Canadian HR Reporter

Strategic capability Network'S paNel of thought leaders brings decades of experience from the senior ranks of Canada's business community. eir commentary puts HR management issues into context and looks at the practical implications of proposals and policies. CanaDian hr reporter november 17, 2014 execuTive seRies 11 www.scnetwork.ca Barbara Kofman organizational effectiveness Join our professional community of Canadian HR & Organizational Leaders: • Connecting @ monthly events • Collaborating with peers • Challenging conventional thinking The Power of Human Capital CULTIVATING LEADERSHIP FOR 35 YEARS Great Leaders GROW www.scnetwork.ca It's time for an update what is the truth about today's labour market — are we experiencing a short- age of talent or a glut? e answers reside within a com- plex, ever-changing landscape of often-conflicting information re- garding what needs to be done to secure an organization's future. Three speakers presented their ideas from two different perspec- tives — the availability of talent ready to work but unable to get in the door, and enhancing employee productiv- ity and engagement. e sources of readily available talent were not surprising. But while much of what was presented — by Jelena Zikic on the challenges im- migrant professionals face, and by Greg Vertelman on the experiences of professionals in career transition — reflected past solutions, little ap- pears to have changed in this arena. e job search frustrations of Ver- telman's outplacement clients today — ageism, impersonal treatment, re- fusal to give honest feedback — echo those of a decade ago. Why don't organizations under- stand that changing hiring prac- tices to ones that embrace a diverse workforce will positively impact their reputations, ability to attract a skilled, engaged workforce and bot- tom lines? On the productivity front, there are exciting new opportunities for organizations to close the skills gap. E-learning is one way the workforce is kept up to speed but plenty of training programs still don't leverage this technology enough. is is be- cause many of today's trainers come from earlier generations and need to update their training methodologies both to refresh their own capabilities and to tap into the preferred learning modes of the younger generations, according to Emad Rizkalla. is shouldn't be taken to mean classroom learning is a relic of the past. ere are tangible and intan- gible benefits that accrue from a shared, face-to-face learning experi- ence, such as relationship-building, networking and exposure to diverse perspectives. And gen Ys highly value social interactions with others. To effectively bridge the digital learning divide, transfer knowledge across generations and, as a corol- lary, enhance employee engage- ment, there's much that can be done outside the traditional classroom. However, there are still challenges to overcome before e-learning can be used on its own to close organi- zational learning gaps. It's not uncommon for costly online learning tools to be under- utilized by employees. Convincing people to give them a try by putting in place incentives to start and finish e-learning modules is a good place to begin. What will it take to convince HR leaders they must update their hir- ing and engagement processes to reflect the dynamics of a global, ever- changing employment and learning landscape? Perhaps warning signs from other countries, like the one delivered recently in New Zealand — that its government will be ar- ranging international job fairs "to recruit skilled expatriate New Zea- landers to return home and work in areas where there are shortages" — will do the trick. Barbara Kofman is SCNetwork's lead com- mentator on organizational effectiveness and founding principal of CareerTrails, a strategic career coaching and HR solutions organization committed to providing clients with the personalized processes and infor- mation they need, to achieve the individual and organizational outcomes they are seek- ing. She has held senior roles in resourcing, strategy and outplacement, and taught at the university and college level. Barbara can be reached at bkofman@careertrails.com. trish maguire Leadership in action Redescribe the challenge in addition to death and taxes, there is one other certainty in life: Human capital is a source of strategic capability. Having the right talent is the checkbox toward the successful achievement of strategy. Not having the right talent makes your growth plans sputter and pop — to the tune of $24 billion in Ontario alone, according to the conference board of canada. And so, jobs sit vacant — yet we live in a time of seven per cent unem- ployment. Clearly, there is a pressing, specialized demand seeking a miss- ing, specialized supply. Hence, the skills gap. What are we to do about that? And are we the source of the problem? e theme that emerged from the "Jobs Without People, People With- out Jobs" SCNetwork event is if we choose to redescribe the demand and supply challenge, there are at least partial solutions. Jelena Zikic laid out a business case for tapping into the pool of underemployed immigrant profes- sionals, starting by closely examin- ing our perspectives on diversity. She also challenged us to reimagine retirement; we can no longer afford to focus on it as an absolute exit. Emad Rizkalla, e-learning wun- derkind, spoke of using technology to accelerate closing the gap. Greg Vertelman, transition specialist, asked us to look for the barriers that we have erected that discourage available talent from filling available positions. e most egregious source (and a key solution) to the skills gap is one Rizkalla touched on. It is appalling that in an information economy, employers consistently spend less on employee development and turn more to hiring themselves out of a talent problem — even when there is no talent to hire. It is no wonder disengagement statistics are hor- rendous — with no commitment to talent, let alone talent development, employees offer no commitment in return. Millennials, anyone? From a strategic capability per- spective, what the panellists did not cover is the top of the house: e causal links between the CEO and talent development. Are our leaders bright and nimble enough to con- nect strategy to talent? e CEO is accountable for de- termining strategy. She must ask, "What is our strategy? Does it make sense in the environment in which we find ourselves (including the tal- ent environment)? Are we adapting fast enough?" It is only with an articulated strat- egy that an organization can build an effective structure to execute that strategy, including the roles needed to populate that structure. And it is only after defining structure that an organization can rationally compare defined roles to current and available talent, thereby revealing skill gaps. Strategy and talent are connected, and yet how many organizations make the effort to continuously cir- cle back on their strategy to see if it makes sense in our new world? How much of the gap is just fallout from legacy strategy? And, since the CHRO advises the CEO on strategy, how much of the skills gap is our own creation? Michael Clark is director of sales and marketing at Forrest & Company, an or- ganizational transformation firm, with over 25 years' experience in developing the organizational and leadership capacity in organizations. Future plans In listening to three different angles on "Jobs Without People and People Without Jobs," none of the perspectives addressed the source of the crisis. e issue is that Can- ada is facing a skilled workforce short- age in a knowledge-based economy. Jelena Zikic feels employers need to rethink beliefs, practices and policies concerning immigrant professionals and retirees. Emad Rizkalla believes the solution is web-based training. Greg Vertelman says many employ- ers still use unfavourable recruit- ment and selection barriers. Frankly, the pending workforce shortage will not be resolved by re- thinking hiring practices, whether that means removing barriers, increasing diversity or upgrading e-learning. It's about developing a larger skilled workforce with the necessary and relevant education and training. e aging of Canada's population started to accelerate in 2011 and will continue to until 2031, according to Statistics Canada. By 2021, one out of four workers could be 55 or over. As a leader, what strategies are you developing for the higher-skilled workforce of 2021? How are you planning on leveraging the knowl- edge-based economy? Experts agree the knowledge-based economy is driving a higher education and train- ing level for our younger generation that includes schools, colleges, uni- versities and trade schools. We also know that by the time future workforce candidates have completed their education, much of it will be out of date for jobs that are yet to be defined. And with acceler- ated technology, jobs that unskilled people have previously filled will now require higher skills training. Is it possible current HR strat- egies and best practices are dis- qualifying minority groups such as Aboriginals, women, immigrants and persons with disabilities from being hired? What different talent management strategies and prac- tices are you already beginning to implement in preparation for 2021 and beyond? Some leaders think employees should be responsible for upgrading and improving their own skill levels. However, employers have an equal responsibility to acknowledge the competitive advantage in hiring and retaining a skilled workforce. How many of you have children who have graduated, acquired higher skills and yet are unsuccessful in acquiring their first job? How can work expe- rience be obtained if opportunity is not presented in the first place? To build a larger, productive, high- skilled workforce, a radical change needs to occur in the mindsets, be- liefs, values and positive collabora- tion among employers, employees, educational institutions, govern- ment and unions. As a leader, engage in the solution — not the problem. Trish Maguire is a commentator for SC- Network on leadership in action and founding principal of Synergyx Solutions in Nobleton, Ont., focused on high-potential leadership development coaching. She has held senior leadership roles in HR and OD in education, manufacturing and entre- preneurial firms. She can be reached at synergyx@sympatico.ca. michael clark organizational effectiveness

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