Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER February 6, 2017 10 NEWS Ian Hendry Norm Sabapathy Heather Briant Cheryl Fullerton Suanne Nielsen Mark Edgar Early this year, Ian Hendry, president of the Strategic Capability Network and vice- president of HR and administration at Interac, moderated a discussion with human resources executives in downtown Toronto. The gathering has become an annual exercise for Canadian HR Reporter and is an opportunity to tap into the minds of senior leaders on the latest HR issues and concerns. At this roundtable, panellists discussed the rapid pace of change in the workplace, HR leaders' biggest challenges and the democratization of work. PANELLISTS: • Ian Hendry, president of SCNetwork and vice-president, HR and administration, Interac • Norm Sabapathy, executive vice-president of people, Cadillac Fairview • Heather Briant, senior vice-president of human resources, Cineplex Entertainment • Cheryl Fullerton, executive vice-president of people and communications, Corus • Mark Edgar, senior vice-president, human resources, RSA Group • Suanne Nielsen, chief talent offi cer and corporate secretary, Foresters Coping with change Human resources is trying to keep up in disruptive environment, says roundtable BY SARAH DOBSON THE RAPID PACE of change and the democratization of work were among the topics discussed by senior HR leaders at a recent roundtable hosted by the Strategic Capability Network in Toronto. For Cheryl Fullerton, the head- line for 2016 was "disruption." "I heard open acknowledge- ment from virtually all industries that they would be doing things dramatically diff erently in fi ve to 10 years. e usual reasons were cited: technology, globalization, demographics. But there was a new level of acceptance of how disruptive change would likely be, and that it could and would revo- lutionize everyone… education, health care, government services, manufacturing, retail, entertain- ment, etcetera," said the executive vice-president of people and com- munications at Corus in Toronto. Change management Overall, 2016 was surprising be- cause of the pace of change, said Suanne Nielsen, chief talent of- fi cer and corporate secretary at Foresters in Toronto. "In my entire career, I thought I'd seen it all and it even increased more so. And I don't see it chang- ing at all going forward. We've got to increase our game as HR pro- fessionals to maintain the pace of what we're doing in the organiza- tion, while still introducing some of these new concepts." But how many employees are comfortable when it comes to disruptive change, and can build the agility and resilience needed to cope, asked Ian Hendry, presi- dent of the Strategic Capability Network and vice-president of HR and administration at Interac in Toronto. With a core business that's constantly under threat, the issue of change is a familiar topic, said Heather Briant, senior vice-pres- ident of human resources at Cin- eplex Entertainment in Toronto. " ere is quite a bit of discus- sion about it, and the realization that change is inevitable — and it's a fairly healthy discussion. We're quite a traditional business, but I think that there's more we could do around the changing nature of work and how automation and technology are going to change our existing roles. Right now, it's happening organically and at enough of a measured pace that it's manageable, but we don't know when that will be." RSA does a monthly pulse sur- vey to gauge people's response to change, said Mark Edgar, Toronto-based senior vice-presi- dent of HR at RSA Canada. "And it doesn't make pretty reading sometimes because you've got people saying, 'We're not 100 per cent buying into this change.' Generally, with this level of change, organizations have 40 per cent of people who are re- ally up for it and keen and want to drive it forward; you've got 20 per cent in the middle who aren't quite sure yet, who are waiting; and 40 per cent who are paddling backwards. It's a classic bell curve in a way, so it's just about evening itself out. But to have 60 per cent of your population who aren't ac- tively engaged, that's a lot." For 2017, the number one chal- lenge is building a talent pipeline of people who can fl ex and adapt to rapidly evolving changes, said Fullerton. "We need to support people in building skill and experience sets that emphasize fl exibility in application… critical thinking and problem-solving. is means re-imaging career paths, devel- opment programs, recruitment strategies and more." It's not about what you know, as information can be easily found, but fi nding insights, opportunities and solutions, she said. "I see it as people carrying around a backpack of tools and being prepared for anything — like (TV character) MacGyver." While employers do need to have employees onside with the changes, it starts at the top, said Norm Sabapathy, executive vice- president of people at Cadillac Fairview in Toronto. And many people at the executive and board levels are not ready themselves. " ere's a surprising amount of resistance when it comes time to really deal with disruptive change. If you're going to say, 'Oh yes, we're going to be more change-ready, we're going to prepare people and shift mindsets,' (that's one thing), but to really get people ready to make a pivot in your business and deal with something truly disruptive, I'm not sure organiza- tions can count on the board and the executive level as being truly ready, so more proactive prepara- tion should be done." e focus on innovation has increased, and Foresters is work- ing on that, said Nielsen, but the real impact is on the people in the middle, where strategy meets ex- ecution, at the level below execu- tives but above managers. " ey're the ones who I fi nd are the most stressed out, in all of our surveys, that's the group that are most disengaged, that's the group that are suff ering." Having focused on alignment with the executive team, RSA's next focus will be on the next lev- el down and getting those people engaged, said Edgar. "If you want everybody to feel this level of ex- citement, rather than feeling very anxious about what's going on, it does start at the top." But there's a gap, said Hendry. "If you think about it from an organizational standpoint, I'm not sure how clear executives are around how the business is going to change. Disruption is happen- ing on a broad scale that is going to radically change every busi- ness, so (it's about) the ability to stay ahead of what's happening in your environment that will help you make a decision with respect to how your organization is going to meet the change. e problem is the gap between what might happen that we don't expect, and then fi ltering it down to a manag- er level where all they hear about is 'innovation,' ' ings are going to change,' and they're naturally fearful." But executives should be ex- pected to know that, and it's HR's job to help, said Edgar, either by swapping out the wrong people or giving them the right skills. "Leaders and executives who need all the facts to make deci- sions, or don't spend enough time being curious about what's going on in the wider world, they won't survive. So it's our job to equip them or give them the chance to recreate themselves. But if they can't, they might become dinosaurs." e generational element Another related outcome is the notion that one size does not fi t all, so it's about being ready for customization of the employee arrangement in all ways, shapes and means, said Nielsen. And that change is not necessarily driven by millennials. "It may be driven more by baby boomers… we are more in num- ber and as we leave the workplace, the organization is saying, ' ere's a lot of institutional knowledge that's leaving so we want to re- arrange the way you exit and go into retirement' and maybe it's on a consulting basis or freelance basis." ere's a generational element to it, said Edgar, but it's not just about millennials. "For me, millennials are a use- ful catalyst but they're not the only catalyst," he said. " ere's the technological element to it, so you have more opportunity to think diff erently about how you work. I think there's a cultural element — how many of our HR colleagues of 2016 have chosen to step out of corporate life and to have more control and flexibility around their career? I think people are looking for something diff erent in life. It's almost that perfect storm of all these diff erent factors." It isn't just the millennial eff ect, it's a cohort eff ect that refl ects the life circumstances surround- ing multiple generations, said Sabapathy. "We have older workers who aren't ready to retire, from an eco- nomic and social perspective. So we're trying to come up with some contingent, part-time, remote working relationships to keep them in the game and keep their knowledge in the business because we're in a specialized industry, and it's good business to ensure their knowledge and skills don't leave." Theories around millennials may be more of a consulting con- cept than a demographers' con- struct, he said, "but that group is less tied to companies in general, they're not necessarily interested in getting a gold watch from us, they're interested in being there for the experience while it's en- gaging to them. ey're happy to work remotely and interact through digital/social media. But then we have older workers on the other end that want the same thing, which is interesting — you'd think there'd be more of a diff er- ence between the two ends of the generational spectrum." Democratization of work But with democratization of work, have employers really changed that many jobs in the way they are being structured, asked Hendry. e topic of democratization of work is a big one, said Edgar. "(It's about) being able to break down work in a much more ef- fective way and then making sure you're resourcing that work so it's delivered in the most eff ective way, rather than a more tradition- al, hierarchal, structure-based organization." ere is also the opportunity to use design thinking to defi ne the employee experience, he said, "so FOCUS > pg. 14 "We've got to increase our game to maintain the pace of what we're doing, while introducing new concepts."

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