Canadian HR Reporter

Canadian HR RepoRteR September 8, 2014 2 News aCRoss CaNaDa 1,100 turn up for 400 jobs at railcar maker's Hamilton job fair demand so high, fi rm starting its own welding school NDP commit to rescind shared-risk public pension model in New Brunswick Critics say pension model puts retirees in fi nancial jeopardy Taxes no longer pain in the app for small, medium- sized businesses: CRA new mobile app helps employers keep CRa deadlines straight Skills, experience more valued than degrees: Survey one-third of Cios place little weight on prestige of applicant's school More research needed before deciding whether to ban e-cigarettes: Ontario premier Medical offi cer of health concerned about vapour exposure aRoUND THe woRlD Seed company sued over wages, living conditions for Michigan migrant workers in 2012 employer accused of violating federal wage, migrant labour laws Computers reshaping global job market, for better and worse: Paper ey often complement, not replace, jobs of higher-skilled employees U.S. labour market less fl exible than in 1990, economists warn Workers 'locked' into jobs, new job creation sluggish Maths, science increasingly critical to career success enrolment in SteM programs jumps 23 per cent in U.S. Survey of business activity shows eurozone economy growing slowly Sluggish progress, unemployment remains high Competing on a global stage doug Williamson, president and Ceo of the Beacon Group, sat down with Canadian HR Reporter tV to talk about what it takes for organizations to be a competitive force in an increasingly global market — an area where many Canadian fi rms are failing Recent stories posted on www.hrreporter.com. Check the website daily for quick news hits from across Canada and around the world. WEB O N T H E Laird & Greer Management Group HR / PAYROLL / TIME / HRMS CONSULTING Human Resource Management Strategy Canada, North America, Global Tactical action to make strategy happen Assess existing manual & auto systems System requirements & business cases Selection process for new HRMS Planning and preparing for next steps Project Management Centres of Excellence, Service Centres & best practices to provide HRM Services Metrics that work www.lairdandgreer.com 416.618.0052 -- 613.661.0052 Available from Carswell or L&G B i g e n o u g h t o d e l i v e r - S m a l l e n o u g h t o c a r e 'Pompous,' 'sterile' communications Candid comments from BBC's former head of HR highlight employee communication challenges By SaRaH doBSon tHeY Are comments not often heard, at least publicly, from the head of HR. But the BBC's for- mer head of human resources, Lucy Adams, caused a stir re- cently when she admitted she was not happy with the employee communications while work- ing at England's publicly funded broadcaster. Adams left the broadcaster in March and made the comments at a conference in July. The BBC had been going through tough times after the Jim- my Savile scandal — a deceased BBC radio DJ and TV personal- ity who is alleged to have sexu- ally abused hundreds of victims — and controversial severance payments to departing executives. BBC bosses lost the trust of employees by talking like lawyers, lacking courage and demanding "petty privileges," she said. One employee told Adams her group emails were "crap" and she should get someone else to write them, according to the Times. "I was slightly taken aback, as this was precisely what I had done," said Adams. "My emails were usually written with sev- eral other people — people in HR, people in legal, people in the press team and people in internal communications. "As I reread the most recent communications, I realized with dismay that he was right. My emails were crap," she said. "They seemed pompous and sterile, lacking any humanity or humility. I had adopted the royal executive 'we' and, in an eff ort to be accurate, I had 'lawyered out' any personality." Adams said she became afraid to send out corporate announce- ments for fear of the reaction, ac- cording to the Times. "I always hesitated before pressing 'send,' knowing that their arrival in 20,000 inboxes would spark a deluge of angry responses," she said, adding man- agement was so distrusted that employees saw her communica- tions as part of a more "sinister hidden agenda." Transparency key If corporate communications are not appreciated by employees, IT's > pg. 8 Credit: Toby Melville (Reuters) A camera operator films outside BBC Television Centre in west London. The former head of HR for Britain's public broadcaster said BBC bosses — herself included — lost the trust of employees by talking like lawyers in internal communications. hrreporter.com FEATURED VIDEO

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