Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER FEATURES 21 W hen it comes to the importance of in- novation, Anthony Viel, CEO of De- loitte Canada in Toronto, is pretty clear on where he stands. "If you don't innovate, your life in the new economy is going to be short as an organization. Or certainly your life as a leader in the new economy is going to be very short." On the one hand, it's about survival; on the other hand, it's about being able to attract the very best talent that wants to change the world, he says. And Deloitte is continually trying to be a preferred employer of choice. "We've set up a social media platform internally where 14,000 people or a vast majority of them will contribute on things that impact life within Deloitte as an employee," says Viel. "I call them users because they inform us as to how we improve the talent value proposition and how we improve the client value proposition. e leaders of those users, they're responsible for creating the culture and the culture that allows the users to innovate with freedom." It's been said the talent of the future will have 10 different careers before they turn 40 — though not necessarily at different employers, he says. "If that is directionally correct, it underpins why you need to be an innovative organization if you want to keep top talent because if you keep reinventing the value propositions for clients and for your people, you've got a better chance of holding on to that person… at probably encapsulates why we're so passionate about innovation here at Deloitte." Also helping Deloitte Canada's push for innovation is the company's global network. "We're able to leverage innovations from across our network of 300,000 practitioners," says Viel, and Canada has been one of the leaders on that front. "[It's about] exporting Canadian innovation and deployment across the globe, which plays back to most of the people that join us want to change the world." Challenges along the way at's not to say there aren't challenges along the way. For example, it's one thing to think about the idea and the innovation; it's another to realize the benefits of that idea and innovation, says Viel. "How do I do enough of the former and enough of the latter so that they stay in harmony such that you continue to be successful as an organization, as well as being at the forefront of… the client value proposition and the talent value proposition?" e other big challenge is making sure you have a culture that embraces failure as much as success, he says. "Fear can stop individuals from innovating. We don't celebrate failure very often, so my attitude is that a failure should be greeted with an 'Attaboy, attagirl, we've learnt something; move forward, let's innovate with that learning,'" says Viel. "If you don't create that culture, then fear can cripple or stifle innovation within your organization." Obviously, there need to be successes as well, but if an organization just operates under only successes, "then that fear becomes real because no one wants to put their neck out, so to speak, for fear of reprisal," he says. ere's also the challenge of technology itself. ere's a lack of understanding when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), for example, when it comes to the science behind the applications and how the data should be used. While Deloitte uses AI to screen applicants instead of manual measures, it has to be free of bias, says Viel. "AI can be our friend in this way. And the use of data can be our friend. But we also need to be mindful of what data we are using and what biases are... being built into these AI algorithms; because, sometimes, it has unintended consequences." HR's role HR makes three major contributions when it comes to innovation. For one, it's charged with understanding the human psychology but also combining that with the data and analytics, says Viel. "HR professionals need to work with our business leaders to make sure that we bring that understanding to life such that we can have a more innovative culture." e second element is helping leaders to be better ones so they can facilitate that culture, while the third is about both attracting and retaining talent, and celebrating the talent that is living the culture, he says. "Our HR folk are strategic talent development advisors, so they're agitators back with our businesses across 14,000 people to make sure that we are developing our people in line with our strategy of which innovation is one pillar." Canada has been described as a laggard when it comes to innovation. A conservative, risk-averse culture could be holding us back from the benefits of a creative, entrepreneurial mindset. But in talking to five CEOs from across Canada, we heard about all kinds of innovation that are taking place, as employers realize the need to stay ahead of the curve, not only to be competitive, but to attract and retain key talent. Staying ahead with innovation Anthony Viel CEO of Deloitte Canada The professional services network has 14,000 employees in Canada

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