CPHR-MB Spring 2020

SPRING 2020 / VOL. 20, NO. 1

THE OFFICI A L PUBLICATION OF THE CH A R TERED PROFE S SION A L S IN HUM A N RE SOURCE S OF M A NITOBA

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PM# 1682019

ADJUSTING TO A NEW WORK LIFE

STRATEGIES AND CONSIDERATIONS TO ENSURE SUCCESS DURING UNPRECEDENTED TIMES

MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WAKE OF COVID-19 / REAPING THE REWARDS OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK / TAKING THE MENTOR-MENTEE RELATIONSHIP ONLINE

HRmatters SPRING 2020, VOL. 20, NO. 1

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2020 Chair: Janice Harper, CPHR Chair Elect: Colleen Coates, CPHR Treasurer: Jonathan Webber, MBA, CPA, CPHR Directors at Large: Lana Adeleye-Olusae, CMC, CPHR, MBA Brad Lutz, CPHR Erin Polcyn Sailer, CPHR Lisa Rowe, CPHR Ryan Savage, LLB Nish Verma, FCPHR CPHR Manitoba Staff Chief Executive Officer: Ron Gauthier Director of Marketing, Partnerships and Membership: Laura Haines-Morrissette Marketing & Communications Coordinator: Emily Janssens Events & Programs Coordinator: Lindsey Barnett Membership Engagement Coordinator: Stephanie Smith

CONTENTS FEATURES 6

8 WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS A REMOTE WORK PLAN

10 THE DISRUPTOR: WHAT COVID-19 HAS MEANT TO WORKPLACE INVESTIGATIONS

12 RECHARGE HR: REDEFINING ENGAGEMENT 14 MENTORCITY: AN ONLINE COMMUNITY FOR MENTORS AND MENTEES

CPHR Program Manager: Marina De Luna Published for: CPHR Manitoba 1810 – 275 Portage Avenue Winnipeg, MB R3B 2B3 Phone: (204) 943-2836 | Fax: (204) 943-1109 hello@cphrmb.ca | www.cphrmb.ca Publisher: Abhi Dadarkar Production Manager: Rachel Selbie Senior Designer: Annette Carlucci

THE NEW FELLOW CPHR IN MANITOBA

INSIDE MATTERS 4

CPHR Manitoba Chair’s Message

1 1 New CPHRs and CPHR Candidates 11 HR Movers & Shakers

Junior Designer: Roxy Hunyh Sales Executive: Rick Todes Published by:

2001 Sheppard Avenue East Suite 500, Toronto, Ontario M2J 4Z8 Tel: 416-512-8186 | Fax: 416-512-8344 Email: info@mediaedge.ca President: Kevin Brown Senior Vice-President: Robert Thompson Vice-President Sales & Business development: Abhi Dadarkar Published June 2020 © 2020 CPHR Manitoba. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the association.

Publication Mail Agreement #1682019 Please return undeliverable copies to: CPHR Manitoba 1810 – 275 Portage Avenue Winnipeg, MB R3B 2B3

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CPHR MANITOBA CHAIR’S MESSAGE

A BRAVE NEW WORLD FOR THE FIELD OF HR AND PUBLIC PROTECTION By Janice Harper, CPHR Chair, CPHR Manitoba Board of Directors

Janice Harper, CPHR, Chair, CPHR Manitoba Board of Directors

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he world has changed since I last addressed you in the Fall edition of HRmatters. As we began to navigate through this time of uncertainty, one thing became clear: the HR Profession was at the forefront and relied upon to lead organizations through these unprecedented times. It has been so inspiring to see everyone come together to help our community face challenges and grow stronger.

At CPHR Manitoba, there was a shift in focus as we began to postpone or cancel our in-person events and focus more on what we could offer virtually. Our goal was to provide a variety of resources that encompass the needs of all of our members, which included sharing information about the pandemic, offering professional development through webinars, and working with CPHR Canada to make adjustments to the National Knowledge Exam so that we could offer members the opportunity to write the exam safely.

Over the past few months, employers, colleagues and clients turned to HR professionals for strategic advice, clear guidance and leadership on all aspects of human resources and, in particular, organizational efforts associated with COVID-19 emergency response planning and execution. According to the Members as Owners survey sent out to CPHR Manitoba members in the fall, 60% of respondents indicated they consider HR a strategic partner at their organization and another 30% indicated partially. This aligns with results from the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce’s 2019 Business Outlook Survey, which indicated that 68% of respondents reported that HR plays a vital strategic, leadership and operational function in their organization. In addition, approximately 70% of respondents indicated their organization either understands or generally understands the value of having a CPHR on-staff, which again correlates with the Business Outlook Survey.

As the workplace becomes more complex, and employees begin to face new challenges both personally and professionally, having CPHRs on-staff will be even more important.

With so many uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, it has been challenging to plan for the upcoming year at CPHR Manitoba. However, we remain committed to our vision of advancing the human resource profession, moving our organization forward and working to meet our strategic goals. On behalf of CPHR Manitoba, I look forward to continue working with you — our brand ambassadors, advocates and dedicated HR practitioners — to advance the HR profession in Manitoba.

Thank you and have a healthy and safe summer!

Janice Harper is the Chair of CPHR Manitoba’s Board of Directors and Executive Vice President Human Resources for NFI Group Inc. and its subsidiaries New Flyer Industries, Motor Coach Industries, NFI Parts and other group companies. Janice

has worked in progressive human resource and management roles in both the public and private sector. She has significant experience in labour and employee relations in both the Canadian and U.S. bargaining contexts. Her proven track record in

organization culture, employee engagement development, and safety and environmental systems management has led to the creation of HR programs and services that have been key enablers in the achievement of business objectives.

CPHR Manitoba is at the forefront — creating new opportunities for the Association and HR professionals to learn, grow and advance.

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FEATURE

THE NEW FELLOW CPHR IN MANITOBA Congratulations to Nish Verma on receiving the FCPHR designation Written by

CPHR Manitoba

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n February 2020, CPHR Manitoba was pleased to announce Nish Verma as the newest Fellow CPHR. Nish started his career as a computer engineer with Hewlett Packard in South East Asia, where he quickly realized the importance of human resources in organizational success. After several years of international experience in South East Asia, Europe and the Middle East, he moved to Canada with his family in 2003.

Nish began studying Human Resources and Management at the University of Winnipeg shortly after moving to Canada. He received top marks in both programs and following graduation, he received the top score in Canada on the National Knowledge Exam. He became a Certified Human Resources Professional in 2006, and received his Project Management Professional Designation in 2007.

“I achieved the CPHR designation to demonstrate my commitment and passion for the human resources profession,” says Nish. “As a CPHR, my network, knowledge and confidence grew monumentally.”

Nish began his career in Canada on the front lines with a job as HR Specialist in Brandon. He quickly moved through the ranks within the provincial government to be the first Assistant Deputy Minister of all Provincial Government HR Operations, a newly created position. He was responsible for realigning all HR sectors into one seamless, progressive and efficient entity.

He moved on to become the Vice President HR in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, where he completed similar work. In 2013, Nish

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decided to move back to the private sector to join a growing Winnipeg organization, Mondetta Clothing Company. He has been part of the company’s transformation team as Vice President HR and Chief Operations Officer.

“I am a team player with a belief in organizational success through continuous improvement, client service, life-long learning, collaboration and open transparent communication,” he says.

“These principles have served me across my experience in strategic planning, business reorganization, project management, continuous improvement, change management and workforce development.”

Nish is passionate about Human Resources and its importance in any organization and has committed the last several years of his career to being an active advocate of the profession.

When Nish joined the CPHR Manitoba board (then known as HRMAM) in 2014, the association was at a critical point in its evolvement and also at a turning point in its vision. The Association was coming out of financial crisis and a new strategic plan was drawn. Nish was a key partner to the Chair and CEO in the development of the strategic plan and took on a leadership role by chairing some committees. He served as Chair of the Board from 2016-2018. In addition, Nish has chaired the Membership, Nomination and Governance Committees for CPHR Manitoba.

He has also represented Manitoba at the national level as a member of CPHR Canada’s Board of Directors since 2015, where he has

been a strong voice in determining the one designation, one profession philosophy that guides CPHR Canada.

“I believe in giving forward and have mentored and coached many fellow HR practitioners throughout my career,” says Nish. “I’ve also given back to my community by serving on the board of the Indian Association for four years and as a Folklorama Ambassador for two years. I was the Ambassador General for Folklorama in 2014.”

Nish is a strong advocate and brand ambassador for the HR profession and the CPHR designation. He taught in the HR Diploma Program at the University of Winnipeg for several years and continues to promote the skills and knowledge of HR professionals through workshops and speaking engagements with various professional and educational institutions and associations. He has also served as a mentor to proteges at all points in his career.

“Communities, organizations and workplaces are changing at an ever increasing pace and HR leadership is key to help in managing change,” he says. “HR Professionals are not compliance administrators and bookkeepers.

They are strategic leaders that impact the versatility of the organization and are key partners for success. COVID-19 has only re-emphasized the importance of Human Resource Leadership in the organizations.

Innovation, change management, strategic thinking, communication and project management are now important skills for a good HR professional.”

Injuries prevented and lives saved

That’s the VALUE of SAFE Work safemanitoba.com

FEATURE

WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS A REMOTE WORK PLAN Tips for operating business as usual while working from home

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s the old saying goes, “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail.”

By

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Scott Park

HRmatters / www.cphrmb.ca

For years, businesses have weighed the benefits and disadvantages of employees working from home. While these discussions were taking place, circumstances such as longer commute drives, natural disasters and now COVID-19 have pushed the idea of remote working to the forefront. Although many businesses discussed workplace flexibility, not many put an actual plan in place to ensure a smooth transition.

There are many benefits to having a remote work plan, the main one being it minimizes business workflow when it

becomes necessary for employees to work from home, and — as we’re well aware — these times don’t necessarily announce themselves in advance. Although the spread of COVID-19 is a rare situation, it has forced many organizations to quickly get their employees up and running at home for everyone’s health and safety.

The impact on your employees is another story. Besides trying to cope with social isolation, kids and changes in routines, your staff now faces some important decisions: how to set up their home office, select the right hardware and software, access files, communicate with team members, deal with management’s expectations and know who to contact for what information.

FEATURE The COVID-19 situation is a lot for anyone to deal with and formulating a remote work plan can help ease some of the anxiety and stress your employees may encounter during this time.

SETTING UP YOUR REMOTE WORK PLAN

The first step is to involve the right people in creating the plan, including your internal or external IT department, management, HR department and office administrator.

In the plan: 1. Map out jobs and tasks that could take place outside the office.

2. Audit IT hardware and software, asking yourself the questions below.

3. Create a communication protocol.

4. Don’t forget about the human component — your staff’s stress and anxiety around the situation itself and the move to working from home, which will have challenges of its own. “Staff support” must be part of every plan.

Here are some IT questions to ask yourself to ensure your employees have the right hardware, software and communication equipment to work from home: 1 / HOW WILL EMPLOYEES ACCESS THEIR WORK REMOTELY?

• Do they have laptops or mobile devices that they can take home to access their work?

• Can they use their home computers for work purposes? Do these computers have the right software and hardware to access the required work?

• Are your organization’s documents stored in the Cloud (such as Microsoft OneDrive or SharePoint)?

• Does your organization use web-based applications? Are these applications installed on your employees’ hardware?

Do your employees know how to access your web-based applications, including e-mail, from home?

2 / DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT?

• How will you deal with incoming calls to the office?

• How will team members communicate with each other (for instance, by using software, like Microsoft Teams)?

“IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, YOU’RE PLANNING TO FAIL.”

• Will employees use their personal phones, or will you use web-based software? Do you have an employee remote contact information list readily available to distribute?

3 / HOW WILL MEETINGS TAKE PLACE?

• Do you need web-based meeting software (such as Microsoft Teams)?

• Do you require cameras on your employees’ devices for meetings?

4 / WHO WILL EMPLOYEES CONTACT WITH SPECIFIC QUESTIONS?

• Who is the contact for hardware or software questions?

• Who is the contact for setting up communication devices and systems?

• Who is the contact to request hardware or software purchases?

• Who is the contact to arrange emotional support services?

CHECKS AND BALANCES

You’ll want to constantly evaluate whether your remote work plan is working to ensure productivity, health and safety, and security, and make amendments as appropriate.

Some strategies you can implement: • Create and distribute your at-home work policies.

• Microsoft offers MyAnalytics, which helps discover and track work habits

by providing an in-depth look at work patterns, including focus, well-being, collaboration, communication habits and tips. It helps employees and their managers optimize tasks and make them more efficient.

• Use communication software that shows when employees are available, at home or in the office, or offline (such as Microsoft Teams or a cloud-based phone system).

• Follow-up with employees to ensure compliance (ask them to take a photo of their home office) and find out if they’ve experienced any difficulties working remotely. You can use this information to update your plan, processes and employee well-being.

• Ensure employees have the right insurance and security for hardware damage or liability.

• Ensure the organization has the right insurance for any contingencies.

• Ensure security issues are monitored and employees have safety protocols installed on their hardware.

Every businesses’ remote work plan requirements are going to be a little different. The important thing is that your business has a well thought-out, flexible plan in place, so when — not if — the next time you need one, you’ll be well prepared.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Scott Park is the Accounting & Office Administrator at 365 Technologies Inc., delivering Worry-Free IT™ suppor t and services in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Scott is pursuing

a Bachelor of Commerce from Athabasca University. He can be reached at 204-488-3655, scott@365tech.ca or www.365tech.ca.

Spring 2020 / HRmatters

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FEATURE

THE DISRUPTOR: WHAT COVID-19 HAS MEANT TO WORKPLACE INVESTIGATIONS How to ensure fair and robust investigations continue

H By Vivian E Rachlis and Elissa A Neville

Disclaimer: This article was prepared for general information and discussion only and should not be used in substitution for legal advice.

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uman Resources professionals are trained to plan for any crisis; when a crisis hits, HR staff are key members of a business’ command centre. COVID-19 has been the crisis that no amount of planning could anticipate. With virtually no warning, COVID-19 dramatically impacted workplaces, and HR professionals have had to hit the ground running to support their businesses and institutions.

Staff that can work from home have been encouraged — in some cases ordered — to do so. Staff working from home are juggling childcare responsibilities — including home schooling — while working to a deadline.

Essential services workers are given the dual messages that they are expected to carry on but not to come to work if they feel sick. Most people now know about “Zoom meetings.”

Layoffs are occurring and businesses are eyeing their bottom line, wondering when they can start bringing back the staff they worked so hard to recruit “in the old days” — back in February 2020.

In the midst of so many dramatic changes, HR professionals have had to adapt quickly to a “new normal” set of employee

expectations, and a new set of expectations in HR work.

Here are some examples of scenarios you may have already addressed in your work or may soon be addressing: “We thought that with most of our staff working remotely, we would be seeing fewer harassment complaints. Instead, we are seeing a huge amount of bullying content in e-mail.”

“Our workforce experienced so much stress during COVID-19. We suspect that our employee Code of Conduct seems to have fallen to the bottom of the priority list.

How do we find out what’s going on?”

“We have a couple of staff who have been suggesting a connection between an employee’s ethnic background and the COVID-19 cases within our workplace.”

“We suspect there has been an increase in sexual content in employee e-mails. How can we investigate this?”

“Within our production facility, a couple of staff were off sick with COVID-19. Thankfully they recovered but now that they’re back, some of our staff have been making mean spirited jokes about them and excluding them from work events.”

FEATURE

Employers have the same obligations as before the pandemic — to provide a safe and harassment-free workplace. This means that to be legally compliant, as well as to be able to continue to position themselves to attract a talented workforce, employers should continue their commitment to conducting fair and robust workplace investigations.

Adaptations to investigation methodology — particularly witness interviews — have been inevitable. Internal and external investigators have had to be nimble to try to ensure “business as usual” in HR investigations during the pandemic.

Whether internal or external, investigators need to focus on a number of criteria to make sure investigations during COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 continue to be procedurally fair and robust: thoroughness, fairness, trauma-informed, confidentiality and timeliness.

We focus below on the last three.

TRAUMA INFORMED

A lot of investigation work involves contact with parties and witnesses that may already be undergoing some degree of previous trauma or trauma relating to the events under investigation. This is particularly true at a time when parties and witnesses may be other minded with how they can better support healthy practices in their jobs and families. At this sensitive time, investigators need to be mindful not to create further discomfort relating to interview processes and the collection of evidence.

CONFIDENTIALITY

In-person interviews have generally been considered crucial to fact-finding and assessing credibility. With social distancing, in-person interviews may no longer be an option.

The good news is that COVID-19 has taught investigators a lot about how to interview — and how to assess credibility — by videoconferencing. Multiple platforms are available to conduct remote workplace investigations, including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting and Webex.

Remote interviews raise new confidentiality considerations. Interviewing by videoconferencing also runs the risk of losing some control over the environment.

Interviewers likely won’t know who else is “in the room,” there may be additional distractions and it may be less obvious whether an interviewee is recording the interview (something we do not permit).

It is more important than ever to gently but firmly reinforce expectations at the beginning, during and end of a video interview: • Make it clear that confidentially and privacy are paramount.

• Stress that no one should be in the room or be able to listen in. Ask for a commitment that if someone enters the room, they will disclose it.

• If the interviewee’s support person, lawyer or union representative is attending the meeting by video, explain that these expectations apply to them as well.

transitioning to “video mode.” We have several reasons for this. Overarching it all is the employer’s continuing duty to provide a safe and respectful workplace and to take seriously all cases of harassment, bullying and other employment-related breaches.

Other reasons include: • Memories fade. It is well-recognized that memories and therefore evidence deteriorates over time. Adjourning an investigation can jeopardize the quality of the evidence available to the investigator, potentially to the degree that a reliable investigation becomes no longer possible.

• We don’t have a crystal ball on this one.

Scientists tell us there will be a treatment and a vaccine. Predicting when COVID-19 will be stabilized and when workplaces will get back to fully normal is like trying to predict the future, which is an imperfect exercise. While we are all craving stability, delaying interviews indefinitely doesn’t reckon with the uncertainty of the situation.

• The availability of reliable technology.

As already noted, in many cases, video interviews will be highly satisfactory for gathering evidence. As never before, technology can facilitate highly effective fact-finding.

TIMELINESS

HR professionals and investigators should use their best judgment to assess whether the benefits of adapting their methodology outweigh the costs of waiting out the pandemic. By being adaptable and sensitive, workplace investigations can be approached from as close to a business as usual perspective as we can expect at this challenging time.

COVID-19 has presented HR professionals and investigators with two imperfect options: conduct a video or telephone interview or postpone the interview to some unspecified future date.

During the period that public health officials require social distancing, we strongly recommend pressing ahead, while

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Rachlis Neville LLP (https://rachlisneville.com/) is a boutique law firm that’s focused on conducting independent workplace, regulatory and institutional investigations.

CPHR MANITOBA CONGRATULATES OUR NEWEST CPHRS!

CPHR MANITOBA CONGRATULATES OUR NEW CPHR CANDIDATES!

Sonia Cole Lisa Balwin Janet Caplan Janice Demers Olena Derkach Louise Gauthier Shanlee Haller Lucille Headley Jessica Janzen Barbara Kirouac Cheryl Krestanowich

Lola Adejumo Lisa Baldwin Sara Baldwin Jenna Book Jashan Brar Raquel Dumas Andrew Evans Daryl Evans Oluwayemisi Fahemidagba Halee Fayerman Claudia Gass Monisola Gbadeyan Jasvir Gill Craig Goldstein

Edward Mah Lisa Park Leanne Paulicelli Carrie Perumal Michael Smith Mattieu Thevenot Mirna Torres Michelle Van Hove Bliss Yang Kevin Young

Dylan Hill Karen Igbedion Masood Khan Swati Khuntia Maddison Kowalczuk Holly Lefteruk Chrystin Lemoine Kamaldeep Narhan Jennifer Oleson Anne Penner Gabryelle Ruperto Lais Sarto Rocha Kathryn Sutherland Dustin Welsh

MOVERS & SHAKERS Navenka Yoong, CPHR, SHRM-SCP is the new HR, Learning & Payroll Manager at Matrix Lumber.

Kristianne Dechant, CPHR is the new Executive Director and CEO at the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba.

Nicole Stewart, CPHR, SHRMSCP is the new Vice President, Human Resources at Payworks.

Spring 2020 / HRmatters

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FEATURE

RECHARGE HR: REDEFINING ENGAGEMENT

Building a workplace culture based on commitment and trust

T By Nicole Stewart, CPHR, SHRM-SCP and Candace Synchyshyn, CPHR Candidate

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HRmatters / www.cphrmb.ca

he buzzword “employee engagement” is used often but in varying contexts. As you examine the concept within your own organization, it’s important to decode the concept: what does employee engagement mean to us? Is a happy employee an engaged employee? How do we know whether or not we’re getting it right?

At various stages of our careers, both of us have witnessed the impact that a disengaged workforce can have on turnover, attendance, performance and client satisfaction. And we’ve also seen how engaged workforces — such as Payworks’, which reported 89% engagement in our 2019 employee survey — can thrive. Gallup’s

2017 State of the Global Workplace report cites 41% lower absenteeism, 17% higher productivity and 21% greater profitability among business units in the top quartile of engagement when compared against those in the bottom quartile.

In our experience, engaged employees are those who are fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work, take positive action to further the organization’s reputation and interests, and demonstrate positive attitudes toward the organization and its values. Each of these facets has a common foundation: the relationship, commitment and trust that exists between an employee and an organization, which in turn influences behaviours.

FEATURE

While it’s easy to conflate this emotional connection with employee happiness, engaged employees are often happy but happy employees aren’t always engaged. Happy employees generally like where they work and the perks that come along with it (like ping pong tables, beer kegs and other trappings of a hip 21st century workplace), but aren’t particularly inspired to contribute beyond the basic scope of their role.

Compensation is another factor that you should be cautious not to confuse with engagement. Herzberg’s MotivationHygiene Theory considers compensation a “hygiene factor” — that is to say, a maintenance feature of a job that can prevent employee dissatisfaction but doesn’t necessarily create employee satisfaction itself. Ultimately, getting compensation right means it won’t get in the way of employee engagement but you won’t find that it builds it either.

So, if not happiness or satisfaction, ping pong tables or compensation, how do we develop employee engagement?

1 / CREATE A WORKPLACE WHERE EMPLOYEES CAN BE THEMSELVES AND ARE TRUSTED TO GET THE JOB DONE.

Chances are, you’ve felt the stress of being micromanaged and you likely didn’t stick around — those environments generate higher turnover and diminish performance among staff that stay. When staff feel empowered to manage their own objectives and time, they typically outperform their industry peers.

An employee also needs to feel like they can participate as their authentic self within their team. We should aim to build our teams around complement, not fit, and celebrate the benefits of diverse perspectives that inspire us all to be better and deliver upon our organizational purpose. It’s less about the ping pong table and more about building a group that would want to play a game together in the first place.

2 / CREATE A WORKPLACE WHERE EMPLOYEES HAVE FLEXIBILITY AND ARE ENCOURAGED TO GROW.

Empowering employees to manage their own career evolution within your organization improves morale, retention

and performance. If employees are encouraged to tap into latent skill sets or budding interests to contribute to their organization in new ways, their roles are going to feel fresher, longer.

Consistent forward motion along the continuum of responsibility and reward demonstrates the employer trust that’s key to retention.

3 / CREATE A WORKPLACE WHERE EMPLOYEES KNOW THEIR ORGANIZATION GENUINELY CARES ABOUT THEIR WELL-BEING.

The most positive and productive work cultures recognize the dual influences of work and home on each other and support bringing those spheres together as opposed to pitting them against each other in a likely impossible quest for zerosum balance.

In his podcast “The Human Assignment,” Matt Johnston speaks to the fact that “what happens at work is what people bring home and what happens at home comes with them to work.” Empowering employees to embrace this integration and enjoy flexibility in both environments will create a less stressed, more productive workforce.

4 / CREATE A WORKPLACE WHERE EMPLOYEES UNDERSTAND AND CONNECT WITH THE COMPANY’S PURPOSE AND THAT THE WORK THEY’RE DOING MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

Employees feel most gratified and engaged when they can see firsthand the impact of their work on their colleagues, clients and communities. And as our workforces continue to skew younger, organizations’ commitment to their communities should increase accordingly; this will keep them in alignment with the values younger workers cite as being most important to them.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Even if your organization isn’t a notfor-profit with a clear philanthropic agenda, there are still a myriad of ways to demonstrate real community support: sponsorships, fundraising initiatives, paid time off for volunteering, top-down cultural messaging from your leadership team, and more.

Now that you know what engagement looks like, you should have a sense of how to assess the engagement levels of your own employees.

Engagement surveys can provide valuable knowledge, metrics and insight into strengths and opportunities, but you first need to ensure you’re ready for the feedback you’ll receive — not only to absorb the positive (or negative) results, but also to enact real change based upon them. For results to simply start collecting dust can damage longterm engagement, as being asked for an opinion and then having it ignored makes employees feel as if their voices don’t matter after all.

If you’re not ready to delve deep into survey results, start by establishing open and transparent dialogue, building relationships and strengthening communication within your organization — all of these methods will give you a good feel for how you’ve set the stage for engaging employees.

As leaders, it’s our responsibility to create an environment that cultivates engagement. To quote Maryanne Spatola, “Leadership behaviour shapes your culture; culture shapes your results.” If we offer challenging goals and projects that clearly reflect organizational objectives, contribute to and encourage the development of our employees, and trust that we’ve hired collaborative professionals who can manage their own deliverables, we’re sure to see engagement flourish.

Nicole Stewart, CPHR, SHRM-SCP is Vice President of Human

Resources at Payworks. Nicole has almost 20 years of management and HR experience, and has spent much of her career cultivating Payworks’ unique, high-engagement, low-turnover culture as the leader of its talented team of HR professionals.

Candace Synchyshyn, CPHR Candidate, is the Manager of Human Resources at Payworks.

Candace has spent the last five years par tnering with employees to suppor t and guide them as

they realize success. She fosters trust through transparency, leveraging employees’ strengths and identifying oppor tunities for growth.

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FEATURE

MENTORCITY: AN ONLINE COMMUNITY FOR MENTORS AND MENTEES A Part of CPHR Manitoba’s Professional Mentorship Program Written by

CPHR Manitoba

C

PHR Manitoba members have the opportunity to join the Professional Mentorship Program (PMP). The PMP runs from September to April each year, including members with varying levels of experience and backgrounds in HR. Whether you’re entering your career or have a seasoned resume of accomplishments behind your name, the PMP has space for everyone to communicate, enhance their skills and grow their professional networks.

To create fluidity in communication, simplicity in scheduling and creativity in ways to connect and work together, CPHR Manitoba utilized the online platform MentorCity to house the PMP this past year. This platform is accessible 24/7, syncs to your Outlook or Google calendar, and comes with a library of tools and resources that you can learn from and incorporate into your work.

Shawn Mintz, President of MentorCity, says the biggest asset of the software is that it helps keep both the mentor and mentee focused.

“MentorCity lets you create a mentoring agreement that can be changed as the relationship between mentor and mentee evolves. Setting goals in the goal section sets a focus for what you are working toward together.

There is the ability to set deadlines and when goals are met the software gives you a high-five.”

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Once the pairing has been established, pairs work together to develop an agreement that collectively determines how the mentorship relationship will play out. This includes goal setting and scheduling while creating transparency in the partnership.

John Stott has been involved with mentoring for more than 20 years. His company stottHR specializes in developing and implementing workplace competencybased mentorship programs.

“I always find that I gain a lot from mentoring others. While exploring the mentorship journey with probing questions and building on a trusting relationship, both parties share in the discovery of insights and deeper understanding of issues than either would have on their own. Growth usually results when communication is free to flow and follow its logical path. MentorCity was used to coordinate meetings, set goals and track meetings. It helped ensure our meetings were focused on adding optimal value to the proteges goals.”

Once participants register with MentorCity, they become part of a supportive community enriched with tools that will enhance their learning experiences and open new doors for opportunities. A resources section includes a long list of resources that focus on relationshipbuilding, improving best practices and being a successful mentor/mentee.

Sharon McMahon, MBA, CEC, CPHR, Chief Human Resources Officer with Steinbach Credit Union, is a major advocate for CPHR Manitoba’s Professional Mentorship Program.

“It is important to me to help others and this program provides me the opportunity to give back. I gained an opportunity to mentor a wonderful individual new to Canada. As I was sharing HR information, providing scenarios and work experience, I also learned so much of his culture and was able to share how it compares or does not compare to our culture. Before every meeting, he would send me questions to go over at our meeting. The best part is learning from each other. As a mentor, continuous learning is paramount.”

CPHR Manitoba is now accepting applications for the 2020-2021 PMP. There is a $75 fee for mentees to register for the program; mentor registrations are free. To learn more about CPHR Manitoba’s

Professional Mentorship Program, visit cphrmb.ca or contact Lindsey Barnett, Events & Program Coordinator, at lindsey@cphrmb.ca or 204-943-0885.

Return to Work for better business and better recovery

The WCB is here to help you get started.

• Help workers heal faster with modified duties and gradual return • Retain valuable employees • Reduce WCB costs

Download our Best Practice Guide and sign up for free workshops at wcb.mb.ca/return-to-work

Keep learning.

Online from Anywhere.

As we have learned, there is no way to predict the future but you can embrace it and plan for change with online learning. We have the quality courses and programs to help you move forward in your life and in your career.

Online Programs:

Applied Counselling Explore the counselling process and learn to develop effective counselling strategies so you can help others.

E-Learning Letter of Accomplishment Stay ahead of the curve. Discover and apply the advantages of E-Learning.

Choice of teaching or design stream.

Human Resource Management Become a leader in HR with innovative courses that correspond with the HR competency framework – providing eligibility for the CPHR designation.

Program Development for Adult Learners Meet the growing need for adult educators and trainers, and learn how to design and develop effective adult learning programs.

Business Analysis Become a business analyst or apply business analysis in your profession.

Offered in partnership with the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA).

Certificate in Management and Administration (CIMA) Take the next step in your management career with an academic credential and a nationally recognized professional designation to add to your resume.

Change Management Enroll in the only Change Management credential offered by an academic/post-secondary institution in Manitoba.

Quality Management Learn how to lead the transition from quality control to quality excellence. Quality Management tools can be applied in any industry.

Register now at umextended.ca/online, or call 204 474 8800 today.

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