Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER May 30, 2016 NEWS 3 your career in focus When it comes to practicing human resources, membership matters. Only HRPA offers Certified Human Resources Professional, Leader, and Executive designations: the new global standard for HR excellence and professionalism. The CHRP, CHRL and CHRE designations demonstrate an HRPA member's commitment to their career and the success of their organization. P U T Y O U R C A R E E R I N F O C U S hrpa.ca/infocus Despite benefits, many employers not offering job rotations: Survey Successful program requires commitment, transparency, buy-in from leaders BY SARAH DOBSON FIDELITY INVESTMENTS Canada knows well the benefits — and challenges — of job rotations. e company offers three types of programs in Canada: one for co- operative students and summer students; another as secondment opportunities to cover contract opportunities and maternity leaves or sick leaves; and a third as a pipeline for the sales group. "For the employee, it's just a great way to be developed and be successful," said Diana Godfrey, vice-president of HR services at Fidelity in Toronto. Despite the obvious benefits, job rotation programs are not pro- moted by more than one-half (53 per cent) of employers, accord- ing to a survey of more than 270 Canadian CFOs by Robert Half Management Resources. While conceptually it makes sense and people know it's a good thing to do, it can be hard to get the prioritization and opportunity to do it meaningfully, said David King, Canadian president of Rob- ert Half Management Resources in Toronto. "We see similar themes with things like succession planning where companies recognize that having a robust, strong succession plan in place is a real benefit to the organization, however, very few companies would say they have a very strong program in place." And while employers often of- fer role rotation for new graduates — to provide insight into different departments, functions and ca- reer tracks — it doesn't have to be exclusive to that cohort, he said. "You can have it for any level of the organization and, arguably, I believe it makes an individual a more dynamic leader, a more valuable senior manager if they've had a chance to see all the func- tional areas so they can not only understand their core discipline area but also how it interacts with other areas and functions with the organization. at typically gives somebody a more holistic appreciation of how the company would function." Job rotation can be a powerful tool for employers, according to Ron Leduc, managing director of Clearlogic Consulting Profession- als in Timmins, Ont. "ere's a real potential for cre- ating efficiencies or creating team- work or creating morale within the organization because they've been exposed to other functions, other people, other challenges, so now they 'get it' better." Job rotation allows an employer to try out "potential shining stars," said Leduc, "with an agreement that it's for a specific duration, under specific conditions, so it allows you to grow them, to mini- mize risk, to provide them op- portunities, to really engage your workforce in some very future- thinking and very practical ways." Benefits When it comes to the greatest benefits of role rotation, offering staff exposure to different busi- ness areas comes out on top, ac- cording to 29 per cent of the CFOs surveyed. Sun Life Financial's Rotational Leadership Development Program gives graduates the opportunity to rotate through three different roles over a three-year period, in Toron- to, Montreal and Waterloo, Ont., according to Sandy Delamere, vice-president of HR. "By placing new graduates in a rotation program, we knew we would be able to accelerate their development and build the kind of leaders we need to fill key roles in the future," she said. "We wanted to offer our participants a journey so they could explore different roles, business units and func- tions — all with the hope that they could eventually be in a role best- suited for them as an individual." e second greatest benefit (27 per cent) of role rotation is people "gain fresh perspectives on exist- ing roles." Employees often do the same tasks for an extended period of time so sometimes a different set of eyes can help, said King. But it's important that depart- ments are open to that kind of input, said Leduc. "ere's where perhaps that op- portunity for friction may start. So I think there needs to be some coaching… on the job rotation in- dividual but also some receptive- ness to that department about those opportunities for improve- ment. And how those get routed." For several years, Fidelity has been encouraging employees and leaders to listen to new ideas, according to Nancy Lupi, vice- SUCCESSION > pg. 12

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