Archives for January 2015

Coaching Skills: Post-Program Perspectives

Queen's IRC Coaching Skill training program brochure coverIn December 2014, Queen’s IRC introduced a new two-day Coaching Skills program. With long-time Queen’s IRC facilitator Françoise Morissette at the helm, the program promises to deliver essential coaching skills, tools and models to help participants master the coaching process and improve performance at the individual and organizational level.

“Coaching is popular because it’s very portable and can be used formally or informally,” said Françoise, the lead facilitator for the program. She said coaching is a good opportunity to turn knowledge into know-how.  For organizations to compete, people development is becoming essential and employers are looking for opportunities to develop and manage talent. Training employees in coaching is one way to do that.

Talent is an organization’s biggest asset, and Françoise said she has heard over and over again that it’s not being managed well. “The program participants were very aware of the huge shifts happening in the world of work and how things will have to be different in the future of work.” Coaching is part of a larger set of vital skills that include talent management and talent development.

The inaugural program was very well received by participants. In fact, our post-program evaluations revealed that 100% of respondents found the programming to be directly relevant to their work. All respondents indicated that they agree or strongly agree that the IRC’s programming met their expectations and learning objectives. The evaluations indicated that all of the tools and modules were applicable to the participants’ work, with the “GROW Coaching Model” topping the list.

Raymond Wubs, an HR Business Advisor with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, said he found the GROW coaching model the most valuable part of the course.  He was pleased with all the extras that were provided, including the database of coaching questions to help find different ways of asking questions when you’re coaching.

“I am the lead for talent management and performance management at the Ministry of Transportation, so this has a direct link to my role,” Raymond said. “I was pleasantly surprised with how closely it linked to what I was hoping to get out of it.”

Raymond said he intends to take a more intentional role in developing their top talent, and the tools he received in the Coaching Skills program will help him do that.

Brittany Francis, an HR Business Partner at High Liner Foods, said she was looking for some skills to help her in her role, where she works with front line supervisors on a regular basis. She found the tools in the program extremely applicable. “I can use these tools every day, both at work, and at home.”

“I went in with an open mind, and my expectations were exceeded,” Brittany said.  She found the most value in practicing new skills as they went along, and in the takeaways, such as the question banks.

All of the participants interviewed had glowing reviews about facilitator Françoise Morissette. Brittany describes Françoise as knowledgeable, passionate, and humorous. Raymond says she is an excellent and knowledgeable facilitator. “She’s really engaging and she keeps the energy up in the classroom.”

Denise Miedzinski, Human Resources Manager at The Foray Group, agrees that Françoise is an excellent facilitator, and she enjoyed all of the extra pieces that were included. Denise also really liked the GROW model – she says it’s simple in a good way.  Denise plans to teach the other leaders in her organization how to use the model.

Denise brought along a colleague to the Coaching Skills program. She says it was beneficial because now they are both talking the same way about coaching. Denise saw value in how the program puts coaching in context, talks about facilitating and performance coaching, uses role plays, and allowed her to work with people from other organizations.

“I’ve done a lot of coaching, and I wanted to see if there was any additional skills I could pick-up.” She said that the Coaching Skills program tied in nicely with the Queen’s IRC Talent Management program, which Denise also completed in the fall of 2014.

Françoise said the Coaching Skills program is useful for managers and HR professionals, because whether they realize it or not, they spend a lot of their time coaching. But the potential use for coaching extends far beyond the traditional top down coaching methods.  Françoise noted that we are seeing more peer coaching, and bottom up coaching, where perhaps a younger person might be coaching an executive on new technology.

Please visit our website for more information on the Queen’s IRC Coaching Skills program.

Are You Ready for the New World of Work?

Get ahead of the shift with the 2015 Queen's IRC Workplace in Motion SummitWe have reached an important turning point in the world of work – a time when organizational success is no longer defined by economies of scale and efficiency, but by the ability to learn and innovate. Technology is transforming how we work and what we do. Global competition is the new normal. By 2020, millennials will make up half of our workforce. How do we prepare for this shift?

The 2015 Workplace in Motion Summit creates a space for discussing these issues and exploring new strategies and structures for a changing workplace. The day will include an exploration of key trends in technology, global competition, generational flux and the knowledge economy, along with valuable opportunities to network with colleagues. Discover what pioneering organizations are doing to connect and leverage talent, and learn what you and your organization can do to thrive in the future.

Summit Chair Brenda Barker Scott and Queen’s IRC Director Paul Juniper will lead group discussions, along with workshop facilitators Diane Locke, Françoise Morissette and Anne Grant, who will delve more deeply into human resources, organizational development and labour relations issues. “Our bold agenda for this first Workplace in Motion Summit is to create space for re-thinking, reflecting and re-imagining,” says Barker Scott. “We’ll be challenging individuals and teams to view their systems from new perspectives.”

The Summit is designed specifically for human resources, labour relations and organizational development professionals, as well as the leaders in their organizations. It’s ideal for organizations who want to bring colleagues from HR, LR and OD, as well as current and future leaders who will leave inspired to lead change together.

Queen’s IRC alumni save 35% off the regular price (with limited spaces available). Bring your team and save – groups of 2-4 people will save 25% and groups of 5 or more save 50%! Single attendees can register online. To take advantage of the Team discount or the Alumni discount, please call 1-888-858-6826 or email irc@queensu.ca.

Explore what the new world of work means for your career, your organization and your industry. Join Queen’s IRC at the Workplace in Motion 2015 Summit on April 16, 2015 at the Allstream Centre in Toronto.

 

 

Top 5 Queen’s IRC Articles from 2014

Here are the most popular articles Queen’s IRC released in 2014.

5 Steps to Build Trust and Change the Culture in an Organization
By Paul Juniper, Director, Queen’s University IRC
How do you change the culture in a workplace where workers don’t trust the leaders, where employees are not engaged, and where people just don’t care about doing their jobs? A few months ago, I was speaking to a group of senior leaders and the topic of changing culture and increasing employee engagement came up. The conversation started innocuously, with a comment like, “There’s too many potholes in the road and you can’t get people, whose job it is to fill potholes, to care.” Read More
Recognizing Employee Engagement in the Workplace
By Cavell Fraser, Vice President Human Resources, Libro Credit Union
There’s a lot of talk about employee engagement these days, but how do we recognize these engaged employees and show appreciation for the things they do to support the company? It’s not always easy to distinguish what exactly engagement in the workplace is, and it can be demonstrated differently depending on a person’s role and the function of their company. When I think of engagement, I consider it to be those behaviours and actions that warm the heart. I can picture specific employees I’ve worked with over the years and the behaviours I’ve witnessed that have touched me. Read More
The Head-Down Theory: How Unfairness Affects Employee Engagement
By Blaine Donais, President and Founder, Workplace Fairness Institute
Modern HR practice suggests that the difference between successful and struggling companies can be found in employee engagement. Those companies who engage employees to actively participate in the success of an organization report greater productivity, morale, innovation and health. Most companies offer rewards as a way of promoting employee engagement. Yet very few have analyzed the reasons why employees are not engaged. Our research at the Workplace Fairness Institute has led to a conclusion about the real reasons for lack of employee engagement – it’s all about fairness. Read More
The Need for Lean HR: Reinvent or RIP HR
Diane Wiesenthal, FCHRP, Corporate People Responsibility® Ltd.
RIP HR. That will be the tombstone on the HR profession if we don’t get our act together soon. Sadly it seems we just cannot agree on a unified national approach on the professional association front, or even in some provincial regions. It’s no wonder that we lack the ability to move HR to the next level in business. What’s most unfortunate is that as a profession that should be recognized for leadership, vision and collaboration, we are setting a very poor example. We’ve been talking about the same old tired things for years, if not decades. Read More
Strategic Grievance Management in Today’s Unionized Environment
By Lori Aselstine, Director, Employee Relations and Strategic Human Resources Government of Ontario (retired)
The word “strategic” gets thrown around pretty loosely these days – it’s one of those business buzz words meant to instill confidence that we’ve thought this through and it’s all under control: trust us, we’ve got a strategic plan! But there’s more to it than just calling something “strategic”. The term “strategic” implies there is a thoughtful, organized strategy guiding your efforts; that a particular issue has been viewed in the broader context and your decision to proceed is based on the impacts that decision will have across the organization. Read More

To review all of the articles, papers and research Queen’s IRC released in 2014, please see Looking Back on 2014… by Stephanie Noel.

Is Transparency a Recipe for Innovation?

Is Transparency a Recipe for Innovation?Innovation is a key driver in organizational sustainability, and yes, openness and transparency are a recipe for innovation. But, according to Tapscott and Williams, “when it comes to innovation, competitive advantage and organizational success, ‘openness’ is rarely the first word one would use to describe companies and other societal organizations like government agencies or medical institutions. For many, words like ‘insular,’ ‘bureaucratic,’ ‘hierarchical,’ ‘secretive’ and ‘closed’ come to mind instead.”1 And yet a few months ago, The Tesla Model S just became the world’s first open-source car. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motor Vehicles, shared all the patents on Tesla’s electric car technology, allowing anyone — including competitors — to use them without fear of litigation. Elon wrote in his post “Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.”2

In the public sector, terms such as open government, citizen sourcing, and wiki government are also akin to the notion of open innovation and transparency. As Hilgers and Ihl report, “a good example of this approach is the success of the Future Melbourne program, a Wiki and blog-based approach to shaping the future urban landscape of Australia’s second largest city. The program allowed citizens to directly edit and comment on the plans for the future development of the city. It attracted more than 30,000 individuals, who submitted hundreds of comments and suggestions (futuremelbourne.com.au). Basically, problems concerning design and creativity, future strategy and local culture, and even questions of management and service innovation can be broadcasted on such web-platforms.”3 The authors suggest that there are three dimensions to applying the concept of open innovation to the public sector: citizen ideation and innovation (tapping knowledge and creativity), collaborative administration (user generated new tasks and processes), and collaborative democracy (improve public participation in the policy process).

Queen’s IRC Spring 2015-Spring 2016 Program Planner

We’re pleased to introduce our Spring 2015-Spring 2016 Program Planner. It details our new offerings Building Trust in the Workplace, Coaching Skills and Designing Change, as well as our other foundational and advanced programs.

Download our Spring 2015-Spring 2016 Program Planner now!

Download Brochure What’s inside:

  • Program dates, locations and fees
  • Detailed description of our entire program lineup
  • The Human Resources/Organization Development & Labour Relations Certificate Roadmaps
  • Information about creating a custom program for your organization
  • 18-month program calendar

Check out our new program planner: Download

Register today and take the next step in your career to ensure that you continue to thrive in today’s business environment.

Make 2015 the year to invest in YOU!

Director’s Note – January 2015

Paul Juniper, Director, Queen's IRCThere has been a great deal of discussion these days about generational differences at work. Millennials are seeking different rewards than their older co-workers, and evolving technology is changing the way we all do our jobs. In such a diverse and constantly shifting environment, how do we build teams that foster collaboration, trust and a shared vision for success?

Queen’s IRC programs tackle that challenge head on, using evidence-based tools and hands-on activities to help you design processes and practices that result in a positive work environment that clearly contributes to the bottom line.

I am pleased to introduce our new Designing Change program to help you map out and lead a transformational culture shift that engages multi-generational team members from all levels of your organization. Our new Building Trust in the Workplace program is offered as a one-day workshop or as an add-on to other select courses, and focuses on developing the vital skills, practices and process that result in a culture of respect and trust. And our highly popular Change Management program gives you the confidence and tools you will need to diagnose, plan and implement changes in your organization.

In 2015, we will also be introducing a new opportunity to take your professional development to a higher level with a one-day Summit designed specifically for Human Resources, Labour Relations and Organizational Design professionals. The Summit will feature excellent opportunities to share ideas and challenges with colleagues and your own team members, through innovative learning sessions and experiential activities designed to help you embrace and use change to your advantage. Look for details in the near future.

At Queen’s IRC, we continue to develop new programs that are based on your feedback and founded in solid research and evidenced-based practices. I invite you to explore our new programs, and to make 2015 a year of positive approaches to your changing world.

Paul Juniper, CHRL, SPHR
Director, Queen’s IRC

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
– George Bernard Shaw

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