Canadian HR Reporter - Sample Issue

CANADIAN HR REPORTER September 5, 2016 18 INSIGHT W EIRD ORKPLACE THE Vol. 29 No. 14 – September 5, 2016 PUBLISHED BY Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 ©Copyright 2015 by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. CANADIAN HR REPORTER is published 21 times a year. Publications Mail – Agreement # 40065782 Registration # 9496 – ISSN 0838-228X Director, Carswell Media: Karen Lorimer - (416) 649-9411 karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com EDITORIAL Publisher/Editor in Chief: Todd Humber - (416) 298-5196 todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com Editor/Supervisor: Sarah Dobson - (416) 649-7896 sarah.dobson@thomsonreuters.com Senior Editor: Liz Bernier - (416) 649-7837 liz.bernier@thomsonreuters.com Employment Law Editor: Jeffrey R. Smith - (416) 649-7881 jeffrey.r.smith@thomsonreuters.com Labour Relations News Editor: John Dujay - (416) 298-5129 john.dujay@thomsonreuters.com Web/IT Co-ordinator: Mina Patel - (416) 649-7879 mina.patel@thomsonreuters.com ADVERTISING Account Executive: Nicholas Cholodny - (647) 537-4705 Nicholas.cholodny@thomsonreuters.com Production Co-ordinator: Pamela Menezes - (416) 649-9298 pamela.menezes@thomsonreuters.com MARKETING AND CIRCULATION Marketing & Audience Development Manager: Robert Symes - (416) 649-9551 rob.symes@thomsonreuters.com Marketing Co-ordinator: Keith Fulford - (416) 649-9585 keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com PRODUCTION Manager, Media Production: Lisa Drummond - (416) 649-9415 lisa.drummond@thomsonreuters.com Art Director: Dave Escuadro SUBSCRIPTIONS Annual subscription: $169 (plus GST) GST#: 897 176 350 RT To subscribe, call one of the customer service numbers listed above or visit www.hrreporter.com. Address changes and returns: Send changes and undeliverable Canadian addresses to: SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Canadian HR Reporter One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 CUSTOMER SERVICE Call: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5082 (Toronto) (877) 750-9041 (outside Toronto) Email: carswell.customerrelations@ thomsonreuters.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com CHRR reserves the right to edit for length and clarity. Todd Humber EDiTOR'S NOTeS Pokemon Go fi lls talent pipeline I 'll admit it — I like Poke- mon Go. It's fun and a little addictive. I don't have the teenage fervour gripping many (like my partner's 15-year-old son who, on a recent trip to Greece, made the unfor- tunate error of snorkelling for 45 minutes with his iPhone in his shorts). e Mediterranean may be beautiful to look at but its salty brine doesn't mix well with gadgetry. His post-Pokemon funk was alleviated only when he got his hands on his mother's smart- phone, where he was able to stroll among the ruins of Greek civili- zation in search of Magmars and Ponytas to add to his Pokedex. The game is really good at getting people out and about. I mused (only slightly tongue-in- cheek) in an online post recently about the wellness benefi ts of em- bracing the quest for Pokemon in the workplace. But the Woodbine Entertain- ment Group in Toronto — which runs the famous Woodbine horseracing track — found a way to take Pokemon from the fringes of HR practices to its heart: Re- cruitment. Pavlo Farmakidis, a recruitment co-ordinator in the people experience department at Woodbine, alerted Canadian HR Reporter to its strategy. e company hired — and this is no joke — two Pokemon Go players for a job fair it ran on Aug. 21. It was only a one-day gig but that literally was all they needed to know how to do: Play Pokemon Go. e job ad stated: " e idea is for jobseekers to come meet the WEG Recruitment Team, get fa- miliar with some of our depart- ments and drop off a resumé, all the while taking advantage of wild Pokemon appearing from the Pokemon lures that will be set throughout the job fair." Woodbine had three Pokestops and one Pokemon Training Gym — and if that means nothing to you, well, then you wouldn't have needed to apply. It was fl ooded with resumés for these plum po- sitions — about 175 applications came in for the Pokemon admin- istrator position and 150 for the job fair Pokemon posting. "We hired two folks and they were essentially customer-facing people who walked around and set lures at our Pokestops," said Mark Diker, senior manager of recruitment and talent planning at Woodbine. " ey also used in- cense to lure rare Pokemon." HR looked at candidates' Pokemon profi les to see how ex- perienced they were and ensure they fi t the company's values and would act as good public-facing ambassadors during the job fair. In this court, it was a genius move. Woodbine has a rich his- tory — it has been part of the fab- ric of this country since 1881, and is home to the Queen's Plate, the most prestigious horse race in the country. Tell that to a group of teenagers, though, and their eyes will quickly glaze over. But you can't argue with results — a lineup formed before the doors opened and about 500 people handed in resumés. "It was a good mix of people, some people who came just for the job fair and others who came with battery packs and stuck around looking for Pokemon," said Diker. "It created some traction with tech-savvy young people that wouldn't have thought of Wood- bine as an innovative company." e genesis for the idea came from Farmakidis himself — so who says HR can't be savvy innovators? "I knew the technology was a disruptor and the initial interest in the game was there," he said. "We're always kicking around ideas and trying to be innovative and thought, 'Hey — why don't we try this out?'" Not only did the job fair fi ll the talent pipeline, it also generated plenty of media interest. CityTV, CTV, the Huffi ngton Post, Kiss92 FM and more lined up to cover the recruitment bonanza. e public- ity generated was priceless. e job fair didn't cost much more than a typical mass re- cruiment effort, according to Farmakisis. "We bought the lures, some Pokemon hats, and that was re- ally about it," he said. Woodbine didn't reveal how much it invested, but an eight- pack of lures can be purchased from Pokemon Go for 680 Poke- coins and you can buy 14,500 Pokecoins for $139.99. Depending on how crazy you go, the costs can be relatively negligible. Woodbine was so pleased with the results, it's looking at doing something similar at its Mohawk Racetrack in Milton, Ont., and its WEGZ Stadium Bar restaurant in Vaughan, Ont. This is what happens when management gives human re- sources the freedom to innovate and try new things. Good publici- ty, good recruitment and exposing the next generation of customers to your products and services. Good on you, HR. SINGING FOR A CAUSE TORONTO — Staff at Sunny- brook Hospital in Toronto came together recently to sing a tribute to the band the Tragically Hip. They gathered around a large red heart painted on the ground saying " ank You" along with a banner saying "Courage for Gord." With some dressed in scrubs and stethoscopes, the staff sang the band's song "Courage" to thank those who supported the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research. Lead singer Downie was diagnosed with an incurable form of brain cancer and decided to do a fi nal 15-stop cross-coun- try tour in support of the band's new album. ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE DEBRECEN, HUNGARY — e job of grave diggers is a solemn one — but that doesn't mean they can't have fun, sometimes. Dozens of undertakers in Debrecen, Hungary, took part in a competition recently, looking to be the fastest and the best in the business, according to Reuters. Eighteen two-man teams raced to dig a precise, regulation- size grave as quickly as possible. In less than half-an-hour, the local team finished their grave first, while the last ones took almost one hour. e winning team were to compete in an international tournament against Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. e contest is meant to promote the prestige of grave digging and attract people to a job that must still be done by hand in crowded graveyards where mechanical diggers can't fi t. "I don't think this is morbid," said Zoltan Juracsik, deputy chairman of the Hungarian Undertakers' Association. " is is a profession and the colleagues who toil in competition today are proud and deserve our respect." One competitor, Csaba Halasz, 21, became a grave digger after graduating with a degree in physical education. " is job chose me," he said. "It's hard but it's worth it. Relatives come and thank me every time." DOING DOUBLE DUTY KO CHANG, THAILAND — A seemingly pleasant receptionist at a luxury resort in ailand was ar- rested recently after being accused by the FBI of helping a Russian- based hacking network to steal and launder $37 million from British and American bank accounts, ac- cording to the Telegraph. Twenty- fi ve-year-old Olga Komova was arrested at the four-star Emerald Cove Koh Chang hotel where she worked as a receptionist and guest liaison. Guests described her as pleasant and professional but Komova allegedly led a double life, using multiple bank accounts and credit and debit cards to steal stolen funds. More than 50 people from around the world fell prey to the network, which sent emails containing malware to gain the user names and passwords of un- suspecting people's online bank accounts. IT'S A DOG'S LIFE ATHENS — ey may be man's best friend but they won't be a tax dodger's best friend if Greece goes through with a plan to use dogs to sniff out their illegal behaviour. e country announced it would be re- cruiting canines to sniff out people trying to take cash out of the re- gion, according to Reuters, and the authorities prefer German Shep- herds, Labrador retrievers or Bel- gian Malinois. With fears Greece could crash out of the euro, more than 50 billion euros left banks from November 2014 to July 2015, which lead to capital controls and a new international bailout. But it's estimated anywhere between 15 and 20 billion euros are still be- ing hoarded by Greeks outside the banking system. WILLIAM THE WORM DINNINGTON, U.K. — Grocery store chain Tesco in the U.K. exempli- fi ed true customer service recently after a customer found a fl at, and dead, worm inside the plastic wrapper of his cucumber. Wes Metcalfe posted a "complaint" on Facebook, saying, "I excitedly shouted the kids downstairs to come and meet our new pet. We decided to name him William. Our new pet appeared to be very unresponsive… I think he may be dead… I now have three very upset children, a worm funeral to plan and, to top it all off , I've totally lost my taste for cucumber sandwiches." In response, "Rob" from Tesco's customer care composed a poem for the funeral: "Although life takes funny old turns, we all can learn from William the worm…" Metcalfe then posted an update on the funeral, with a picture showing a framed image of William, a popsicle-stick cross and a "Deepest Sympathies" card from Tesco. Rob then composed worm-related lyrics to the song "Wonderwall" by Oasis. Metcalfe said the song would have meant so much to William: "He had that dark, greasy, grungy look about him." e exchange ended with Metcalfe complimenting Rob's customer service, and was liked more than 80,000 times on Facebook. Credit: Anna Sedneva (Shutterstock) DINNINGTON, U.K. — Grocery store chain Tesco in the U.K. exempli- fi ed true customer service recently after a customer found a fl at, and dead, worm inside the plastic wrapper of his cucumber. Wes Metcalfe posted a "complaint" on Facebook, saying, "I excitedly shouted the kids downstairs to come and meet our new pet. We decided to name him William. Our new pet appeared to be very unresponsive… I think he may be dead… I now have three very upset children, a worm funeral to plan and, to top it all off , I've totally lost my taste for cucumber sandwiches." In response, "Rob" from Tesco's customer care composed a poem for the funeral: "Although life takes funny old turns, we all can learn from William the worm…" Metcalfe then posted an update on the funeral, with a picture showing a framed image of William, a popsicle-stick cross and a "Deepest Sympathies" card from Tesco. Rob then composed worm-related lyrics to the song "Wonderwall" by Oasis. Metcalfe said the song would have meant so much to William: "He had that dark, greasy, grungy look about him." e exchange ended with Metcalfe complimenting Rob's customer service, and was liked more than 80,000 times on Facebook.

• Cover