February 2012 marked the launch of the IRC's new research initiative, Opinion Polls, that address hot topics facing Canadian human resources (HR), labour relations (LR), and organizational development (OD) practitioners. The IRC's inaugural opinion poll addressed talent management, and the ways in which Canadian organizations recruit, retain, and develop their talent. This article summarizes some of our findings. All reporting is based on aggregated data.(More)
At some point in his or her career, a human resource (HR) professional will encounter the notion of "earning a seat at the table." This overused buzz phrase is fraught with meaning and can result in a serious case of consternation. Sitting at "the table," from this writer's perspective, is all about understanding the management systems of the organization, the organization's relationship with its external customers, and the organization's approach to change. It is a bit like Arthur Dent's experience in Douglas Adams' (1979) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy consternation over being chosen to take an interesting ride through new space and time, while attempting to hang on to the backpack of our past experiences. (More)
Queen's IRC is continuing to build its human resource (HR) programming. To complement our successful Advanced HR programming, in 2011, we launched Talent Management. The catalyst for this program launch was, in part, the results of the IRC's 2011 national survey of Canadian HR professionals. Results from this survey indicated that 73.8% of respondents viewed talent management as a critical HR challenge (Juniper & Hill, 2011). Talent management was also perceived to be one of the top immediate and long-range priorities for Canadian HR departments (Juniper & Hill). In addition, respondents indicated that talent management is a critical knowledge area for HR professionals to hone. The message was clear: HR professionals recognize the importance of understanding talent management; it will continue to be a challenge and priority for Canadian organizations and their HR professionals. (More)
In August 2011, I moved from Kingston, Ontario, to Copenhagen, Denmark. I've been fortunate to continue working remotely for the IRC while living in Europe. The past five months have been a learning experience, as I've continued to transition and adjust to work and life in a foreign country.(More)
By Heather Swartz, M.S.W., C.Med., Partner, Agree Incorporated
The increased diversity in Ontario workplaces, the benefits and challenges that diversity presents to organizations, and initiatives to increase awareness and make our workplaces more inclusive have been an important focus of Canadian businesses and their human resource professionals over the past several decades. (More)
Queen's IRC has now successfully delivered several iterations of our Advanced HR programming. During the program, participants are often engaged with the material and the discussions. But, to what extent is this engagement with learning maintained outside of the classroom? To answer this question, IRC Research Associate, Alison Hill, spoke with Dave Urquhart, Team Lead, HR Advisory, Staffing and Development at Encana. Dave has been a participant in the Advanced HR programming, and has sponsored several of his employees to attend as well.(More)
Deloitte and Queen's IRC are co-delivering an HR Governance Symposium to be held on December 1, 2011. In preparation for this event, Queen's IRC Research Associate, Alison Hill, sat down with Ian Cullwick from Deloitte to discuss HR governance, its meaning, constituents, and implications for organizations. This article provides an overview of that conversation.(More)
The ubiquitous term "war for talent" was coined in 1997 by management consultants McKinsey & Co. The consultants had conducted a year-long study and had concluded that the most important corporate resource over the following two decades would be talent.1 The demand for smart, technologically savvy, and globally astute businesspeople, they said, would outstrip the supply. The search for the best and brightest was to become an ongoing battle; not only would organizations need to become better equipped to recruit skilled talent, they also would be challenged to retain them.(More)
In response to increasing demands from organizations, the skills and knowledge that HR professionals require in the workplace continue to shift. As many of our program participants are likely aware, HR professionals are now more involved in strategic roles that help to shape organizational culture, effectiveness, and design.(More)
The Queen’s University Industrial Relations Centre (IRC) is committed to increasing our research portfolio. Recognizing that the state of the human resources (HR) profession is changing, in Canada and around the globe, the IRC sought to explore both quantitatively and qualitatively how Canadian practitioners view their profession. In February 2011, we launched a 53-question survey, "An Inquiry into the State of HR in Canada." The purpose of the survey was to describe the HR profession in Canada, based on the perspectives of practitioners.
When the survey closed on February 28, 2011, a total of 451 complete responses were collected. This Executive Summary presents an overview of some of the survey data. (Download)
Take this challenge. Ask fellow employees if they have ample opportunity to learn and apply what they learn at work. Chances are their answers will be varied, with many answering with a sometimes or it depends. This is a conundrum. One does not have to look far to find support for the notion that learning in organizations is a critical capability. In our disruptive world, an organization's capacity to facilitate learning—to acquire, apply, and spread new insights—has been touted as the fundamental strategic capability and a leading source of competitive advantage.(More)
by Alan Morantz
Queen's IRC Thought Leadership Consultant
If it takes a village to raise a child, then perhaps it takes co-workers to help trainees shine.
Management development experts have long known that organizations get the most out of their training dollars when employees are supported before, during, and after training. Few organizations, however, actually follow this advice.(More)
by Alan Morantz
Queen's IRC Thought Leadership Consultant
Organizational development and change management more than ever before are being linked to learning and talent development, according to a report recently published by the UK-based CIPD.
"It is clear that organizational development and design will become increasingly important as organizations seek to change, innovate and to link learning to organizational goals," according to CIPD's 2010 Learning and Talent Development survey report. But the report also noted that "practitioners are less involved in discussing the design, delivery and impact of learning with other managers. This alignment issue is a key one as L&TD seeks to build its reputation and impact." (More)
You can see it in the streets and smell it in the air: signs of economic recovery are beginning to emerge. But according to the latest estimates from the Conference Board of Canada, it will take up to five years for the economy to return to full capacity. For workforce planners with an agenda for change, now is the time to strike.(More)
By Alan Morantz
Queen's IRC Thought Leadership Consultant
Although working women are piling up educational credentials and experience, in far too many organizations they are still butting up against a glass ceiling. These invisible barriers to upward mobility can come in various forms: lack of mentoring of women, gender stereotyping, and views that men make more effective leaders. In the U.S., women holding the titles of chairman, CEO, COO, and executive vice president remain at about 7 percent of the population of executives.(More)
The modern HR professional looks a lot like poor Alice in Through the Looking-Glass, running feverishly with the Red Queen only to be staying in the same place, says Queen's IRC Director Paul Juniper. (More)
When it comes to psychological harassment and bullying in the workplace, targets report that HR departments often make a bad situation much worse, says Jana Raver, Queen's School of Business Assistant Professor and E. Marie Shantz Research Fellow in Organizational Behaviour.(More)
Increasingly, human resources practitioners are being challenged to help break down barriers to the participation of employees with disabilities. Those barriers, alas, are proving tough to overcome. (More)
For human resources professionals, risk readiness means morethan just planning for management departures, says Queen's IRC facultymember Yvonne Latta. Yvonne is a consultant and former senior executivewith 31 years in the federal public service, including directorships ofHR at Transport Canada and Strategic Business Planning at Agricultureand Agri-Food Canada. In this article, she talks about successionplanning, creating next-generation managers, and the importance ofidentifying your knowledge experts.(More)
Respect, not superficial goodwill, is the key to inspiredteamwork, says Dr. Shawna O’Grady, Associate Professor of Management atQueen’s School of Business. Great teams work hard at keeping membersaligned and making the most of creative conflict. We spoke recentlywith Shawna about the challenges of creating and sustaining acollaborative work environment.(More)
Legal and societal trends are transforming our organizations, says Vic Pakalnis, Amethyst Fellow at Queen’s University School of Policy Studies. In this Q&A, Vic, a senior leader with 30 years’ experience in the Ontario Public Service, says HR professionals have a key role in facing these challenges.. (More)
Those who are bullied in the workplace appear to suffer more thanemployees who are subjected to sexual harassment, says Queen’s Schoolof Business Professor of Business Julian Barling.
This unexpected finding comes from a new study conducted by Drs.Barling and Sandy Hershcovis, a PhD graduate from the Queen’s School ofBusiness who is currently on faculty at the University of Manitoba.(More)
How can organizational leaders help to create healthy,conflict-friendly workplaces? Bernard Mayer, a Queen’s IRC facultymember who is an international expert in conflict resolution andmediation, shares insights for managers in the following Q & A(More)
Employee engagement is a top HR priority for the Ontario PublicService (OPS), says Richard McKinnell, a senior OPS manager and the2006 Amethyst Fellow at the Queen’s University School of PolicyStudies. Richard - former Assistant Deputy Minister in CorporateServices Division, and a Director of Communications for severalministries, including the Centre for Leadership and Human ResourceManagement – shares engagement lessons for leaders in the following Q& A.(More)
Françoise Morissette is an IRC faculty member, accredited coach,and Organizational Development consultant. In the following Q & Ashe discusses how executives who sponsor education for their employeescan ensure that valuable knowledge actually gets applied in theworkplace.(More)
Paul Juniper has seen a lot of change in his 25 years in human resources leadership. We asked him why he likes HR, and where he sees the field - and Queen's IRC - heading in the coming years.(More)
Jay Handelman, Director of the Centre for Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) at Queen’s School of Business, says CSR presentsthe ideal opportunity for HR practitioners to become strategic partnersin their organizations. Read on to learn more about CSR, HR’s role indriving it, and why managers are not yet embracing it with open arms.
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Queen's IRC faculty member Lucinda Bray is a management development consultant based in Dublin, Ireland. In the following piece, she discusses the chaos in work and organizational life being wrought by dramatic, prosperity-related change in her adopted country. (More)
Queen's IRC faculty member Lucinda Bray is a managementdevelopment consultant based in Dublin, Ireland. In the followingpiece, she muses on the brilliant cultural chaos of the EuropeanCommission workforce.(More)
In conversation with Dr. Jana Raver
Jana Raver, Assistant Professor and E. Marie Shantz Research Fellow in Organizational Behaviour at the Queen's School of Business, is an expert in counterproductive behaviours at work. We spoke to her upon the release of her ground-breaking study, “Beyond the individual victim: Linking sexual harassment, team processes, and team performance.” Managers and leaders may be startled by her findings: that sexual harassment is widespread and is not just a problem for its direct targets; it's also bad for team performance and the bottom line.(More)
Queen's IRC faculty member Lucinda Bray is a managementdevelopment consultant based in Dublin, Ireland. In the followingarticle, she talks about the gulf between European and North Americanideas about leadership — and the hidden perils this presents for an HRconsultant training executives in the Old World. (More)
Todd den Engelsen is currently the Director of Organizational Development with Canyon Technical Services limited. He is Chair of the Human Resource Institute of Alberta (HRIA). Queen's IRC Research Associate, Alison Hill, spoke with Todd to hear his perspectives on the role of the HR profession, and the challenges that lie ahead.
Todd believes that the future of HR is filled with opportunity and possibility, especially as corporations continue to operate within increasingly complex working environments, on a global scale. To meet these challenges, Todd encourages HR professionals to be continuous learners, to seek out and engage in professional development opportunities, and to cultivate a culture of learning within their organizations. (Download)
The Queen’s University Industrial Relations Centre (IRC) is committed to increasing our research portfolio. Recognizing that the state of the human resources (HR) profession is changing, in Canada and around the globe, the IRC sought to explore both quantitatively and qualitatively how Canadian practitioners view their profession. In February 2011, we launched a 53-question survey, "An Inquiry into the State of HR in Canada." The purpose of the survey was to describe the HR profession in Canada, based on the perspectives of practitioners.
When the survey closed on February 28, 2011, a total of 451 complete responses were collected. This Executive Summary presents an overview of some of the survey data. (Download)
An Interview with: Daphne J. FitzGerald, CHRP, SHRP
Partner, Capital G Consulting Inc.
Co-Founder & President, BOARDrx Inc.
Vice-Chair, HRPA
Daphne FitzGerald has worked in the field of human resources (HR) for over 30 years. A dedicated HR professional, Daphne spent the majority of her corporate career at Zurich Financial Services. She currently operates two consulting businesses: BOARDrx Inc. and Capital G Consulting Inc. In May 2011, Daphne will assume the role of Chair of the Board of Ontario’s Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA).
In December 2010, Queen’s IRC Research Associate, Alison Hill, spoke with Daphne to glean her insights on the HR profession in Canada and globally. Based on her breadth of experience and expertise, Daphne provides an optimistic outlook on the current and future state of the HR profession. (Download)
An Interview with: Peter Edwards
Vice President, Human Resources
Canadian National Railway (CN)
When it comes to leading organizational change, Peter Edwards and his team at the Canadian National Railway walk their talk. In their newly released publication SwitchPoints, Edwards and co-authors Les Dakens of CN, and Judy Johnson and Ned Morse of the Continuous Learning Group (CLG), describe how CN advanced from good to great in a few short years, becoming North America’s top performing railroad with both corporate customers and investors.
With a highly accessible and down-to-earth approach, the authors share their journey through applying behavioural science to the culture change at CN, and offer leadership principles and practices that are applicable to any organization seeking to enhance productivity, change attitudes, and ultimately, improve culture.
In 2009, Hilary Sirman of Queen’s IRC spoke with Peter about critical switch points in engaging employees at CN. This publication provides a synopsis of the conversation, including the challenges and opportunities of implementing and sustaining cultural change. (Download)
The purpose of this Queen’s Industrial Relations Centre (IRC) research initiative was to identify and categorize competencies required by a successful Labour Relations Professional (LRP). A review of the literature and an analysis of the IRC’s labour relations programming, led to the development of a survey for experienced labour relations practitioners. The IRC conducted the LRP survey in June 2009. Aggregated data revealed subtle shifts in competencies required for LRPs. Drawing on the 154 survey responses collected, a LRP Competency Framework is proposed. The resulting framework informs the IRC’s program planning and delivery, and is intended to be a practical tool for LRPs to plan their professional development activities. (Download)
How can the CEO and HR department find their common ground? CEO Paul Johnson advises that organizations can’t save their way to greatness – they grow their way to greatness. This requires developing a clear strategy and investing in good tools to make it all happen: your people. Ultimately, this is how the CEO and HR can meet in the middle and make great things happen together. (Download)
An Interview with: Dr. David S. Weiss, President and CEO of Weiss International Ltd. and Senior Research Fellow of Queen’s University IRC, 2009
Back in 1999, Queen's IRC Senior Research Fellow Dr. David Weiss offered afar-reaching view of the forces affecting human resources management. A decadelater, David takes a look back and a prescient look forward to make sense of therapid changes in the profession. What does he see?
(Download)
In this current difficult economic climate, many organizations are facing the unfortunate necessity to downsize and streamline operations. The big question for managers is: Can we avoid the pitfalls of downsizing and create the best possible outcome for our organization? Former IRC Director Carol Beatty reviews the best practices of leaders who have faced this daunting challenge and the lessons they have learned. (Download)
Succession planning is particularly important in government, if only because public sector employees tend to retire earlier than those in the private sector. But a study of 34 Ontario municipalities shows that senior municipal leaders are paying lip service to succession planning, mostly because other issues seem more pressing. (Download)
In December 2008, Hilary Sirman of Queen’s IRC spoke with Antoinette Blunt, President of Ironside Consulting Services Inc. and President of the Human Resources Professional Association of Ontario, about the current and future state of the Human Resources profession.
Amidst increasing global competition, wars for talent, economic uncertainty and generational differences in the workforce, human resources professionals today face escalating pressures. Nonetheless, Antoinette provides a thoughtful and optimistic outlook for the functionand future of HR leaders, commenting on the need to develop innovative talent management strategies, focus on recruitment and training, remain committed to lifelong learning, and actively engage in professional associations. (Download)
Too often, implementing information technology initiatives neglects consideration of the human factor from very early in the process. The author demonstrates that attention to organization development and change management in IT implementation has resulted in a positive impact on productivity, job satisfaction, and other work attitudes. This justifies proactive efforts to plan for change management effectiveness in most organizational interventions, particularly in IT initiatives that traditionally tend to turn the organization into which they are introduced upside-down. (Download)
Do unionized organizations in British Columbia face a greater challenge attracting and retaining new post-secondary graduates? Does the often adversarial nature of the union-management relationship translate into a culture that is perceived as negative and inconsistent with Gen X-Y workplace values? To what extent does a perceived negative workplace culture affect their decision to join or stay? What can employers and unions do to reshape any negative perception that may exist? These are questions that Ken Kaiser, faculty member in the School of Business at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, has posed in human resource management and labour relations classes for several years. His answer: workplaces with a perceived adversarial culture are at a serious disadvantage in competing for young, trained professionals. (Download)
Strategic Human Resource Management: A Practitioner's Point of View
Interview by Mary Lou Coates; featuring Debbie Bennett, VP Human Resources and Finance, Ottawa Citizen. 2007 (Download)
Since the 1980s, a great deal of research has looked at the possible causes and impact of work stress on health. While the links between specific diseases and stress are complex and often unclear, it has long been accepted in the health literature that negative health outcomes and stress are related. Nursing is a particularly stressful occupation and there is an emerging body of literature devoted specifically to the prevalence, sources, impacts of, and responses to organizational work stress among nurses. This discussion paper looks at the Canadian and global research in this area, the workplace context, changes in the occupation of nursing, the role of hospital restructuring on workplace stress, and responses to stress among nurses. (Download)
This study investigates managers' perceptions toward employees with varying medical conditions during a request for workplace accommodation. Workplace accommodation is likely to be viewed as unwarranted by co-workers and supervisors when it comes to individuals with psychiatric illnesses, and companies feel that it was easier to accommodate people with physical disabilities versus those with mental and emotional problems. The discussion paper explores this dynamic. (Download)
What do top leaders want from HR professionals? The following information, drawn from the author's ongoing research, provides valuable insight into what CEOs think HR managers are doing well and what competencies need developing. In general, the CEOs agreed that their HR departments did a good job in the transactional aspects of their work but that more skill in leadership and strategic areas was needed. Their responses underline the new role for HR practitioners being written into the organizational script: that of a strategic business partner to senior leadership. (Download)
This discussion paper reports on research that looked at whether the relationship between employee intention to quit and human resource management (HRM) changed based on union membership. The investigation first considered whether HRM reduced or increased an employee's intention to quit. Next, the moderating effect of union membership on the relationship between HRM and quit intent was considered. Did an employee's union member/non-member status in any way change the effects of HRM on employee quit intent, and if so, how? (Download)
Buzz Hargrove, National President of the National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union of Canada (CAW-TCA Canada), reviews the challenging situation in which the Canadian labour movement finds itself today, tallies strengths and weaknesses, and calls for the union movement to be more innovative in addressing those challenges and weaknesses. (Download)
Made in Canada Leadership is a compelling guide for anyone interested in their own growth as a leader - or in developing leaders within their organizations. (More)
Publisher: Publishers: John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd. ISBN: 0-470-83568-0 Year: 2005 Price: $49.99 Buy Now!
HRM Project Series - The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role and significance of unions and collective bargaining in facilitating workplace change (More)
Respect, not superficial goodwill, is the key to inspiredteamwork, says Dr. Shawna O’Grady, Associate Professor of Management atQueen’s School of Business. Great teams work hard at keeping membersaligned and making the most of creative conflict. We spoke recentlywith Shawna about the challenges of creating and sustaining acollaborative work environment.(More)
