HR Assessment Checklist

Employment laws are changing. The workforce is shifting. The way we work has evolved. It’s time your HR did too! Human Resources plays an essential role in managing a company’s greatest asset – it’s people! When managed effectively, HR can have a huge impact on productivity, engagement, attraction and retention. Conducting an HR Assessment is …

Reference Checks: Will they lead to a happy ending?

I have recently been involved in an unorthodox recruitment, where the employer decided that proceeding with reference checks was an unnecessary step in the process. This experience made me re-examine my thoughts on the value and timing of reference checks for employment purposes. Typically, reference checks are one of the last steps performed before proceeding …

Hiring for Values and Culture Fit

A company is only as good as it’s employees. Therefore, it’s important to ensure you hire great people. Goes without saying, right? Of course you want to hire people who are qualified to do the job, but more importantly, you want to hire employees whose beliefs and behaviours are aligned with the company’s core values …

The Cost of the Lost

I am fascinated with organizations like law firms and medical practices where lawyers, doctors and nurses are placed in senior management positions. ‘Managing Partner’ and ‘Nurse Manager’ are well known positions that you will find in the majority of legal and medical practices. I am often left to wonder what skills or training these professionals, …

Employment Standards Changes: Bill 17 too costly to ignore

Bill 17, the Fair and Family-friendly Workplaces Act, will amend Alberta’s Employment Standards and Labour Relation Codes with many of the changes to Employment Standards being effective January 1, 2018. The new Act will require businesses to update their employment practices and to educate their managers on the changes. Failure to educate managers will place …

Why Does Team Building Always Mean Golf?

I love meeting new people and learning new things. A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to a leader and had the opportunity to talk about some of my favourite HR topics (there are so many I am interested in that it is challenging to choose just one). Our conversation was …

Employee Engagement – Outcome or State of Mind?

Recently, the majority of the conversations I have had with Senior Leaders have revolved around Employee Engagement. While Employee Engagement is not a new issue, it is a topic I am passionate about. Why is engagement consistently such a hot topic? Before attempting to answer that, I would like to offer a definition of engagement …