauren at 905-274-2305, by e-mail at lauren@bestlaw.ca or on the
web at www.bestlaw.ca
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What is it that creates most benefits and concurrently, most problems for the organization - no one
can live with it, yet no one can live without it?
for behavior and reinforces them, defines the value
expected in contributions and thereby predetermines and restrains change and initiative.
Organizational culture performs the same role as
does the keel of a sail boat. The keel is usually outof-sight and out-of-mind but it provides stability
and momentum to the vessel. This however makes
it hard for the sail boat to stop suddenly or change
direction quickly.
It has amazing impact and everyone refers to it continuously but no one does anything to change it. We
could be talking about the weather, but that’s not
the answer. We’re discussing organizational culture.
We all know the characteristics of good culture – a
heavenly situation where there’s focused, coherent
action, high levels of contribution, change responsiveness, balanced strategies, spontaneous collaboration and a progressive learning climate.
A more useful analogy is that of an iceberg. The
important part is under the surface and if we are
not aware of it, it can cause tremendous problems
for us. The visible tip is the published statement
of organizational values, vulnerable and subject to
continuous erosion. No matter how impressive the
tip might look, it serves little purpose other than to
catch the wind - the ‘berg’s actual behavior is determined by the eight-ninths that is submerged.
We are also very familiar with the symptoms of the
‘dark side’ or poor culture – absenteeism / lateness
and dysfunctional behaviours being just the tip of
the iceberg. Beyond this, there’s also depression,
anti-social behaviors, misappropriation and abuse,
productivity shortfalls and rampant politicking.
This is the ‘informal culture’ of the organization,
a far more powerful and compelling influence on
individual behaviors than any formal agenda. It is
made up of four components:
•
Heroes/heroines – those who are promoted,
favored, nurtured and protected
•
Myths / Stories – we tell about ourselves and
which carry hidden moral lessons
•
Rituals / Rites of Passage – the essential
indicators of social acceptance and status
•
Networks – the communication channels and
nexus of informal influence and power.
The Cultural Challenge
. . . a summary of the presentation made by David E.C. Huggins,
President, Andros Consultants Limited, to the HRPAP Chapter on
January 18th. 2006.
If we are to do something about it, we should perhaps begin with a definition – but even this is a
challenge. Could it be as simple as “the way we
do things around here”? Is it more appropriately
defined as “the context or medium in which we
work”? Clearly, it is a set of energizing and limiting
forces.
Consider that, on the one hand, it defines the ‘right’
kind of people for the organization, sets benchmarks for performance, eliminates unproductive
and undesirable behaviours, preserves comfort levels and establishes a real sense of community.
Culture can be changed but not, it seems by overtly
applied means. The influencers for such change initiatives include the top executive, HR practitioners,
regulatory impacts, market forces, inherent management competencies and identified culture change
champions. Interestingly, visibility diminishes as
you progress down or through this list - while both
potential and deliberate impact increases. What
might this be telling us?
As a limiting force, the list is similar. It dictates the
‘right’ or ‘proper’ way to do things thus enforcing
compliance and conformity, sets ‘acceptable’ codes
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We know there are two forms of change – transactional and transformative. The former is incremental change and accounts for the vast majority of
change interventions over time. It’s favored, mainly
because it is less threatening / more comfortable
than the alternative. Transformative change is
highly traumatic, risky and decidedly uncomfortable for all concerned. It does create substantial or
‘break-through’ changes - but at a price. The risk
is very high, but then so are the rewards. We use it
when we have to.
4.
Focus on the informal elements – using
multiple channels, identify and promulgate the
right heroes, myths, rituals and networks that will
have a long-term strategic and beneficial impact on
the organization. Work with line managers so that
there’s reasonable and visible consistency in these
elements throughout the organization.
5.
Establish a ‘Best Practice’ resource bank
– advocating proper assessment practices, offering
source materials, conducting periodic leadership
forums, circulating inspirational newsletters and
formulating constructive checklists to support those
busy managers as they struggle to create a positive
workplace while simultaneously fighting off the alligators.
Our role as HR practitioners demands more stable,
cohesive strategies, so our preferred route would
be to utilize the transactional approach leaving the
transformative strategies to the top executive. We
can support transformative change when required,
but we can also take initiatives on our own in the
transactional arena.
As a final thought, an old adage – the only way
for weak and/or bad cultures to prevail is for a few
good HR practitioners to do nothing. There is a vital
contribution you could be making – just do it!
The overall strategy is to identify and strengthen
the desirable elements of informal culture – heroes,
myths, rituals and networks – so they are coherent, cohesive and aligned with corporate strategy.
Here’s a five point action plan to achieve just that:
David Huggins
1.
Recruit / promote balanced perspectives
both transactional and transformative leader /
managers are needed. Avoid favoring the focused,
driving leaders that go for shorter term gains at the
expense of longer-term effectiveness and resiliency.
2.
Encourage the ‘soft’ competencies – promote a healthy balance between results centered
and people centered competencies to sustain flexibility, responsiveness and resiliency internally as
well as externally. Build with a long term view.
3.
Foster a learning culture – by encouraging
continuous process improvement, curiosity, experimentation, self development and spontaneity in
teamwork. Build these elements into performance
contracts and recognition/ reward programs.
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Back to the Future
plan or not. If an employee spends $100 per month she
will need to receive equal or greater value on a monthly
basis in order to actually feel the value. That creates an
arena of entitlement that quickly spirals out of control.
A creative solution is to replace the employee premium
contribution with a large deductible. In the above case,
if the employer were to contribute 100% of the premium
and implement a $1,200 per family health deductible
- everybody wins… Employees are now officially
consumers of the services they use and employers enjoy
the costs savings commensurate with a high deductible
plan. (not to mention that fact that they have happier
employees).
Emerging Benefits Trends in Canada
By Eric Shulman
Imagine having a crystal ball and being able to see the
future of benefits in Canada. Imagine physically immersing yourself in that future, surrounding yourself
with the best ideas and results and being able to transport their best practices to present day.
While this may sound tantalizing and somewhat farfetched, it is possible today. Living next to the elephant
next door – the United States – is often overlooked as a
significant advantage for Canadians. This is especially
true as it relates to employee benefits. By studying the
‘best-practices’ being employed today in the US, we can
look, in some cases, up to 20 years into our own future.
Another factor to consider is the “proactive vs. reactive”
argument. The Canadian and US healthcare systems are
reactive. Our benefits plans are reactive. Our employees’ attitudes towards healthcare are reactive. Indeed,
most employee benefits plans would be better termed
“sickness plans” than “health plans”. That is, they cover
you when you get sick.
So what is coming around the corner? What can
we expect as the emergent trends here in Canada; and
what can be learned by peering into the crystal ball of
the US?
What part of your group health plan is actually healthy?
Entitlement vs. consumerism, incentives, wellness, supplemental benefits and Health Spending Accounts are all terms that we will become more and more
familiar with in the coming days.
A growing trend in the US is to fund wellness initiatives
designed to effect change before the sickness can occur.
Yes, that means actually spending more today to save
money tomorrow. This message is generally not wellreceived by the already strapped employer. However,
the next ground-swell in the Canadian Benefits scene
will be wellness. The trick is in ROI – return on investment. As studies continue to confirm that a penny spent
today on wellness is a dollar saved in health care, more
employers will adopt these preventative measures. If an
employer thinks wellness initiatives are expensive, just
look at the alternative. Some forecasts predict that employee benefit costs will double and in some cases triple
over the next 10 years.
Canadians are an entitled bunch. We can’t help it. We
like to know that when a health issue arises – we’re
covered. But the very nature of our health system has
bred a nation of entitled consumers rather than educated
consumers. If it’s free, why worry about the actual
costs? It is largely this entitlement zeitgeist that has
driven stratospheric cost increases – even at the employer level. Consumerism is about engaging an employee
in the decisions they make related to their benefits plans.
And that’s not just Flex plans – consumerism has to do
with how employees make choices – what pharmacy
they use and when and why they consume the health
related products that they need. An obvious example
is dispensing fees. But less obvious is the practice of
increasing employer contributions. That’s right – increasing contributions, not decreasing. Consider payroll
deductions. Many employers ask employees to contribute to their monthly benefits costs whether they use the
You don’t need a crystal ball, to see into the future,
the future of increased healthcare costs driven by demographics, lifestyle expectations and newer more
expensive therapies is already here. So what are you
going to do about it? While it’s true that as plan sponsors continue to write ‘blank-cheques’ for their defined
benefit plans – it’s also true that we must increasingly
provide solutions to containing those costs. And em8
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(e.g. smoking, poor nutrition) should pay a higher share
of health benefit costs”.
ployers aren’t just hiring an employee – they’re hiring
their families as well. At least in terms of adopting the
entire family’s health costs which are almost entirely
unknown. One of the ways to address this is through
education – but not limited to the employee. A growing
trend in the US is that many programs (primarily delivered through the internet) are being made available to
employees and their families including smoking cessation, weight loss, good nutrition and stress management
courses. The internet provides the employer with one of
the few ways to reach out to spouses and dependants – a
large part of plan costs.
The trend to pass more health care costs on to workers has taken its toll on employees and employers are
looking for more creative ways to share in the growing
costs. By providing financial incentives to employees
to take ownership of their own health and by promoting healthier behaviour, employers in the US are actually increasing contributions to their employees health
plans. According to a Watson Wyatt Worldwide, 71 of
the 1,000 largest companies in the US froze or terminated their defined benefit plans last year, compared to
45 companies in 2003. 63% of the top 1,000 firms still
sponsor a defined benefit plan. And that leaves us with
Health Spending Accounts. More and more employers
will look at dismissing defined benefit plans (thereby
exiting the risk business) and adopting defined contribution plans. These plans will ensure a limit to an employers’ risk and allow the employee to make choices on
how their contribution is spent.
Holding even greater promise in limiting employee
spending is in providing actual financial reward and
incentives to employees for adopting healthier behaviour. According to the sanofi-aventis Healthcare Survey – 2005, “73% of employees agree that they have
an obligation to help their employer control the costs
of their employee health benefits plan”. Fully 54% of
employees either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed
that “the cost of employee health benefit plans should be
higher for employees who smoke, don’t exercise or are
seriously overweight.” Clearly, employee attitudes are
currently shifting towards taking responsibility for the
own health and the consequences of not doing so. In a
study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers in the US
(Management Barometer), 48% of 150 CFO’s surveyed
think that “employees who exhibit unhealthy behaviours
Is your consultant living in the past? It’s time to go
back to the future and adopt some of the best practices
available to you today – before it’s too late.
Eric Shulman (eric@healthsourceplus.com), is president of
HealthSource Plus, a benefits and pension consulting firm in
Toronto, Montreal and Niagara.
LOOKING FOR ADVERTISERS???
IF YOUR COMPANY OR A COMPANY YOU KNOW WANTS TO ADVERTISE
HERE,
CONTACT:Monika Chawla at - mchawla@kpss-hair.ca
Communicate to 1400 HR Professionals in the Peel
Region
Very Reasonable Rates
5 Newsletters per Year
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GETTING TO KNOW YOU
Monika Chawla from the Publicity Committee had
a chance to discuss the following questions with
Dianne Fortune. Dianne currently works for The
Personal Insurance Company, a member of the
Desjardins General Insurance Group.
1. What is your current position and company you
work in/for?
I am currently the Vice-President of Human
Resources for The Personal Insurance Company.
2. How did you become involved in Human Resources?
When I was in my early thirties, I was supporting
the Sales department of a large organization. The
VP of Sales, at the time, was not a particularly
strong supporter of HR and consequently I ended
up doing a lot of the HR administrative work,
such as offer letters, filling out staff forms, dealing
with Sales’ employee relations, etc. As a result,
the structure in HR changed and the organization
created HR positions that reported directly to the
operations folks with a dotted line to HR. The VP
of Sales encouraged me to take night school courses in HR to enhance my theoretical knowledge and
obtain my HR Management Certificate, which I
did through Sheridan College. I developed a passion for HR and have never looked back. I completed the Advanced Program in Human Resources
Management at the University of Toronto Rotman
School of Management in 2000.
3. What are your major responsibilities currently
and what future professional goals do you hold?
My team and I are currently responsible for supporting the operations people outside of Quebec.
We are similar to a regional office set up. We are
responsible for
all aspects of
HR. We play a
key role in providing input into
strategic initiatives developed
in our Corporate
Head Office in
Quebec, such as
policy development, training,
management
Diane Fortune
alignment and
compensation. It is critical we have a good understanding of the business and their challenges in
order that we can adequately represent our employees when developing corporate initiatives and that
our cultural differences are taken into consideration.
I am also a member of our Ontario Management
Committee, which ensures HR aspects and impacts
are taken into consideration when making key
decisions. We were a “Best Employer” in Canada
in 2005 and, I like to think this is as a result of the
strong contribution HR has made in creating a positive work environment.
My future professional goals are to continue building my knowledge of both HR and the business and
to keep abreast of trends in the marketplace. I believe you can never become complacent and need to
be on top of issues in order to bring value-add. In
becoming a member of the Board of HRPAO, I am
hoping I can make a contribution to the HR community, as well as gain additional knowledge on a
personal and professional level.
4. What do you find most rewarding about being a
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member of the HRPAO and your chapter?
HRPAO has been a great support to me in my
career. I have taken advantage of seminars, conferences, networking and my local Chapter. I have
met some wonderful people throughout the years
who have encouraged me along the way and have
been there to assist and respond to my many questions. Being a part of an association has enabled
me to develop confidence and enhance my skill
sets. I am looking forward to being a Board member and giving back to the individuals within the
HR community.
On a broader level, I believe a key challenge for HR
professionals is and will continue to be recognized
as strategic partners. In my opinion, in order to
be truly successful in HR, you need to possess the
business acumen and be a strong voice at the table.
Managers are no longer willing to partner effectively with HR unless they see the value-add. We
have to earn the credibility; it cannot be taken for
granted.
Erratum:
During the preparation of the last issue several
names of new members from the April 2005 issue of the magazine were inadvertently placed
in the list of new CHRP graduates. We sincerely
regret this error and apologize for any inconvenience or discomfort this may have caused.
5. What advice could you offer those people just
starting off in the HR profession or thinking about
entering the profession?
Develop your theoretical and practical knowledge
in HR to the best of your ability, however, I think it
is critical that all HR professionals spend the time
to really understand the business and the operational challenges if you really want to succeed. I
still hear far too often that HR professionals do not
understand and appreciate the business realities and
focus all their energy on the “soft” aspects. Managers are becoming very good at managing their
people and do not need HR to be facilitators and
counselors.
Mentoring Committee
The Mentoring Committee manages the Chapter’s
Mentoring Program. The Committee is responsible
for program design, implementation and evaluation. In addition, they are responsible for supporting Mentors and Protégés through registration,
matching, orientation, coaching and follow-up.
If you are interested in becoming a Mentor or a
Protégé - or perhaps both - please contact the
Mentoring Committee at:
hrpapmentorapplications@bellnet.ca
for an application.
6. What are the future challenges of the HR Department at your organization and as a whole, in
your opinion?
A key challenge for us is supporting managers in
the attraction and retention of employees. Although
our turnover rate is extremely positive, it is always
a key focus for us. Competition for good talent
continues to be strong and we must stay ahead of
issues. Succession planning and replacement of
talent as the “Baby Boomers” potentially retire is
another area of concern.
For general enquiries into the Mentoring Program,
please e-mail your questions and comments to
hrpapmentorinfo@bellnet.ca.
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Achieving and Sustaining Superior Performance
As HR Professionals
suc·cess: degree or measure of succeeding
or satisfactory completion of something or
the gaining of wealth, respect, or fame.1
Success as an HR Professional is about
goal setting and successful achievement of
that goal – everything else is commentary.
The master skill of success can be
described in 3 parts:
1. Decide what you want to accomplish
2. Determine the price you will have to pay
to accomplish the goal
3. Resolve to pay the price
�
Being engaged in the business planning
process – allows you to:
1. Influence and support the company’s
goals,
2. Make your own HR plans to support the
company’s goals, business issues and
concerns,
3. Study and plan for the human resources
capacity to meet business goals,
4. Study and evaluate the capabilities of
the staff in their respective duties.
If you are using all your knowledge and skill
now and want to improve or grow – you
must invest in your own personal
development plan. “Change is the only
constant we will experience – so we must
develop to stand still”.
It’s fundamental for you to know whose
expectations are of prime concern to you
and then make sure your goals or
objectives are SMART:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Results Oriented and
Time line defined
Capacity
Capabilities
Why wouldn’t you use the same approach to
develop your own capabilities?
Most businesses establish three separate
sets of behavioral expectations – the
challenge is to tie them together effectively.
The first are the Business Core Values.
These establish the culture or overall
working environment within the company.
which
Second are the Leadership Factors,
Work
are established for the management team to
develop and grow the business. And lastly,
the Performance Dimensions are where
each job has its own skill set and
competencies.
To be successful you must be clearly
focused on the objectives you are being
measured against. The “what” will dictate
the “how”, or the fundamental approach to
the job.
Work to be Performed (What)
+ Performance of the Worker (How)
= Results that Add Value to the Organization
Formula for Success
Sustained Superior Performance
= f [(work) r] e
= f [(m x a x t x t) r] e
Demonstrate Value as HR Professionals
1
HR Plan
Business
Plan
Sustaining
superior
performance
is
important since it is a measure of your
reputation and private sector expectations to
grow the business in a profitable and
sustainable manner.
�
Address the needs of the other
functional units and demonstrate your
ability and willingness to support these
leaders and help make them successful.
Help build relationships based on trust,
confidence and collaboration. Be
proactive and results oriented.
�
Understand the company’s business
vision, business goals and how
various departments contribute to these.
m
a
t
t
r
e
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/success
12
=
=
=
=
=
=
motivation
abilities
tools
techniques
work relationships
work environment
Home
Human Resources Roles in Transition
Differentiating Competencies
HR Managers and Directors in small and
medium sized companies have three
separate and distinct roles:
1. To assist the business unit head, as a
member of the senior leadership team,
to strengthen and grow the business
profitably.
2. As a leader of the HR Function provide
advice, guidance and support in the
areas of human resources management
to the business unit head and other
members of the senior leadership team.
3. Provide the required human resources
management support, to all the
employees, of the business, that will
make a positive contribution to improve
their
work
performance,
work
relationships and the work environment.
Distinguish superior performance from
average performance. These include selfconcepts, traits, and motives and can
ultimately determine long term success on
the job. With a valid competencydevelopment methodology, one can define,
measure and reward competencies:
� Self-concepts: attitudes, values and selfimage
� Traits: general disposition to behave in
certain ways (i.e. flexibility)
� Motives: recurrent thoughts driving
behaviour (i.e. drive for achievement,
affiliation)
Strategic Competencies
Include those that are “core” competencies
of an organization. These tend to focus on
organizational
capability
and
include
competencies that create a competitive
advantage. (i.e. innovation, speed, service,
and technology)
Performance Elements
Below are the performance elements with
the
sustaining
superior
performance
equation listed in the first vertical column.
Each one has 4 distinct stages or levels of
development. The idea is to determine what
stage of development you really are in. Next,
determine where you should be for your
present or future assignment. Once you
have established these profiles, you are
faced with closing the development gap.
Since you cannot do everything at once –
you have to prioritize your game plan:
1. What has to be developed first?
2. What are the precious few rather than
the lesser priority items to focus on?
3. What will give you the biggest ‘bang’ for
your time and effort?
lead·er·ship: is communicating to people
their worth and potential so clearly that they
are inspired to see it themselves
ENGAGE Human Resources Solutions can
help you succeed in these areas. We
understand the challenges of today’s
organizations and customize strategic
solutions related to you and your workforce.
If you are looking for a solution to any of your
HR needs contact us at:
1100 Central Parkway West, Suite 3
Mississauga, ON L5C 4E5
Tel: 905-306-8111
Essential Competencies
Michael Bennett: mike@engagehr.com x 221
Alex Gallacher: alex@engagehr.com x 222
Harry Garner: harry@engagehr.com x 233
Foundation of knowledge and skills needed
by everyone in an organization which can be
developed through training and are easy to
identify:
� Knowledge: information accumulated in
a particular area
� Skills: demonstrated expertise
http://www.engagehr.com
Performance
Elements
Motivation
Abilities
Tools
Techniques
Relationships
Attitudes
Knowledge
Physical
Models, Concepts
Self Concepts
Behaviours
Skills
Financial
Systems, Processes
Independence
Habits
Work Competencies
Staff, Consultants
Metrics
Inter-dependence
Environment
Safe, Secure
Management Climate
Core Values
Stages of Development
13
Exemplar Behaviour
Wisdom
Shared Resources
Influencing Others
Leadership Role
Satisfaction / Self
Actualization
Home
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS TO PEEL
Allan Mascarenhas
Amandeep Bassi
Ann Marie Williams
Antony Godwin
Bethanie Devers
Elena Ferraz
Enza Morreale
Erin Thorburn
Gloria Nwajei
Holly Van Drine
Jacqueline Gouter
Jeanne Albert-Cheng
Jennifer Johnson
Jon Poplawski
Karen Feuerstake
Kelly McLaughlin
LeeAnne Leo
Marie Snyder
Meghan Healey
Mo Aladin
Nancy Wood
Olga Roberts
Preetie Sharma
Randy Ross
Shannon Whitehead
Shazia Saleem
Sonam Brar
Sukhjinder Bola
SylviaFerderber
Tabinda Nayyar
Terri Schultz
Tina Slinn
Upkar Arora
William Boateng
MEMBERS on the move
are you changing jobs or your home or business address?
If so we’d like to hear from you! Please complete the following form and return it to:
6-2400 Dundas St. West, Suite 538
Mississauga, ON L5K 2R8 or email to hrpap@bellnet.ca
NAME ___________________________________MEMBERSHIPNUMBER:_______________________
COMPANY NAME :_________________________ POSITION TITLE :____________________________
BUSINESS ADDRESS:_________________________________________________________________
BUSINESS PHONE NUMBER :________________BUSINESS FAX NUMBER :____________________
RESIDENT ADDRESS_________________________________________________________________
RESIDENT PHONE NUMBER :_________________EMAIL ADDRESS :__________________________
I PREFER ALL CORRESPONDENCE TO BE SENT TO MY____BUSINESS, ____ HOME ADDRESS
PLEASE INCLUDE MY COMPANY AND POSITION CHANGE IN THE NEXT NEWSLETTER: ____Y____N
14
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2005 HRPAP COMPENSATION SURVEY RESULTS
Copies of the 2005 survey results may now be purchased by credit card at
the discounted price of $75.00 for HRPAP members and $140.00 for nonmembers.
To make a purchase contact:
Margaret McLuckie (Mmcluckie@terexbartell.com)
905-458-5455 ext 248
OR
Jennifer Roberts (jroberts@viennaquality.com)
905-790-7448 ext 216
The HRPAP Newsletter is published on a bi-monthly basis. If you are
interested in contributing please direct any comments or ideas to the
Publicity Director
Publicity Director
Monika Chawla 905-670-2844 ext 232 mchawla@kpss-hair.ca
Publicity Committee Members
Adina Ingram
Lauren Bernardi
Tina Hansa
adinaingram76@yahoo.ca
905-274-2305
tinahansa@hotmail.com
Kerry Cameron
Naveen Rakkar
cyr r ek@hot mail .com
905-712-1084 ext. 3552
The advertisements in this publication are paid advertisements. The HRPAP does not
necessarily endorse the products or services contained within this newsletter, nor does the
HRPAP assume responsibility for those products or services used.
We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of information contained in this newsletter but
cannot accept responsibility for errors and omissions.
Readers are urged to obtain professional advice before acting on the basis of material contained
in this newsletter.
Please see our website at http://www.hrpao.org/HRPAO/MembershipAndChapters/peel/News for
an electronic copy of this newsletter and to view the past issues of the HRPAP newsletter
HRPAP - Working hard for the HR professionals of the Peel Area.
15
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LINKS
CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO CONNECT:Page 2 President HRPAP
susan_marlow@ici.com
Page 4 Implementing Lean Hiring
lou@adlerconcepts.com
Page 5 Mandatory Retirement
lauren@bestlaw.ca
Page 9 Eric Shulman Back to the Future Article
eric@healthsourcepluscom
Page 14 Peel Student Resources
http://www.hrpao.org/HRPAO/MembershipAndChapters/peel/Students/
Page 16 Publicity Director
Page 16 HRPAP Website
Advertiser Links
mchawla@kpss-hair.ca
www.hrpao.org/HRPAO/MembershipAndChapters/peel/News
Page 13 Engage HR Ad
engagehr.coms
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