Queen’s IRC Spring 2020-Spring 2021 Program Planner
We are pleased to announce our Spring 2020-Spring 2021 Program Planner is ready to be downloaded. It details all of our foundational and advanced programs and our certificate series.
Creating Kinder, More Productive Workplaces: Ongoing and Everyday Conflict Engagement
Conflict is tough for most of us. According to many physiologists, we tend to tap into several simple strategies when faced with conflict: fight, flight, or freeze. As a result, we likely aren't reducing unnecessary conflicts, and effectively dealing with necessary conflicts in productive ways. So many opportunities are lost because we aren’t engaging well. Being effective at conflict, both in a proactive and reactive way, demands that we work at it as an ongoing and everyday activity. In essence, it is a lifestyle choice in how we talk, problem solve, inquire with others, and arrange our processes and teams.
Building a Custom Queen’s IRC Certificate: Lessons from the BCNU Governance Board Certificate Program
Union president Christine Sorensen and the British Columbia Nurses’ Union (BCNU) Board have big aspirations for a professional union with a strong, high-functioning Board. Achieving this vision has meant restructuring, long-term strategic planning, and significant training for the Board – and all within a three-year elected term. In 2017, Christine was appointed as president (from the vp/acting-president role) and a new Board had also been elected. With a significant turnover in Board members and a strong drive for change, they began working towards their goals, immediately taking on some significant organizational and structural issues.
The Human Resources Business Partner
The Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP) is a popular designation for many human resources professionals in today’s Canadian organizations. However, there seems to be no consistent definition of this role and its responsibilities. This article will attempt to describe the most common organizational structures or models used by HR departments to incorporate HRBPs and will review the strengths and challenges of these models. It will also illustrate the duties and the necessary skills of the fully competent HRBP and make recommendations for organizations considering creating HRBP roles.
HR and Manager Partnerships: Building Accountability in the Workplace
Rayna had just received an interesting request. J.B., a recent addition to the front-line management team, had come to her following the division wide quarterly town hall update. The division president, Anne, had given a talk on accountability. She’d been firm in her resolve to increase division wide understanding of what it meant to be accountable at work. J.B. wasn’t questioning the directive. He was struggling with the meaning. What did accountability mean for him as a manager?
Strategy or Culture? What’s Your Leadership Challenge?
Change was in the wind. As is true for many industries, the insurance industry was facing significant change. Making the shift from a regulated to a deregulated industry seemed a daunting challenge for the 100 year old RockSolid Insurance Company. The question for the executive team was how to craft a strategy and initiate change in ways that would enable the company to compete successfully into the future.
Director’s Note – August 2019
It’s no secret that there are several social issues influencing today’s work environment, such as workplace wellness, equality, and the disruption of jobs through advances in automation. Today’s workers need more than technical abilities – they must have digital fluency, as well as social skills to collaborate effectively in a diverse environment. Queen’s IRC programs are designed to help you and your organization build a solid foundation for a positive work culture that supports continuous learning and growth, using practical, evidence-based and relevant training to address current challenges and opportunities.
From HR Practitioner to HR Leader: Competencies Required
You have your CHRP designation. Now as you begin to climb the ladder to success, what else must you learn to advance your career? One start is to develop the competencies you will need to become a true HR leader. But here the confusion begins. There are many different competencies and competency models proposed by various academics and associations. If you cannot determine with confidence which to trust, how can you decide where to invest your time, money and development efforts?
Queen’s IRC Fall 2019-Fall 2020 Program Planner
We are pleased to announce our Fall 2019-Fall 2020 Program Planner is ready to be downloaded. It details all of our foundational and advanced programs and our certificate series. Download our Fall 2019-Fall 2020 Program Planner now!
Active Curiosity in the Coaching Process
Coaching skills are enhanced and potentially of greater value to the client if informed by an actively curious mindset. In turn, a curious client can increase self-awareness, discover areas in which they can be even more effective and try new approaches and behaviours which will align intention more closely with desired outcomes. Conversations between two curious individuals, client and coach, can raise discussions to becoming part of an exciting and valuable ‘learning community’.
Dementia Care Innovation in the Region of Peel
The first article in this series focuses on the Region of Peel’s bold decision to pilot and implement a ground breaking approach for dealing with people living with dementia. This model of care has proven effective at dramatically enhancing residents’ quality of life and wellbeing, their family’s satisfaction and involvement, as well as employee engagement, fulfillment and retention, all while reducing the number of incidents, and creating more positive relationships all around. Key information for this piece comes from an interview with Mary Connell, Project Manager for the Butterfly Initiative Implementation at the Region of Peel.
Relationship Management in a Union Environment
Building relationships in the workplace is hard – and it takes work. It’s even more difficult when you work in a unionized organization which has traditionally adversarial relationships. But these days, organizations like the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) are stepping away from the attitude that, as a union, you have to be in ‘fight mode’ all the time. They are working towards accomplishing more for their members by trying to have better relationships with management. This is where the Queen’s IRC Relationship Management in a Union Environment program comes in.
The Performance Appraisal Process: Lessons Learned
Just as leadership styles and organizational work have evolved, so have perspectives on performance evaluation. Traditional performance evaluation is hierarchical, control-oriented, and focused on individual ranking and grading. Present-day performance evaluation is relational, facilitative, and focused on development and problem-solving (Leadership, R. Lussier, et al). In Ontario, teacher performance appraisal requirements and processes are legislated. While the legislation is founded on a more traditional “three strikes you are out” mandate, the philosophy and practices are more contemporary.
Courage and Coaching
For some time I have been curious about ‘courage’ and its relationship to leadership. I am specifically interested in the part that courage plays in a leader’s decision to work with a coach, but also in the courage it takes for a coach to help their clients become as effective as possible in their leadership roles. Courage is not a new topic in serious conversations on leadership. It has been considered a significant attribute of the most effective leaders for many years.
Identifying High Potential
How do you spot potential? What differentiates a high potential employee from one who has reached a career plateau? Many organizations fall into the trap of relying on past performance as a measure of future potential. Current and past performance may be an indicator of potential, but the two are not synonymous. In fact, according to a study conducted by Gartner (previously CEB/SHL Talent Measurement) only one in seven high performers are actually high potentials. That means that over 85% of today’s top performers lack the critical attributes essential to success in future roles.
Are You in a Communication Rut? Shift the Pattern, Get Different Results
Imagine that you are in a conversation when you suddenly realize that you have had this exact same disagreement with a co-worker, or a family member, many times before. In the moment, you can predict what you will say and do and what the other person will too. You feel compelled to act in a certain way, even when you know that what you will say or do next is unwise or unproductive. You cannot seem to help yourself. Or the other person! After the conversation has gone from bad to worse, you may find yourself attributing it to the other person’s incompetence, character flaws, or bad motive.
Conflict Coaching in the Workplace
It is common for employees to seek help from their manager if they are experiencing conflict or relationship challenges in the workplace. What are your options as a manager to respond in a way that provides benefits to the employee, to the workplace as a whole and to you? Consider this scenario: You are Karen’s manager.
Fireable Offences Without Defences
Termination for ‘just cause’ (and without notice) is often described as the capital punishment of employment law. Consequently, employers face a significant burden when trying to prove just cause at law. Arguing just cause for dismissal may be difficult, but not impossible, especially in circumstances involving dishonesty or lack of trust. Nevertheless, employers should always exercise caution when making just cause allegations, because a legally unsubstantiated just cause termination can be costly. If an arbitrator overturns an employer’s termination decision in a unionized environment, this can result in a decision that reinstates that grievor and provides him or her with significant back pay.
Trending Topics on the IRC Website
A new and exciting year has begun, and I hope that you are off to a good start. As the Director, it is a good time for me to review what we did in 2018 and where we are going in 2019. One of the ways I do this is to take a look at the popular articles on our website, and review which topics people are engaging with the most to ensure that these trends are representative of the programming that we are offering. Last year we introduced a Workplace Restoration program, and I am pleased to see that three of the top four articles we released last year were about workplace restoration. This is clearly a hot topic that many organizations are dealing with right now.
Queen’s IRC Spring 2019-Spring 2020 Program Planner
We are pleased to announce our Spring 2019-Spring 2020 Program Planner is ready to be downloaded. It details all of our foundational and advanced programs and our certificate series. Download our Spring 2019-Spring 2020 Program Planner now! What’s inside: Program dates, locations and fees Detailed description of our entire program lineup The Human Resources & …
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Director’s Note – January 2019
What Does Employee Engagement Mean to You? At the IRC, we believe that employee engagement begins with the commitment of strong leaders who believe in creating an organizational culture that fosters healthy relationships, encourages diversity of thought and maximizes opportunities for collaboration and multidisciplinary solutions. That vision flows through the many programs that you’ll find in our Spring 2019-Spring 2020 Program Planner. Leaders build great teams by combining the talents of many to achieve shared goals.
Putting Humpty Dumpty Back Together Again: Restoring Teams After Workplace Investigations
A workplace investigation will not repair dysfunctional workplace relationships. A workplace investigation neither builds bridges, nor resolves interpersonal conflict. In fact, an investigation may make a difficult work environment even more difficult. So how do we put Humpty Dumpty back together again, if all the King’s horses and all the King’s people could not?
This Holiday Season… Give Yourself the Gift of Knowledge
Start 2021 off right with a program from Queen's IRC! Save $300 on 4-5 credit programs and $150 on 2-3 credit programs when you register on or before January 29, 2021. This limited time offer applies to 2021 programs.
Dealing with Difficult Behaviours (Rather Than Difficult People)
In the Queen’s IRC Strategies for Workplace Conflicts course, we start by asking participants what they would particularly like help with in their workplace. A common response is difficult / high conflict people. However you define it, this is a huge challenge in today’s workplace and, unless it is handled well, it takes significant time, energy and expertise away from the work to be done. Most people have heard about Serena Williams’ public outburst at the U.S. Open this fall. Her behaviour and words were shocking and unexpected.
The Rising Importance of a National Brand for Organizations – Part 2
In 2004, my colleague Amal Henein and I, undertook a pan-Canadian research project seeking answers to the following questions: How is Canadian Leadership different from that of other countries? How effective is the Canadian Leadership brand and how can we expand our capacity to lead? How can we ensure Canada has an abundant supply of capable leaders? How can we strengthen our leadership presence and impact, particularly in the international arena?