Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER October 17, 2016 14 FEATURES Compensation Surveys Incentive Programs Job Descriptions Job Evaluation Pay Equity Performance Appraisal Salary Administration Sales Compensation (416) 498-7800 www.resourcecorporation.com COMPENSATION CONSULTING STAFFING Looming on the horizon Comprehensive workforce strategies to prepare for imminent wave of retirements By Frank Remiz M any large organizations, particularly govern- ment, are facing some- what of a crisis as they face an imminent wave of retirements. Entire ministries, such as Envi- ronment and Climate Change Canada, were created in the 1960s and 70s, and this led to large-scale hiring. But, over time, that work- force has aged. "One in five managers is able to retire in the next three years," said Deb Matthews, deputy premier of Ontario, in late 2015. As such, employers should properly prepare for the change and all of its ramifications. e way recruitment is done will need to be revisited. at, in turn, will necessarily affect other HR func- tions and organizational policies. New approaches will be needed. Loss of key information With the retirement of senior managers, there is the obvious loss of hands and feet; how now will the work get done? But there's much more at stake: ere is the risk of loss of information, not only about the job, but the orga- nization, its competitors and the environment. Effective knowledge transfer is essential; it can be facilitated with communities of practice and emerging custom data storage and retrieval technologies. If re- tirements are phased in through gradual changes to the workweek or staggered occurrences, it be- comes easier to make handoffs, and provide coaching and men- toring to the replacements. Workforce planning Faced with multiple vacancies, there is sometimes a tendency to get by with casual workers, term hires, secondments and former employees. Such quick-fix solu- tions create havoc, especially in unionized environments where people have "bumping rights." ere is also the risk of a good term employee being lured away by another organization into a permanent role. Comprehensive, long-term workforce planning is key. is re- quires senior managers to antici- pate and be responsive to emerg- ing business needs. Of course, permanent hires, by their nature, entail some risk. But the probationary period provides space to "try people out." Manag- ers need to record notes about the person's performance, capacity to learn, efforts to succeed and abil- ity to integrate — but also be ready to "pull the plug." Promotion from within: at is a very good strategy for dealing with retirements. But it requires a good succession planning model already be in place. Today's youth If the talent pipeline is used to fill positions, it must be added to at the front-end. at means provid- ing people with a variety of entry- level opportunities. Summer jobs and co-op placements are excel- lent opportunities for students to determine whether a government job is suitable for them. Internship programs for recent, unlicensed graduates in a variety of occupations are also a good idea. e Ontario government has several, ranging from five months to four years, aimed at budding lawyers, civil engineering techni- cians, policy analysts, First Na- tions youth and others. Of course, if these programs are poorly publicized, they won't be effective; public transit adver- tising would be worthwhile. In addition, there need to be efforts made to dispel the myths young people have. Speaking to students in their hometown or holding a travel- ling one-day job fair would give young people a more informed picture of what it's like to work for government. And current or former interns could be used for this purpose. At the end, consider whether there is an effort to collect and compile key feedback from those individuals and their managers. And is there ongoing commu- nication with those individuals, especially when they're ready for full-time work? Social media is used widely by young people, not just to share personal updates but to acquire information. It should be used for far more than just posting job openings. Several leading- edge companies have company pages on LinkedIn and Facebook where, through meticulous em- ployer branding, there are post- ings and videos that reveal the employer's culture and accom- plishments, so as to establish an emotional connection and dem- onstrate why it is such a great place to work at. Posting job openings in multi- ple channels is, of course, impor- tant. And if that includes ethnic newspapers, it will capture the at- tention of recently arrived, skilled immigrants. In any case, the process for ap- plying for jobs needs to be simple and convenient. At a minimum, it needs to be mobile-friendly. Job restructuring Every job vacancy provides an op- portunity for job restructuring. Sometimes, certain duties can be added or removed, to better align with business needs and staff de- ployment. A worksheet should be developed to guide senior manag- ers through the thinking process, and help them choose the right course of action. With multi-incumbent jobs, there is a bigger challenge, but also the opportunity for bigger gains. Imagine the dollar savings if governments modified certain roles so that police constables' data entry work was delegated to clerks, and hospital doctors' diag- nostic work was handled by nurse practitioners. Replacing a seasoned individu- al can be difficult. It can be made easier if the job is redesigned to be part-time or mainly work-at- home. Physical proximity is no longer as critical as it was before. Technology has made it possible for people to remain virtually connected with work colleagues. Moreover, more and more gov- ernment services are delivered to the public online, so the physical location of the service provider is not relevant. New approaches to selection Modifying the selection process itself, beyond accommodations, would also be useful. Many tra- ditional methods limit diversity, and yet the business benefits of a diverse workforce are increas- ingly obvious. When the process of learning about a candidate is made more relaxing, the talents of those who process informa- tion (and perceive the world) in a somewhat different way are sud- denly revealed — such as those with autism. Speeding up the selection pro- cess would also be worthwhile, even if that means a temporary reallocation of resources. Why should it take more than one month? Video technology could be used to have applicants submit answers to basic questions; re- cruiters can then quickly review them, assess oral communication skills, get information on job-rele- vant competencies, and carry out pre-screening. One way of simplifying the se- lection process for early-career professionals is to hire a group of broadly capable ones into a pool of generic positions; sooner or later, there will be good opportunities for assignment to particular jobs. Another approach, increas- ingly used by governments, is to create inventories or pools of pre- qualified recruits; when there is a particular type of job vacancy, one would draw from the list. Onboarding The post-hire orientation pro- gram should get new hires maxi- mally productive quickly. That means clearly conveying the role expectations, conducting any training assessments, and facili- tating the assimilation of the or- ganization's strategy and values. Sometimes, the replacement of someone retiring can provide a fulcrum for change, an opportu- nity to leapfrog from the past to the future. But that would require careful oversight. Higher salaries Some organizations are con- cerned the market will require them to pay a new hire more or less than the person retiring. It doesn't need to be like that. De- pending on the industry and a company's market position, one tactic is to hire a somewhat less- experienced person and offer in-house, on-the-job training. Another tactic is to pay a some- what lower starting salary, but also a sign-on bonus. Still another tactic is to overhaul the pay-and- performance framework so that, beyond a certain point, instead of continued salary increases, there are annual performance bonuses contingent on a rating of "strong" or better. One thousand, three hundred Ontario government managers requested demotions last year be- cause in many cases their pay had slipped behind that of their sub- ordinates due to a four-year wage freeze, as reported in the Hamilton Spectator. e picture doesn't look nearly as bad if a total-rewards lens is used — group benefits, training opportunities, career ad- vancement options, community involvement opportunities, and employment stability are all part of the equation. Here's a bold idea: Negotiate departmental cost sav- ings efforts (from streamlining or productivity increases), and re- ceive part of the proceeds. Retention Good recruitment efforts are in vain if staff retention is poor. Are there meaningful recognition pro- grams in place? Is exit interview information compiled in a way that facilitates case management or recruitment planning? Are the reasons for departure entered into the system, so as to facilitate data retrieval and analysis? Why do the strong performers leave? If there was a poor fit, if the boss's style was a factor or if morale is low, there needs to be followup to avoid recurrence. In a changing and competitive business environment, organiza- tions must look critically at, and refine, their approach to work- force planning. e loss of a key employee is a risk that can be fairly easily addressed. e loss of several employees is more disrup- tive, and harder to deal with. But a comprehensive strategy will help ensure business continuity. Frank Remiz is a part-time manager at Specialisterne Canada and indepen- dent HR consultant in Toronto. He can be reached at (416) 537-8886, (416) 509-8857 or fr111@hotmail.com. Certain duties can be added or removed, to better align with business needs and staff deployment.

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