Research and Resources
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CONTACT
For more information on Queen’s IRC’s practitioner-focused research, please contact our research team at: ircresearch@queensu.ca
Latest ARTICLES

The Myth of Body Language as a Credibility Assessor
Workplace investigators and human resource professionals should be cautious of relying on the body language of a witness to evaluate their credibility during an investigation. Fact-finding investigations, especially in cases of harassment, at times turn into an evaluation of one person’s version of events versus another’s, or as some call it, the “he said, she said” dilemma. In these cases, assessing the credibility of the two parties may be the easiest way the investigator can come to any defensible determination relative to credibility.

Queen’s IRC Program Prospectus
Our Program Prospectus is now available! Please download the digital version to learn more about our virtual training options in 2021!

Best Practices for Returning to the Workplace
There are many unanswered questions about Canadian workplaces as we look toward reopening offices. The well-established principles and guidelines that employers, unions and employees have followed for many years will certainly help navigate this process. That said, this pandemic takes us into new and uniquely uncharted waters that may well shift some or all of these principles as we move forward. This article will look at the frameworks in place today, as well as best practices for boldly going where few workplaces have gone before.

What’s Your Superpower? A Reflection on Personal and Team Branding
Like many people, my life changed significantly overnight in mid-March. Suddenly I was working from home – exclusively. Among the many changes from this, my commute went from 60 minutes a day to approximately 60 seconds a day to the “office” (including grabbing a coffee on the way). With this excess capacity and time, after a few sleep-ins (comparatively 08:00 a.m.), I decided to use this time productively for mental health (reflection, planning, introspection and improvement).

Embracing Emotions in the Workplace
During one of our Strategies for Workplace Conflicts programs, a participant commented that she told her staff that she didn’t “DO emotion!” I really appreciated her forthright statement which led to a valuable discussion about the place of emotion in the workplace. How do we handle the expression of emotion? Are emotions welcome or not? How do we handle an emotional outburst in a meeting or deal with strong negative emotions between two co-workers in conflict? How do we deal with our own emotions?

An Inquiry into the State of Labour Relations in Canada in 2020
We invite everyone who works in a labour relations role (both union and management) to participate in our survey on the State of Labour Relations in Canada. THIS SURVEY IS NOW CLOSED.

Canada’s Pandemic Response: Key Learnings for Building our Future
What if the entire population becomes vulnerable due a pandemic? COVID-19 took the world by surprise, then by storm, compelling us to adapt to new realities which considerably impact our individual, social and professional lives. The Canadian Federal Government, responsible for leading the pandemic crisis response, had to take effective and swift action in a rapidly shifting environment, driven by a new and mysterious threat. Implementing a multitude of effective responses across the country during COVID-19 posed a significant challenge for the Federal Government with regards to speed, agility and performance, and they proved up to the task, using an action learning, collaborative and iterative approach.

Introduction of Virtual Seats
The current COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted our ability to offer training the way we normally do, with participants travelling from across the country to meet face-to-face and work together to build new skills. We know that you still have training needs, and we have been working hard to find ways to meet these needs in a way that keeps everyone safe, continues to deliver the premium training you expect from Queen’s IRC, and has options that work with provincial and organizational restrictions.

Expectations for Virtual Learning with Queen’s IRC
Queen’s IRC is delivering synchronous virtual learning, where all participants attend the program live as it happens. In addition to the live sessions, there may be some “homework” or offline work to complete before the next session.
ABOUT OUR PRACTITIONER-ORIENTED RESEARCH
Our research includes a variety of activities that complement our programming. Through surveys, interviews, and articles, we aim to communicate trends in the HR and LR fields.
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