Research Briefs – August 2019

In This Issue…

1. From HR Practitioner to HR Leader: Competencies Required
2. Active Curiosity in the Coaching Process
3. Flashback Feature:
   The Changing Role of the Neutral in Dispute Resolution

From HR Practitioner to HR Leader: Competencies Required
Dr. Carol A. Beatty, Queen’s IRC, 2019

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?

This article aims to reduce the confusion as much as possible in order to make your decisions easier. Let’s begin by sampling the most important academic research into HR competencies.

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>> Please watch for an invitation to participate in our upcoming State of HR in Canada Survey.
 

Active Curiosity in the Coaching Process
Ross Roxburgh, Queen's IRC Facilitator, 2019

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’.

A further positive outcome of an actively-curious approach is the opportunity it provides to both client and coach to see connections that might not otherwise be surfaced. Clients will invariably know whether the connections are relevant and how they might inform their development and/or provide important insights where they are focused on better alignment between intention and actual impact.

Real examples of both the coach being curious and the client being actively curious are a key part of this piece along with some observations of when over-reliance on curiosity may be less-helpful to both client and coach.

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Flashback Feature:
The Changing Role of the Neutral in Dispute Resolution
The Honorable Mr. Justice George W. Adams, 1997

We are in a period of profound change. The combination of new technology, global trade and recurring recessions has resulted in the demise of many Canadian workplaces and the restructuring and re-engineering of many others. Today's watchwords have become 'flexibility' and 'competitiveness.' There have been many casualties. Older workers who have lost their jobs have not easily found alternative employment. Where work has been found, it is seldom comparable in content or remuneration to what was lost. Younger workers have also been adversely affected. Caught by surprise, they too often lack the skills required in the new economy. They therefore find themselves lining up to apply for the fewer assembly and unskilled jobs that remain or for work in the service sector which pays considerably less and for which they must compete with their elders who are now unemployed. Increased structural unemployment in the double digit range has been the result.

The public sector has not escaped these changes. The money markets have refused to support the rising public indebtedness in Canada and governments at all levels have been forced to scale back expenditures. Because most of these costs are wage costs, employees have had to be shed and new technology adopted where practical.

Collective bargaining has been caught in the middle. It is attacked as a barrier to change when trade unions fight to resist what they view as ill-considered initiatives by management held hostage by investors and financial institutions. Unions are political as well as social and economic institutions. Giving up benefits others fought hard to win is a challenging political exercise. Many union leaders do not see their role as helping workers walk backwards. On the other hand, Canadian employers are subject to unforgiveable market forces. The issue for them is also one of survival. Where wages are a significant portion of total costs, down-sizing, outsourcing, and restructuring are obvious steps within an employer's control. Other initiatives require union cooperation, take time and require disclosure and sharing of information. With bankers, investors, and parent companies looking for immediate change, unilateral initiatives have a certain appeal.

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