Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER & STRATEGIC CAPABILITY NETWORK WWW.SCNETWORK.CA AN INDEPTH LOOK AT KEY TOPICS FOR SENIOR HR AND BUSINESS LEADERS SCNetwork's panel of thought leaders brings decades of experience from the senior ranks of Canada's business community. Their commentary puts HR management issues into context and looks at the practical implications of proposals and policies. FEBRUARY 24, 2014 POSITIONS OF power or a seat in the C-suite do not a leader make — leadership is an ongoing role that has little to do with your job title. That was the message John Cassaday, president and CEO of Corus Entertainment, shared at a January Strategic Capability Network (SCNetwork) event in Toronto. Being a leader isn't just about getting that promotion or landing the corner offi ce — for Cassaday, leadership is about collaboration, shared values and actively engag- ing your team. "I have a little acrylic message on my desk… that says that great leaders see greatness in others. It's hard to be a great leader if all you see is yourself. at really, I think for me, epitomizes what it's all about," he said. "It's a role — it's not a position. Every one of us and every person in your organization has a role in leadership." And taking on a leadership role encompasses many differ- ent things — most importantly common values, teamwork and collaboration as well as a strong focus on recognition. Shared vision, values For Cassaday, values aren't just limited to your personal life — they're the building blocks of a successful organization. "Earlier in my career, I thought values were really more about how you led your life personally — I didn't think they had much relevance to corporations," he said. "(But) I believe the modest success that I've enjoyed in my career is really and truly attributed in large part to my personal val- ues — more so than any particular technical skills that I have or any insights that I can bring." And values are a big part of what makes Corus, which has about 2,000 employees, an em- ployer of choice, he said. "Early on, we developed a set of core values and a vision statement for Corus, which I talk about on every single occasion that I have to meet with employees. Much to my surprise and delight, I found out that our core values are the single most important thing that give people pride in working for our company." ose values — which include accountability, knowledge, initia- tive, innovation and teamwork — are also the foundation of Corus' employee engagement surveys, to ensure they are practising what they preach, said Cassaday. "We survey our employees on a bi-annual basis and over 90 per cent of our employees participate. And every year, our satisfaction rates have gone up — despite the fact that we've had to do many, many diffi cult things including as recently as yesterday with a num- ber of layoff s," he said. Gathering employee feedback is one of the best ways to ensure company values are being upheld throughout the management structure, said Cassaday. " is is the value of looking at data and making sure you really understand what you're doing. Because you talk about core val- ues and then (if ) the people you put in charge to steward those val- ues are not good stewards, you're wasting your breath entirely." Collaborative space Another factor that should not be overlooked is the importance of the physical offi ce space in terms of building a positive, collabora- tive culture, said Cassaday. "To me, getting everybody un- der one roof at our company was really, really important. e sig- nifi cant investment that we made in our building… in Toronto has massively increased the recogni- tion of our brand… but, most im- portantly, it's created an incred- ibly high sense of pride among our employees," he said. Corus Quay, the organization's Toronto waterfront headquarters, features a large atrium with a slide, repatriated wood panelling and screens that display photos of the company's talent. ere's also an employee art wall where Corus employees — many of whom are talented artists — can display their work. "We give all of our people an opportunity to post their work. So there are approximately four exhibitions a year — I attend all of them," said Cassaday. Conference and meeting rooms are designed to refl ect individual brands such as Cosmopolitan TV and 102.1 e Edge radio. "When we moved in, we moved from 12 diff erent locations to one. And we wanted to make sure that we got the Corus brand really prevalent, but we also wanted to make sure that people didn't lose that sense of identity they had in their brand. So each of our meeting rooms has got very, very strong individual brand orienta- tions," said Cassaday. e physical workstations are designed to be open concept to encourage discussion and collaboration. "What we did on our worksta- tions just to encourage collabora- tion and teamwork — everybody has an open offi ce concept, but we didn't build big caves with 72-inch (high) walls. All our walls are 36 inches, so that people can see over and you can see over from within." Recognition, recruitment One of Cassaday's core messages — and perhaps the most impor- tant one — is to say thank you. "We really reach out to our em- ployees to try to recognize their performance in many, many dif- ferent ways," he said. "I think mon- ey is (important) but recognition is the most important thing." Corus has many different awards for employees and win- ners receive a personal call from Cassaday and invited to an awards luncheon. ere are also monthly birthday breakfasts, training and development opportunities of- fered through Corus University and annual town hall meetings at each Corus location across the country. ey also post every job in their organization externally, to widen the search for the best talent. "It is important to really hire tough and manage easy... you have to get the right people. We've all made mistakes in hiring and then we've spent a lot of time managing tough, trying to make our hiring mistakes seem like their failure instead of ours," said Cassaday. "So what do we look for when we hire? Obviously — you won't be surprised — alignment with our values. Secondly, I always look for ambition or a burning desire to succeed. ird, integri- ty, which is I think the governor of unbridled ambition, and then, fi nally, skills." Once the right people are in place, the focus shifts to how well they work in a team. "We believe the greatest value is realized when we work to- gether. And we've had some real rock-star performers in our place that weren't good team players, and they did not survive," said Cassaday. Ongoing talent development is also a crucial focus, he said — and it's not just for high performers. "We've now started to track how we're doing, not only in terms of developing high potentials but what progress we've made in deal- ing with people we've identifi ed as being a challenge," he said. " is contributes to an environ- ment that is proactive, not reac- tive. I think this means less stress for everyone." "You talk about core values and then if the people you put in charge are not good stewards — you're wasting your breath." Leadership is a role that Leadership is a role that isn't granted by a promotion isn't granted by a promotion or getting the corner offi ce: CEO or getting the corner offi ce: CEO BY LIZ BERNIER Credit: Richard Johnson The headquarters of Corus Entertainment on Toronto's waterfront is designed to encourage discussion and collaboration.

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