CPHR-MB Fall 2020

FALL 2020 / VOL. 20, NO. 2

THE OFFICI A L PUBLICATION OF THE CH A R TERED PROFE S SION A L S IN HUM A N RE SOURCE S OF M A NITOBA

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STRONG TEAMS, RESILIENT RESPONSE

PM# 1682019

FACILITATING ORGANIZATIONAL EVOLUTION AND BALANCING OTHER PRESSURES

THE NEW GOLDEN RULE OF LEADERSHIP / HOW TO BROACH MEDIATION NURTURING INNOVATION / TEAM-BUILDING WITH COMPLEMENTARY TALENTS

HRmatters FALL 2020, VOL. 20, NO. 2

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2020 Chair: Colleen Coates, CPHR Past Chair: Janice Harper, CPHR Treasurer: Grant Christensen, FCPA, FCGA Directors at Large: Dr. Lana Adeleye-Olusae, CPHR Glenn Fleetwood, CPA, CGA Brad Lutz, CPHR Lisa Rowe, CPHR Ryan Savage, LLB Keith Sinclair, CPHR Susan Young, CPHR CPHR Manitoba Staff Chief Executive Officer: Ron Gauthier Director of Marketing, Partnerships and Membership: Laura Haines-Morrissette Marketing & Communications Coordinator: Emily Janssens Events & Programs Coordinator: Lindsey Barnett Membership Engagement Coordinator: Stephanie Smith CPHR Program Manager: Marina De Luna Published for: CPHR Manitoba 1810 – 275 Portage Avenue Winnipeg, MB R3B 2B3 Phone: (204) 943-2836 | Fax: (204) 943-1109 hello@cphrmb.ca | www.cphrmb.ca

CONTENTS FEATURES 5

THE NEW GOLDEN RULE OF LEADERSHIP

6 HOW TO BROACH THE IDEA OF MEDIATION

8 ARE YOU SABOTAGING INNOVATION? 10 THE THREE Cs OF TEAM-BUILDING 12 FLOODS, TORNADOES, PANDEMICS! INSIDE MATTERS 4

CPHR Manitoba Chair’s Message

1 4 New CPHRs and CPHR Candidates

Publisher: Abhi Dadarkar Production Manager: Rachel Selbie Senior Designer: Annette Carlucci Junior Designer: Roxy Hunyh Sales Executive: Rick Todes Published by:

2001 Sheppard Avenue East Suite 500, Toronto, Ontario M2J 4Z8 Tel: 416-512-8186 | Fax: 416-512-8344 Email: info@mediaedge.ca President: Kevin Brown Senior Vice-President: Robert Thompson Vice-President Sales & Business development: Abhi Dadarkar Published October 2020 © 2020 CPHR Manitoba. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the association.

Publication Mail Agreement #1682019 Please return undeliverable copies to: CPHR Manitoba 1810 – 275 Portage Avenue Winnipeg, MB R3B 2B3

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CPHR MANITOBA CHAIR’S MESSAGE

HR IS LEADING THE WAY By Colleen Coates, CPHR Chair, CPHR Manitoba Board of Directors

Colleen Coates, CPHR, Chair, CPHR Manitoba Board of Directors

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s COVID-19 continues to dominate the news and we navigate the various stages of the pandemic in our workplaces, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the extraordinary work of HR professionals.

You have played a crucial role in helping organizations not only manage the effects of the pandemic but doing so while handling other major issues that arise in the workplace as a regular course of business.

For the past few years, HR professionals have taken the lead in facilitating organizational evolution around issues like diversity and inclusion, accessibility and accommodation, mental health, social media, workplace harassment, ethical leadership, and more. This pandemic is another such issue that shines a light on the value that strategic human resource management brings to business operations, adding further credibility to the CPHR designation.

At CPHR Manitoba, we recognize the power of human resources professionals and what they bring to an organization. We actively work to ensure that our members are recognized for their knowledge, skills, experiences and the CPHR designation. One way we do this is by welcoming our members to volunteer on our Board of Directors and various committees. Our members are the heart and soul of our organization and we are proud to have participation from professionals just starting their careers to the seasoned experts.

Their willingness to volunteer and share their knowledge and valuable experiences is what enables CPHR Manitoba to move forward with our initiatives and programs to support CPHR development.

We also continue to provide a variety of resources that encompass the needs of all of our members. This fall, we introduced a new PD Passport, which includes one registration to each of our four premiere virtual events: • Future of Work Conference — October 21 & 22, 2020 • Diversity Forum — January 28, 2021 • Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace Conference — March 11, 2021 • Talent Forum — April 15, 2021

This is just a sampling of the learning opportunities for 2020-2021. We will also continue to run our webinars, executive breakfast series and plan for additional events, workshops and forums.

We remain committed to our mission of advancing the human resource profession in pursuit of our vision of positively impacting leadership, employees, organizational health and organizational performance — where the CPHR designation is highly desired and widely accepted. As HR professionals, we have the opportunity to influence government, business communities and its members as we move our organization forward and work to meet our strategic goals.

On behalf of CPHR Manitoba, I look forward to continuing working with you — our brand ambassadors, advocates and dedicated HR practitioners.

Thank you and have a healthy and safe winter!

Colleen Coates is the Chair of CPHR Manitoba’s Board of Directors and Vice President, People & Culture at Farmers Edge.

She has more than 20 years of comprehensive human resources experience including senior leadership positions with Princess Auto, The North West Company, The Dufresne Group, and Convergys Customer Management Canada. She also worked as the National Practice Leader for Total Rewards at People First HR Services where she consulted for organizations in the private, public and non-profit sectors.

CPHR Manitoba is committed to advancing the human resource profession and helping CPHRs positively impact workplaces across Manitoba.

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HRmatters / www.cphrmb.ca

FEATURE

THE NEW GOLDEN RULE OF LEADERSHIP

Learning to treat others how they want to be treated

By

“T

Alex Draper

reat others how you want to be treated.”

I remember someone earlier on in my life passing along this nugget of wisdom and it made sense back then.

For example, I like to be direct and straight to the point. So, as a leader, I was direct with everyone and assumed they were on the same page as me and were as short with me as I was with them. I don’t like being told what to do, so I ensured everyone around me felt empowered and I expected no one to tell me what to do. I’m also a big hugger, therefore everyone gets a hug and I expected one in return (preCOVID). I do my best to ensure people get what they need, therefore I expect everyone to make sure I get what I need.

Makes sense, right?

Let’s dig in a bit deeper and think about this in terms of 4 basic human needs we have all shared since the dawn of time.

The need for Clarity — Back when humans were hunters and gatherers, we needed to know what was safe to eat and what would kill us. This is where our craving for certainty came from.

The need for Autonomy — We also craved control. If it was cold, humans built a fire.

We needed control of our environment in order to survive.

The need for Relationships — Excommunication from the tribe meant death. It was in our best interest to group up. This is why we crave to be part of a team and feel that we belong and are valued.

The need for Equity — Distributing food equally throughout the tribe would underserve those who needed more than others, such as pregnant women or hunters. Therefore, an equitable distribution of food that considers the context of the individual was put in place.

If I was to treat everyone as I like to be treated in a business context, everyone would be fully autonomous and empowered with very little clarity on expectations. I’d expect a strong relationship from the start where we share openly on all topics and because I work too much with too little (as most entrepreneurs do), I’d expect my team to wallow in equality as we burn both ends of the candle together.

Sounds like hell, right?

The only way this wouldn’t be a hellish situation is if my team was just like me, which is a hole some leaders dig themselves into. If we surround ourselves with people who like to be treated like we do, we miss out on having a diverse team.

Imagine the poor soul whose mind craves clarity, yet they have joined Alex and team who thrive on uncertainty. Their brain enjoys working within boundaries while Alex and team thrive on being fiercely independent with zero parameters. They are much more operational and the thought of opening up to those they work with is terrifying, yet Alex and team let it all hang out. This individual would not be getting what they needed at work, feel utterly isolated with little sense of belonging, and go home with a sense of unfairness every day. This result would not come from bad intentions, but a good intention of treating others as we would like to be treated.

Our default is to treat people equally as we assume they are like us and want to be treated as such. This assumption comes from a lack

of time spent getting to know our people and defaulting to our version of equality. This is due to a few biases that exist in how we are wired as humans: the familiarity bias, the default equality bias, the affinity bias, and the halo effect. In essence, we are not inherently wired for effective human-based leadership.

Now, what if I worked on not assuming that everyone is like me? What if I developed the emotional intelligence to know that everyone yearns for the same things at varying levels, like clarity?

What if I lived by the mantra “treat people how they want to be treated”?

Well, the employee who wanted clearer, more defined expectations would get the level of clarity they need to feel safe. The employee who only wanted guidance and some guard rails would get just enough autonomy to excite them while still feeling safe. The employee who doesn’t feel comfortable sharing every little detail in their life with coworkers would keep to themselves and feel safe knowing they don’t have to in order to feel a sense of belonging.

This is fairness and equity at work: Treating others how they want to be treated. A leader who adheres to this mantra leads with compassion and empathy. They know how their individual employeeswanttobetreatedandoperateassuch.

Personally, I have purposefully hired a team of people who are not like me and don’t think like me. While I may not have a “best buddy” at work who sees everything the same way I do, I have a team of people who bring varying perspectives to the table that enables me to learn something new every day and enables us to achieve more together. What may be a little weird for me works wonders for them and in return, I get to see them thrive.

This is why I adhere to the new golden rule: Treat others how they want to be treated.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alex Draper is the CEO/Founder of DX Learning Solutions. He can be reached at alexdraper@dx-learning.com.

Fall 2020 / HRmatters

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FEATURE

HOW TO BROACH THE IDEA OF MEDIATION (without scaring off your staff!)

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Sandra Koop Harder, MBA, CMed

often hear leaders bemoan the fact that their employees are simply not willing to engage in mediation as an option for addressing difficult workplace dynamics.

The door has been closed before it has even properly been opened.

The idea of mediation can be extremely anxiety provoking — especially when past conversations have been difficult and when it feels there is little hope for the relationship. In my experience, people often don’t fully understand what they are saying “no” to, when the option of mediation comes up. And sometimes, leadership unintentionally misrepresents what mediation is and is not.

STAY AWAY FROM THE WORD “MEDIATION”.

I know this idea must sound odd coming from a mediator, but people often react defensively to the very word “mediation”, especially initially.

People make many assumptions about mediation, what it is and what it isn’t. Many of these notions are based on messages from the media that may or (more likely) may not accurately reflect the process that is being suggested to them.

Using different language helps move away from resistance based on preconceived ideas about the mediation process.

FEATURE

I prefer to use phrases like “supported conversation” or “facilitated dialogue” to describe the process. At its simplest core, what we do is “help people have difficult conversations”.

Using this kind of more informal language can help demystify mediation vs. spike people’s anxiety about what they think is being asked of them

IT’S NOT THE MEDIATOR’S ROLE TO “FIX THINGS”. WE ARE THERE TO HOST A STRUCTURED CONVERSATION THAT OFFERS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR PARTIES TO ADDRESS THEIR PROBLEMS THEMSELVES.

LET THE PROFESSIONALS EXPLAIN THE PROCESS.

This needs to be underlined: Don’t concern yourself with “selling” the whole process to your employees at the front end.

Pushing parties to commit to participation in mediation, before they have even spoken with the mediator, is unnecessary and can be totally counterproductive.

Leave the details (including the benefits of mediation and what to expect) to the pros to explain firsthand.

All you need to do, as the manager/ HR, is seek their commitment to speak with the mediator to explore options.

Then, let the mediator help the parties walk through the pros and cons of their participation.

This is often the most effective way of building trust in the process and begins developing rapport between the parties and the mediator. It sets the tone for the whole process.

Also, mediator approaches can vary, sometimes significantly. You don’t want to unintentionally set up expectations with your staff that will have to be renegotiated with the mediator.

DON’T SUGGEST THAT THEIR PARTICIPATION IS “TOTALLY VOLUNTARY”.

(Granted, not all mediators will agree on this point.)

From my perspective, the volitional quality of mediation exists on a continuum. And sometimes leaders need to provide a little bit of incentive as a reality check.

If a person is resistant, it may be helpful to stress that, from your perspective as the manager, “resolution” is not optional; that, one way or another, things needed to change.

If parties are not willing to participate in a supported conversation (with the help of a third-party), other options that edge toward the more formal/ disciplinary in nature may need to be explored. This, of course, starts to make the idea of mediation feel significantly less “voluntary”.

It is important for the parties to understand that what the resolution process looks like is largely up to them.

This is the choice aspect.

Mediation is one of the most collaborative, least punitive forms of intervention on the performance management/progressive discipline spectrum. AND it is also typically the most effective at resolving the root concerns of the primary parties involved.

DON’T SEE MEDIATION AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO WASH YOUR HANDS OF THE SITUATION.

While it’s understandable for you to breathe a sigh of relief after you hire independent professionals to help with a particularly thorny personnel challenge, resist the urge to totally back off and “leave it to the mediators to fix”.

First off, it’s not the mediator’s role to “fix things”. We are there to host a structured conversation that offers the opportunity for parties to address their problems themselves.

Also, your employees need to know — and experience directly — that you are supporting them and the mediation process actively! And that you are willing to look at your part and the role you played in managing (or not) the dynamics. Most of the time, in my experience, leaders recognize or have at least an embryonic awareness that they have some level of contribution to the dynamics even if that contribution is simply avoidance.

Again (this can’t really be overstated): The active engagement of leadership is absolutely fundamental to achieving sustainable resolution.

At the conclusion of the mediation process, we leave your organization and leave you, the leader, to pick up where we left off in supporting the parties to move forward in their relationship. Your capacity to do this, in most cases, is the single, most important determining factor in successful, long-term outcomes.

As a mediator, I always seek to work with the “one level up” leaders responsible for the direct parties, partly for this reason. Also, because it is a key objective to support the whole system, not just the primary parties involved. Essentially, I’m seeking to work myself out of a role with that client. Perhaps not a very good business model so good thing there’s no shortage of conflict around!

Working closely with leaders throughout the process, as a team, is when we do our best work in mediation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sandy Koop Harder has been a leader at Facilitated Solutions since 2006 and has over 20 years of experience in mediation, coaching and management. Sandy is also the President of the

ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Institute of Manitoba. She holds a Masters of Business Administration

(Leadership) and Chartered Mediator credentials with the ADR Institute of Canada. She loves what she does.

And she doesn’t do it alone... together with her colleagues at FS, she helps people prevent, manage and resolve conflict — at work and at home.

Fall 2020 / HRmatters

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FEATURE

ARE YOU SABOTAGING INNOVATION? How to Engage Your Intrapreneurs

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By

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Shona Welsh, MCEd, CHRL

HRmatters / www.cphrmb.ca

iscovering I was an intrapreneur was a revelation. After 25 years of struggling with why I didn’t fit in, I finally understood.

An intrapreneur is an entrepreneurial employee who isn’t interested in starting their own business. They like being part of a team, contributing to a vision bigger than them, and treat the company as if it were their own.

As an HR professional, I was keen to understand how we could better engage and retain such employees. So, I spoke with intrapreneurs across all sectors, from entry level to the C-suite– and everything in between. This is what I discovered.

Most organizations are great at hiring intrapreneurs. They love their energy, creativity, and focus on results.

Unfortunately, most organizations are not particularly skilled at engaging and retaining intrapreneurs. Here’s why.

1 / BLOCKING IDEAS

Intrapreneurs are, by nature, creative and action oriented. But when they’ve done the leg work and still get repeatedly rejected, they eventually stop contributing. And when that happens, it’s only a matter of time before they leave. If you can’t provide opportunities for idea development, they’ll find a place that will. And that organization is often your competitor.

DIVERSITY FEATURE

The Chrysler Minivan is a perfect example. Ford engineer Hal Sperlich developed the idea, but Ford wasn’t interested. Chrysler was. And the Minivan became its largest profit centre in decades. All because they took a chance on Hal. 2 / MULTIPLE, SLOW APPROVAL PROCESSES

When you stifle innovation through lengthy approval processes you miss opportunities. Many intrapreneurs are frustrated by watching competitors go to market with similar ideas while they remain in bureaucratic limbo.

I once received budget approval for a $400,000 client project with a tight, three-month deadline. A week later, I was reprimanded over a $3,000 expenditure. Apparently, I had to go through three levels of approval for every expenditure within that budget, no matter how small the amount.

Worse, it would take two months for each process. We lost the contract.

3 / RISK AVERSION

I’ve often had business plans rejected despite thorough preparation including risk identification and mitigation. My intrapreneur interviewees had the same complaint. “What would it take for my company to try anything?” one intrapreneur asked. Contrary to popular belief, the best entrepreneurs are not overly risky — they’re actually great at minimizing risk because they balance it with caution in other areas (Grant, 2016).

My former CEO talked a good line about innovation, but when some colleagues and I presented an exciting partnership opportunity, we were rejected. The business case was sound with risks identified and mitigated. But she demanded examples of similar organizations who had done such a project. We couldn’t provide them because it had never been done before — exactly the point of innovation! Today, our potential partner is enjoying success with my former company’s competitor.

Now that you have some understanding of the all too common intrapreneur experience, let’s discuss what HR professionals can do about it.

4 / IDENTIFY ‘AT RISK’ INTRAPRENEURS

The good news is intrapreneurs are generally easy to identify because they can be quite annoying. While they’re often nice people who enjoy professional respect, they question things. All the time. They’re not trying to be critical. They’re trying to understand why things function the way they do and how they can make them more effective. Chances are, they’ve got an idea bubbling in their brain and they’re assessing its viability. They can’t do that without understanding the current situation — hence all the questions.

Spend some time identifying your ‘annoying’ employees. Ask line managers about staff who regularly question things. Depending on your organizational size, you may already know who they are. I’m not talking about run-of-the-mill troublemakers — I’m talking about great performers who irritate people because they’ve got an idea to a, minute and want to get things done — quickly.

The bad news is, if those people have gone silent, you’ve got a problem. Intrapreneurs who have stopped questioning and sharing ideas often have one foot out the door.

But all is not lost! If you can re-engage silent intrapreneurs, they will recommit. How do you do that? Keep reading.

5 / CREATE ‘SPACE’ FOR INNOVATION

Lockheed Martin is famous for its ‘Skunk Works’, a term now widely used to describe an internal group that is given a high degree of autonomy, unhampered by bureaucracy. Forward-thinking organizations are increasingly creating innovation centres — places where employees are either seconded to specific projects or develop not-yetapproved ideas.

If you can’t devote a specific space to innovation, you can still give intrapreneurs protected time. Establish an Innovation Committee charged with vetting ideas, provide release time to individuals, or form an Innovation Community of Practice.

You can also run periodic Innovation Tournaments that connect employees from all levels. They spend a day or more contributing ideas, identifying priorities, learning how to present business cases well, and deciding which concepts to pursue.

6 / BUILD RISK TOLERANCE INTO LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Pharmaceutical giant Merck once engaged in an exercise called Kill the Company (Bodell, 2012). Leaders spent several hours pretending to be from competitors, generating ideas that would put Merck out of business. Several more hours were devoted to devising strategies to overcome those threats. When the leaders realized how their competitors could beat them, they knew it was a risk not to innovate (Grant, 2016).

The understanding that status quo can actually be a threat needs to be a key part of any leadership training. Regardless of your sector, the rapid pace of change requires equally rapid response — the kind of response that intrapreneurs thrive on. Whether you’re contending with government cutbacks, restrictive grant rules, or an upstart competitor, time is not your friend if leaders insist on doing things the same way they always have.

HR professionals are uniquely positioned to spearhead intrapreneur engagement, innovation, and leadership development initiatives that support and help them feel valued. Leveraging the talents of intrapreneurs also shows leaders that HR truly can and does play a strategic role in organizational success.

REFERENCES:

Grant, A. (2016). Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World. New York: Viking.

Bodell, L. (2012). Kill the Company: End the Status Quo, Start an Innovation Revolution.

New York: Bibliomotion).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Shona Welsh, MCEd, CHRL used to be an intrapreneur but she’s okay now. She and

her partner at Ovation: Experts in Speaker Training travel the world helping leaders discover their unique

voice as well as transform their organizations through Innovation Tournaments. Shona is an award-winning speaker and trainer and the author of numerous books. She cannot be left alone in the house with chocolate.

Contact her at shona@OvationSpeakerTraining.com.

Fall 2020 / HRmatters

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FEATURE

CONNECTION, COLLABORATION AND CREATIVITY IN TEAM-BUILDING Mixing and balancing complementary skills and talents

E By

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Trina Huntley

HRmatters / www.cphrmb.ca

ffective team-building is about far more than simply making sure colleagues get along; it’s also about mixing and balancing complementary skills and talents so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

When planned and executed properly, team-building developed on a foundation of trust boosts morale, performance and productivity. Individuals can explore their unique talents and find new ways to shine; relationships are strengthened through the communication and collaboration necessary for achieving shared goals; end results reflect higher motivation and creativity because they were completed by an engaged and mutually supportive team.

Best of all, team-building doesn’t even require having your team all under one roof (as organizations are discovering in this new age of remote work)! Here are “three C’s” to keep in mind, especially in a virtual environment:

CONNECTION

The transformation of a group of individuals into a team doesn’t happen on its own — it must be driven by intention.

The first step in creating the trust that’s fundamental to a cohesive team is building connections from each person to the others.

In a remote environment, establishing daily check-ins can prevent the loneliness that contributes to disengagement and a subsequent drop in productivity.

Ideally conducted via video chat to get the extra lift of actually seeing each other’s faces, these check-ins shouldn’t just be work-related! Deliberately set aside a few minutes at the start or the end of the meeting to chat about weekend plans, what shows or podcasts folks are enjoying these days or the latest recipe with which your colleague experimented.

FEATURE

The better the team gets to know each other’s personalities, skills, experiences and motivations, the more natural and meaningful these conversations become. As the team becomes increasingly comfortable in trusting each other with the “big questions” — how are you really doing?

What can I do to help you today? — they’ll feel supported in reaching out for help if they’re struggling.

COLLABORATION

A successful team isn’t made up of a bunch of people with identical skill sets; rather, a team is carefully assembled by gathering those whose talents complement and fill in the gaps of the others. These gifts can be obvious (for example, directly sought in the job postings that first inspired them to apply) but can also include latent skills uncovered by surprise through collaboration, as an effective team brings out the best in each other.

Striking a precise balance between “too many cooks in the kitchen” and normalizing reaching out to teammates for their input

is critical in establishing a collaborative process that improves the overall end product, rather than slowing down its delivery without any tangible benefit.

Working remotely doesn’t have to decrease collaboration! It just means you have to be more intentional about setting kickoff meetings (rather than informally gathering a few coworkers at your desk), preparing workback schedules that take multiple rounds of input and review into account, and establishing approval hierarchies. This organized approach to project management can improve workflow even for those who are all working under one roof.

CREATIVITY

Once the team connection and trust is deeply rooted and collaboration is running smoothly, creativity

flourishes! Whether it’s troubleshooting a spotty internet connection in your video chat or tackling a unique challenge with a client, the more opportunities a team has to solve a problem together, the more they build their confidence in thinking “outside the box” in the future. Model active listening and encouragement so that all team members are comfortable bringing new ideas to the table.

One bonus of remote work is gaining back time that would otherwise have been devoted to a harried, rush-hour commute. This extra wiggle room in the day allows for more focused, mindful thinking and productivity. It’s also important to be intentional about shutting work down when the day is done — this balance will make you a better, more productive and more creative teammate.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Trina Huntley is the Learning and Development Specialist at Payworks. Trina

has almost 30 years of experience in customer-facing roles and industries and is dedicating her career towards formalizing guidance and support around the types of learning, development and coaching that ultimately grow employee engagement and performance.

One of Manitoba’s leading labour and employment practices.

Labour and Employment Practice Group Ryan Savage T: 204.949.1312 E: leg@tmlawyers.com 2200-201 Portage Avenue Winnipeg, MB R3B 3L3 tmlawyers.com

Fall 2020 / HRmatters

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FEATURE

FLOODS, TORNADOES, PANDEMICS! OH MY! Understand vulnerabilities and know your resources

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By

John Lindsay

anitoba’s experience with natural and technological events over the past twelve months is probably about average or, at least, at a level we should now consider normal. From the 2019 Thanksgiving weekend snowstorm through to the summer’s deadly tornadoes and flash flooding in the west, Manitoba is discovering what its future climate could be like.

However, the spread of a novel coronavirus has overshadowed these more common impacts, dominated the news cycle and driven economic and social decisions that will have long-lasting implications.

THE COVID-19 EXPERIENCE

The COVID-19 pandemic is not our first experience with the introduction of a new disease. The past two decades have seen West Nile Virus, SARS and H1N1 influenza generate significant public health responses interspersed with the more mundane outbreaks of illness from the likes of E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, or Legionella bacteria. These public health emergencies were characterized by factors such as being primarily in one community (e.g. 2001 E. coli in Walkerton ON or SARS in the greater Toronto area) or connected to a specific food (e.g. 2008 Listeria in cold cuts, or

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HRmatters / www.cphrmb.ca

Salmonella in red onions in August of 2020).

The difference with the current pandemic is the degree to which the provincial and federal governments, through their public health actions, have attempted to stop the spread of the disease at the cost of social and economic disruption.

This has highlighted a distinction that is recognized within the emergency and continuity management profession between the impacts generated by the causal agent, in this case the illnesses and deaths from the virus, and the responsegenerated impacts such as the disruption of the education system. While the virus is essentially causing the same illness around the world, the truly distinguishing factor in how different countries are coping is in the way they are enforcing public health measures. This is one valuable lesson those involved in emergency and continuity management must heed.

UNDERSTANDING VULNERABILITY

The implication for human resource management is also clear: organizations and employees do not need to be directly impacted by the disaster event to be affected.

Disasters, by definition, are events that disrupt the normal functioning of society. Those

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FEATURE

disruptions include the direct physical injuries and death produced by the extreme incident but more likely will be the widespread secondary consequences of utility outages, evacuations, transportation disruptions or, as we now appreciate, public health measures. With an organization’s human resources often being the most diverse and dispersed asset, it is crucial that their complete vulnerability is assessed.

KNOWING YOUR RESOURCES

This is one important point of interaction between HR professionals and their colleagues in emergency and continuity management.

Understanding the organization’s workforce goes beyond knowing how ‘normal’ positions and duties may need to shift as part of an emergency response. It is necessary to understand how everyone’s skills may be put to the best use. Perhaps someone in accounting is also a volunteer firefighter: how will those skills be useful to the organization and how will those external responsibilities affect that employee?

These are the questions that HR professionals can help answer as part of emergency and continuity planning.

There are other external factors that can influence how quickly and for how long the organization’s human resources can be available to work. Issues such as residential location, mode of transportation and, family and community responsibilities can influence which employees are able to report for work following a large-scale impact. Do your senior executives and custodial staff all live nearby or do their residences tend to be geographically grouped along other social and economic lines? Such locational differences may determine what segments of the workforce face damage at home or altered commuting times. Discovering such patterns can help emergency and continuity planners anticipate delays and arrange alternatives.

ADVOCATE FOR HOME PREPAREDNESS

This connects to another role HR professionals can perform advocating for home preparedness. In the Spring 2020

edition of HRmatters, Scott Park covered important points about working from home. The connection between the workplace and an employee’s home is growing tighter. It is prudent for organizations to actively promote and support home preparedness so employees are less vulnerable in a disaster and can return to work, either on-site or remotely, as soon as possible.

The added benefit of encouraging home preparedness is it reduces the demand on the emergency services and other critical response agencies so that those resources can be more effectively deployed.

EMERGENCY AND CONTINUITY PROFESSIONALS

One final contribution HR professionals can make to their organization is ensuring the necessary skills and knowledge are available to implement a comprehensive emergency and continuity program. The Canadian Standards Association’s CSA Z 1600-17 — Emergency and Continuity Management Program highlights the importance of having appropriately trained and educated professionals managing an organization’s disaster planning activities.

While this expertise may take different forms depending on the size and risk profile of the organization, from occasional consultancies to a full-time emergency and continuity team, HR has a pivotal role in selecting and supporting these efforts.

The current pandemic has all of us wondering what the ‘new normal’ will look like for our organizations and our communities. Citizens across the country, from places like Fort McMurray AB, Lac Me ́gantic QC, or Elie MB, have also wondered what would come next for their damaged homes, businesses and communities.

Successful emergency and continuity management, whether at home, in the private sector or as a government function, relies on people. HR professionals have an enormous opportunity and even an obligation to make sure those people are safe, trained and ready to meet the challenges of the next disaster.

CPHR MANITOBA CONGRATULATES OUR NEWEST CPHRS! Lisa Baldwin

Lisa Park

Janice Demers

Carrie Perumal

Louise Gauthier

Michael Smith

Jessica Janzen

Mirna Torres

Cheryl Krestanowich

Bliss Yang

Evan Martin

Stephanie Zamora

CPHR MANITOBA CONGRATULATES OUR NEW CPHR CANDIDATES! Inioluwa Akintola

Rachael Olaniran

Harriette Asaam

Oluwatosin (Hannah) Olaonipekun

Emma Booth Ryan Cochrane Andrea Cruise Victoria de Haan Traa Renata Dennis Krista Derksen Serena Doak Teara Duch Kristie Dupuis Omoruyi Edegbe Stephanie Espinoza Branda Fernandes Alia Furtado Roselyn Garcia Lana Gibbons Stacy Gill Hemanta Vincent Gomes Crystal Gustafson Jenna Haverstock Holly Jarvis Arina Johnson Robyn Johnston Marycel Juan Charanpreet Kaur Raakel Ladyka Haley Lewis Sabrina Libatter Rubin Bryony Lloyd Jenny Lumagbas Tracy MacPhee Jayne Magbanua Jaspreet Malhi Benjamin McDonald Claudette Anita J McDowell Rosario Mejicanos

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: John ‘Jack’ Lindsay is an associate professor and chair of the Applied Disaster and Emergency Studies depar tment at Brandon University in Brandon MB. He can be reached at lindsayj@brandonu.ca.

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HRmatters / www.cphrmb.ca

Jayelle Morris Andrea Morrison Barbara Nordal

Gbemisola Oniyire Sandra Pachol Blaire Pearce Brent Peters Annika Pineau Melissa Power Ken Rooney Violet Rotimi Ojegbile Samar Seoudi Chetna Sethi Yaza Shapata Aditi Sharma Sarah Shrutwa Rena Solomon Brenda Tessler Jessica Tran Samantha Tumlos Meghan Van Den Bussche Diana Vieira Kimberly Wallace Madison Whitla Steven Wong

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