Canadian HR Reporter

23 23 www.nationalhrawards.com T he Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)'s recent recruitment initiative has seen impressive results, which was a big reason why the 2,240-employee institution — owned by the federal government to support more than 42,000 small and medium-sized enterprises across the country — was the winner of the Technology/Innovation Award. The bank planned to hire 1,000 employees over three years with the addition of 26 business centre locations, so recruitment was key. "It was important for the bank, given its mission," says Eric Gagnon, director of employee experience at BDC in Montreal. "For us, it was really important to put in place all the systems and practices that would help us recruit the talent we need to support entrepreneurs, and the employee experience was really at the heart of this project, to support the business." The project included asynchronous video interviewing to replace phone screens. Questions were pre-established by role and the candidate did not know the questions in advance. This format gave job applicants greater fl exibility and also generated savings for the recruitment team. "We wanted to bring in technology that would help pre-screen candidates and also, with asynchronous video interviewing, give us the possibility to give a sneak preview before they met people in interviews," says Gagnon. "The recruitment service, for example, looks at all the CVs, pre-selects the number of potential candidates, sends them an invitation to participate in an interview online, which provides the candidate absolutely fantastic fl exibility because they could answer the questions at their convenience either at home, during the day, at night… and provides our leaders really a better experience because they can see the candidates we are proposing before they meet them in-person. "Because we don't have to phone the candidate and make an appointment and do back and forth with them, we can also be more effi cient at looking at the video answers, taking notes at the same time and sending our recruitment notes to the leaders, so that saves a lot of time in the process, administrative time that was probably not as effi cient as it could have been." The recruitment process has also been automated, from the candidate application to the offer letter. Employees can now share BDC job postings on their LinkedIn network through the bank's intranet and the streamlining of the process on the applicant tracking system has reduced time to apply for external applicants from 45 to 10 minutes. Analytics also track the recruitment sources to broaden the pool of qualifi ed candidates and be more cost-effective. "It has helped us to identify our best sources of attraction and put our investments, in terms of our media plan and advertising, into the places, locations, media where we have the biggest bang for our buck," says Gagnon. The project required the use, development and implementation of multiple technologies, including an off-the-shelf cloud solution for the video interviews. And the automation of the boarding process required the connection of 20 systems, along with the web-based extranet solution developed internally in partnership with IT. After all the work, the implementation went well, says Gagnon. "We were on time and on budget, which is always good, it helps rally people very quickly. But it required collaboration from a number of teams and that's BDC sees success with innovative recruitment process By Sarah Dobson Technology/Innovation Award BDC HIRING > pg. 25 W hen people feel aligned with the company they work for, good things tend to happen for both the employee and employer. That sensibility is at the root of Fidelity Investments Canada's corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. "Today, employees expect more of their employers," says Nancy Lupi, senior vice-president of HR at Fidelity in Toronto. "Good employers understand this and act on it." Employees want to work with employers who share their values, she says. "What we are most proud of, though, is how fi ercely committed our employees are to supporting their communities. Their efforts have turned a grassroots program into a corporate mandate and huge success." Success in employee communities translates into a stronger relationship between employees and the employer and helps attract the next generation of exceptional employees. "Nowadays, employees are looking for more than a paycheque; they're looking to make a difference," says Lupi. As an example, an Employees Assisting Charities program allows workers to dedicate full shifts to volunteer work while a grant program allows them to translate internal volunteer hours into $100 donations to the charities of their choice. Fidelity has a long-running relationship with one particular charity. "Fourteen years ago, we entered into a national partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada to help steer youth towards lifelong learning," says Martha Carnegie, director of HR and community affairs at Fidelity in Toronto. The 876-employee company organizes events for the charity that include an outing to a Toronto Blue Jays game and a trip to Canada's Wonderland. "Fidelity Investments also organizes and runs Unity Day — an annual outdoor summer carnival that celebrates the similarities and differences of children from diverse communities and backgrounds," says Carnegie. "On the back of this partnership, we founded the Power Up! Program that has helped more than 13,000 students participate in several linked initiatives, including the STE(A)M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) Program," she says. "These programs encourage children to gain an appreciation for lifelong learning." Fidelity also offers scholarship opportunities for youth pursuing post- secondary education and supports the Who's Got Your Back school supplies drive. "Recently, our employees collected 162 backpacks and 52 boxes of school supplies," says Carnegie. Fidelity supports employee values through CSR By Melissa Campeau Best Corporate Social Responsibility Program Fidelity Investments Canada FIDELITY > pg. 25 an outing to a Toronto Blue Jays game and a "Fidelity Investments also organizes and runs Unity Day — an annual outdoor "These programs encourage children to gain Fidelity also offers scholarship opportunities for youth pursuing post-

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