Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER June 12, 2017 22 FEATURES A s a global engineering and construction fi rm, globalization is defi nitely one challenge SNC Lavalin is facing, according to Lyne Leclair, vice- president of HR and infrastructure engineering. " e main challenge is the ability of our resources because we need to get the people that have the right skills… for the diff erent projects we have to execute, in various markets," she says. "We need to have the right skills, and some are extremely unique so, considering that, we need to have mobility in our resources." An ongoing need for engineers, for example, along with the retirement of baby boomers is driving the need for resources, both inside and outside of Canada, says Leclair. So it's about providing an appealing workplace with a chal- lenging, stimulating environment that attracts candidates for both full-time and project-based employment. As for the eff ect of United States President Donald Trump and his policies, these are defi nitely developments to keep an eye on, says Leclair, citing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as an example. "If it's revisited, I'm sure this will have an impact con- sidering the collaboration we have between Canada and the U.S. on major projects, and it's important that we have the right skills and competencies to deliver to our clients... it is key that the movement between the two countries continues to be facilitated." However, SNC Lavalin has about 2,000 workers in the U.S., so if anything happens, the company should still be able to deliver to customers south of the border, she says. But there are additional challenges when it comes to the multiple generations at the workplace, especially with millennials, says Leclair. " ey grew up with the technology, they are well-edu- cated and very well-informed, they have access to various platforms of information around the world, etcetera, so it's sure that we need to adapt to this new reality, and the way that we manage and work with them. ey want to be involved, contribute, voice their opinion, grow, etcetera, so for us, the employee engagement, talent management is part of our main strategic discussion and thinking." It's important to understand what motivates workers, what their interests and aspirations are, and have them participate to be part of the solution, she says. "We have started to provide some awareness initiatives so managers can learn about the diff erent generations and bring fl exibility in the way they manage, their manage- ment style… so they will be well-equipped in that area," says Leclair. " ey need to adapt and learn on the diverse generations." However, regardless of the generation, people want a great place to work, they want to be involved, they want to collaborate, provide ideas and suggestions, and they want to be well-recognized and rewarded fairly, she says. As the organization, the environment and the market change, so too is the workforce changing, she says. at means issues such as innovation and employee engage- ment are key to driving operational excellence. And that's driven much of the strategy put in place over the past couple years. "It's all about talent management, mentoring, diversity, retention and engagement, and we need to continue and innovate and evolve in that area to ensure that we attract the best and retain the best." And as the business evolves, it's important HR also evolves, so SNC Lavalin is currently reviewing the role and responsibility of human resources, says Leclair. "We're reviewing a bit the competencies that it needs from an HR business perspective, such as organizational changes acumen, talent management, business acumen, innovation — these are all competencies we'll try to put in place in order to develop our HR community… to better align with the needs of the business and to provide added- value services." Lyne Leclair vice-president of HR and infrastructure engineering at SNC Lavalin The Montreal-based organization has about 9,000 employees in Canada Lance Livingston vice-president of HR at Aecon The Calgary-based company has more than 10,000 employees in Canada W hile there has been much talk of change in the workplace, Lance Livingston, vice-president of HR at Aecon in Calgary, is not convinced things are much diff erent now than they were 20 years ago. "If you look back at the HR topics 15, 20 years ago, they were about change — it was about the speed of change, it was about how to infl uence it... so the topics haven't changed much." What is changing, however, is the speed of information, he says, and the diffi culty in managing communication. " ere can be a jobsite incident now of various severi- ties where people's families fi nd out before the front-line leadership do, just because of social media. So we're seeing examples of that, both positive and sometimes challeng- ing," says Livingston. "We have to get more engaged on the social media side because that's the medium and the forum that a lot of our employees like to use. And a lot of… poten- tial, prospective employees use social media to fi nd jobs and to communicate, so we're spending more time now tweeting and more time responding to various formats of social media, and questions. So that's increased." As for any possible "Trump eff ect" from the United States president when it comes to issues such as trade or immigration policies, Livingston says it's hard to decipher what's real, and part of that comes down to media and the speed of information. "Right now, we've seen some positive eff ects, so he's tak- en action on the Keystone pipeline to approve that in the U.S., which has down-line, positive implications for us be- cause we're a construction company that builds pipelines," he says. " e immigration issue and his restrictions, I think it causes more worry than actual harm… We haven't seen any cases in our organization, and we're still able to move people from the U.S. into Canada — we just haven't had an impact." When it comes to being prepared for change, that's not necessarily something that can be engineered into a com- pany, other than through culture, says Livingston. "(It's about) making sure that you're hiring adaptive peo- ple that are agile, easy to adapt to change and think about change. For me, it's more about developing the right culture within an organization than trying to think of everything that's going to come down the pipe — you just need to be able to be adaptive and agile and be able to adopt new tech- nology where it makes sense to help the business." Aecon, for example, has been using tools such as GPS to run pieces of equipment, alongside surveying via satellite and self-driving or self-levelling equipment. "We're getting into robotics in some ways too. Like, right now, we're pilot-testing exoskeleton suits that are lift-assis- tant suits — you wear them like a vest but what it enables you to do, as an example, would be to use a drill or jack- hammer above your head for many hours without fatigue." e company, which has more than 10,000 workers in Canada, is also using drone technology to take invento- ryies of large resources such as gravel or cement, and to take photos of jobs in progress. "We're constantly looking at ways to innovate and both be competitive and reduce costs, and improve safety, so wherever we can help our workforce, then we should look at those things." As for the potential of job loss, Livingston says it's about diff erent skills sets, which can mean new hires or develop- ing the existing workforce. "I don't really see it as straight one-for-one replacement of current jobs, nothing like that. If anything, it provides an opportunity for new roles in an organization, and for an organization, essentially it's constantly fl exing. So just because you hire a few new people that are technically ad- ept at some new technology, we also have people that are retiring on a regular basis and, frankly, there's a big bubble of retirees coming in the construction industry, so I think we need more people that are tech-savvy and able to bring diff erent ideas to our industry." When it comes to the rise of the gig economy, that can be a challenge in the construction industry because of re- mote work, he says. But what is common is people signing up for a project or assignment, so not part-time but short- term, and leaving after two or three years to fi nd alterna- tive work. And they may come back, says Livingston, who has been at Aecon for fi ve years. "Due to the loyalty factor, a lot of companies probably had a policy against rehiring anybody that left, whereas I think that's a practice of the past if you're going to be suc- cessful. We have lots of people come to us and work for us for a couple years, then they go to a competitor. ey go to maybe a diff erent part of the industry like consulting or engineering, and then they end up coming back to us with a diff erent skill set, and we redeploy them, and they're more valuable than when they left."

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