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As president and CEO of Meridian Credit Union Ltd.,
Bill Maurin expects his human resources team to be
thinking one step ahead of the rest of the company.
“One concept I talk about is ‘future-proofing’ our
employees,” he said. “Jobs don’t stay the same as they used to, and
skillsets must be more transferable. The challenge for companies
is that the industry is already changing so much, and the change
that’s yet to come will be more profound. We have to future-proof
our employees, make them not fearful of that, but actually excited
about it.
“At Meridian, one of our strategic imperatives is instilling a
growth and innovation mind-set, and we want people here to
have an exceptional employee experience. Part of that is helping
employees become change-ready, flexible and adaptable. I think
people can be taught to think more innovatively. You need good
ideas from every part of the company.”
Thus, HR delivers value when it functions as a “decentralized
think-tank,” opening up the channels of communication that foster
contributions to innovation, according to Maurin.
“HR professionals can’t live in their silo; they have to understand
the business and the industry, and they may have to up their
game on that,” said Maurin. “For us, all these things flow from
strategy: how does our strategy respond to – and ideally get in
front of – the ways things are changing all around us? HR professionals
need to be passionate ambassadors of the enterprise
strategy and the concepts behind it.”
“HR PROFESSIONALS NEED TO BE
PASSIONATE AMBASSADORS OF
THE ENTERPRISE STRATEGY AND
THE CONCEPTS BEHIND IT. ”
– BILL MAURIN
In a world where companies are communicating with their customers
one-on-one via social media, Maurin also believes that
it can be useful for HR to look beyond traditional demographic
groupings (Millennials or new Canadians, for example) and look
instead at personal characteristics that can allow programs and
services to be tailored to different types of people.
“It’s not about having a single employee experience for each
employee, but a better understanding of who your employees are,
so as a company you’re learning how to engage them,” he said. “I
think HR has to have more of an ongoing interactive and evolutionary
approach, as opposed to updating every three years.”
HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ APRIL 2018 ❚ 13