So, it’s been a while. For a period I was posting at least once a week – but, it seems the more content I have to post, the busier I get. When I have free time, I never have anything good to write about. Well, let’s get back to it, and see how things go.

This is not going to be a controversial post. It’s simply going to be one of those hmmmmm posts.

I always enjoying being put into new situations, fixing problems and helping others. I thrive on adversity and stare problems into submission. I love to learn and delve into new areas of HR I have never experienced before – and believe me, I never used to think HR was so broad and diverse – but over a decade later, I am still learning and doing new things every single seek! Who’dve known?

The mining industry is definitely one that brings many new opportunities to HR professionals. I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined I would be running a hotel! Yes, that’s right a hotel. (Caveat – while I don’t ACTUALLY run it, I have be integral in the operation of the company motel from acquision through to opening and setting up reservations – the site HR manager essentially has taken on responsibility of ensuring the motel operation runs efficiently).

Let me back up… We operate mines in northern Ontario. While we are not a true mining camp, we operate in areas that have scarce housing and rental apartments. In a region that is already severely tapped out for talent and extremely competitive, it is even more challenging to attract people into the area when there is no housing available! So when a local 11 room motel came on the market, myself and the site HR Manager saw an opportunity!

From developing the business case and creating an expense sheet to formulating an ROI proposal, navigating the legal paperwork, hiring cleaning staff, implementing an online reservation system to decorating, installing locks and drafting rental agreements – the HR team has been at the forefront of making the employee residence project come to life. We have even gone as far as to ensure tax compliance and setup payroll deductions as an option for payment of rent.

What is my point? Sometimes you have to get creative. Sometimes you need to step out of your comfort zone. And, sometimes you have to do things that you never fathomed would fall into an HR function.

The other part of this opportunity is that we were able to take advantage of a home attached to the property and convert it into a corporate house for out of town corporate employees temporarily visiting the area. The house just “opened for business” and it has been a hit. It is more comfortable than a hotel room – we can prepare healthier meals in the kitchen than we get eating out – it is closer to the mine than any other motel – we can spend additional time with other members of the team. The other benefit – we save a bundle on travel expenses – a direct financial savings for the company!

So HR, rise to the occasion, get out there and identify ways that you can add value to the bussines, have an impact, and be a financial asset not an overhead liability! Odds are, like me, you’ll learn a lot in the process.

Well, it’s done.  The 2010 HRPA annual conference & tradeshow. This is my fist full conference attendance in probably 8 years, and while I dropped in and out past years, I cannot say as any of the quality of sessions I saw in those years could cumulatively top what I saw this year.

First and foremost, Doug Keeley of Mark of a Leader, as the MC, did an awesome job being the glue for the event. Not only did he MC, but he brought interesting stories, motivated everyone, and got a few laughs along the way too. Doug is a very talented guy. Other keynotes included Jeff Tobe, Ali Velshi, Nick Bontis and a few others – all were very impressive.

From a session standpoint, I found myself mostly in compensation and legal sessions – the practical side of me took over. And, while I heard great things about other session on perfecting your powerpoint, or being creative, or understanding generation Y – I was not disappointed with any of the session presenters.

Finally, the trade show floor – while I was not in search of many services at this point this year – was very inclusive and brough some quality services to the show. The sponsors did a great job in presenting the keynotes and providing access to them for autographs or follow up after their presentations.

All in all a great show, and I hope the HRPA can keep it up for 2011 now that they have set the bar!

Session notes are online on the HRPA conference site until middle of February, so if you have not got yours yet, make sure you do.

After I wrote my last entry with my own little whimsical (but only half-heartedly.. the other half was dead serious) disclaimer, I also had a commentor with a discclaimer. My e-mail signature has a disclaimer. My fax covers have disclaimers, and every offer letter, NDA, policy booklet and so on have disclaimers.

My point?

While I initially got into HR for other reasons, I find myself getting entrenched more and more in legal matters. Some days I feel more like a lawyer than an HR professional. I need to know the Labour Relations Act, the Occupational Health & Safety Act, the Employment Standards Act (often in several difference provinces), the Canada Labout Code, the Quebec Civil code, pension legislation & requirements, and the list goes on.

What other professions (aside from law) require such a vast knowledge base of such a large and diverse set of legal standards? Well, not many anyways.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy every moment of it. Heck, I even thought for a short period of time about becoming a lawyer – but for various reasons, did not pursue that field as an area of expertise. Now, here I set, part strategist, part business professional, amateur accountant and semi-practising legal wrangler.

Kids, if you want to excel in your HR career and run with the big dogs, start reading up on your case law and snuggling up with those Acts & Statutes at night.

So I am back now, this second week of April, without excuses. I should have written more since my last update, but did not. I now have so much more to write about and update you on.

First and foremost, I have spent the past couple of weeks working with the executives at my company and finalizing the sale of the corporation. It was just the end of last week that we “handed over the keys”, as they say. While I will reserve the right to write more on my experiences around the transaction later, it has been, suffice to say, a roller coaster experience filled with great learning and personal triumphs. It is always challenging to write this HR blog and want to share experiences without breaching confidentiality, but there will be key HR learnings that I will be able to and will continue to share in the coming days.

A notable item in the news since my last update has been the increase to minimum wage in Ontario last Tuesday to $9.50/hr (for regular adult wages). While this is great for employees, families and low income earners, it likely has little effect on a lot of corporate entities. However, the timing is likely also extremely challenging and stressful for a lot of small businesses in Ontario which may employ workers at minimum wage and provide them with increased expenses to the bottom line during already turbulent economic times. So, while these companies are likely to be experiencing competitive pressures, downward pricing and decreased sales, they are forced to increase wages with likely little increase to productivity and positive impact on the bottom line. As you can see, I am somewhat mixed on this topic. While the effects of an increase to minimum wage will likely have positive long term economic impacts as those dollars re-renter the economy through increased spending, the short term effects to struggling small businesses right now are likely greater that would otherwise have been during times of strong markets.

We’ve also heard about the introduction of the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) in Ontario to be phased in July 1, 2010, to replace the now concurrently levied GST and PST taxes. While the provincial government spews the benefits of harmonization and how it will be great for business in the province, this is another topic I digest with mixed emotion. Having a young family at home, I understand that items such as diapers, formula, groceries, etc will now be subject to both taxes under the HST while they previously were subject to exemptions. Then there is the talk about new home sales – to face an 8% increase (yes, that’s $40,000 on a $500,000 home!!!). Talk is that homes $400K and under will be exempt from the additional PST, however, have you seen a new home sell for less than $400K in the GTA? How will these policies affect us in HR? – Everything from ramp up time to train or hire finance staff in applying the new rules, dealing with employees who may need to purchase homes in less expensive areas commute to work from areas further from work (or ask to telecommute, etc), potential increase to cost in raw materials and need to make overall business cost/staffing reductions, and so on. As I always present the issues, just something to think about as it relates to your business and the potential impacts on your employees.

Finally, I saw in the news that Google has announced Street View in Canada. While personal privacy may be of concern to you, it will be interesting how that may affect business concerns about privacy. It may prompt HR professionals to consider what sort of employee spaces may be viewable from the street (eating areas, smoking areas, parking lots). What about pictures snapped of the street at the front of your building while employees are coming to work, clients are entering the front door, or job candidates are coming in for an interview. While the odds of being photographed are extremely low, and an issue arising out of it is even less likely, HR professionals should consider the impacts on employee privacy and where risks may or may not exist. While I think the technology is amazing and love the concept of Street View, I believe there are and have been many court challenges in the United States on the service as it currently relates to the privacy of American citizens.

Often Canadian budgets come and go with little to no impact on those of us in Human Resources. Well, with the current economic times having such a huge impact on jobs and the workforce (not to mention EI, pensions & savings, taxes, and the list goes on), this Conservative government that is fighting for it’s life has presented a budget that is supposed to be both economically appealing as well as poised to please opposition parties. Looks like they pulled it off (and yes, that opinion is subject to its own posting and debate) - and, in doing so, there are a number of items this time around that will affect HR policy and programs at a social, business and personal level.

Here’s some of the highlights (as it pertains to us HR folks):

1. Federally Regulated Pension Plans – The budget includes a change to the rules for solvency valuations. Currently, plans are permitted to smooth asset fluctuations over a five year period when determining cash contribution requirements, given that the smoothed asset value is not in excess of 110% or market value. The language in the budget would increase this limit and thereby reduce required cash contributions for many of the pension plan sponsors that are federally regulated. The government proposes to protect the security of benefits, however, by making the amount of any deferral of funding that results from the use of an asset value in excess of 100% subject to a deemed trust. In addition, the budget confirms the federal government’s prior commitment to temporarily grant solvency funding relief to federally regulated pension plans in respect of solvency deficiencies as at December 31, 2008. The relief would give pension plans under federal jurisdiction ten years to fund a solvency deficiency instead of the normal five years (among other conditions, employers must either obtain the consent of both members and retirees or secure the difference between the 5-year payments and the 10-year payments with a letter of credit).

The obvious impact here is to review your pension plans to understand if you can take advantage, if you need to take advantage, and most importantly, the long term effects and impacts as well as potential risks and opportunities of being able to take advantage of the new rules.

2. Personal Tax Reductions – This is a simple one. As an employer, you need to make sure that your payroll system or payroll provider has been updated with the appropriate patches to reflect the new source deduction rates related to the new deductions. If you are a smaller employer and do no use an in-house system or third party vendor for your payroll, it may be a little more challenging to receive and review and implement the reductions manually, however, it should still be done as soon as possible.

3. Employment Insurance (EI) – For two years, the period for which an individual may collect EI benefits will increase by five weeks (at the end). There will still remain the two week “deductible” at the beginning of eligibility (unless you qualify for an exemption), and, the extension will not apply to other EI benefits such as parental or maternity. This will typically be an increase from 45 to 50 weeks, but may vary depending on the appropriate jurisdiction of the claimant. In addition to these changes, others include an extension of EI benefits related to re-training, changes to expand the work sharing program, and an EI premium rate freeze at $1.73 per $100 of EI insurable earnings. Finally, there is a commitment to establish a task force to look at how it may be possible for self-employed workers to take advantage of the EI program in relation to parental and maternity benefits.

4. Labour Force Tactics – Another program to be aware of if you are an employer that may be downsizing, especially a more seasoned workforce, is additional funding (increase of $60MM) to the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers. An additional spend of $50MM is also being dedicated to a program that would recognize foreign credentials thereby improving the integration of immigrants into the workforce – how this one will work, I have yet to see the specifics, but to sounds very promising on the surface.

5. Expansion to the Wage Earner Protection Program (WEPP) – This is a program that is used by employers when their employer declares bankruptcy, and provides unpaid wages or vacation pay to be somewhat recouped for the six month period prior to the bankruptcy. Subject to maximums, the WEPP changes would allow for severance and termination pay owning to also be recouped.

6. Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIF) – Changes here would see relief to those battered by a decrease in their retirement fund assets by a reduction of 25% in the amount of funds that RRIF holders are required to withdraw from a fund on an annual bases – thereby allowing money to stay in the funds longer and hopefully gain back some of the losses accumulated in 2008. For 2008, there is an opportunity for those who withdrew more than the adjusted minimum to re-contribute the difference and receive the appropriate offsetting deductions (this, of course, subject to deadlines and rules). OK, this one is a bit of a stretch from day to day HR life, but does have an impact on your retired, or retiring workforces, and how potential soon-to-retire employees may rethink, or re-rethink, their current situations.

Bottom line is that few, all or none of these may affect your company. If not yoru company, some or none may affect your employees. Personally, I know more people now who have been affected by layoffs, reductions, restructurings, etc than I ever have – so if the above is not relevant to your work life, it may be helpful to those in your personal life. Whatever it is, take heed of the the new (and mostly positive changes) and review them against your current programs and policies.

This is strictly a “housekeeping” post to pass along some comments, thoughts and suggestions. Please take a moment to review.

1. I encourage you to take a moment and register as a user on my blog. Nobody will see your registration but me. Please also feel free to respond to me and others with comments from time to time. I enjoy seeing who passes through here and would welcome some additional discussion on the site. To help monitor and prevent spam, I do moderate approval on all posts, so it may take a couple hours for your post to become live on the site.

2. Send me your ideas for topics, or things you would like to hear about, and I will make an effort to post relevant information in the blog.

3. I offered to pass along some information for another Canadian based blog that offers good insights. It is western based and called A Fresh Approach. If you get a moment please check it out. The Fresh Approach team is also bringing Marcus Buckingham (First, Break All the Rules, etc) to Calgary on June 15, 2009 and there is more info on the site as to how you can attend.

That’s it for now. Talk to you soon!

Geoff.

As I have for my past few entries, I am going to write this one based on common searches that have landed people on my website.

So far this month, the recurring theme has been Human Resources (HR) Networking in Canada.

But, before I get to that, I need to to a bit of my own networking for anyone reading this. As a result of major business changes and a large restructure at my present company, I now find myself looking for my next opportunity. If you are reading this and you know your company may be looking for a full-time senior HR professional, or a contractor to implement immediate projects, please take a look at my resume and contact me about the opportunity. I am quite flexible, adaptable and have over 10 years HR experience across a variety of functions and a wealth of industries.

OK, enough of the advertisement. Back to the topic.

With the continued growth of (online) social and business networking, I suppose it is not surprising to be getting the hits I am related to searches for networking. However, since I assume that most people typically know what sites and tools are available, I get the impression that the information people are seeking related to HR is more along the lines of networking specifically in HR, or how to use the network tools for HR functions (ie. Recruitment). On a side note, I have prior posts on good HR Networking sites to connect with like-minded peers in Canada and the US, so if you are looking for some actual sites, please do a search on my prior posts.

So, new year, new resolutions, new opportunities. As folks ramp up into the new year, I believe many are making goals and resolutions to grow their networks and improve their knowledge base. It is interesting to point out, or at least remember, that social networks are nothing new. “Online” social networks are. Think about the traditional company employee referral program for example – it’s success has historically been based on employees referring like-minded and successful individuals from their own business or social networks. How many of you have taken the opportunity to acknowledge this online trend as part of your traditional employee referral programs? That’s to say, encouraging and motivating employees to actively promote your company in their blogs, Myspace, Facebook, LinkeIn, Bebo, etc and track the success of hires through employees from those sources! Perhaps you can provide your employees content to put on their sites, or start a company jobs page on Facebook and incent your employees for every one of their contacts who joins your company’s Facebook career page.

Back to the HR Networking in Canada part – probably what you started reading this for in the first place. I strongly believe that your network is only as good as the degree to which you maintain it. Set your mandate and determine how it will be successful for you. For example, are you networking to find a job, to build sales leads or to share knowledge. Do you want local contacts or contacts across the country (or globally)? Will you accept invitations from anyone, or do you want a specific type of person (ie. HR people only)? How you setup your network based on your goals will determine the size of your network and ultimately how you will be able to maintain and cultivate that network. Why is this important? When you choose to call upon your network for whatever is your reason - is a broader network of thousands useful or is a more intimate network of people you speak to on a regular basis going to be of more value? Perhaps you can maintain a composition of both. And, what tool will you use to maintain your network?

Whatever your reasons, choosing to network with your peers and local community is a great idea. Figure out up front what you hope to get out of it, and what value you can bring to the table for others. Remember, the idea of networking is reciprocal, and only valuable when all parties are active participants.

You should probably belong to Facebook and LinkedIn HR groups by now, and be actively network and sharing with your peers. Yes, not just collecting a list of names, but actively sharing and exchanging knowledge.

Here’s a new group that is national, but based out of Toronto and concentrates primarity in the Canadian marketplace – it’s got articles, blogs and forums for you to interact with your peers or to ask questions of others. It is the Human Resources Networking Group and it just launched this week. Membership is free (the site generates revenue through ads, sponsorships and events) and you can get there by going to www.hrng.ca

Once again, happy networing!

It’s a great day, isn’t it? It’s sunny out, the family is healthy, and the work day is just beginning. I’m a glass three quarters full kinda guy.

I just read an article about how Canadians are among some of the happiest people in the world. Believe it or not, there is a “World Database of Happiness” and we are somewhere up there in the top 15 countries. Makes you proud to be a Canadian, doesn’t it? Hmmm, I wonder if there is a “World Database of Nice-ness”? I’m sure we’d be up there too.

Check this out though. There’s a country called Bhutan, and they actually measure GHP – yes, thats right, Gross Happiness Product.

The remote Himalayan kingdom uses Gross Happiness Product, or GHP, as a measuring index. For example, the country has very little advertising because its government decided it wouldn’t make people any happier.

That’s pretty cool. Think about this in terms of your workplace or organization. How many of us measure all sorts of other things – pretending to get at the heart of the matter, of how wwe are performing as an organization to the expectations of our employees, our customers and our shareholders. In fact, I wrote some past comments on such metrics. Think instead about measuring your Organization GHP. Sure, keep tabs on those other things – but, wouldn’t it me great to have a measure that focusses specifically on your organizations Gross Happiness Product.

As you’re setting corporate strategy or putting in place policies and programs, right there in front of you is a balance and checkpoint to drive not only results for results sake, but for happiness of your employees, customers and shareholders. But, it gets more complex, because as we look at each of those groups – what incents a shareholder and makes him/her “happy” may be different from that of an employee. Or, what about an employee that is a shareholder?

Point is folks, as the world sometime seems to spiral down around us (with one of the biggest market declines in US history taking place this week after the demise of Wall Street staples Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch being announced), there are opportunities to build environments and cultures that are realistic, but that are positive experiences for employees. So, go back, take heed and think about how happy you are at work. How happy are your employees? And, how do you know? Perhaps its time that you start measuring your GHP.