On its annual member survey, the Human Resources Professionals Association asks the following question: “Do you agree that the professionalization of HR is, or should be, an important issue for the profession?” In 2013, 89.4% of respondents either ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ with this statement—this represents as much agreement as one is likely to find on any question.
Queen's IRC has interviewed many of our expert facilitators, speakers and staff, in the areas of Labour Relations, Human Resources and Organizational Development. These interviews are now available on our YouTube channel. We encourage you to take the time to check out these videos.
I’m always stunned when I hear a senior business leader say that their head of HR isn’t one of their key advisors; that the head of HR is often not at the senior executive table when major strategic or market initiatives are being discussed. And yet, in most organizations, human resources are both the largest expense line in the profit & loss statement and the most mission-critical resource: it is only with good people that ANYTHING of business value gets done. For this reason alone, there should be a senior HR professional at the table for every strategic discussion.
Today many vice presidents and other senior executives in human resources (HR) have earned a seat at the executive table by showing their organization’s senior teams that HR operations contribute at least as much as Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance, IT or any other department. The key to this is continuous learning. Jack Welch, former 20-year CEO of world class GE, now an itinerant management guru, is often quoted: “An organization’s ability to learn and translate that learning into action rapidly is the ultimate competitive advantage.” Executives who aspire to lead organizations have to spearhead that learning first by learning steadily themselves and that is nowhere truer than for HR.
When Paul Juniper became the Director of Queen's University Industrial Relations Centre (IRC) in 2006, he recognized the need for more senior level training in the changing human resources (HR) profession. To accomplish this, he designed a new series of Advanced HR programs to enhance the strategic knowledge, ability, and capability of HR practitioners. The goal was to enable HR practitioners to shift from an administrative and/or transactional role, to one that has become an integral part of an organization's business strategy – an HR business partner.
For the Alberta government's Pauline Melnyk, the Queen's IRC HR Business Partner Certificate Program couldn't have come at a better time. Melnyk was helping design a cumulative effects management system (CEMS) for her department, Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. As part of the system, which designs programs and processes based on the cumulative effects of development on the environment, the department itself needed to review its organizational design.
In this IRC Interview, Stina Bjerg Nielsen, Head of Human Resources for Maersk Oil, talks about her experiences within the human resources profession in Denmark and Europe, and her role at Maersk Oil.
In a recent article, Simon Parkin identified three major challenges facing today’s HR professionals: Leadership Effectiveness, Talent Acquisition and Management, and HR Capability and Capacity. I fully agree with Simon’s assessment: these are, indeed, the top challenges HR professionals must tackle to enable their organizations to compete and thrive in today’s environment.
Driving mountain roads can be very tricky. With the exception of those who drive a super-powered something able to negotiate a significant vertical climb, mere mortals learn that reaching the top of the mountain requires learning the skill of turning switchback corners. Go too slowly around the curve, and you run the risk of the vehicle stalling in the climb. Go too fast, and it can be a kissing-the-guardrail moment, or over the edge you go.
In February 2011, the IRC surveyed HR professionals across Canada to glean their perspectives on HR, the challenges and priorities for HR departments, and the kinds of skills and knowledge that are perceived as critical for the practice. This article provides a synthesis of some of our data. Please note that a complimentary copy of An Inquiry into the State of HR in Canada: Executive Summary is available for download from the Queen’s IRC website.
Is there an organization today that isn't thinking about how to become more effective, efficient, economical, and equitable? Whether large or small, private, public, or not-for-profit, unionized or not, employers' goals in this competitive global marketplace are all similar: to engage individual employees, to inspire teams to attract and retain satisfied clients, and to be profitable and sustainable.
I often think of September as a transitional month, full of promise and new beginnings. Not only does it mark a seasonal change, as summer turns to fall; it is also the time when students across the country head back to school. The Queen's campus is once again bustling with activity, with the start of the new academic year.
Throughout my career, which spans over thirty years as an HR professional, I have been a keen observer of our profession. I now find myself in a position where a large volume of information about the development and changing nature of HR crosses my desk, and I have the luxury and time to consider, reflect on, and speak about my experiences and insights on the future of the HR profession.
At some point in his or her career, a human resource (HR) professional will encounter the notion of "earning a seat at the table." This overused buzz phrase is fraught with meaning and can result in a serious case of consternation. Sitting at "the table," from this writer's perspective, is all about understanding the management systems of the organization, the organization's relationship with its external customers, and the organization's approach to change.
In August 2011, I moved from Kingston, Ontario, to Copenhagen, Denmark. I've been fortunate to continue working remotely for the IRC while living in Europe. The past five months have been a learning experience, as I've continued to transition and adjust to work and life in a foreign country.
During the Advanced HR program, participants are often engaged with the material and the discussions. But, to what extent is this engagement with learning maintained outside of the classroom? To answer this question, IRC Research Associate, Alison Hill, spoke with Dave Urquhart, Team Lead, HR Advisory, Staffing and Development at Encana.
Todd den Engelsen is currently the Director of Organizational Development with Canyon Technical Services limited. He is Chair of the Human Resource Institute of Alberta (HRIA). Queen’s IRC Research Associate, Alison Hill, spoke with Todd to hear his perspectives on the role of the HR profession, and the challenges that lie ahead. Todd believes that …
A Western Canadian Perspective on the HR Profession in Canada Read More »
Queen's IRC Research Associate, Alison Hill, sat down with Ian Cullwick from Deloitte to discuss HR governance, its meaning, constituents, and implications for organizations. This article provides an overview of that conversation.
Recognizing that the state of the human resources (HR) profession is changing, in Canada and around the globe, Queen's IRC sought to explore both quantitatively and qualitatively how Canadian practitioners view their profession. In February 2011, we launched a 53-question survey, "An Inquiry into the State of HR in Canada." The purpose of the survey was to describe the HR profession in Canada, based on the perspectives of practitioners.
Daphne FitzGerald has worked in the field of human resources (HR) for over 30 years. A dedicated HR professional, Daphne spent the majority of her corporate career at Zurich Financial Services. She currently operates two consulting businesses: BOARDrx Inc. and Capital G Consulting Inc. In May 2011, Daphne will assume the role of Chair of …
The modern HR professional looks a lot like poor Alice in Through the Looking-Glass, running feverishly with the Red Queen only to be staying in the same place, says Queen’s IRC Director Paul Juniper. In a keynote address to the Association of Ontario University HR Professionals (AOUHRP) 2009 Conference, Mr. Juniper offered a sweeping perspective …
Back in 1999, Queen’s IRC Senior Research Fellow Dr. David Weiss offered a far-reaching view of the forces affecting human resources management. A decade later, David takes a look back and a prescient look forward to make sense of the rapid changes in the profession. What does he see?
When it comes to leading organizational change, Peter Edwards and his team at the Canadian National Railway walk their talk. In their publication SwitchPoints, Edwards and co-authors Les Dakens of CN, and Judy Johnson and Ned Morse of the Continuous Learning Group (CLG), describe how CN advanced from good to great in a few short …
SwitchPoints: Culture Change on the Fast Track to Business Success Read More »
When it comes to leading organizational change, Peter Edwards and his team at the Canadian National Railway walk their talk. In their publication SwitchPoints, Edwards and co-authors Les Dakens of CN, and Judy Johnson and Ned Morse of the Continuous Learning Group (CLG), describe how CN advanced from good to great in a few short …
SwitchPoints: Culture Change on the Fast Track to Business Success Read More »
In December 2008, Hilary Sirman of Queen’s IRC spoke with Antoinette Blunt, President of Ironside Consulting Services Inc. and President of the Human Resources Professional Association of Ontario, about the current and future state of the Human Resources profession. Amidst increasing global competition, wars for talent, economic uncertainty and generational differences in the workforce, human …
The Current and Future State of Human Resources Leadership Read More »