Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER May 15, 2017 14 FEATURES CPHR New Brunswick has 'transformative' year 2 016 was something of a transformative year for us," says Jason Scarbro, presi- dent of CPHR New Brunswick in Moncton (formerly the Human Resources Association of New Brunswick). In addition to rebranding, the as- sociation introduced new path- ways for achieving the CPHR designation. "We also created a new posi- tion: Executive director," says Scarbro. "With this new role, we can start to move forward with some of the initiatives we've only dreamed about." To set the stage for changes ahead, CPHR New Brunswick's leadership engaged in compre- hensive strategic planning — a process that's ongoing. " is year, we'll focus on gover- nance, taking a look at our struc- ture and the roles and responsibil- ities of committee members," he says. "It's been a long time coming and it will set a good foundation for us." A stronger association will help the province's human resources professionals handle any bumps in the road. "New Brunswick's population is shrinking and getting older, and that presents HR with challenges in terms of recruiting and retain- ing talent," says Scarbro. "Many of my colleagues are addressing this head-on, with the message to candidates that they don't have to leave New Brunswick to have an exciting, rewarding career." Some organizations are fi nding success by focusing on providing an engaging culture and career development opportunities, and by recruiting directly from the province's colleges and universi- ties, he says. Another consideration for New Brunswick's human resources professionals is the health of the general population. "Statistics tell us that the New Brunswick population isn't as healthy as it could be," says Scarbro. "We believe workplaces can play a signifi cant role in support- ing employees' physical and men- tal health, and this will continue to be a big focus for us." National events are shaping HR concerns in the province, too, including the impending legaliza- tion of marijuana and the infl ux of Syrian refugees. "HR professionals have worked to prepare their organizations to welcome newly arrived Syrian employees and help them engage in the workforce," says Scarbro. "Our association has partnered with several organizations and we're working together to fi nd the best ways to do this." Newfoundland and Labrador energized by rebranding A t CPHR Newfoundland and Labrador, the na- tional rebranding project dovetailed perfectly with the as- sociation's website redesign. "It was part of our strategic focus to invest in a new website and that was underway before the re- brand rolled out nationally," says Neil Coombs, president of CPHR Newfoundland and Labrador in St. John's. "The new site features a lot of functionality we didn't have before," says Coombs. Associa- tion members can now access exclusive opportunities for on- line training, vendor services and more. e rebranding, too, comes at a good time, helping to energize the 200-member association as human resources professionals across the province continue to face hurdles. " e price of oil and gas has had an impact on many business- es, and some of the longer-term projects are fi nishing and winding down," says Coombs. "Taxation changes coming out of last year's budget were a big challenge for small and medium- sized business, too, because it had implications for payroll." Business owners have had to be more strategic with their hu- man resources management, says Coombs, "to ensure they're able to keep good people, ready for an economic rebound." As with much of the rest of the country, HR professionals in the province are beginning to think about the implications of legalized marijuana use, beginning as early as next summer. "People are thinking more about their testing policies and how their organizations will re- spond to violation of policy," says Coombs. "It's going to be a learn- ing curve." While the province has en- dured some changes in the past several years, Coombs is optimis- tic about better days ahead. "We've been struggling with a provincial trend of our workers moving away," he says. "With the economic struggles in Alberta — and that's where a lot of our people went — we're seeing many workers starting to come back." e result, he says, is a more robust workforce. "What we're going to see, too, is more projects coming upstream," says Coombs. "It does seem like things are starting to right-side themselves, a little bit." Patrick Culhane, president and CEO, CPA Payroll association celebrating move to electronic T4s A fter fi ve years of dedicat- ed advocacy, the Cana- dian Payroll Association (CPA) achieved its goal of fed- eral legislation surrounding the electronic delivery of T4s. Beginning in 2018, the Canadian government will allow employers to issue electronic T4s to employ- ees without obtaining written consent fi rst. e move will save employers more than $100 mil- lion annually, acording to CPA president Patrick Culhane. "To have electronic T4 legisla- tion in place to support them as the standard delivery method is fantastic," he says. " e Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and CPA have been run- ning a pilot for fi ve years. ere were 40 major employers across the country participating in the pilot, from oil and gas to fi nancial to education, and even the federal government itself." Now, the focus turns to an ad- ditional reconciliation remittance for large employers with CRA, as well as employment insurance (EI) service quality recommendations. "We're looking to move away from the Record of Employment driving the EI system to use of real payroll data," says Culhane. The group's focus continues to be on "payroll compliance through education and advoca- cy," he says. "Everything we do is around supporting employers to be compliant." e cancellation of the Ontario pension plan,was also a "big win," says Culhane, adding the CPA played a signifi cant role in that decision in favour of a "modest" increase to the Canada Pension Plan. Other major endeavours by the CPA included implementation of an annual continuing professional education declaration process, progress on the work experience requirement for the Payroll Com- pliance Practitioner certifi cation, and a survey conducted by Hays indicating certifi ed payroll pro- fessionals make an average of $10,000 more than non-certifi ed workers. e association also continued to enjoy stable enrolment with 11,500 registrants per year in cer- tifi cation programs at 40 colleges, universities and online programs across the country, says Culhane. e organization has a mem- bership of 19,500, representing 43,000 payroll staff across the country. CPA has 7,000 organi- zational members representing 30,000 staff ers, plus 7,000 profes- sionals and 6,500 associate mem- bers, he says. "We're kind of unique that way as a hybrid organization." Suanne Nielsen takes helm at Strategic Capability Network I t was a year of change for the Strategic Capability Network (SCN), with long-time presi- dent Ian Hendry stepping down in April 2017. Suanne Nielsen is the new presi- dent of the 600-member associa- tion, which sees HR professionals gather monthly in a variety of ju- risdictions to hear from subject experts. (Hendry will stay on as treasurer.) Nielsen is chief talent offi cer and corporate secretary at Forest- ers Financial in Toronto. She has volunteered with SCN for close to two decades. And SCN will con- tinue to provide strong thought leadership alongside a respected community of peers, she says. " ere's no other place I can go to where I have access to a com- munity of chief HR executives in a trusted setting to share experi- ences with and learn from," says Nielsen. "Our value off ering to HR lead- ers is really around two areas — quality thought leadership, largely demonstrated through our pro- gramming, and, equally impor- tant, a community of peers." SCN is a 38-year-old organi- zation with chapters in Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, London and Waterloo. When Hendry became SCN president in the early 90s, the Toronto chapter had 35 members, says Nielsen. "What the shift in leadership signals is an opportunity to step back and review what got us to this point in our history, then look at what's working really well for the organization and where there are opportunities to enhance our member experience and our value off ering," she says. e focus of recent SCN ses- sions has been the look of the fu- ture workplace, as the association aims to bring in speakers on the cutting edge of the profession. " e reality is the workplace is changing," says Nielsen. " e digi- tization of work is hitting all of us. Talent is more global, yet employ- ment, immigration and taxation laws don't necessarily allow us to take advantage of that." "No longer can employers step back and dictate how employees need to work. Talent will be dic- tating how employers need to ad- just and change if we're going to continue to attract talent." While many of the events held in Toronto are sold-out aff airs, an additional 25 people typically tune in by webcast. Going for- ward, the network is aiming to de- velop more member interaction at its events, she says. Jason Scarbro, president, CPHR New Brunswick Neil Coombs, president, CPHR Newfoundland and Labrador Suanne Nielsen, president, SCN

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