Canadian HR Reporter

www.hrreporter.com 27 "We're trying to meet the needs of our learners, a diverse set of people who have different learning styles and needs." Kimberly McLeod, manager of learning experience at Recipes University, the training hub for Recipes Unlimited force, that number jumped to 30,000, says Jeneroux. "From an HR perspective and from a learning perspective, we've had a lot of focus on how do we actually equip and enable everybody who is working from work in new ways and everyone who is working from home in new ways." When it comes to learning, there's always been two tracks at BMO: a "just-enough, just-in-time" approach and a long-term approach around advancing the skills for job career interests and the future of work. During the pandemic, it 's about keeping a finger on the pulse of what employees are saying, she says. "Checking in with them, finding out the things that they most need, whether they are working in work locations or whether they are working remotely. And… part of what our people needed really quickly was information about: How do you manage through times of uncertainty, how do you lead remotely, how do you engage people? And, most importantly, it's around the resilience and the well-being and making sure that people have the resources to be able to manage their stress, to manage their personal situations." But employees also need to be able to do their job effectively, says Jeneroux. "They need to be able to manage relationships, manage customers, be able to develop new skills as they are thinking about their career and their future and as we're trying to prepare people for the future of work. So, as much as certain aspects of what we do change very dramatically, a lot of what people are looking for is actually the types of things that we would hear from them all the time and so we really have to manage both of those things," she says. "It's really about reimagining what work will look like in the future and what's required to set everybody up for success as we're pivoting back into a different place that will have a different mix and a different way of working." Recipe looks at new style of working Being in the restaurant industry, Recipe Limited has always had to move quickly and respond to changing situations. That's helped the company under the pandemic, says McLeod. "We've been able to really pull together and create things pretty reactively to the needs of the organization." With COVID-19, it's all about a new style of working, so the learning strategy is focused on asking people: "What do you need to be successful that you aren't able to get right now?" and building around that, she says. That's included managing shifting priorities. For example, people who may be used to tackling one big project for a year are now looking at six or seven priorities. It's also about rebuilding how to manage and maintain virtual teams, says McLeod. "One of the biggest [topics] is how to lead in times of uncertainty. So, how do you speak to people? How do you answer their questions? How do you give people what they need?... That was one of our biggest hits in terms of courses and content that people are interested in taking." The company has always been focused on trying to have a blended approach, since it's an organization that's so spread out, says McLeod. "We're trying to meet the needs of our learners and a diverse set of people who have different learning styles and THE PANELISTS MODERATOR Gina Jeneroux chief learning officer, BMO Financial Group Kimberly McLeod manager of learning experience, Recipes University, the training hub for Recipes Unlimited Penny Farinha vice president of HR, Ecobee Caroline Lyons manager of dealer training and employee development, Yamaha Motor Canada Katie Ramoutar manager of organizational development solutions, MHS Talent Development A leading publisher of scientifically validated assessments for more than 30 years, Multi-Health Systems Inc. (MHS) serves clients in corporate, clinical, educational, public safety, government, military, pharmaceutical and research settings. With offices in North America and partners around the world, MHS is dedicated to strong product growth and an optimal user experience. MHS has developed leading products such as the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i 2.0®), the Conners™ suite of ADHD assessments and the Level of Service™ suite of assessments. T h e M H S l i n e o f Ta l e n t A s s e s s m e n t s s p e c i a l i z e s i n e m o t i o n a l i n t e l l i g e n c e , entrepreneurship, risk tolerance and meeting facilitation. These tools measure and manage talent and are ideal for use in coaching, o rga n i za t i o n a n d l e a d e rs h i p d eve l o p m e n t , s e l e c t i o n a n d succession planning. ABOUT THE SPONSOR

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