I had the privilege recently of being the guest speaker to a group of Students and Faculty at the Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (yes, that’s a mouthfull!!!). I intentionally use the word privilege because while I am the one who gets to do the talking (and I do like to talk), I am also the one who gets the benefit of interacting with the students who are the up and comers in the industry. They are the ones who will help set and/or spot trends and the ones with the questions that will help form my future actions. And, there were lots of intelligent questions asked.

Basically, I was there to share some insight into my experience in the world of Human Resources. Not too far a stretch for me to be able to talk for an hour about my background and accomplishments. To be honest, having been on the candidate side fo a number of job interviews recently (and still looking, if you happen to be reading this and are hiring), speaking about my experience in HR was very much like walking through my resume in an interview. Except, trying to keep it a little more interesting for the age demographic at play, as well as focusing on future trends as much as past accomplishments. First mistake though, was probably showing up in the jacket and tie – but, that was rectified quickly.

The students were eager to hear about job search in current economic conditions, positive/negative HR experiences and my work with HR systems. We also focussed on a number of topics that typically do not get a lot of attention in academic cirriculum (data privacy, social media recruitment, the power of networking, etc).

While I had fun and believe the surface opportunity of spending time with the students and faculty was a success, I continue to look forward to additional opportunities to further connect with some of the students. Some of us began dialogue on ways for students to partner with employers in current climates of financial restraint to build HR experience and gain a positive reputation in the industry. Still working on this – but open to further dialogue if any additional employers or students want to get a hold of me to discuss further.

Tomorrow night (March 24th) I am off to a Halton based HR networking night and Wednesday looks like another visit to Sheridan. I’m really diggin’ the extra human contact these days…

Just because I like to be on top of legislative changes, particularly those which may have any relevance to employment laws or the HR profession, I would like to reference the new Apology Act in Ontario. While most likely catering to mitigate animosity, promote mediation and ultimately reduce unnecessary litigation in the health care tort cases, there may be further reaching impacts of the Act. Perhaps there may be an opportunity for otherwise unempathetic corporations to be more compassionate and open during employee terminations – of course, every situation is different and this new Act may make no difference whatsoever on how you mitigate risk during employee dismissals.

On March 11th, Bill 108 (the Apology Act), as originally introduced as a private members bill in Sault Ste. Marie by MPP David Orazietti (as Bill 59), passed third and final reading at Queen’s Park. Bill 108, as was introduced by Chris Bentley (the Attorney General) was sent to the Standing Committee on Justice Policy following second reading debate for further public consultation, but passed by the legislature and adopted by the McGuinty government with very little change prior to the third reading.

The idea is that the Act will enhance the dispute resolution process by allowing parties to communicate genuine compassion, sorrow and regret without having to worry that such actions will form allegations of liability or be held as evidence in later civil court proceedings.

Not having completely read the legislation, I still remain unsure at this point the impact that it would have beyond civil litigation – at perhaps a Labour Board hearing or Human Rights tribunal. In these later cases, it is likely that an apology may not resolve a dispute anyways, but it will be interested to read into the legislation further just to determine how far reaching it is.

Apparently, the legislation will allow an individual or organization to offer an apology as part of a dispute resolution process without concern over legal liability. Again, the dominate mention so far is pertinent to civil litigation and civil courts. Interesting, facts from the American Bar Association Journal indicate that 30% of all plaintiffs would not have sued had an apology been given.

Just a little bit more factual information that I have found – Liberals and Conservatives generally voted in favour of the legislation, while the NDP voted against it. In the U.S., similar legislation has proven to be very positive and well received. Ontario is now the fifth jurisdiction in Canada to pass Apology legislation. Thirty-five US states also have some form of apology legislation.

While we have yet to see where this will go and how deep an impact it will have in Ontario, there is a lot of potential for positive results. It appears on the surface to be geared mostly to health care situations, but may be more far reaching. If you have not yet, as an employer, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the legislation and whether or not aspects of it may be applicable to your situation.

My recent posts have focused a lot on very aggressive recruitment and retention techniques, and as a result, I have focused very little on the culture of the workplace. That is to say, while you are taking advantage of actively “right sizing” your existing workforce or topping it up with the availability of star performers – it is extremely important to focus on those solid “keepers” that you want to ensure remain a content and productive part of your workforce. You want to assess and meet the basic needs of those “left behind” so that they do not feel abandoned or resentful of your actions. Here’s some things to keep in mind whether you are either shrinking or strategically growing (or exchanging) your workforce. First and foremost, be prepared and plan in advance. Don’t jump in to change feet first without thinking things through and interacting with internal and external stakeholders. Think about how changes to you business will affect other employees, their managers, customers and suppliers. Then, start thinking about the following:

1. Open the lines of communication – If you have recently downsized or re-organized, make sure that managers are speaking frequently with those who are left. It is important to be very clear what new reporting relationships look like, to communicate information frequently, and to actively ask questions. You can solicit feedback upward through formal channels, but take the opportunity for senior management and HR to do walk-arounds and talk to employees face to face.

2. Watch for signs of distress – Be aware of offsite meetings, in-office gatherings and showings of discontent exchanged by e-mail. Try to catch and address any issues as soon as possible. Do not discourage the process of employees connecting with one other, but ensure you closely monitor interactions and nip any potential issues in the bud before they become full scale problems. In stressful times, it will be natural for the grapevine to become more active, and this is why clear and frequent communication to distill myths (see point #1) is critical is mitigating fear.

3. Do something fun – While you don’t want to go overboard with parties, or do anything that is out of character for the organization if you have just reduced your workforce – neither is it the time to operate the office like a permanent wake. Continue to do little things that make work fun for remaining employees and encourages interaction with each other. If you need to show fiscal restraint and responsibility (which is likely the case if you just laid off employees to save money), look for inexpensive ways to keep morale up.

4. Recognize – This is important in time when your company is just humming along at the status quo – but, is ever more important during times of change or uncertainty. Make sure that you have structures and policies in place to facilitate both formal and informal feedback/recognition to employees. Continue to let remaining employees know how valuable they are and how their contributions continue to help the company stay afloat (or grow) in tough economic times. And, if you happen to be taking advantage of an increased labour pool to scoop up new star talent, you will need to address this differently with existing employees – ensuring that they do not feel the threat of outside talent, or that their job may be in jeopardy as a result of the new hires.

5. Acknowledgement – This point essentially ties in with each of the others. Acknowledge via communication and feedback that there is change happening. Have a plan in place to deal with the change and to address concerns. Be prepared and have contingencies in place for different scenarios which may arise. (resignations, false rumours, performance issues, etc) Address any concerns quickly and with honesty and truthfulness – confidence and trust is more important now than ever. If possible, involve managers and/or employees in relevant meetings and communications.

While downsizing or using performance measures to realign your workforce will often pull your focus and resources to those activities, it is important to maintain some resources on the ongoing operations of the business. Whether you split the time of the limited resources or dedicate specific resources to each activity (which may be a better option), it is important to not neglect the people who will continue to be the lifeline of your business. Involve them, recognize them and keep them informed. Let them know how you feel, that it is okay to work through new feelings related to the changes, and that resources are available if they need them. Not only are you likely to better retain these critical people, but you will likely find increased performance and job satisfaction as well.

In my last posting, I spoke about the decision to hire or not in a down economy. I’d like to take a quick look and make a few comments on the idea of retention and workforce management during tough times.

We’ve all heard the sayings about how much easier it is to sell to an existing client base rather than generating a new one, or how much more cost effective and less time consuming it is to keep customers rather than finding new ones… Well, in most cases, the same can be said about employees as well. That is to say, that retaining an existing employee is much more cost effective (recruiting costs, training costs, lost productivity, etc) that hiring and training a new one. This is definitely true for your star employees, but in tight labour markets, can be true as well as you slide down the performance spectrum. However, at some point you will likely hit a tradeoff where productivity does not warrant retention or the employee is in fact disruptive to others.

My question is… Have you adjusted, or do you plan to adjust your scale while cash flows are tight, the CEO is tightening the corporate belt, and the labour pool is growing. Will you actually move your performance vs retention threshold up to expect a higher level of performance from those who will be retained by the organization. Will there be key positions? Key people or knowledge sets that need to be retained, even to the point where you may consider paying a premium during a recession?

Much of this is just food for thought, but nonetheless, something worth thinking about while your mind may be off thinking about other things right now.

In fact, now is probably the perfect time to dust off those succession plans, look into your talent management programs and do a little workforce planning. There is a lot of available talent, and now may be just the time to examine your workforce, make sure you are not just keeping top performers – but actually RETAINING top performers (yes, there is a difference – maybe consider opening a dialogue with those stars). The, consider cutting the fat and go out to this vast talent pool we have not seen in years (YES – it IS an employers market right now) and find your next star.

Next week, I want to build on the concepts of these past couple entries and think about the type or hires I have been observing recently, some mistakes I have witnessed or heard about during hiring processes, and talk about how to make a GREAT hire!