career paths
compensation for the company’s HR Total
Rewards team and covering two business
units: the consumer channel and its customer
experience groups.
“My role is to provide guidance and
support on best practices to the business
and work closely with cross-functional
teams on sales compensation solutions,”
said Tyre. “The sales teams that my team
supports are in retail, field door-to-door,
indirect third party, call centre and customer
service. These groups all come with
different flavours and our job has been
to make recommendations that will create
consistencies, but offer variability by
group that addresses each business focus.
We have also instilled governance and
controls to ensure consistent policies are
applied across the company.”
HR Professional recently chatted with Tyre
about the human resources aspects of his
busy position and what makes him tick.
What do you like most about your job?
Matt Tyre: My favorite part is working
with our cross-functional business partners
and leaders and delivering solutions
that will help propel our business. From
a governance perspective, my team works
with cross-functional partners in areas
of finance, HR, sales, operations and legal
to ensure we have controls in place
on HR policies such as exceptions, notice
periods, guarantees, etc. We provide a consistent
approach across the company on
HR policies and have embedded an approval
process. We’re always mindful of
the employee and company experience and
– with this approach – the business can
react quickly and consistently to issues.
What do you like most about human
resources?
MT: I like being a strategic HR partner
and creating programs that support desired
behaviours and outcomes to address
business needs. Sales compensation is just
one spoke in the human resources wheel
and we are here to help, attract, retain and
motivate top talent.
What does a typical day for you look
like?
MT: Every day is different and comes
with new opportunities. That’s what is exciting.
In one day we could be pitching a
recommendation to leadership or managing
employee or business requests and
inquiries. The role requires a lot of independence
and drive to deliver results in a
very fast-paced environment.
What are some of the challenges you
experience?
MT: Opportunities occur anywhere you
work, but it’s how you deal with them
that can set you apart. I take what I have
learned and provide guidance so that – as
a business – we don’t trip and fall when
I can foresee a hazard ahead. I find challenges
that I haven’t experienced before are
good learnings. I put those experiences in
my back pocket for next time.
What are your ultimate career goals?
MT: My short-term goals are to continue
to grow and develop at Rogers, and
work with senior leadership to build effective
sales compensation programs
enabling the business to achieve organizational
objectives. My longer term
goals are to apply my skills and varying
industry experience to open my own
consulting practice someday.
What advice do you have for others
interested in pursuing a career in both
sales and HR? And what do you tell
those in the HR field who are looking
to move up the ladder?
MT: For me, having both sales and HR
experience is probably unique and has
helped me in my role to understand
the mindset of salespeople as I design
compensation programs. I keep what
motivates salespeople in mind and make
sure to align behaviours with business
objectives.
For those HR professionals trying to
move up the ladder, I have this advice:
do what you are passionate about. You
can be a specialist or a generalist, but you
have to enjoy what you are doing every
day. I would recommend finding a mentor.
I have found personal and professional
growth by building those relationships.
What do you like to do in your spare
time?
MT: I manage a LinkedIn group site
called ICM – Incentive Compensation
Management – and spend my time
upgrading my skills by reading and researching,
which I find helps in delivering
quality results to business partners.
I also just returned from my honeymoon!
We have blended our families to
become a family of seven – plus our dog,
Duff. I also like golfing and curling, and
I volunteer to help support the Ontario
Junior Curling Championship. n
YOU CAN BE A
SPECIALIST OR A
GENERALIST, BUT
YOU HAVE TO ENJOY
WHAT YOU ARE
DOING EVERY DAY.
58 ❚ OCTOBER 2015 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL