Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER May 16, 2016 2 NEWS 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 ACROSS CANADA One-half of working population unhappy in job: Survey Put money ahead of fit, resulting in low morale, employee churn Canadian economy contracts in February: Statistics Canada Losses somewhat offset by gains in retail sales, public sector Conference Board sees another year in the red for Canada's oil and gas industry But sector on track to return to profitability in 2017 Calfrac Well Services joins trend to variable pay for field staff Staff paid only when gear is in the field Many jobs lost in library closures could be done through attrition: Board Newfoundland and Labrador closing 54 libraries Toronto Raptors create sick notes to excuse fans from work for early start time 'I'm personally asking for your help': General manager AROUND THE WORLD Tiny Nebraska town says no to 1,100 jobs, citing way of life Village votes down building of US$300-million plant U.S. labour costs rise modestly in first quarter But market still struggling to generate strong wage growth Priceline CEO resigns after probe into employee relationship CEO Darren Huston 'acted contrary to code of conduct': Investigation Fashion's deadliest disaster prompts Bangladeshi workers to opt for university Women taking courses at Asian University for Women Planned Intel job cuts create uncertainty in Mexico city Company to cut 12,000 jobs Advancing women at work Why should an organization make gender diversity a strategic priority? Canadian HR Reporter sat down with leaders from Avanade Canada and Aspire at an International Women's Day event to find out. hrreporter.com FEATURED VIDEO "We're both looking for the 'shouting' talent... and also the 'whispering' talent because those whispering talent can really be overlooked." IKEA focuses on talent in weeklong event for employees Looking to 'empower' people around development opportunities BY SARAH DOBSON KEEN to showcase the many op- portunities available at IKEA — and what it takes to attain them — the furnishing retailer recently launched a Talent Focus Week at locations worldwide. It's about leading the business and people together, said Stephen Bobko, country HR manager for IKEA Canada in Burglinton, Ont. "We're not just talking about leadership in its true form in terms of management — it's really just empowering our co-workers to feel directly connected to the busi- ness and that they can also make decisions in everyday business," he said. "It's just that whole empow- erment piece for our co-workers, that's essentially our jumping off point for Talent Focus Week." e company spent a lot of time in defining what a future at IKEA can look like and clarifying that, he said. "Careers here may not always be traditional… so it wasn't nec- essarily about growing to that next level or that next opportunity up the ladder, it's also about growing in their own roles, choosing to develop in other functions within our organization… so it's not al- ways about the linear progression." IKEA has plans to double its presence in Canada over the next decade, so it's hoping to recruit more than 4,000 new co-workers. Talent Focus Week supported this ambition by encouraging employ- ees to explore possibilities in new or different roles, said Bobko. "From that perspective, it was really even more so critical for us to engage our co-workers in terms of what the possibilities can look like and really engage them around the possibilities to grow in different roles that will support our growth agenda," he said. "We're a global company and I think sometimes in Canada we forget that. We have lots happen- ing here in Canada… but then (it's about) also reminding our co-workers that we are a global organization and there's some re- ally fantastic opportunities across the globe as well." All 155,000 employees, includ- ing more than 4,330 in Canada, were invited to participate in the weeklong event which included lunch-and-learn sessions with guest speakers and a new online tool, "IKEA Journeys," featuring stories on how various employ- ees have grown and developed in their current jobs or moved across units and functions. "It really shares the personal story of their own development and their competence-building and what went into that whole process," said Bobko. In Canada, IKEA also "took it to the next level" by putting a lot of attention on individual units and their needs and interests, which can be very different across Can- ada, he said. "e opportunities that we may have today in the GTA may look a little different than Alberta or B.C." e focus on career develop- ment also acknowledged differ- ences among employee types. "We clarified that we're both looking for the 'shouting' talent… and also the 'whispering' talent, so we had a little bit of fun around really clarifying and defining (that) and providing some great examples because I think those whispering talent can really be overlooked. And we put a lot of energy on really understanding our talent approach is super di- verse," said Bobko. Focusing on development In some ways, what IKEA is doing was the norm years ago, according to Sareena Hopkins, executive di- rector at the Canadian Career De- velopment Foundation in Ottawa. "Companies tended to recog- nize the value of investing in peo- ple and people tended to recog- nize the value of that investment and felt a sense of loyalty and commitment to that company, and IKEA coming out with this… seems quite radical and innova- tive today." ere's been a real dismantling of that tacit agreement between employer and employee, she said. "So many companies are rely- ing on their supply chain for all but their core functions. ere is increasingly a disconnect be- tween companies and their people and, as a result, if you look at the reality for young entrants com- ing into the labour market, what they're increasingly faced with are precarious jobs, part-time or contract work, high levels of un- deremployment in Canada and… certainly the way that IKEA pro- motes their company, they really seem to be trying to get into that 'We are a company that invests in our people.'" Any corporative initiative that focuses on the training and de- velopment of people is a smart investment, said Hopkins. "It's not rocket science to see (that) creating a workplace in which employees feels they mat- ter as individuals and where they can see a pathway for their own professional growth and career development, that's just sound business practice," she said. "e evidence would suggest… even relatively small investments in employer-sponsored training or career development initiatives within corporations really pay off — and yet the takeoff seems to be relatively slow." Career development is im- portant both for the individual and the organization, said Eileen Kirton, vice-president at People First HR Services in Winnipeg, "to make sure that they've got the right talent in place for today and, as importantly or more, that they have the right talent for the future, for taking the organization into the future." It's about helping people envi- sion other ways they can contrib- ute to their organization in a way that uses their skills, talents, abili- ties and interests, she said. "Quite often, what we see hap- pen is that people come in, they do a job and it's good and they're learning and growing and so on and then, after a while, many hit a flat spot, particularly for the millennials because they're very much about 'OK, what's next, how do I grow?'" But one of the challenges is many leaders don't know how to have career conversations with people, so they don't, said Kirton. "What happens is (employees) think they need to leave the company in order to get that growth and development," she said. "It's the opportunity — if you PATHS > pg. 6

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