Canadian HR Reporter is the national journal of human resource management. It features the latest workplace news, HR best practices, employment law commentary and tools and tips for employers to get the most out of their workforce.
Issue link: https://digital.hrreporter.com/i/901132
CANADIAN HR REPORTER November 27, 2017 12 EXECUTIVE SERIES Available Risk-Free for 30 Days Order online: www.carswell.com Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 Has your workplace met all requirements under the new Bill 132? New Edition Pocket Ontario OH&S Act & Regulations 2017 – Consolidated Edition © 2017 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited 00243CP-A86353-CM Your peers rely on this best-selling pocket resource for invaluable guidance on workplace safety law. From preparing job hazard analyses and creating safety training programs to developing anti-harassment policies and performing violence risk assessments – the new 2017 edition of this best-selling resource will help your organization meet all your OHSA obligations, including the new requirements under Bill 132. To see what's new, go to www.carswell.com/pocket-ohs eBook available for web browser or download to your desktop, laptop, iPad or Android tablet.* Learn more at carswell.com/proview *eBook not available to trade bookstores, third-party distributors, academic institutions, and students. Order # 987844-65201 $23.95 Softcover approx. 1080 pages March 2017 978-0-7798-7844-4 Also available in French. Call for details. Also available Large format edition with tabs Order # 987846-65201 $23.95 Softcover approx. 780 pages March 2017 978-0-7798-7846-8 Also available Shipping and handling are extra. Price(s) subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes Trish Maguire Leadership In Action How ready are today's leaders in embracing these new information technologies to enhance collaboration? Ulrich model that aimed to make HR into a true business partner. He was ahead of his time because the information flows needed to achieve its vision weren't avail- able. at will change with artifi- cial intelligence. HR business partners will have access to instant information flows more common to sales and finance. Immediate information will make for more reliable deci- sion-making. It will increase HR's value in the C-suite, but it will mean the human resources skill set will need to change signifi- cantly from a focus on program design and implementation to data analysis and integrated busi- ness decision-making. As stocks of information be- come flows, and decisions are au- tomated, the HR function of today will not exist in 10 years. Mellina: at's right. And the rest of the organization won't look the same either. So, HR has a dual challenge to tackle: Reinvent itself while guiding the organization through a massive and fundamen- tal revolution. e arrival of the robots is rais- ing the need for forward-thinking HR leaders. It's time to step up, we need you. HR will evolve ROBOTS < pg. 11 Leveraging artificial intelligence to build a better workforce In listening to Cindy Gordon, CEO at SalesChoice, talk about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on to- day's workplaces, I find I have more questions than answers. Without a doubt, AI is our future: It's happen- ing and is accelerating. I can see how AI can enable organizations to make quantum leaps and accomplish new possibilities. At the same time, I can see how, if mismanaged, AI could potentially devalue, depreciate and debilitate the human spirit. At the 2016 World Economic Forum, the call for action was fo- cused on "mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution — the wave of technological advances that are changing the way we live, work, stay alive and interact with each other and machines — is essential." Clearly, we are beyond a debate based solely on how AI technolo- gies can either destroy or create alternative jobs. It's time to discover how dis- tinctive human qualities such as curiosity, connection, compas- sion and creativity can elevate AI initiatives. Various AI applications avail- able today promise to enhance and improve management effec- tiveness by processing and evalu- ating wide-ranging resources to produce advanced data analysis for instance, employee recruit- ment, performance, productivity and retention. Other applications are designed to analyze an employee's email and alert managers about the in- dividual's level of engagement and dedication to his job. e question is: How can these applications best drive a radical rethinking of yesterday's organi- zational behaviour models and practices? Some of these applications raise interesting scenarios for leaders to think about. For example, what would the impact be on an organization if some of its managers chose to rely exclusively on the resultant data to make decisions about an employee's performance or engagement? What guarantees are there that the AI application does not have its own unintended bias in the search for patterns within the data? How might a manager's reli- ance on artificial intelligence anal- ysis result in a failure to address systemic problems in procedures, policies or processes? What's the risk that automated decision-making could take pri- ority over that of a manager's be- cause it is deemed to be as good as or better than that of a manager's? As we all know, human psy- chology is not an absolute science and presents an infinite number of variables in predicting and maxi- mizing people's performance and engagement in the workplace. AI applications will continue to present leaders with fundamen- tal moral and ethical challenges that surely necessitate an obliga- tion to understand how these new technologies will impact their workforce. How prepared are today's leaders for using tomorrow's AI initiatives to create a better future for their workforce and organization? How ready are leaders in em- bracing these new information technologies to enhance collabo- ration, explore innovative solu- tions, achieve exceptional results and build great workforces for the future? Trish Maguire is a commentator for SCNetwork on leadership in ac- tion and founding principal of Syn- ergyx Solutions in Nobleton, Ont., focused on high-potential leadership development coaching. She has held senior leadership roles in HR and organizational development in edu- cation, manufacturing and entrepre- neurial firms. She can be reached at synergyx@sympatico.ca.