Canadian HR Reporter

22 FEATURES January 27, 2014 CANADIAN HR REPORTER HR LEADERS TALK Amanda Rosychuk, senior vice-president of HR and information services at Epcor The power and water utility is based in Edmonton and has 2,800 employees in Canada and the U.S. V oluntary turnover is not a problem for Amanda Rosychuk, senior vicepresident of HR and information services at Epcor — she has been at the power and water utility for 21 years. More broadly, the company's voluntary turnover rate was highest in 2007, then dipped and in 2012, has started to rise again. But part of that is explained by an increased number of retirements, says Rosychuk, who is based in Edmonton. "We do have a very good mix of ages and so I would have to say about one-third of our employees are in that baby boom generation, about one-third of them are like the gen-X and onethird gen-Y, so we've got a really good mix. We've been planning for some of these demographics for a while," she says. But, generally, the power and water industry is quite stable, says Rosychuk. "Because we are a regulated utility, we tend to have a fairly constant workload and I think employees value the stability that we bring… employees really appreciate that at a time when people they know in other industries don't have a job anymore. So I wouldn't say it's affected us in a large way." When the labour market starts to heat up as the economy starts to improve, employers have to be a bit more flexible in terms of thinking of multiple ways to keep employees engaged, says Rosychuk. That includes recognizing that the next generation has different expectations — they want to deal with their manager differently, they want to be communicated to differently and they expect training and employee development. and managers, that'll set us apart from our competitors in terms of our ability to attract and retain talent, so we have had a number of initiatives aimed at raising the skills of the managers, and our job is really to make sure that those managers have the tools necessary for them to improve their own performance as leaders in the company." And while compensation isn't the only answer, it's important to be competitive, she says. "Our experience has been that "We really focus on making sure that we have strong managers in place and that we have strong programs to develop our employees and keep them engaged." "That's one of the things that we really focus on is making sure that we have strong managers in place and that we have strong programs to develop our employees and keep them engaged," she says. Research has shown it's not so much compensation that sees people leaving but their relationships with managers, says Rosychuk. "We strongly believe that if we make sure we have great leaders as the economy heats up, you may have other companies offering slightly higher compensation. But generally we've found that you can't be completely out of the ballpark, as long as your compensation is competitive, if you're a good place to work." And while Epcor is keen to retain all employees, it does put a special focus on high-potential employees, through initiatives such as external educational op- Rhonda Lawson, senior vice-president of HR and facilities at Genworth Canada The Oakville, Ont.-based company has 250 employees A rriving at Genworth Canada early in 2013, Rhonda Lawson took the time to look at key HR trends at the 250-employee organization. And despite the economic downturn of 2008, she found it has had pretty consistent turnover rates, running about four per cent on average per year. "We didn't go through the pain that some of the other insurers and financial services companies did in downsizing. We kept a pretty stable environment and we're very pleased that we didn't have a lot of turnover in the tough years and we continue to have pretty consistent turnover," says Lawson, senior vice-president of HR and facilities at the mortgage insurance company in Oakville, Ont. While the economic crisis certainly called for tightening belts, Genworth has staffed to its levels and used natural attrition to manage staff levels, she says, which has meant no major recruiting or layoffs. But, as the economy improves, that might change for a niche industry such as mortgage insurance, particularly in functional areas such as underwriting and claims, involving specialists with experience and knowledge. "Where we might see increased turnover as the economy starts to improve and opportunities become more available is in the areas that support that core business — you know, finance, risk, IT, HR — so very transferable skills." high-potentials, it looks at risks and opportunities when it comes to retention efforts, says Lawson. "We make sure that we have competitive wages, that we benchmark salaries on an ongoing basis with the external marketplace, "We have very high engagement scores because we get our employees involved in our business... it's a very collegial and tight-knit little community." But Genworth is a well-managed company, with long-tenured management, experienced managers and a 91 per cent employee engagement rate, she says. "People tend to like to work here." "We have very high engagement scores because we get our employees involved in our business. Being a small company, you walk through the office and the CEO's office is always open, employees can sit and talk with any of the executives. It's a very collegial and tight-knit little community, so we definitely don't see a lot of voluntary turnover in this organization and we expect that will continue because we have such an exceptional work environment." While the company doesn't target certain groups, such as that we provide a balanced work life environment for employees." Like all companies, Genworth has had to "really watch the pennies," she says, but it's managed to maintain the same level of compensation and benefits for employees. "We would rather change other areas of our expenses and our expense management than focus on employees and employee compensation and benefits." That means there are still Christmas parties for staff and for kids, along with engaging staff through employee meetings, regular town halls and bringing every employee from across Canada to employee meetings in the New Year. "We treat employees extremely well and I believe that's one of the reasons why we have high engagement scores and low turnover," says Lawson. "Employees definitely have a voice here." Communication with employees is another way to combat higher turnover, especially when it comes to managers, she says. "A lot of choices to leave, decisions to leave, (are) based on the relationship you have with your peers and/or one-on-one manager. It's important for management to reflect that culture of the organization, to understand what their role is communicating to employees about strategies, about goals, about objectives, about what we believe as an organization," says Lawson. "We spend a lot of time communicating to our employees." Genworth also takes an "active, aggressive" interest in corporate social responsibility, supporting charities such as Habitat for Humanity, which fits nicely with its vision and values, she says. portunities and mentoring programs, says Rosychuk. "It's very important for us to keep that funnel of talent going, so as the economy gets hotter, those are also the people who tend to be in high demand, so we put a little bit of special effort on those folks," she says. "It's actually largely not (about) compensation — it's the training, the career development, the mentoring — just that more personal touch." And the company has other retention efforts that help reduce turnover, such as one Friday off per month, a flexible benefits program, wellness program, pension plan and a savings plan where the company matches a portion of the employee contributions. An after-hours personal development program also assists employees in taking training on their own, funding up to $1,500 per year or $750 for part-time employees. And Epcor contributes to charities chosen by employees who do a certain amount of volunteering in their community. But as the economy improves, there could be a slow increase in the voluntary turnover rate for one group of workers, says Rosychuk. "One of the things we saw is that when the economy was struggling, some employees who may have chosen to retire ended up working longer because their retirement savings were affected… we've got people who have delayed their retirement who might now be thinking, 'It's a much better time (to leave)' as their stock portfolio has improved again." "Going forward, you've got to have that employee value proposition — why would someone come and work here, what is the reason? It has to have all those components: A culture that people can believe in, a vision that people will aspire to, good marketable compensation and benefits programs, and allowing that employee to engage in the business, not just on a workday basis but an after-work basis as well, through corporate involvement, community involvement and having the organization they work for strongly represented in those spaces as well."

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