Canadian HR Reporter

STRATEGIC CAPABILITY NETWORK'S PANEL of thought leaders brings decades of experience from the senior ranks of Canada's business community. eir commentary puts HR management issues into context and looks at the practical implications of proposals and policies. CANADIAN HR REPORTER EXECUTIVE SERIES 17 www.scnetwork.ca JUNE 2019 What's old is new again – with a twist Four SCNetwork members discuss the presentation by Deloitte Paul Pittman: During this presentation, I had concerns for the first 20 minutes as we seemed to be focused on Deloitte's self-confessed invention of the social enterprise. But then we got into the survey and other perceived trends, and the presenters did a fine job with a liberal dose of interpretation. In a nutshell, we don't use enough technology and we are not being nice enough to people, including helping them move on. Funnily enough, these are the same results seen in the last sur- vey I conducted a few years ago, but with different jargon. It is fantastically difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from a standard set of questions asked of a global audience with differing cul- tural and literal interpretations and (in some cases) concepts that are alien to the local leadership. None- theless, some interesting, common threads appear to unite leadership and the HR community. ere's a mighty leap to tech- nology, which there has to be in the pursuit of increased produc- tivity, but great dissatisfaction was noted too — which makes sense. ink about how many apps you use in business or personally that actually do what they are sup- posed to. Not many? Ninety-four per cent of participants pretty much agreed — with only six per cent satisfied with their HR tech- nology (probably spreadsheets). When dealing with people's ca- reers, development, engagement and productivity, less-than-full functionality will likely do more damage than good. Before leaping to action on the results of this global survey, it would be wise to consider for a mo- ment its likely participants, who are likely at larger international employers, and have the where- withal to experiment and invest in employee-centric organizations. e presenters identified the numbers of employees with "side gigs" — second jobs they had taken in pursuit of self-fulfillment. Employee-centric social enter- prises are no doubt going to thrive but the employees are going to need one or more side hustles to grow or get by. ere doesn't seem much that is sociable or employ- ee-centric about that. David Creelman: While re- porting on the latest trends is fun and perhaps merits reflection once a year, most things don't change that quickly and some trends are mere blips that will swing back in a few years. As a result, there is pressure to tart up the presenta- tion with more drama and newer words than are really useful. However, I liked the emphasis on alternative work and side hus- tles because technology enables this in a way that wasn't pos- sible in the past. Furthermore, it provides a great way for people and organizations to be more adaptable. I'd go even further to say that side hustles are the best mecha- nism for Canadians and the Ca- nadian economy to thrive in an era of extreme technological change. is is a trend we should encourage. But I didn't like the notion of "superjobs" or "the human expe- rience." ese new terms are un- necessary inventions. In particu- lar, in a world where HR is just coming to grips with the concept of "employee experience," chang- ing the label to human experience is counterproductive. What I really would like is a re- port by a historian who could put things into a broader perspective. Is the world moving towards the social enterprise? Perhaps it is, perhaps not. If I am serious about this af- fecting my strategy, then I want a historian's point of view. Sandi Channing: When Jodi began to speak about Maslow's hierarchy of needs, I was in- trigued. I liked the way she tied current trends into three buckets based on the top three levels of the hierarchy — future of work- force (belonging), future of organ- ization (esteem) and future of HR (self-actualization). It was no surprise then that peo- ple were the centre of all the trends, and it looks like everyone is win- ning. AI is no longer seen as the monster that is taking away jobs. Now the focus is using the time saved by AI to inspire employees to take on new responsibilities and embark on a varied career path contributing to business success. Organizations are embracing the millennial and gen-Z approach to work-life balance. e defini- tion of learning has expanded from the flow of work to the flow of life by recognizing that life out- side of work can teach skills and knowledge applicable to a person's life as a whole — including work. An alternative workforce is being viewed in a different light, using it to benefit both the business and the workers. Leadership continues to be a major force, and will now be measured on both outcomes and the journey to reaching these outcomes. Inspiring people, pro- viding different career paths and coaching employees throughout is equally important. is requires managers to share talent throughout the organiza- tion, encouraging participation on cross-functional teams and to support lateral or promotional movement. Of interest will be how orga- nizations grapple with managers who have stellar outcomes and less-than-stellar people practices. We are in the midst of the fourth Industrial Revolution and these are exciting times. To quote professor Klaus Schwab, success will require that leaders and peo- ple "together shape a future that works for all by putting people first, empowering them and con- stantly reminding ourselves that all of these new technologies are, first and foremost, tools made by people for people." It looks like we're on the right track. Jan van der Hoop: Sandi, I am so glad you are one of us. Your view is always so much more refresh- ing than ours. When I read your comments, I sometimes wonder if we saw the same presentation. Truth is, we saw the same content through different filters. Yes, I think Deloitte has identi- fied the main themes and opportu- nities facing organizations in terms of how they organize, engage and create value with their people. But I agree with Paul and Da- vid — it's hard (and unhelpful) to keep coming up with new jargon to sell consulting. For the most part, there isn't much new under the sun. ese trends have been in place for a long time; they may be- come nuanced or tinged by tech- nology, economic forces, or the demands of a younger workforce raised with different expectations, but, at the core, the same underly- ing issues remain. David, I was tickled by your de- sire for a historian's perspective. All things seem new when a per- son sees or experiences them for the first time — and that "new- ness" can stimulate an energy or a passion that can overinflate significance or importance. I think Paul and I are the closest things you'll get to "historians" in this group, and Paul is eminently more qualified than I. But your question is an important one: Is "X" (in your example, the social enterprise trend) a movement that requires strategic focus, or a blip that will pass? Career mobility within organi- zations is likely the easiest place for employers to begin making changes, she said. "Fifty per cent of respondents said they were more likely to get a new job outside their organization than they were to get a new job inside their organization. We're losing people just around the in- ability to move them around in- ternally. And when we can't bring in the right talent from externally, and we can't develop fast enough, talent mobility is actually the big- gest lever we can pull to make it happen." "(Often), there's no tools and visibility to make this happen, but there's also this protectiveness of line managers to not think about talent as organizational talent, but their domain," said Baker Calamai. Finally, a shift towards cloud- based computing is expected to continue as organizations em- brace technologies designed to make things easier, she said. "Many organizations globally and in Canada have invested sig- nificantly in HR technology… We need to look deeper (at) the tools we're using, and how we're posi- tioning people to be productive and effective in their job with the right learning to be successful." REINVENTION < pg. 14 Career mobility a concern PANELLISTS: • Paul Pittman, founder and president of the Human Well in Toronto • David Creelman, CEO of Creelman Research in Toronto • Sandi Channing, senior director of total rewards at Compass Group Canada in Mississauga, Ont. • Jan G. van der Hoop, president of Fit First Technologies in Toronto Jan van der Hoop David Creelman Paul Pittman Sandi Channing is Empowered by: is Empowered by: A Great Leader A Great Leader www.scnetwork.ca Networking, Mentoring, Peer-Peer Feedback Formal Online & Of ine Learning On the job experiences & challenges 20% 10% 70% Join SCNetwork, for a monthly dose of thought leadership and grow your community of peers in a collaborative space. 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