ensure organizations are fulfilling their
obligations around employment, labour
relations and occupational health and
safety standards.
I like this idea for two reasons:
First, from a practical perspective, it
means better compliance for organizations
– and this is backed up by research HRPA
conducted in 2013 around HRPA membership
and conviction rates under the
ESA. It found that out of 1,015 convictions
for ESA violations, none were linked
to an employer with an HRPA member
on staff.
And second, having designated HR
professionals approve and sign off on important
workplace compliance documents
is yet another mark of professionalism for
the HR profession. As this issue’s cover
story makes clear, human resources has
evolved to the point that it is now a true,
regulated profession on the same level as
accountant or engineers.
And like important engineering documents
such as drawings, specifications
or reports require final sign-off approval
from a professional engineer (P.Eng.),
or public accountants signing off on audit
statements, it makes sense to have final
approval on workplace regulatory compliance
documents from a CHRP, CHRL or
CHRE.
For the same reasons the Ontario government
granted HRPA regulatory status
over its members (access to private employee
data, compliance responsibility for
employment/OHS regulations and impacts
of HR decisions on workers), it is
important that designated HR professionals
review and sign off on documents
that are critical to both organizations and
Ontario workers.
Why? Because designated HR professionals
– CHRPs, CHRLs and CHREs
– have both the education, knowledge and
experience to spot irregularities and errors
in documents and the professional ethics
and spirit of public service to do the right
thing on the behalf of all stakeholders. n
Brenda Clark, CHRE is a chair of
the Human Resources Professionals
Association (HRPA).
tips FROM DispUtE
REsOLUtiON EXpERts
hOW DO yOU kNOW WhEN TO INTERRUPT SOmEONE?
We all want to be polite and let people finish their thoughts but we worry that
we’ll forget our thoughts and, more importantly, we worry that if we don’t
interrupt, the other person will think we agree with everything they’re saying.
As a general rule, it’s better not to interrupt. No one likes to be interrupted and
the other person may resent and likely won’t appreciate the interruption. If you
can write down your thoughts instead of interjecting them, you can keep them in
mind but still allow the other person to finish.
Sometimes the other person talks for a long time and apparently assumes that
you’re agreeing (because you’re not interrupting). In that case, we recommend
you jump in and say something like, “I may not agree with everything you say
and I’ll address your comments at the end, but in the meantime, please continue
and I won’t interrupt”. That way, you let the person continue and make it clear
that you’re not necessarily agreeing with everything.
ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION WORkShOP
Contact us to speak to an instructor
1.800.318.9741 | adr.ca | contact@adr.ca
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Ottawa: February 23-26, October 18-21
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career in HR. A must attend for HR Professionals. I have used the tools on a
regular basis.”
- Dan Heard, HR, Ministry of Community & Social Services, Bleinheim
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coaches. It’s great to have all the resources available to you at all times
throughout the training.”
Mark McGrath, HR, Nalcor Energy, St. John’s
10 ❚ FEBRUARY 2016 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL