Changing the HR Mindset from Transactional to Strategic: Lessons from the Government of Alberta
Stephanie Noel, Queen's IRC Business Development Manager, 2013
For the Alberta government's Pauline Melnyk, the Queen's IRC HR Business Partner Certificate Program couldn't have come at a better time.
Melnyk was helping design a cumulative effects management system (CEMS) for her department, Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. As part of the system, which designs programs and processes based on the cumulative effects of development on the environment, the department itself needed to review its organizational design.
Melynk enrolled in the inaugural program hosted by the departments of Environment, Energy, and Advanced Education and Technology, and immediately saw how she could apply what she learned to the CEMS project.
"It was so timely," said Melnyk, an organizational learning and effectiveness consultant. "When we were learning about the IRC's Blueprint for Organizational Effectiveness that very much came to the forefront in my learning about what the CEMS system looks like.
"Because of the IRC program, I was able to ask more poignant questions, and dig deeper."
Creating a Strategy for Workplace Investigations DynaLIFEDx's Experience Mastering the Fact-Finding and Investigation Process
Cathy Rendek, Human Resources Manager, DynaLIFEDx, 2013
Workplace investigations – where to begin? Like many organizations DynaLIFEDx conducts internal investigations for a variety of different reasons.
In 2011, new to the world of Human Resources and Employee Relations, I was challenged to evaluate our internal processes for workplace investigations, identify risks and opportunities, and make recommendations on a move forward strategy. What clearly became evident was a strong desire to do the right thing, but a lack of consistency and clarity in how workplace investigations were handled. This lack of consistency and clarity did have the potential to lead to inaccurate findings and create at times, a lack of confidence in the process.
Rising to a 'Seat at the Table' for HR Practitioners: Continuous Learning Leadership A Senior Executive Opens up About What it Took to Get There and Stay There
Dave Crisp, Crisp Leadership Strategies, 2013
Today many vice presidents and other senior executives in human resources (HR) have earned a seat at the executive table by showing their organization's senior teams that HR operations contribute at least as much as Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance, IT or any other department. The key to this is continuous learning. Jack Welch, former 20-year CEO of world class GE, now an itinerant management guru, is often quoted: "An organization's ability to learn and translate that learning into action rapidly is the ultimate competitive advantage." Executives who aspire to lead organizations have to spearhead that learning first by learning steadily themselves and that is nowhere truer than for HR.
Welch also says point blank in his book Winning (Welch, 2005) and frequently on the speaker circuit, that HR is the second most important job (after CEO of course), and the only other role impacting every part of an organization. It combines the most complex set of tasks of any position. You need to know HR inside and out, but like a CEO, you also need to know a good deal about every other function.
Since it is impossible to know everything, the key becomes developing the ability to learn rapidly. The only way to learn this is by practicing for it constantly. In so doing, you accumulate a wide knowledge as well as a respect for the complexity of other positions, and an ability to talk to people in their language.
Curious about what Queen's IRC offers? This video gives an overview of our professional development training, from the perspective of our participants and speakers. If you were at one of our programs in the past year, you might even you spot yourself in here!
For Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 dates, please visit our website or download our Program Planner.
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Call 1-888-858-7838 | Email IRC@QueensU.ca | Visit us online at irc.queensu.ca
Today many vice presidents and other senior executives in human resources (HR) have earned a seat at the executive table by showing their organization's senior teams that HR operations contribute at least as much as Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance, IT or any other department. The key to this is continuous learning. Jack Welch, former 20-year CEO of world class GE, now an itinerant management guru, is often quoted: "An organization's ability to learn and translate that learning into action rapidly is the ultimate competitive advantage." Executives who aspire to lead organizations have to spearhead that learning first by learning steadily themselves and that is nowhere truer than for HR.
