Published Articles

May/June 2014

  • Time for Change

    By Nik Kinley

    Managers are still unsure about how to change behaviour.

    In recent years, many businesses have invested in training managers to coach and develop their people. Yet new research suggests that far more support for managers is still needed.

  • Interview with an HR Hero: Les Dakens

    By Lisa Gordon

    This is Les Dakens’ second attempt at retirement. In 2008, at age 53, he retired from his job as senior vice-president, People at CN Rail. For the next three years, he kept busy working as a human resources executive coach and a writer, authoring a business book in 2008 and again in 2009.

  • Human Resources and Career Development

    By Alyson Nyiri, CHRP

    Do What You Are; Who Are You Meant to Be?; Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow.
    You’ve heard the titles and perhaps secretly worked through the books just to make HR was really for you.

  • Human Resources and Career Development

    By Lisa Gordon

    This is Les Dakens’ second attempt at retirement. In 2008, at age 53, he retired from his job as senior vice-president, People at CN Rail. For the next three years, he kept busy working as a human resources executive coach and a writer, authoring a business book in 2008 and again in 2009.

  • Keeping Up With the Joneses in the HR Tech Arms Race

    By Raj Sheth 

    Recruiters and HR professionals alike find that their technology quickly becomes outdated. According to a research report published by Bersin earlier this year, about 57 per cent of companies are planning to make a big HR software purchase in the next year and a half, but the already booming HR technology industry is only going to get bigger – and for good reason.

  • Matching Mentors

    By Alyson Nyiri, CHRP

    The new way to connect mentors and mentees.

    In the dating world, finding a compatible mate can be hit or miss. There are plenty of websites boasting their method results in better matches and possibly true love.

  • Follow the Leader

    By Brian Wasyliw and Matthew Badrov

    Organizational culture change comes from the top down.

    HR professionals deal with a myriad of workplace issues on a regular basis, including chronic absenteeism, poor performance, persistent employee complaints, allegations of harassment or a “poisoned work environment.” 

  • Revolutionizing the Hiring Process

    By Lisa Kopochinski

    For decades, the traditional process of interviewing for a position has largely been structural and interrogative in nature. The candidate sits opposite the interviewer (or panel of interviewers) who generally fires off a list of questions while writing ubiquitous notes.

  • Revolutionizing the Hiring Process

    By Lisa Kopochinski

    For decades, the traditional process of interviewing for a position has largely been structural and interrogative in nature. The candidate sits opposite the interviewer (or panel of interviewers) who generally fires off a list of questions while writing ubiquitous notes.

  • Socially Acceptable

    By Zut-Ying (Sue) Del Valle, CHRP

    How important is social feedback to HR departments?

    Every year, companies spend thousands of dollars on recruitment strategies and programs aimed at attracting the best talent, reaching passive candidates and broadening the employment brand recognition in the minds of potential candidates.

  • Changing the Conversation

    By Rick Russell

    How do things get done in organizations?

    If you think about it, work tends to move forward conversation by conversation. The quality determines what happens next, and may have lasting consequences for the relationship between the parties.

  • Maximizing High Potential

    By Carmen Klein and Glain Roberts-McCabe

    We know those who feel connected to others within their workplace are more engaged and are more likely to stay with a company. Connecting with others is also one of the best ways to learn and grow… through watching, listening, sharing, asking and debating.

  • Preventing, detecting and recovering employee fraud

    By Jordan Deering

    Year after year, fraud becomes more prevalent in workplaces across Canada. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse (2012) estimates that a typical organization loses five per cent of its annual revenues to fraud. In many instances, a company’s employees are the biggest fraud risks to the business’ bottom line.

  • Making Dollars Make Sense

    By Melissa Campeau

    Former Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca once said, “You can have brilliant ideas but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.

  • Pension Income not Equated to Severance Pay

    By R. Mark Fletcher and Jeff C. Hopkins

    When the Supreme Court of Canada speaks, the entire country listens. Although employment law cases rarely reach Canada’s highest Court, every few years or so, an employment law case will reach the Supreme Court and the case will have national implications for decades to come.

  • Some advice on starting an HR career

    By Phil Wilson

    On June 7, scores of Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) candidate hopefuls will be sitting down to write the National Knowledge Exam – a crucial first step in earning the CHRP designation.