THE HUMAN
RESOURCE PRO FESSIONALS ASSOCIATION OTTAWA
HR
NEW INSIDE
CHAPTER PUB LICATION
UPDATE
HRPA Ottawa Chapter’s Inaugural Issue
HR UPDATE Your resource for professional camaraderie, fresh insights and problem solving assistance.
RETURN ON RESILIENC E
Bouncing Back is Just the Beginning EMPLOYERS TO ACCOMMODAT FAMILY OBL E IGATIONS OTTAWA RED MARCEL DESBLACKS’ JARDINS ON LEADERSHI P
OTTAWA BU SINESS
JOURNAL
VOLUME 18 • ISSU
E 30 • NOVEMB
ER 2014 HRP A.CA
THE HUMAN RESOURCE PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION OTTAWA CHAPTER PUBLICATION
HR
UPDATE
RETURN ON RESILIENCE
Bouncing Back is Just the Beginning EMPLOYERS TO ACCOMMODATE FAMILY OBLIGATIONS OTTAWA REDBLACKS’ MARCEL DESJARDINS ON LEADERSHIP
OTTAWA BUSINESS JOURNAL
VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 30 • NOVEMBER 2014 HRPA.CA
ottawa
media social @OTTAWAHRPA
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to the inaugural issue of HR Update, a joint publication of the Ottawa Business Journal and the HRPA Ottawa Chapter. This publication reaches a regional business audience of over 100,000 readers, and can also be accessed as a virtual edition at www.obj.ca and www.hrpaottawa.ca. If you have any questions about this new publication, please contact us via email at updatemagazine@hrpaottawa.ca.
2014-2015 BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT ELIZABETH ROBERTS PRESIDENT-ELECT KEVIN BARWIN
EVENT RECAP
Ottawa Chapter Kickoff
PAST PRESIDENT KATHY BEDARD TREASURER CHERYL BANKS SECRETARY DAN PALAYEW COMMUNICATIONS SARAH NYMAN COMMUNITY RELATIONS & MARKETING KEVIN BARWIN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT/ NETWORKING CHANTAL LAFRENIERE MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT KRISTINA PATSULA MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MELISSA BELLOCCHI-HULL CONTACT US HRPA Ottawa Chapter, General Inquiries & Accounting PHONE: 613-224-6466 E-MAIL: infohr@hrpaottawa.ca
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WEBSITE: www.hrpaottawa.ca Membership Changes 150 Bloor Street West, Suite 200, Toronto, ON, M5S 2X9 PHONE: 416-923-2324 TOLL-FREE: 1-800-387-1311 FAX: 416-923-7264 EMAIL: info@hrpa.ca WEBSITE: www.hrpa.ca Join the HRPA Ottawa Chapter Group on LinkedIn @OttawaHRPA CHAIR: ERIC VANDE VELDE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: SARAH CROSS, KATE HAM, ELLA FORBES-CHILIBECK, JILLIAN CHEESEMAN PUBLICATION SUBMISSIONS: updatemagazine@hrpaottawa.ca CREATIVE DIRECTOR TANYA CONNOLLY-HOLMES GRAPHIC DESIGNERS SARAH ELLIS REGAN VAN DUSEN SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, SALES DON MERSEREAU SALES KIMBERLEY ALLEN-MCGILL KAREN MCNAMARA WENDY BAILY SUSAN SALSBURY
2 HR UPDATE FALL 2014
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Contributors wanted! For individuals interested in contributing to our June 2015 issue, articles must be submitted via email to updatemagazine@ hrpaottawa.ca by no later than May 8, 2015.
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2014-15 calendar of events NOVEMBER
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NEW! EXCLUSIVE WINE & CHEESE EVENT – WINE ABOUT WINTER (LIMITED REGISTRATION)
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APRIL
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Dave Dickinson Area President 613.670.8483
SENIOR PRACTITIONERS BREAKFAST EVENT – DNA OF A VP OF HR SOLEY SOUCIE, SENIOR MANAGER, EASTERN REGION, HAYS
220 Laurier Avenue West, Suite 510 Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5Z9 © 2014 Gallagher Benefit Services, Inc. 26803A
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FALL 2014 HR UPDATE 3
“The boss drives people; the leader coaches them. The boss depends on authority; the leader on good will. The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm. The boss says “I”; The leader says “we”. The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown. The boss says, “GO”; the leader says “LET’S GO!” — H. GORDON SELFRIDGE
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Working Backwards to Achieve Success I
t’s Monday morning, and you’ve arrived at work with an optimistic view for the week ahead. The phone rings, and it’s your manager. The conversation goes as follows: “The executive team had a meeting on Friday, and decided to proceed with this great project, and they need you to be the HR lead. This is the project, this is the due date, and your HR project plan is due tomorrow.” Sound familiar? In today’s fast-paced business environment, schedules don’t always optimize success. The scope and deadline of a project are often defined before the project reaches your desk. Our job as HR professionals is to seize this opportunity, and reinforce our value within our organization. The first and most important step in the process is to develop a plan, ensuring you understand the full scope of the deliverable. Planning will chart your success, and help ensure goal achievement. While there is a tight timeline to deliver your plan, you must ensure you are factoring in all of the components that will make your project successful. For example, the scope of the project should be clear and realistic, risks should be minimized and efficiencies enhanced, time delays must be considered, and where possible, allow for creativity and innovation. You need to fully understand who your key stakeholders are, and what will and will not work in your organization. How you plan can go a long way in ensuring the right outcome. A few years ago, I attended a seminar, and one of the speakers was Andy Nulman, author of How To Do the Impossible. For those of you unfamiliar with Andy Nulman, he was the co-founder and former CEO of Just for Laughs and was the co-founder, President, and Chief Marketing Officer of Airborne Entertainment, a media and entertainment company that was created when that market didn’t exist. Under the direction of Andy and his partner, internet pioneer Garner Bronstein, the company was transformed from one that struggled to make payroll to a multimillion dollar company that sold five years after its inception. His message was interesting: “To achieve success, start with the end result, and work backwards to find your path to reality.” While this is not a new theory, listening to him talk his way through his experience left a lasting impression. When you follow this process, your result is known, your final destination is known, and your starting point is known – all that’s left is to walk through the plan. To start their journey, Andy and Garner invited 15 members from their executive and management team to a full-day retreat. When the team arrived, they were welcomed by a large screen with a
mock-up of the Montreal Gazette that read: “Montreal’s Airborne Entertainment Sold in $150 Million Mega-Deal!” They started the retreat by working their way backwards from that message.
They even went so far as to role-play through meetings (mitigating risk, thinking through what needed to be done, when and if something didn’t work out the way they thought, and thinking through the contingency plan). They examined every detail, including changes to their website
To achieve success, start with the end result, and work backwards to find your path to reality. The first step was “what type of company would pay that kind of money for another one just finding it’s footing in an emerging, but unproven industry?” From there, they worked backwards through the steps to plot their course to success.
and business cards to project a more vibrant image. The real success of this story is that one year later, Airborne Entertainment sold for $110 million. While this was slightly below their mock-up, the sale happened three months ahead of schedule. This example may seem a far cry from the projects that come across your desk, but the approach is one that can be used to generate a well-focused plan when time is limited.
These types of initiatives provide opportunities for HR to take an active role within the business, and to solidify the significant role we play within our organizations. When projects are well planned and completed successfully, it reinforces that HR is not only a trusted resource, but also a strategic business partner that coordinates with other teams to deliver success. For many HR professionals, the value and importance of HR is incremental and depends on the success of these initiatives over time. Next time you are faced with this type of challenge, try working backwards. The results will surprise you. A strong plan is the bedrock of successful delivery. Elizabeth Roberts, CHRP, is President of the HRPA Ottawa Chapter and Senior HR Consultant & Business Partner at Innovapost.
Lawyers and Law Firms Embrace Change to Serve Ottawa Employers The legal landscape in Ottawa is shifting. Not of its own volition, but from necessity. Increasingly, clients are demanding that legal services be provided in a more responsive, practical, and flexible manner. Some have even suggested that the legal profession is at a critical juncture, whereby the established modes of operation traditionally tied to concepts, such as the billable hour, may no longer reflect the business reality in which they operate. Recently, Daniel Desjardins, General Counsel to Bombardier Inc., publically criticized the legal profession for failing to view itself as a business – a business that, like all others, must self-assess and evolve to meet changing times. Similarly, the need for employment lawyers to “think like in-house counsel” when advising their clients was also recently underlined by Dan Palayew of BLG in his recent presentation to members of the County of Carleton Law Association in September 2014. With this criticism fresh in mind, forward-thinking law firms are embracing new technologies and business models in an attempt to shake up a traditionally conservative profession. One such firm in Ottawa is Vey Willetts LLP. When Vey Willetts launched itself as Ottawa’s newest employment law firm this summer, it set out to simplify processes, take
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advantage of new technology, and limit overhead expenses. The aim was, and continues to be, very simple: to provide excellent service to clients through increased convenience resulting in a lower cost. When Paul Willetts and Andrew Vey decided to create their firm, they looked for practical examples of how modern firms are adapting to better serve the evolving client landscape. One common complaint clients have of lawyers is inadequate communication. Technology, however, has evolved dramatically in the past decade enabling lawyers to now have a host of communication tools at their disposal. Video conferencing, Internet fax services, and cloud-based document storage devices are just a few examples. By combining these new tools with traditional face-toface modes of communication, Paul and Andrew created a number of innovative options to enable them and their clients to communicate easily, without jeopardizing the confidentiality of those exchanges. Vey Willetts looked to national and international firms for leadership in this area. An increasing number of law firms in Canada and the US now make use of secure online portals from which clients can view, edit, and respond to their file documents from various devices anywhere in the world. Likewise, Vey Willetts recognized that online bill payment
is now something consumers actively expect and the legal profession must meet this demand. While some Ontario law firms are realizing the benefit of making it easier for clients to pay online, internet-based payment remains surprisingly underused by many of their competitors. Law firms can also improve client service by reducing overhead. Efficient modes of practice management, which employ cloudbased technology, reduce reliance on paper and storage, while still providing the necessary protection of client information. Finally, the billable-hour model requires reconsideration. While in some circumstances it is still an appropriate billing model, Vey Willetts is aware that flexibility and transparency are key. As such, their firm incorporates a variety of billing practices beyond the typical billable hour model, such as flat rate, contingency, and deferred billing models. The “one size fits all” traditional billable hour is rarely the client’s first choice. Law firms do not lack for new options to employ in everyday practice. As such, lawyers should not be afraid to embrace change to meet the challenge of modern business. Ella Forbes-Chilibeck is a Lawyer at Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck (www.ravenlaw.com).
FALL 2014 HR UPDATE 5
02/ 05/ 2015
BREAKFAST SEMINARS
Medical Marijuana in the Workplace Amanda Daley, Director of Medical Education, Tweed Inc. SALA SAN MARCO, 215 PRESTON ST., OTTAWA
COVER STORY
RETURN ON RESILIENCE
Bouncing Back is Just the Beginning WARREN MACDONALD. PHOTO SUPPLIED
We can easily understand the concept of resilience, but to truly become resilient, it must be practiced.
I
t happened again last week. Following my keynote presentation in northern Idaho for a healthcare group, a gentleman approached me as I made my way to the book-signing table: “What I heard throughout your talk tonight seemed primarily based on resilience. Do you think that is something that can be taught?” There it was again. The “R” word. Here’s the deal when it comes to resilience: No, you can’t learn to become more resilient. Sure, you can get a better understanding of the concept of resilience by studying it. But you can study it as much as you like; that alone won’t make you more resilient. To become more resilient, you must practice resilience. How? Like this: You don’t feel like going to the gym, so you don’t go. Will this make you more resilient to the weight of the weights on your next visit? No, absolutely not. Lifting weights is all about becoming more resilient. So, when faced with the decision of whether or not to go to the gym, a person practicing resilience goes. Your boss has this annoying habit of asking you to submit reports in the form of
6 HR UPDATE FALL 2014
an Excel spreadsheet. You hate Excel, and you’re not very good at it. So when he hands it back to you every time for the mistakes to be corrected, you fume inside, all bent out of shape on what a pedantic, demanding, so and so he’s being. (Hint: This is not leading you towards resilience.) What if you decided that it wasn’t good enough to be lacking in this skill, and took it upon yourself to increase your skill level with Excel? What if you turned yourself into an Excel superstar so that you became the go-to person on your team for spreadsheets? Would that make you more, or less valuable? Would that make you more, or less resilient in terms of weathering a storm in which people are being let go? You become more resilient through every decision you make, and every action you take. It’s got nothing to do with what you know, and everything to do with what you do. In fact, it’s often what we know, the falling back upon “this is how we’ve always done it,” that leads towards less resilience. Now, is it just me, or does it drive you crazy when you get caught up in somebody
else’s process – a process that turns a simple exchange into an excruciating, drawn out waste of time? You know what I’m taking about: the bank that insists you come in to sign some papers, the lining-up at the registry office to register a vehicle, picking up a form that should be available online, among so many others. All of these things put the process ahead of the outcome, and the outcome should be that the customer gets what they need with minimal interference.
HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO RESILIENCE? I will always gravitate towards businesses that shape their processes around what I need. Sure, there are the internal, behindthe-scenes systems that need to exist, but that’s where they should stay – behind-thescenes. I’m less likely to look elsewhere if I’m doing business with a company prepared to adapt to the changing needs of their customers and clients, which makes them naturally more resilient because we have less of a reason to look elsewhere, than if we’re constantly frustrated in our interactions. Now, let’s take a moment to look at resilience from another angle. Imagine for
a moment that the circle around the person in the diagram below is your comfort zone. You’re able to handle pretty much anything that comes at you within that circle. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “That circle doesn’t look very big.” Exactly. This is why I would encourage taking steps to push that comfort zone outwards, so that you can handle more of the situations that threaten to overwhelm or defeat you. Now, for you, pushing that comfort zone outwards may be related to the two examples above, either lifting weights or developing further skills. Let me share for a moment what it looked like for me, and how the “Return on Resilience” in my case was life itself. In April 1997, I spent two days trapped beneath a one-ton slab of rock, resulting in the amputation of both legs at mid-thigh. I survived (obviously), but had to learn to live in a very different world. I had to learn how to walk again (on prosthetic legs), how to use a wheelchair, drive a car, swim, and the list goes on. Now, you might say that going through an accident like that, and facing all of those challenges afterwards, would build resilience in a person – and you’d be partly correct. I say partly because the reason I survived,
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HRPAOTTAWA.CA and the reason I adapted so well after the accident, is because I’d already been in the business of practicing resilience long before that rock fell into my lap. That’s the secret of resilience right there – it’s the effort we put in prior to any kind of crisis that determines, to a large extent, the outcome. Once you’re in a position where you need to be resilient, it’s too late. You’ve only got what you’ve got. It’s like being on a trip, and suddenly needing something you left at home, and it’s too late. That’s resilience. Let me explain further. I’ve had many, many people tell me that they don’t know how I survived trapped under that rock for two days. How just being exposed to the elements would make some people want to give up. That part wasn’t a problem for me, as I’ve spent much time exposed to the elements through long hikes on the west coast of Tasmania, where you would often go to bed in wet clothes in the hope of drying them out with your body heat overnight, or sleeping in dry clothes only to face the daunting prospect of putting wet clothes on the next morning. Battling through scrub so thick that your speed is reduced to moving 100 meters an hour. Carrying everything you need on your back, and searching for water. All of these things build resilience. Those experiences built enough resilience for me that when my ultimate test came, things that could have added a great deal of stress to my situation were non-issues. Now, I’m not suggesting that you need to go out and spend time being uncomfortable in the backcountry to build resilience (though it certainly wouldn’t hurt) – what I’m saying is that if you’re interested in building resilience, you’re going to have to start practicing things that make you uncomfortable that push or pull you out of your comfort zone. That practice may involve developing new skills. It may involve getting in better shape. Whatever it is, know also that there’s a flow-on effect when we get in the habit of building resilience – practicing resilience in one area of our lives tends to make us more resilient in others. When we practice resilience, we are sending a message to our bodies, mind, and spirit that says: “This is who I am. I’m a person who can deal with what comes my way. I’m not here to live inside that smaller circle. And while things and events may come along, and perhaps even knock me down, you just watch me get back up again!” So perhaps a better answer to the question: “Can we learn to become more resilient?” is, “Yes, we can,” by learning to hold ourselves accountable for the decisions we make, and by recognizing that opportunities to become more (or less) resilient are served up each and every day. The choice, as always, is yours. Warren Macdonald works with organizations and associations looking to foster “out-of-the-box” thinking; the kind of thinking that led him to become the first double above-knee amputee to climb Mount Kilimanjaro; the kind of thinking that empowers potential and inspires you to grow and prosper. He has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, and The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos. Visit www.warren-macdonald.com to learn more.
Making a Difference in Our Communities! Ottawa, Algoma, North Bay, Northwestern Ontario, Northumberland, Timmins and Sudbury Chapters
Over the past several years, the HRPA Ottawa Chapter has run a very successful Mentoring Program. Traditionally, calls went out in September to invite members to participate as either a Mentor, a Mentee, or in the Career Interest Group. Matches were made by the Committee, based on information collected through a survey completed by each participant. Once the matches were made, the season was launched with a kick-off event – a wonderful opportunity for Mentees and Mentors to meet one another, and the rest of the mentoring community. The paired matches discussed goals and completed an agreement that included, among other things, a term commitment that lasted until the end of May. We deeply thank our past participants for your valued contributions towards the success of the program. Several members shared their appreciation with us: • “My mentor was excellent at keeping in touch and providing support!” – Mentee •
“I found the experience to be rewarding, and it gave me an opportunity to give back to the profession.” – Mentor
•
“I learned a lot from my mentee about new technology in HR, and views of her generation about the workplace.” – Mentor
•
“I found it beneficial to share work experiences and practices.” – Mentee
This year, we are very excited to launch an expanded version of the program, with new features! The Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA) has partnered with MentorCity, a Canadian organization that has developed
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an online mentoring platform that makes it easy to connect Mentors and Mentees in meaningful mentoring relationships. The Ottawa Chapter has joined forces with the Algoma, North Bay, Northwestern Ontario, Northumberland, Timmins, and Sudbury Chapters to form one mentoring community. Through this partnership, we are able to strengthen connections and open our networks to different geographical locations. Some additional highlights of the new Mentoring program include: •
Allows Mentors and Mentees to find their own match through online self-matching;
•
Allows for greater flexibility in contract duration, as there is no longer a “fixed term” of September to May of each year. Participants can enter into shorter, or longer Agreements, as necessary to meet their goals;
•
Variety of options to connect Mentors and Mentees including email, phone, online, face-to-face, Skype, among others;
•
Access to MentorCity’s resource centre filled with materials to support successful mentoring relationships; and
•
Access to discussion boards through MentorCity, where Mentors and Mentees can share experiences, ideas, and resources with other Mentors and Mentees.
Both Mentors and Mentees who engage in a formal mentoring relationship (who complete a Mentoring Agreement) are eligible to earn Certified Professional Development (CPD) hours towards their CHRP recertification. For details, please visit the Office of the Registrar webpage at www.hrpa.ca. The mentoring relationship is a partnership between a Mentor and Mentee, where the goal is to support the professional development of human resources professionals and nurture growth. The Mentee’s professional development will be enriched through the guidance, knowledge, and experience of the
Mentor, along with various networking events and group discussions. The Program is open to all HRPA members in good standing, from the Ottawa and Northern Ontario Chapters. We encourage all members to consider joining the Mentoring Community – a particular callout at this time to our experienced HR professionals, to populate the Mentor profiles. This will help meet the needs of the vast number of anticipated Mentees. We anticipate that, at the onset, there may be insufficient numbers of active Mentors to meet the needs of our Mentees. Should this occur, we encourage participants to remain active on the MentorCity site, making use of the resource material and discussion boards until your search for a match is complete. In the past, the Ottawa Chapter also engaged our students, those who have not yet worked in HR, or those transitioning to a role in HR, an opportunity to meet regularly to address different topics. Although members of this group may not be eligible to form a formal mentorship pairing, we encourage your participation in MentorCity to make use of their various resources and discussion boards. We ask that discussions remain HR-focused, and not to be used for job postings or job searches. We are very excited about the launch of the self-matching platform, as this provides greater flexibility to meet member needs in that matches can now be made for a minimum contract duration potentially allowing multiple pairings for both mentors and mentees within a calendar year. The online platform provides participants with the flexibility to add and remove themselves from the mentoring community program based on their availability. To all our past mentoring participants, we hope that you will continue in the program, and welcome your feedback and suggestions. Check the HRPA websites of the participating Chapters for additional information about the program, and how to register. Submitted by Carol Brochu and Nadia Falcone, who are members of the Mentoring Committee.
FALL 2014 HR UPDATE 7
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FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL:
Employers are Required to Accommodate Family Obligations I
n May 2014, the Federal Court of Appeal confirmed that human rights law requires employers to accommodate the family obligations of their employees. The Court’s decision in Canada (Attorney General) v Johnstone, 2014 FCA 110, dealt with an employee’s request for a fixed-shift schedule that was compatible with her childcare needs. In finding that Ms. Johnstone had been discriminated against, the Court provided important clarity to this area of the law: the Court rejected the view that an employee’s childcare needs are mere “personal choices” that the employer has no obligation to accommodate. The Court also dismissed the notion that an employer is only required to accommodate an employee when the failure to do so would “seriously interfere” with the employee’s parental obligations. This decision provides employees and employers with greater certainty as to their rights and responsibilities in addressing family obligations.
depend on the circumstances of each case. The employer may also need to temporarily accommodate an employee while he or she makes such efforts.
ADDITIONAL ISSUES IN ACCOMMODATING FAMILY OBLIGATIONS
MS. JOHNSTONE’S REQUEST FOR ACCOMMODATION Fiona Johnstone worked for Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) as a Border Services Officer at Pearson Airport. Operations at Pearson are such that she could be scheduled to work anytime 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As a result, Ms. Johnston and her husband (who also worked at Pearson) were subject to a rotating shift schedule that was irregular and unpredictable. Ms. Johnstone was unable to find daycare that could fit with her family’s work schedule and requested a fixed-shift schedule from her employer. CBSA rejected her request, stating that it had no obligation to accommodate her personal choices. She was told that she would only be assigned to a fixed-shift schedule if she agreed to reduce her status from full-time to part-time. Ms. Johnstone filed a human rights complaint, challenging the employer’s failure to accommodate her childcare needs. Her complaint was upheld by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, which awarded her lost wages, as well as damages for pain and suffering and the employer’s willful and reckless behaviour. The Tribunal’s decision was broadly affirmed by the Federal Court.
THE FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL’S DECISION In its unanimous decision upholding the decision of the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal clarified a number of important aspects of this developing area of law. First, there is no longer any doubt that the protection of family status in human rights legislation requires employers
The Federal Court of Appeal’s decision in Johnstone follows the general trend in recent decisions that have interpreted family status obligations in a broad manner. For instance, in Devaney v ZRV Holdings Ltd, 2012 HRTO 1590, a case cited approvingly in Johnstone, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ruled that the obligations protected by family status include an employee’s eldercare obligations. Similarly, the Federal Court of Appeal in Canadian National Railway Company v Seeley, 2014 FCA 111, upheld the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s ruling that the employer had discriminated against Ms. Seeley by terminating her because she was unable to temporarily relocate to Vancouver, as required by the collective agreement. In light of these decisions, employers must listen with an open mind to employee requests for accommodation, and take necessary steps to assist employees in addressing these issues. One area that requires further exploration is when an accommodation on the ground of family status would cause the employer undue hardship. In most family status cases to date, the employer made little, if any, effort to accommodate the employee, claiming instead that it was under no obligation to do so. As a result, very few decisions have addressed the question of whether an employer could have accommodated the employee without suffering undue hardship. Although CBSA did not advance its undue hardship argument on appeal, the Tribunal’s decision Appeal rejected this approach, and ruled in Johnstone confirmed the high standard that the test for family status discrimination necessary to prove undue hardship, as well should be substantially the same as the other as the need for an individual assessment of grounds of discrimination, concluding that an employee’s needs. The precise scope of there are “no hierarchies of human rights.” the duty to accommodate in this area will Simply put: any non-trivial interference likely be fleshed-out in future cases, now with an employee’s family obligations is that employers are fully on notice of their discriminatory. obligations. However, in light of Johnstone Third, the Federal Court of Appeal and similar cases, employers who fail to recognized that an employee must make undertake an individualized assessment, reasonable efforts to resolve conflicts and instead rely on vague concerns about between work and family obligations opening the “floodgates” of accommodation before seeking accommodation from their requests, do so at their peril. employer. This may mean, for example, that if an employee’s preferred daycare does not Andrew Astritis a Partner with have hours that fit with her schedule, she Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & would be required find a daycare that does, Yazbeck in Ottawa, practicing in the before requesting a shift change. The extent areas of labour, administrative, of this obligation on the employee will human rights, and constitutional law.
In most family status cases to date, the employer made little, if any, effort to accommodate the employee, claiming instead that it was under no obligation to do so. to accommodate the legal obligations employees have towards their children, including an employee’s obligation to provide care for a child. While this duty to accommodate does not include “voluntary family activities,” such as sporting events or family trips, core parental obligations fit squarely within this requirement. Second, there is no distinct, higher threshold for discrimination on the ground of family status. CBSA took the position that it had not discriminated against Ms. Johnstone as it had provided her with a fixed-shift schedule that, while part-time, satisfied her parental obligations. In doing so, it relied on a restrictive test articulated in British Columbia jurisprudence, requiring “serious interference” with the employee’s family obligations. The Federal Court of
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hrpaottawa.ca LEADING FOR INCLUSION:
Adapting to Differences and Unconscious Bias The Intercultural Development Inventory
E
ngaging leadership teams in the journey to Inclusive Leadership in global and national organizations is often challenging. However, if there is a willingness to make changes based on client requests and requirements, the drivers must start assessing where the gaps are in the organization, and why the demographic is not also changing to reflect population trends. Several years ago, I was part of a project in the United States where all the leaders in a very large and influential global organization were required to attend a fullday leadership course and diversity training. Prior to the start of the course, the leaders had to complete the Intercultural Development Inventory© (IDI©), and all facilitators on the team had to be qualified by the IDI Institute as Qualified Administrators (QA). Dr. Mitchell Hammer developed this instrument, which is now available in
fifteen languages and used by public and private institutions across the world. The instrument has assessed thousands of people across cultures, and is statistically highly validated. The scientific evidence for this assessment provides credibility and a compelling argument where there is cynicism. The IDI process works extremely well and is completed in three parts. The first, an online assessment, takes less than thirty minutes to complete, and measures both an individuals’ perceived orientation and developmental orientation to difference along a continuum. The continuum measures mindset stages, from Denial of Difference to Adaptation, and explores both the Monocultural and Global Mindsets. During the second part of the process, a group debrief of the results is conducted, and the group score is shared. The group also sees the gap between their perceived and developmental orientations, and a facilitator-led conversation provides suggestions on what the group/team can do to bridge the gap. In this live class environment, the team
has an opportunity to learn about how unconscious bias can lead to unintentional exclusion. Using examples from research, unconscious bias as a concept is discussed and applied to practical situations. Based on the team’s interest or occupation-specific requirements, we work closely with the group to develop case studies providing the practical application of the impact of different stages on the continuum. The examples provided are very real and reflect demographic changes, and challenges and opportunities both nationally and globally, enabling the team to
gain valuable insight into their mindset with regard to these changes, as a group and as individuals. The third and final stage of the IDI process includes an individual coaching session, typically completed by phone. During this confidential debrief, the Qualified Administrator spends up to an hour with each participant to debrief their individual profile, and provide recommendations based on the development plan which accompanies each IDI report. The individual debrief is highly appreciated, as it provides individuals with an opportunity to reflect on their early patterning and how their upbringing and exposure to differences – all dimensions of difference, impacts their comfort with difference as a leader. The experience of the leadership team in the United States using the IDI was very positive. They have continued to use the IDI with additional levels of directors and managers within the organization. Laraine Kaminsky is President and CEO of Global LK, an Ottawa-based consulting and training company focusing on diversity, inclusion, unconscious bias, and cross-cultural and multi-generational trends in organizations and associations. Visit her website at www.globallk.com.
When workplace conflict arises, trust Andrew to help. WORKPLACE MEDIATIONS AND INVESTIGATIONS must be conducted with expertise and a patient, sensitive approach. Professional neutral parties only succeed by showing fairness and earning trust. Andrew Tremayne is an arbitrator, mediator and independent investigator now practicing in the Province of Ontario. He brings years of experience in workplace law and a full spectrum of alternative dispute resolution techniques to every case. Working with Andrew means you can expect an engaged, professional third party to assist you. To learn more about Andrew and his services, and to check his availability, visit AndrewTremayne.com
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ou know you can trust a technology platform when the people who created it used it to build their own business into one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies. Over the past decade, Quebec’s MOMENTUM TECHNOLOGIES has grown from a handful of staff into a diverse team of more than 120 consultants that is expanding across Canada. MOMENTUM works with small to mid-sized businesses to make their teams work better, using the latest enterprise solutions from Oracle and the capabilities of Java. At any time, about 80 per cent of the MOMENTUM team is working offsite with clients. From day one, the company needed a collaboration platform to manage its processes, optimize its operations and automate routine administration tasks. “The best way for us to grow was to create our own professional services automation platform that would provide the benefits of larger enterprise resource planning and business intelligence systems, but scaled down to our needs,” said Michel Ganache, President of MOMENTUM. MANITOU was born. Ganache and his team soon realized MANITOU could address a gap in the market for private and public sector organizations with 50 to 1,000 staff. Today, MANITOU has evolved into a scaleable cloud-based platform that offers the benefits of larger enterprise platforms, without the hefty price tag or the complexity. MANITOU handles everything from timesheets, payroll and billing, to staff recruitment and retention. MOMENTUM
even uses it as an internal Intranet. MANITOU is designed with ease of use in mind, so business users can customize the system to suit their needs, without having to lean on the IT department.
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“Without MANITOU, it would take three or four people to do my job,” Nicolas Clusiault Director of Human Resources
12 HR UPDATE FALL 2014
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HR Metrics: Workforce Intelligence for Your CEO Tim McConnell, MPA, SPHR, CMC, Managing Partner, McConnell HR Consulting Inc. SALA SAN MARCO, 215 PRESTON STREET, OTTAWA
Got a Workplace Investigation? Hire an External Investigator W
orkplace bullying or abuse, alleged discrimination or harassment, inappropriate use of the internet or social media, damages to or theft of company property, fraud, breaches of corporate policy, or breaking the law while on the job are all triggers for a workplace investigation. Often, if the issue seems minor, managers will resolve the matter using informal discussions with the individual(s) involved. However, when the situation appears serious, employers frequently rely upon Human Resources or senior employees to conduct an internal investigation. Sometimes, having an employer deal directly with the problem is not the best approach. Informal discussions can easily break down. Managers inexperienced with investigative techniques may miss critical steps in the process. Employees won’t always open up to senior management, and key information can be missed. Any of these can make matters worse, and may even leave the employer open to costly challenges in the courts. Retaining an external investigator to carry out the investigation can get the job done thoroughly, and even protect the employer from future legal challenges. When the allegations are serious, and the stakes are high, the courts will intensely scrutinize how the employer carried out the investigation. One of the first elements of an investigation courts will examine is neutrality, and external investigators are more likely to be seen as impartial. Internal investigators may feel pressured to report what his or her employer wants to hear, or have long-standing relationships with the parties, which biases their perception of what took place. Internal investigators have other work-related duties and responsibilities, which can distract their focus from the investigation or cut investigative time short. The investigator must be trained in investigative techniques (interviewing, gathering evidence, assessing credibility, and weighing corroborative, circumstantial, and similar fact evidence), and know how to apply the principles of procedural fairness. The investigator must also be able to determine when forensic expertise is required to gather, preserve, and analyze evidence, as well as how to deal appropriately with uncooperative witnesses, retaliation against co-workers, privacy issues, and third parties seeking to meddle in or control the investigation. Complaints of employee wrongdoing can seriously hurt workplace morale. In the absence of a comprehensive, impartial
supervisor told the offending co-workers to stop, but the improvement was short-lived. When the employee complained again, the supervisor suggested that he should try taking a different attitude with the people who were bothering him, or request a transfer. The supervisor also told him he wouldn’t support him if he made a formal complaint, and warned him he could get fired for doing so. The employee went on sick leave and was treated for depression. The employee sued for constructive dismissal, claiming that Kraft had failed to address his complaint. In response, HR interviewed the supervisor, who was a longservice employee and well-liked in the plant. The supervisor downplayed the employee’s claims, and made critical comments about the employee’s performance. He also suggested that the employee was on sick leave for reasons other than the workplace harassment. HR interviewed a few other supervisors, none of whom had had much contact with the employee, but did not speak to the four alleged harassers or other nightshift workers who might have witnessed the harassment. It was a significant mistake for the investigator to take the supervisor’s word at face value. The Court indicated that the investigation had not been neutral. Kraft Canada was ordered to pay the employee one year’s salary for constructive dismissal. This case shows how conducting an investigation with in-house resources, especially when the investigator has a longstanding relationship with interviewees, can lead to bias.
ELGERT V. HOME HARDWARE (2011)
An employer who fails to conduct a fair and thorough investigation into allegations of wrongdoing will risk creating more toxicity in the workplace. investigation, the employer risks taking action based on an incomplete or inaccurate assessment of the situation. An employer who fails to conduct a fair and thorough investigation into allegations of wrongdoing will risk creating more toxicity in the workplace. The field of workplace investigations is entirely unregulated in Ontario. There is no requirement for licensing, formal training, or mandatory on-the-job experience. Consequently, employers have a lot of choice in terms of whom they can retain to carry out an investigation. A Google search will bring results naming HR practitioners, private investigators, arbitrators, and mediators. Some lawyers, who specialize in labour law, also do investigations, although attorney-
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client privilege does not always apply. Before you assign HR or another individual in your organization to conduct your investigation, ask if this person has the requisite training and investigative experience in handling whatever it is that has required you to take action. In the longterm, it may be very worth your while to retain the expertise of a qualified, external provider. Below are two examples of what happens when investigations are not well done.
KRAFT CANADA V. DISOTELL (2010) A night shift employee came forward saying that he had been subjected to harassing behaviour, some of it sexual in nature. His
The Home Hardware distribution centre in Wetaskiwin, Alberta terminated a seventeenyear supervisor for accosting one of his female subordinates. She alleged he had bumped into her, knocking her backwards onto a couch, and landing with his legs between hers. An HR manager interviewed the complainant, who identified a witness to the incident. After talking with the witness, the HR manager met with the supervisor, and took the “You know what you did” approach. When the supervisor would not own up to his behaviour, the HR manager suspended him on the spot. Further investigation revealed that the female subordinate had made up the story to retaliate against the supervisor for giving her poor performance reviews. She had also engaged her co-worker to back her up on the story. Damages were initially in the $500,000 range, although were reduced after appeal. Margaret Michaels in an Ottawabased workplace investigator. She is Chair of the Canadian Chapter of the Association of Workplace Investigators, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing professionalism in workplace investigations (www.aowi.org). Ms. Michaels would like to acknowledge the contribution of Andrew Tremayne, Ottawa lawyer and investigator, in providing case law references for this article.
FALL 2014 HR UPDATE 13
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LEADERSHIP INTERVIEW Marcel Desjardins, General Manager, Ottawa REDBLACKS
W
e had the opportunity to sit down with Marcel Desjardins, General Manager of the Ottawa REDBLACKS, to learn how HR is applied and utilized within a major professional sports league team. Marcel Desjardins was hired by the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) to be the first general manager in franchise history on January 29, 2013. He is responsible for the coordination of all player and personnel matters with the REDBLACKS and oversees the team’s recruiting and drafting functions, including the CFL Draft and the REDBLACKS’ efforts during the 2013 CFL Expansion Draft last December. Prior to the REDBLACKS, Desjardins spent 10 seasons with the Montreal Alouettes as assistant GM under Jim Popp. He also served as GM of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats during the 2007 season. Desjardins arrived in Montreal in 1999, and served as the Alouettes’ assistant director of football operations. He worked in the CFL head office in Toronto for five years in the football operations and communications offices. Desjardins earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a specialization in sports administration at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, prior to joining the CFL. He has sports industry experience prior to the CFL with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League and the Canada Games Council. Born in Burlington, Ontario, Desjardins is fluently bilingual and attended French-language elementary school and high school. He and his wife, Michelle, have been married since 1996.
What are the top three skills or abilities that a general manager of a professional sports team should have?
MD: A GM of a professional sports team must have patience and vision. Our players are learning to be professionals in a new league, and for some, in a new country with new rules. This entails multiple layers of learning, all of which are pieces of the puzzle in establishing a new team. Every individual involved experiences a learning curve in this process – we’ve all come from places where we’ve seen success, and it is crucial that we do not deviate from what we’re doing right. From there, we can continue to grow and develop as both a team, and an organization. Secondly, the ability to identify talent is paramount, and an effort that must be taken as a collective group. You must know what you’re looking for in a player, what type of organization you want, and be able to identify if the individual is a fit for both the REDBLACKS, and the CFL. Professional sports teams are unique in that the rosters are always evolving – we must ensure that we have a pipeline of talent available, and to do so, you have to be ahead of the curve and have a solid understanding of the current market. We are a relatively small team, and as such, we do as much as possible to ensure that our players have the tools and resources they need to succeed, both individually, and as a team. Finally, a GM must be able to adapt to a continually evolving environment. To do so, they must have a strong understanding
of their environment. Each player brings a unique personality to the field. Achieving a balance between competitive integrity, with the philosophy of treating your players well, is key to a successful organization.
standards and practices, and the roles of the players. We continue to evolve, and take care of our players.
What has been your greatest challenge as a manager?
MD: My greatest mentor is Jim Popp, who is currently the GM of the Montreal Alouettes. Over the past 12 years, I’ve learned a great deal from Jim, both from a football perspective and as a manager. Jim has helped me instill a thought process that is both innovative and proactive. In our business, you must think outside of the box, and be agile in adapting to change. Jim Popp has been a true inspiration to me – with a mindset to always believe in what you are doing. Believing in yourself and your role
MD: As a manager, my greatest challenge, while also a learning experience, has been establishing all elements of the team from the ground up. This has entailed some a-typical tasks. In some ways, similar to HR, you have to be a generalist that is able to adapt to the changing environment, along with working in all facets of the business. In establishing the REDBLACKS, I educated those involved on collective bargaining, the CFL environment,
Who are your mentors, and how have they shaped your management style?
has helped me learn and grow as a manager. From a people side of things, I’ve learned the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people – people that are driven to achieve success, both professionally and personally.
How to Deal With Problem People One of the greatest struggles HR professionals deal with are negative or underperforming employees. Let’s face it: your company’s personality is the sum of all the people working in your company. So let me ask you quite simply: Are you the people problem in your organization? There are hundreds of “people issues” we deal with in organizations each and every day. To name a few: • The staff member that likes to bring personal drama to work every day; • A person who lies, cheats or deceives; • The employee that makes lots of mistakes and/or is incompetent; • Someone that resists positive change; • The happy employee that’s always extremely “busy,” but doesn’t accomplish much that’s worthwhile; and • The once fabulous team member that has slipped into mediocrity. To compound the situation, most business owners and HR employees will make excuses as to why they are not dealing with the situation head on. Be honest, have you ever made any of these excuses? • No time; • Too busy; • The person may quit anyway; • Nobody’s perfect; • I don’t like conflict; • He/she will only make excuses and be offended, and it won’t work anyway; and • I don’t want to be too critical. We know logically that this approach can be costly. It can create unnecessary costs, pose mental health risks to employees, result in lost productivity,
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and can escalate if left unresolved. It stays on the endless “to-do” list for fear of the consequences. No one really enjoys confrontation – it’s human nature. We want to avoid it completely. If you are not addressing the “people” issue in the company, you could be doing your organization more harm than good. It is important to identify ways you can handle difficult individuals, and in turn, make your organization stronger. It is time to be courageous, and get to the root of the problem. So, now what do you do? Take action with the following steps: STEP 1: Outline the issue with the person. It should go a little something like this: This is the issue on the table. Here is why it is important. This is my desired outcome. Here is everything you need to know about the issue. These are the options I have considered or tried. Here is what I need from you today. STEP 2: Schedule a meeting with the “problem person.” When the time comes, inform the person that you are going to have a discussion with them. Inform them that this conversation is not meant to hurt their feelings – it is meant to be constructive. Let them know you are having a conversation in the hopes to help the company, and to help them grow as an individual. STEP 3: Be frank with them. Be as unemotional as possible here. This is the reason we outlined the issue in Step 1. Be honest, and do not let it escalate. Remember that the goal of this meeting is not to point a finger, or prove someone is doing something
wrong, it is to help the individual learn and grow. STEP 4: Reach an agreement about the issue. This meeting cannot come to an end until you both are on the same page about the problem. It needs to be clearly identified in an unemotional manner, and specified as to why it is an issue. Finally, you must establish an action plan on how the issue will be solved. You need to have VERY specific action steps to leave the meeting with. STEP 5: Follow-Up! It is not enough to leave that meeting with action steps outlined, and never think of it again. You need to followup with that person every step of the way. Remember that the point of the follow-up is not to catch them not doing what they are supposed to be doing. The point of the follow-up is to uncover what issues or hurdles have arose in the meantime. Then, you are equipped to help coach them through the next step. To help resolve people problems in your organization, you need to take on a coaching role, rather than a disciplinary role. People do not wake up in the morning and immediately think to themselves: “I can’t wait to be a pain in the behind to everyone around me today!” That doesn’t make any sense. The more likely case is that your problem people want to be valuable, and contribute to the organization. They just need help – YOUR HELP! Adam Dufresne is a Licensed Professional Business Coach (LPBC) with Rhapsody Strategies in Ottawa. He may be reached via email at adufresne@rhapsodystrategies.com.
FALL 2014 HR UPDATE 15
04/ 30/ 2015
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OF A VP OF HR
Soley Soucie,
Senior Manager, Eastern Region, Hays Canada SALA SAN MARCO, 215 PRESTON STREET, OTTAWA
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THESE ARE MORE THAN JUST ABBREVIATIONS.
CWOCN, CPNP, CSRN, CLS, CD, CCST, CCSP, CCNS, CCES, CCC-SLP, CCC-A, CBI, CBE, BC-PCM, APMC, AEMSN, ADN, ACP, SCT, RTR, REEGT, OTR/L, MSc, MBBS, DMV, CRNH
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Our members told us it was important that HR designations be as credible and valued by employers as other professional designations. We agreed, so HRPA set out to make it happen. We are updating our competency framework and designations to address changes in workplace legislation and the growing demands placed on HR professionals by organizations.
The journey begins: www.hrpa.ca/designations
16 HR UPDATE FALL 2014
THE HUMAN RESOURCE PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION OTTAWA CHAPTER PUBLICATION •
@OttawaHRPA
“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.” — STEPHEN R. COVEY
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
Get the Employees You Want! A
s a business advisor, one of the most common complaints I hear from small business owners is that they just can’t find good employees, let alone great ones. Of course, they never consider for a moment that their hiring process is at fault or at least lacking. Most business owners are notorious for waiting too long to increase their headcount, and assume that the increased workload can just be absorbed by either themselves or their existing staff. By the time they realize their decision is not sustainable, they are overworked and stressed, and are now in a panic to find additional staff. At this point, any warm body will do. That may be an exaggeration, but being desperate to relieve the pressure, their judgment may not be as acute as it should be. To compound the situation, most small business owners have no training in the hiring process, and rely on their past experiences to form the basis of their interview process. This is not very effective if they continually end up with the same results. Layer on the fact that most owners don’t enjoy the process in first place, the risk of making a bad hire increases exponentially. What most owners don’t realize is the financial impact a bad hire can have on a company. What they don’t calculate is all the time and effort that goes into the hiring process in the first place. When you consider how many hours go into writing the ad placement, reviewing the resumes, interviewing the candidates, and finally selecting a candidate, the effort required can be significant. Add to that the initial distraction a new person brings to a business, as they learn their new position, will also impact productivity. And in their rush to relieve the pressure, what many owners don’t consider is that if this individual doesn’t work out, the whole process starts all over again. How much does that cost? So, can a small business make better hiring decisions? Here are five steps to increasing your success rate:
PLAN TO HIRE EARLIER
Ottawa’s Go-to Training Provider for over 30 Years What most owners don’t realize is the financial impact a bad hire can have on a company. What they don’t calculate is all the time and effort that goes into the hiring process in the first place. knowledge that you can provide additional training on. You need to know before you begin interviewing, otherwise you will start to justify the candidate’s shortcomings, and settle for a lesser-qualified candidate.
PREPARE FOR THE INTERVIEW Don’t do like most owners, and assume you’ll just wing it. You need to prepare a list of questions you’re going to ask each candidate. Asking each candidate the same question provides consistency. There are significant resources available to you on the Internet to help you establish a great list of questions.
As small business owners, it is said that we hire six months too late. For the reasons stated above, this puts us in a desperate situation, and therefore impacts our decision-making. Most of us know when we need to increase our staff, but THE TWO-PERSON we’re just too afraid of making the commitment INTERVIEW until we are forced to by circumstances. Listen to I always recommend to owners that there your instincts and give yourself some breathing should be at least two people in the room when room to find the right person. interviewing any candidate. The second person does not really participate in the interaction, KNOW WHAT YOU WANT but is there as an observer and scribe. The Quit guessing or winging it. Hiring is a serious reasons why are fairly simple. I have found that responsibility and cannot be left to chance. You when leading an interview, we are sometimes need to steal yourself away and find some quiet so wrapped up in the whole process that time to write out exactly what you are looking we miss subtle nuisances projected by the for in your new hire. What are their duties going candidate. It becomes the responsibility of the to be? What personality traits would your ideal second individual in the room to pick up on candidate possess? If customer-focused, they those items (good, bad, or indifferent). This most certainly need to be friendly and outgoing. person also serves as a sounding board for What skills are required? You need to prioritize your determinations and may offer a different them. Some of these skills are minimum interpretation. If you don’t have an existing requirements, while others can be working employee that can fill that role, ask a trusted @OttawaHRPA • THE HUMAN RESOURCE PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION OTTAWA CHAPTER PUBLICATION
friend or business acquaintance to assist you.
APPLY THE 80/20 RULE This is a much-overlooked rule when it comes to the interview process. You are there to listen to the candidate sell/convince you that they are the right person for the position, and not the other way around. Too often owners get so wrapped up in telling the candidate how great their company is that they never let the person answer the question. The interviewee is supposed to do 80% of the talking, not you. Effective hiring is such a critical element to the success of any small business that everyone should have an HR professional on staff. Unfortunately, for most, this will never be a reality, as this remains the domain of much larger organizations, but that’s not to say they can’t leverage their expertise. If you find the whole hiring process a daunting task, there are many highly skilled HR consultants available to help business owners with this task. The associated costs with engaging a professional may be one of the best investments you can make. Greg Weatherdon is a Speaker and Business Advisor with MRG Media Inc. in Ottawa, and author of Get More LIFE Out Of Your Business. Visit his website at www.gregweatherdon.com.
We help clients improve organizational, team and individual effectiveness every day of the year through practical, results-oriented business skills training. Choose from:
Public WorkshoPs: 200 one or two-day open-enrollment business skills courses delivered in downtown Ottawa.
GrouP TraininG: delivered where and when you want for a surprisingly cost-effective price. Help your employees build competencies and raise their performance to new heights! Contact Sophie for more info: Tel: 613-234-2020, ext. 21 Email: sgouedard@pmctraining.com
www.pmctraining.com FALL 2014 HR UPDATE 17
Contributors wanted! For individuals interested in contributing to our June 2015 issue, articles must be submitted via email to updatemagazine@ hrpaottawa.ca by no later than May 8, 2015.
Specifications: Article Format 3 Articles must be sent in either .doc or. docx format
Headshots Word Count
+
3 Please ensure your article is no greater in length than 1000 words
+
3 JPEG format & 300 DPI, CMYK 3 Measuring no smaller than 2” x 3” 3 No cropping of the head area
Professional Development IT PAYS TO KNOW
Canadian Payroll Association Recommends Annual Year-end Tune-up OCTOBER 2014 Does your organization budget for CRA fines and penalties as part of their payroll year-end process? Of course not! Payroll year-end has to be correct and compliant, and that causes a great deal of worry for those with payroll responsibilities. One of their biggest concerns is about how not knowing could expose an organization to risk. Fortunately, it is a risk that can be managed with a strategy that includes a good year-end information resource. Those responsible for a payroll year-end in Canada, from beginners to seasoned professionals, should be aware of the Canadian Payroll Association’s (CPA) seminar Year-End and New Year Requirements. The CPA is a non-profit association relied upon by people working in payroll as the Canadian source for accurate and up-to-date payroll
compliance information, education and professional certifications. The CPA delivers hundreds of Professional Development Seminars across Canada each year and the annual year-end seminar is the most popular.
“People working in payroll appreciate just how complex payroll is. New legislation, revisions, interpretations and rate adjustments are the norm in payroll.” “This is the one course in our line-up that people take year after year,” says Cheryl Ball, CPM, Payroll Consultant at The CPA. “People working in payroll appreciate just how complex payroll is. New legislation, revisions, interpretations and rate adjustments are the norm in payroll. That’s why we hear them say that they worry about what they don’t know. The only way to deal with it is to be proactive.” For Ball “being proactive” means investing one day each year in a Professional Development Seminar that enhances compliance and makes the entire year, including year-end, go smoothly. This full-day seminar is suitable for those who have been through the year-end process. It provides all the necessary legislative updates, but in the context of a full year-end review that includes best practices and practical tips.
“Even though I had more than two decades of experience I would attend this course every year when I worked directly in payroll,” says Ball, who now delivers this comprehensive seminar as one of the CPA’s experienced facilitators. The CPA also has an introductory level year-end seminar called The Year-end Process: An Introduction. Those newer to payroll year-end would benefit from taking it before building the nextlevel seminar into their professional development plan. “The reality is that people in payroll want to do their job well. They strive for that perfect year-end. The good news is that when you have a work plan that ensures a proper set-up for the year, then you are ready for year-end when it arrives. It sets you up for a smooth year-end and you don’t have to waste time and energy worrying about what you don’t know. You can feel really confident in your work and so can everyone who depends on your knowledge.” The 2014 Year-end and New Year Requirements seminar is available on November 6 in Kanata and November 20 in Ottawa. A half-day Legislative Update: Year-end & New Year is offered November 28 in Ottawa.
For information on The Canadian Payroll Association’s Professional Development Seminars on Year-end and other topics, payroll Certification Programs, and the Benefits of Membership visit payroll.ca.
Cheryl Ball, CPM, Payroll Consultant, The Canadian Payroll Association payroll.ca 18 HR UPDATE FALL 2014
THE HUMAN RESOURCE PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION OTTAWA CHAPTER PUBLICATION •
@OttawaHRPA
“Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.” — JOHN C. MAXWELL
How “Vivid” is Your Company’s Vision? Years ago, I began teaching companies and their CEOs how to truly align employees. Most companies have a vision statement, a mission statement, and a bunch of core values. The problem is that often no one, including the CEO, actually believes in them. As a result, they can do more harm than good. For example: Take these 4 core values: integrity, communication, respect, and excellence. They sound good, right? And the vision statement: “To become the leading XYY company – creating innovative and efficient energy solutions for growing economies and a better environment worldwide.” Well, as it happens, those are the vision statement and core values of a company we’ve all heard of: Enron. Enough said. See, it’s not about having a vision statement, mission statement, and core values – it’s actually about whether you live by them. Do you hire people who live by them, are inspired by them, and would you fire people who break them? Do you turn away customers who don’t live them? How aligned are your employees, suppliers, and customers with them? I’ve worked with a lot of ambitious entrepreneurs and CEOs, both as a business coach and a mentor. They are a diverse group, from tech-savvy Silicon
Valley insiders, to CEOs of major blue chip companies. They’ve wanted a lot of different things, from more press to a better corporate culture. But underneath it all, they all really wanted the same thing: to make more money. What they realize is that the easiest and best way to do so is to align a team of great people. So, for all of them, I’ve taught them how to first create a Vivid VisionTM. A Vivid Vision is a detailed, three or four page document that lays out a clear, logical vision of what your company will look like in three years.
@OttawaHRPA • THE HUMAN RESOURCE PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION OTTAWA CHAPTER PUBLICATION
The Vivid Vision describes your company three years in the future. Pretend you got into a time machine, and visited your company three years in the future. What does it look like? How do your people act? What does each area of your organizational chart look like? What are your employees, customers, suppliers, and the media saying about you? Describe it all as if it’s happening. The CEO and leadership team have to figure out what the future looks like. That’s your Vivid Vision. The employees get to figure out “how” to make it happen. When completed, it’s meant to be woven into your organization’s culture, guiding your employees’ decision-making, and providing clear goals to strive for. This document clearly outlines what the future of your company looks like, including the vision statement, mission statement, and core values, so that potential employees reading it are either magnetized and pulled toward you, or repelled and pushed away. Either is fine, because it leaves no one in the middle. Everyone knows what you are building and why. Creating a Vivid Vision is an involved process that can take several months to establish, and requires ongoing communication. To be free of the dayto-day worries of running a business, CEOs and leadership teams need the freedom to visualize their future. If you’re going to write your Vivid Vision,
get out of your office, and go somewhere inspiring where you can let your mind wander (I wrote the Vivid Vision for my business from a hammock in my backyard). Turn off your computer to avoid the temptation of email or web surfing. Finally, get out of your comfort zone by thinking outside the box – choose whatever cliché works for you. Just be creative, even outlandish. You’ll be amazed at what you can come up with. It’s a definite way to create a fun and dynamic vision that you and your employees will strive for. I’ve helped with hundreds of Vivid Visions in my career, and the ones that really resonate in my mind share a few common traits. They forgo all the mind-numbing corporate doublespeak and restrictive, creativity-killing metrics, and get right to the heart of the exercise: “What is really possible for my company?” You can try to grow your company using the age-old vision statement, mission statement, and core values. Enron did too. But when you write a Vivid Vision, and align great people to help you make it happen, your dreams for a great company unfold. Try it. Make your dreams a reality. Start by simply describing in detail what the future really looks like, so your employees can make it come true. Cameron Herold is Founder of BackPocket COO, and author of Double Double.
FALL 2014 HR UPDATE 19
hrpaottawa on the go
Caregivers don’t always want to share their challenges with their colleagues or employers, and it is important for employers to understand why this might be. employers, and it is important for employers to understand why this might be. Some reasons include: feelings of guilt and shame, lack of knowledge about available options, lack of resources to pay for formal caregiving services, cultural differences that discourage assistance from outside the family, lack of services to meet their needs, and feelings of depression, among others. There are some simple things that employers can do to support employees who are caring for loved ones in their off-hours. These can also be applied to all employees to avoid forcing caregivers to reveal their personal situation.
WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS DO? •
•
•
When Your Employees Are Working for Someone Else M
ore and more each day, Claire* was coming to work already feeling exhausted and stressed, before even starting her work day. Her father had passed away the year prior, leaving Claire’s mother to live alone in the home they had shared for the past 20 years. Claire’s mother had several chronic illnesses that made it difficult for her to look after herself, or even leave the house. Still, she would not consider the idea of moving into an “old folks home,” as she called it. There was a nurse who would visit Claire’s mother weekly to help her bathe and take her medications. Claire was becoming more and more worried about her mother’s safety and mental health. Yet any time Claire tried to bring up the subject of having her mother move, it would become a bitter argument. So, over time, Claire had given in to taking on more and more of her mother’s care such as shopping, appointments, laundry, and banking.
20 HR UPDATE FALL 2014
This scenario might be too familiar to a surprising number of people in the workforce. Over 1 in 4 Canadians who work also take care of elderly friends or family members, and this will likely increase as baby boomers age. If caregivers in Canada were paid for their work, the cost of unpaid caregivers would be close to $25 billion annually. Caring for a loved one can be both rewarding and stressful. It is normal for caregivers to feel many different emotions. A caregiver learns new skills and builds a stronger relationship with their loved one. On the other hand, research has shown that caregivers have higher levels of depression and anxiety than non-caregivers. These feelings of stress, anxiety, exhaustion, or depressed mood, may ultimately have an impact on the caregiver’s paid job. It has been estimated that employers will lose $1.28 billion dollars each year due to
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SIGNS A CAREGIVER MAY NEED HELP • • • • • • • • • • •
Headaches Stomach problems Difficulty sleeping Muscle tension Lack of interest in activities Forgetfulness Difficulty relaxing Changes in eating habits Lack of energy Inability to concentrate Feeling depressed
caregivers who must take time off to care for a loved one. Caregivers don’t always want to share their challenges with their colleagues or
•
Offer flexible working hours and work arrangements. For example, allow employees to sometimes work from home or a different location – close to home if possible. Promote your employee health and wellness services such as Employee Assistance Programs. Ensure that employees can access these services confidentially. Encourage employees to use the services and alternate arrangements that are available to them. Workplaces where employees have physical or mental health issues are less productive and have lower employee retention rates. Offer family or personal leave provisions. If you already do this, consider whether the hours given are enough for an employee who is caring for a loved one at home. Learn about the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace. Gain a deeper understanding of what caregiving is like by reading our new online Caregiver Guide (www.ottawa.ca/ caregiverguide).
Being a caregiver can be a busy and complex time for employees. As an employer, there are many ways you can make this time easier for them. These simple steps can help your employees, and ultimately help your business. *
fictional name
Kathryn Robideau, RN, is a Public Health Nurse with the Ottawa Public Health, which provides health promotion services for adults in the workplace. For information about Workplace Health services, contact workplacehealth@ottawa.ca, or 613-580-6744 ext. 24197.
THE HUMAN RESOURCE PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION OTTAWA CHAPTER PUBLICATION •
@OttawaHRPA
“I believe in the adage: Hire people smarter than you and get out of their way.” — HOWARD SCHULTZE, CEO, STARBUCKS
tips from dispute resolution experts How can you be assertive without damaging relationships? The trick is to be soft on the people, hard on the problem. It doesn’t have to be me against you; it can be us against a problem and we can be rigorous in trying to solve the problem. Just because we disagree, it doesn’t mean we have to be disagreeable.
How can you become more persuasive? Strangely enough, the most persuasive thing you can do is to be open to be persuaded. It sounds illogical, but when you think about it, it’s not. If you want someone to be open to be persuaded by you, you have to be open to be persuaded by them.
When someone takes a position and doesn’t budge, what can you do?
TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR TIME
Tips to Eliminate Procrastination Are you making the best use of your time? The only way to have time is to make time. First of all, be action-oriented. The magic begins here. If you focus and take daily steps toward success, you start to feel good about yourself and your accomplishments. You are in control of your life and your attitude. You wake up each morning thankful for another day, and rain or shine, you will embrace the great feeling that today is going to be worthwhile. Why? Because you are going to do something today to bring your dream a little step closer to reality, and you are going to congratulate yourself for having done it. It all begins by becoming action-oriented. You need to harness a “do-it-now” attitude. The first two letters of the word goal are go. Now is the time to get going. Do not tell the world what you can do – show them! Avoid procrastination. Procrastination is the process of habitually putting things off. It is tempting to make excuses such as: “I don’t have the time,” “This could take forever,” or, “I’ll do it when I have a spare day.” Procrastination will cause you to miss deadlines and will undoubtedly lead to lost opportunities and income. It will lower productivity and increase wasted time. Procrastination will also lower your motivation, increase your stress level, and generate frustration and anger. Is this the way you want to live? Take control of your life now! Reverse the procrastination habit by being as clever about completing things, as you have been about putting them off. Don’t expect to find time to achieve your goals. The only way to have time is to make time. Start by committing to a “do-itnow” mentality. A “do-it-now” attitude makes you a self-
starter. Be that person who can recognize a need, and take appropriate action without waiting to be told. As a self-starter, you will avoid the pressure, frustration, and anxiety that stems from others telling you what and how to do things. You exercise your creativity by solving problems and doing the work. As a result, you are more productive. You take maximum advantage of every opportunity and your sense of timing sharpens. You seldom miss something you want due to tardiness. Your services are sought-after because of your professional reputation. This type of “do-it-now” attitude will also help you overcome your resistance to dealing with unpleasant tasks. Don’t delay your gratification by delaying those unpleasant tasks. By tackling them first, you get them over with and can get on with the more pleasant things in life. With an action-oriented, “do-it-now” attitude, you accomplish far more in your day. When you complete the unpleasant or hard jobs first, and act on the big tasks little bites at a time, you will trim your anxiety and stress-load, and gain self-respect and self-confidence. After you apply this type of discipline long enough, you will establish a routine and generate a new habit. Human-behaviour studies suggest that if you do something every day for 30 days, it will become a habit. Be consciously action-oriented for the next 30 days, and you will eliminate procrastination.
Try to change the focus away from positions and on to interests. A position is just a means to an end. An interest is the end. If you can find out what people’s interests are, you can get a better deal than if you just accept their position.
How do you convince someone that your proposal is ‘fair’? Fairness is a subjective concept and people have different ideas of fairness. One suggestion is to look to comparables, objective criteria, because people are more persuaded by an objective standard than by you saying that you think something is fair.
2015 Ottawa Workshop Dates Dealing With Difficult People Workshop February 18-20
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Workshop March 3-6, October 27-30
Advanced Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Workshop March 9-12
Applied Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Workshop March 24-27
Completion of the above four workshops and our two online courses (Negotiation and Difficult Conversations) will earn you the University of Windsor Law School Executive Certificate in Conflict Management. “Each day was packed with information. The and role playing (hands on) method of instruction was much more effective than the lecture format of other seminars.” - Gerry Walsh, HR, AOC Resins and Coatings Company
1.800.318.9741 | www.adr.ca | contact@adr.ca
Bob Urichuck is an internationally sought-after speaker, trainer-founder of the Buyer-Focused Velocity Selling System, and author in six languages.
@OttawaHRPA • THE HUMAN RESOURCE PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION OTTAWA CHAPTER PUBLICATION
FALL 2014 HR UPDATE 21
“The only vital value an enterprise has is the experience, skills, innovativeness, and insights of its people.” — LEIF EDVINSSON
BEYOND YOUR EXPERTISE
VP
CEO
DNA of a CFO, a survey of over 100 Canadian CFOs and interviews with other CFO leaders, indicated that CFOs today rank strategic planning, commercial understanding, and people management as the top three aspects of the CFO role. 100 per cent of today’s CFOs have experience in functional areas outside of finance. The DNA of a CIO, surveying over 100 CIOs in Canada, found that approximately 30 per cent of CIOs hold a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree, and an additional 31 per cent believe having an MBA is imperative to becoming an IT leader. Steve Heck, CIO of Microsoft Canada said: “IT is one of the few groups that see the business from end-to-end. If a CIO does not understand the full business, it’s hard to achieve the greatest impact. Those who are aspiring to be IT leaders must understand the inner workings of running a business.” In the DNA of a VP of HR report, based on results of over 100 survey
CIO
CEO
VP
CIO
T
he career path to a senior executive role in Canada isn’t a straightforward and obvious one, no matter the choice of profession one makes. As the Canadian job market evolves to keep up with the fast pace of the changing economy, the professional landscape and roadmap for aspiring professionals has modernized, demanding more than what is outlined in a job description. Hays Canada recently launched its DNA series, as part of its #WhatCouldYouBe campaign. This series looks at the career path to attaining a senior-level position in Canada, and most recently, the road to a CFO, CIO, or VP of HR position. The key commonality among all of these roles is the required business acumen. No longer can you become an executive, or the coveted “C-suite” level with expertise in solely your specialization. Today, executives across all disciplines are business leaders, and have a strong commercial understanding, an attuned understanding of their organization’s operations and lastly, diverse experience in multiple industries or functional areas that helps them apply their expertise to the goals of the organization. For example, based on the findings of the
CFO
Being a Business Leader: The Key to the Canadian Career Path
CFO
EVENT RECAP
The Emerging Talent Decade: What’s Really Happening in 2014. PRESENTED BY: IAN CULLWICK, CONFERENCE BOARD OF CANADA. PHOTOS BY COLE BURSTON
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Coming soon! JUNE 2015 respondents and interviews with HR leaders, both within and outside their area of expertise. the road to achieving a senior-level role in HR The Canadian job market is competitive is dependent on becoming a strategic partner and although there are significant shortages with the business. The report also indicated that of skilled candidates across many industries, today’s VPs of HR rank providing organizational employers are still being selective, looking goals, business partnering, and strategic to hire the right person for the role and planning as the top three important aspects of their business. For professionals who are the role. Interestingly, while CFOs have attained aspiring to senior-level roles, think outside experience in multiple industries and functional of the box, gain an understanding of the areas in order to build business and operational their business acumen, side of things, and examine “IT is one of the few VPs of HR have focused how you can apply your on obtaining experience area expertise to the overall groups that see the across all aspects of the business strategy. HR function. 100 per cent business from end-toTo employers, we of VPs of HR today have encourage you to include end. If a CIO does not experience in various your junior and middle understand the full areas of HR, including management-level staff in the change management, development and discussions business, it’s hard to administration, around the business strategy achieve the greatest compensation, and and organizational goals. leadership management. impact. Those who Providing your younger Approximately 50 per workforce with exposure to are aspiring to be IT cent of the VPs of HR the business strategy will help surveyed noted that their leaders must understand them develop their business HR experiences played acumen, while supporting the inner workings of a significant role in your succession plan. running a business.” securing their next job, more so than credentials — STEVE HECK, CIO, MICROSOFT To learn more or personality fit. about the career The key to path to becoming being a leader in a business setting means a CFO, CIO, or VP of HR, or to understanding the overall objectives, and learn about how to build contributing to the organization’s growth and successful teams in these areas, success. Professionals will achieve these higherplease contact Soley Soucie, level roles and be a true partner once they can Senior Manager, Eastern Region, influence and contribute to the strategic plan, Hays Recruiting, at soley. and have a view on how to improve the business, soucie@hays.com.
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