Interviews
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By Lisa Gordon

 

Hitting HR's "sweet spot."

Louise Taylor Green knows about the role HR plays in building high performance workplaces. As Hamilton Health Sciences’ executive vice president, Corporate Affairs and Strategy, she oversees a department of close to 4,000 people with an annual budget of $100 million. Since she joined the organization – which includes seven hospitals, a cancer centre and an urgent care centre – in 2008, Taylor Green has taken on an increasingly diverse portfolio of responsibilities.

 

But, no matter what project she’s working on, she remains focused on what she calls HR’s “sweet spot” – a trio of functions that includes promoting employee engagement, developing a distinct corporate culture and effectively managing talent.

 

HR Professional caught up with Taylor Green in early December, and asked her to reflect on her 17-year career in human resources, her current job and the challenges facing HR in the future.

 

HRP: When did you decide you wanted a career in human resources?

LTG: I didn’t actually decide I wanted a career in human resources. I think it chose me. I’d had a wide variety of sales, service, operations and HR roles in different industry sectors. I found I was continuously gravitating toward roles that were people-centric.

 

HRP: What was your first HR job?

LTG: I was working at Canada 3000 Airlines. We were building our ground services division, and I was asked to help set up the training services group. They sent us to the UK for training, and afterwards we set up all the technical training manuals, the customer service program, the leadership development training and the recognition systems. Then I got to travel all over the globe and implement it. It was a fantastic opportunity!

 

HRP: Tell me about your job now. What are your main areas of responsibility?

LTG: I work primarily with the executive team and the board of directors to set out the long-term strategic direction of the organization, and I lead the strategy management fulfillment process. I also have corporate affairs responsibilities: HR, organizational development, internal audit, legal services, PR and communications, IT, facility services, customer support services, nutrition and a handful of other areas. It sounds like a lot, but I have an outstanding team of 11 leaders, who really are the functional heads of each of those different service divisions. That team reports to me, and I report to the president and CEO.

 

HRP: What do you love about your job?

LTG: Three things: purpose, variety and difficulty. I think fundamentally I am very aligned to our organization’s mission. I feel very lucky that the work we do is making a difference. With regard to variety, my portfolio is very big and very diverse; the work is so varied.

In HR, we don’t often get to be the decision-maker, which means we need to have highly functioning relationships with our internal clients, to accomplish the best results.

In terms of the last point, I notice that I keep taking on these big transformational or turn-around challenges. “Thinking” work is stimulating – I like peeling back the layers on a difficult problem, and seeing how to bring a team together to solve it.

 

HRP: What are the challenges you experience in your job?

LTG: Time and resources. Like any other senior executive role, the demands are very high. I am driven to deliver high results, and I put a lot of myself into my work. That means I juggle a lot between home and work. Time always seems to be the thing in the shortest supply. In terms of resources, I’ve never worked in a no-margin or negative-margin business like health care. We don’t have the resources I was accustomed to in the private sector.

 

HRP: What’s key to leading HR during a difficult time for a client organization?

LTG: It’s an interesting question. I struggle with the notion that leading during a difficult time is different from any other time. You’ve always got to know what creates value. You’d better know the business, and find out what is the most important value proposition that can be leveraged by HR, to meet the business outcomes.

 

HRP: What skills do you think are important for success in an HR career?

LTG: I would say that having a very solid HR generalist knowledge is very important. Having said that, it’s not enough. We really need HR people who are very culturally competent in their organizations, with outstanding communication and influencing skills. In HR, we don’t often get to be the decision-maker, which means we need to have highly functioning relationships with our internal clients, to accomplish the best results.

 

HRP: What tips do you have for new grads, or those in entry-level HR jobs, who want to move up the ladder?

LTG: The best advice I can give them is to worry less about climbing the ladder. Focus on doing their best possible work, and always aim to exceed expectations. Let the work speak for itself. Look for professional opportunities that will allow you to build a suite of accomplishments that really demonstrate where you’ve added value to your organization. You may get more opportunities like that in a small to mid-size organization, because they tend to allow for more generalist roles.

 

HRP: What’s the future of HR?

LTG: As a profession, I think we have to be really clear about where and how we add value to our organizations. HR systems and practitioners need to be really capable at building high performance cultures. Focusing on engagement, culture and talent management will be critical. Those are the areas in an organization that drive innovation, effectiveness, productivity and efficiency.

 

In a Nutshell
First job: I was a parking lot attendant at the Toronto International Centre, in the dead of winter. We’d stand in the parking lot with these marshalling wands, directing cars, and we made $2.80 an hour.

Childhood ambition: It sounds totally hokey, but it was to make other people happy. I knew that if I could make other people laugh or smile, they just felt better.

Best boss and why: Angus J. Kinnear, president and CEO of Canada 3000 Airlines. He really pushed you to achieve things you didn’t know you were capable of, and he was an exceptional talent spotter. He gave people opportunities to excel.

Current source of inspiration: On the personal front, it’s my family: my husband and my two boys, aged 13 and 7. On the professional side, I am really inspired by our patients, families, staff, physicians and volunteers. The things we accomplish here are absolutely awesome.

Best piece of advice I ever got: It was from a labour lawyer named Bill Phelps, who became a huge mentor to me during my career. I was about to lead a process I’d never led before, and was really doubting my readiness. He said, “You have everything you need within you.” That has always stuck with me. When a person has that inner confidence, they can do anything.

Favourite music: My kids’ guitar recitals – they both play acoustic guitar and are being classically trained. I always think they sound outstanding – I’m their most enthusiastic fan!

Last book you read: The Talent Masters: Why Smart Leaders Put People Before Numbers, by Bill Conaty and Ram Charan. It’s a must-read.

How do you spend time away from work? I’m a total foodie. I spend my time cooking and baking, hanging out at my cottage and sometimes even taking cooking lessons.

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