Canadian HR Reporter

18 www.hrreporter.com F E A T U R E S F E A T U R E S wide pandemic, we decided to hit both of those at the same time and start sharing a little bit about who's our new CEO," says Pershing. "We had a good opportunity right upfront to assess: 'What would we do with a new CEO in a role which would be high on communication, high on connection, high on vision of the future?… What does he stand for? What is his vision for the future value system and beliefs?' And we overlaid that right on to the pandemic communication." Frequent communication from lead- ership served the company well, in talking about the health and safety of people, along with having a vibrant business, he says. It was about the message: "Take care of yourself, take care of family, we're going to do every- thing we possibly can to meet people where they're at as we all work through this together and get more information and data to guide our decisions… We're going to be transparent and stay in it together." The efforts have paid off, judging by engagement surveys, which are up by double digits, says Pershing. "Co-ordination, connection, empathy, care for the individual are all way up in our surveys. So, I think what we set out to do is coming to fruition based on... keeping the 'what' but we're changing the ' how we do it,' which I think has made all the difference." The company has also tried to build in agility, creativity and innovation in its initiatives, he says. SILVER based on work in this normal sense. Instead, it became one of our most popular parts of our town halls because I think it's [about] creating community and a connectedness that wasn't there before," says John Pershing, executive vice president and CHRO at Canadian Tire. In some ways, the chaos of COVID-19 and its aftermath have brought employees closer, he says. "We're sharing more personally. I mean, literally, we're in each other's homes via video." To that end, people are encouraged to use video often, says Pershing. "We don't want to complain about not being able to be with others because of the pandemic [so] turn the camera on: Let's see each other and connect eye to eye and have a conversation and be in it together ― we're really pushing that hard and I believe it's made the differ- ence." As an example, Pershing hired two vice presidents in HR in November, and while they've never met in person, "it's as though we're together in the office," he says. "We've been running the business for almost a year now like this and we're getting the outcomes in different ways, but we're still getting the outcomes." Communicating support The pandemic challenges for the retailer were amplified with the arrival of a new CEO in March of 2020. "Having that happen at the same time as massive disruption and a world- Remote work and the return to work With the massive rise in remote work, there's been a big shift at Colliers in recognizing that employees don't have to be at the workplace to do work, she says. "We've had to help people under- stand: How can you manage the performance of individuals when you can't see them? How do you manage teams when they're not physically present? And it's really shifting that mindset from being in the office, [which] is a big check from a perfor- "If we say, 'Yes, you can be based remotely' but actually the technology or the platform or the leadership isn't right to enable that working environment, then we're going to set somebody up for failure." In contemplating the return to work, the company has surveyed staff and held focus groups and workshops to dig deeper into the data about what people want and how they work, both before COVID and during the pandemic. That means looking at what is and isn't effec- tive, who they're interacting with and how, and what kind of communications are most prevalent, both internally and externally, says Hougardy. What's certain is that everyone is different, and it's difficult for a large organization like Colliers where profes- sionals range from property managers and building engineers to brokers, sales professionals, data analysts and payroll staff, she says. "You've got very different job tasks and role responsibilities that have different requirements so a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work… We do need to be flexible; we need to provide adapted working environments." JOHN PERSHING, executive vice president and CHRO at Canadian Tire Corporation in Toronto The retail company has about 30,000 employees in retail, office and distribution centres mance perspective, to what are the outcomes and deliverables you're actu- ally looking to achieve, and have they achieved those, regardless of where they're working?" Colliers has also recognized that just because a person can work remotely doesn't mean that the organization is ready to support the move, says Hougardy. "The managers or the leaders might need new skills, they might need to change that culture in which they've worked for many, many years, that's focused on [being present]. So, it's important to do that in parallel," she says. linings. Focusing on silver linings was one of the ways Canadian Tire helped employees cope during the tough times of the pandemic. For 10 minutes in a meeting, people would be encouraged to share some good news, such as a marriage proposal or new pet. "At first, it sounded like it'd be a prac- tice that was highly uncomfortable

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