Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER JANUARY 2018 FEATURES 11 Quebec embraces role of protecting public T he Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés (CRHA) in Mon- treal takes its mission of pro- tecting the public seriously, says general manager Manon Poirier. " e highlight, for me, of the past year… was fully embracing the role of protection of the public through our members." As an example, the Quebec association — which recently rejoined Chartered Profession- als in Human Resources (CPHR) Canada following a six-year lapse — conducted an awareness cam- paign during the #MeToo move- ment to aid employers with policy surrounding the prevention of sexual harassment, she says. e issue has always been an important one for the CRHA, says Poirier, and the organization worked to off er tools, training op- portunities and content to busi- nesses across the province. "Obviously, in light of what's go- ing on around the globe, it became more important and gave a voice to a topic that we've often tried to highlight, especially with the gov- ernment," she says. "A lot of our organizations in Quebec are very, very small." "Eighty per cent of organiza- tions are small companies — 10, 15, 20 employees. ere's no HR." With a provincial labour stan- dards review underway, the CRHA hopes that obligations of organizations increase going forward to ensure work environ- ments are healthy and safe, says Poirier. Diversity also remains a prior- ity for the association, as a gap re- mains in the unemployment rate for citizens with foreign educa- tion. e CRHA has off ered rec- ommendations to the provincial government to aid in the integra- tion of immigrants going forward. e 10,123-member associa- tion continued to grow in 2017, though many are expected to exit through retirement in the years ahead, she says. "We need to make sure that, as a profession, in order to achieve our mission — which is to protect the public — that… the new HR professionals become CPHRs." In 2018, the association hopes to deliver a refreshed competency framework profi le to better align the profession with the future of work. It is also aiming to review the available pathways for those aiming to become a CPHR. "We're saying to our members and to HR: 'HR will be about AI (artifi cial intelligence) and it will be about technology,' and our pro- fessionals need to be able to help organizations facilitate those in- novation processes, over and above everything else we do," says Poirier. Manon Poirier general manager, CRHA Nova Scotia separates from Prince Edward Island N ova Scotia's HR associa- tion bid goodbye in 2017 to its P.E.I. members as the group fi nalized a split into two separate factions. "(Chartered Professionals in Human Resources) CPHR Nova Scotia worked closely with the founding directors to establish CPHR Prince Edward Island," says Sheila McLean, CEO of CPHR Nova Scotia in Halifax. " is in- vestment provides an increased opportunity to create a P.E.I.-spe- cifi c professional community for HR increasing engagement and knowledge sharing locally, ben- efi ting both the HR professionals and organizations in P.E.I." Because of the change, the new group in Nova Scotia now has 700 members, down from 1,000 the previous year. In addition, the Nova Scotia as- sociation rebranded itself (it was formerly the Human Resources Association of Nova Scotia) and "this has been well-received by members," according to McLean. As in all other provinces, legal marijuana is a topic on the front burner for 2018 and the associa- tion is educating its members on the implications, she says. "We have hosted, and continue to host, professional development sessions relating to marijuana in the workplace, with the most recent one being at our annual law seminar in November," says McLean. "We have another session scheduled for January that will also look at the topic in relation to the non-safety-sensitive workplace as a lot of discussion is often on the safety-sensitive workplace." e response to these sessions (and others) has been encourag- ing with "ratings that are currently in the high 90s as rated by our par- ticipants," she says. e ongoing infl ux of new resi- dents to the province is something HR departments will continue to address, says McLean. "Large immigration to Nova Scotia continues to off er employ- ers access to new talent, while also highlighting the importance to ensure workplaces are cultur- ally aware, including identifying and addressing any barriers that may exist." The provincial government also introduced a wage control measure that limits the amount of increases in public sector contract bargaining, which will have to be managed by HR, she says. "For employers in the unionized public sector, a key infl uencer this year has been the introduction of the Public Sustainability Act relat- ing to public sector wages." Sheila McLean CEO, CPHR Nova Scotia Prince Edward Island heads out on its own I n a bold move, Prince Ed- ward Island decided to sep- arate from Nova Scotia in 2017, becoming Chartered Pro- fessionals in Human Resources (CPHR) Prince Edward Island. The province had originally formed an association back in the 1980s, before joining forces with Nova Scotia in 2002. "With the rebranding of CPHR, and the collective, every province started to become aligned to use the same branding, there was an opportunity there to say, 'If there's a time, this is probably the time to do it, to go off back on our own and see how things go.' at was really the trigger for it," says Detry Carragher, chair of CPHR PEI in Charlottetown. " ere was absolutely no ani- mosity or any reason why we needed to separate from Nova Scotia, and they've actually been really supportive to help us get- ting established… our board's been talking about really having a strong Atlantic voice, so (that means) making sure that we have good relationships with our Mari- time counterparts." CPHR PEI has about 85 mem- bers but there's a real opportunity to get out and network with the province's HR community "be- cause we have feet on the ground here now," she says, noting the association is hoping to add 120 members, with a mix of chartered and non-chartered professionals. ere are a lot of operational and governance items that have to be worked through, says Car- ragher, but in 2018, they will be asking members about what types of professional development they are looking for, and what issues concern them, such as marijuana in the workplace, sexual harass- ment or the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). "Everybody has diff erent needs, so based on that, what are the pri- orities?" says Carragher. The association has already created its initial strategic plan, focusing on strong engagement with the HR community in the province, and looking at the needs of individual HR professionals and the organization, she says. "I'm always big on what's hap- pening on a national scale and how does that impact you as an HR professional? There's the work we do in organizations but then where does that fit with everything else?" In addition, CPHR PEI is striv- ing towards having its fi rst annual conference in the fall. Detry Carragher chair, CPHR PEI New name, new executive director in New Brunswick T he rebranding of New Brunswick's HR associa- tion was a "major event" that will hopefully help pave the way toward self-regulation, ac- cording the group's inaugural executive director. "We've been trying to work with the other professional associ- ations to establish partnerships in better recognizing the profession," says Luc Page, executive director of the Chartered Professionals in Human Resources (CPHR) New Brunswick in Moncton, N.B. " at's one of our biggest steps, our main goal in the next coming year... I see (self-regulation) com- ing in the next two years, because we had to develop a three-year operational, strategic plan." e group is using the Char- tered Professional Accountant (CPA) model to help substantiate its eff orts toward self-regulation, he says. "First of all, you need to present a business case and you need to use an example of a business as- sociation that is serving a popu- lation with a certain amount of members." To prove it can become self- regulating, CPHR New Bruns- wick has about 400 designated members (out of a total of close to 900 members) who must com- plete 100 hours of professional development every three years, which is one of the things the CPA does as well, says Page. e advent of marijuana legal- ization is also one of the major events on the horizon for 2018. And CPHR New Brunswick will be part of the roll-out, he says. " e federal government has approached the HR association to try to see how we could work together to facilitate the imple- mentation of the new policies, new regulations regarding the legalization of marijuana in the workplace... at is the hot topic of the HR world." Currently, the organization is conducting a series of round- tables to explore possible new rules when marijuana use in the workplace is a legal reality, says Page. "Nothing has been determined at this point, but it's just trying to fi nd the most strategic and eff ec- tive way to implement those new policies and regulations to make sure we don't bypass any laws." Luc Page, executive director CPHR New Brunswick

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