CPHR Manitoba Chair Q&A

A CONVERSATION WITH DR. LANA ADELEYE-OLUSAE, CPHR MANITOBA BOARD CHAIR

Dr. Lana Adeleye-Olusae, CPHR

Chair, CPHR Manitoba Board of Directors CPHR Manitoba would like to welcome Dr. Lana AdeleyeOlusae to his new position as Chair of the board of directors. CPHR Manitoba sat down with Dr. AdeleyeOlusae to learn more about him and his take on the field of HR.

CPHR MB: Why did you choose the field of HR?

LAO: My initial career choice was not HR. I started my education as a scientist in agriculture and veered toward social sciences with a specialization in agricultural economics, and pursued a master of business (MBA) administration with a specialization in financial management and accounting to work in financial institutions.

After I graduated from an MBA program, I had the opportunity to work for a management consulting firm focused on training and development. During my short stay in the organization, I observed that when employees of our clients were afforded appropriate training and development opportunities, their work performance improved and their behaviours were more aligned with organizational values and expectations. This is where I caught the ‘HR bug’ but I did not fully commit to HR as a career focus at that time. Instead, I viewed it as a tool in my professional toolkit.

I spent about a decade working in financial institutions and non-profit organizations with a strong focus on training and developing employees before I finally determined to focus on HR as a career, as I found it more fulfilling to see the positive impacts that effective HR support made in lives of employees and organizations. I decided I would use my financial management and accounting competencies as tools while supporting organizations through the provision of HR services.

I chose HR as I see employees as investors (similar to stockholders) that an organization needs to invest in to ensure their full commitment and engagement. I believe committed, empowered and engaged employees offer a sustainable competitive advantage that is not easily copied or replicated by competitors.

CPHR MB: What message or advice do you have for people considering HR or are early in their careers?

LAO: My advice would be they should develop and/or demonstrate business acumen; that is, the ability to understand business issues. They should seek to know how the business or organization runs, creates value and earns profit/ surplus. This will enable them to understand and speak the language of other business professionals in the organization. Their understanding of business issues should inform the HR practices and programs they implement to ensure organizational strategies are effective, plans implemented and goals achieved. I believe if they demonstrate a good understanding of the organization and how it creates value, other professionals will seek their input when strategies

and plans are being developed and their views will be respected.

CPHR MB: In your years of working in HR, what trends or changes stand out?

LAO: The use of technology has increased over time and it helps to take care of transactional HR activities. It can provide data for decision-making now and/or predicting the future. It has improved our service delivery and capacity. The more we can use technology with the current move toward a hybrid workplace, the better. This calls for more cyber security awareness and programs to ensure employees are mindful of cyberattacks and how to reduce the possibility of them. This may lead to more HR activities being outsourced, allowing in-house HR to increasingly focus on strategic issues and providing guidance to supervisors and their direct reports.

Another change has been toward better work-life balance. Once upon a time, many of us focused on work as the central part of our life and many defined themselves by their work. Hard work was seen as being physically present in the workplace and/or working extra hours. It was also assumed being present was the same as being productive. There has been a gradual shift from this perspective, especially with our COVID-19 pandemic experience. There is a shift toward work being a component of our life and we should pay more attention to other aspects of life and not let work crowd them out. This has led to the worklife balance movement that incorporates the need to consider the mental health of employees, while striving to maintain productivity and sustain the competitive advantage of our organizations. (The observed trend led us at the Manitoba Museum to develop a remote work policy in 2018, that considered the needs of our staff before the COVID-19 pandemic.) The debate is still out on whether a fourday workweek should be pursued. One perspective is fewer fixed days of work in a week is not the answer for everyone. Instead, flexibility is needed around where and when work is done. Flex time, hybrid work and a compressed work week should be offered to employees, allowing them to choose based on their situation and operational needs.

A third change relates to inclusion. Inclusion means including and accommodating people who have been excluded because of their race, gender, sexuality or ability. Inclusion goes beyond diversity where the focus is on representation, as it entails helping people have a sense of belonging. The demonstrations against racism as a result of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, Minn., in 2020 did not start the discussion about inclusion in the workplace but gave it a significant push and brought it to the forefront across Canada. Prior to his death, many organizations were talking about the need to ensure their workforce represents the community they serve beyond tokenism. Now, organizations are making intentional efforts not just to have representation but to ensure people have a sense of belonging.

Lastly, there is a trend toward expanding group benefits coverage beyond traditional coverage to include more support for mental health, ergonomic support and other treatments currently excluded.

CPHR MB: What changes would you like to see in the field of HR?

LAO: I’d like to see an increased level of involvement of HR professionals in business operations and strategy activities. This would make strategic planning a must-have competency.

Also, with an increased level of remote/hybrid work, HR professionals need to develop the ability to support remote work teams (supervisors and direct reports) to work effectively in a remote/hybrid setting. For example, the delivery of training and development programs needs to be reviewed.

CPHR MB: What are you looking forward to as Chair of CPHR Manitoba?

LAO: I am looking forward to working with other board and committee members to pursue the objectives we have set for ourselves under the three pillars of promoting the CPHR brand, supporting CPHR development and fostering public confidence in the HR profession.

Specifically, I hope we, as a board, would be able to actualize our desire for self-regulation status; engage the national CPHR body and other CPHR associations in discussions about issues and concerns of our members, the validation of experience for the CPHR designation and professional development requirements; and encourage our members to volunteer to serve on boards and committees of various organizations to promote our brand and foster public confidence in the profession.

CPHR MB: How did you get engaged with board work with CPHR Manitoba?

LAO: I believe in being fully engaged in any community, whether professional, social or cultural. Volunteering is one of the ways I demonstrate my commitment to the communities that I belong to and their goals.

I served on staff committees before having an opportunity to serve on the board in 2017. I bought into the need to elevate our profession in the eyes of the public and corporate decision-makers, and for us to become self-regulated. I felt I could join hands with others to move us toward the actualization of these goals. Therefore, when the opportunity to join the board came up in 2017, I put myself forward.

I would like to acknowledge that many individuals have encouraged me along the way, including Cec Hanec, Roma Thorlakson, Nish Verma, Janice Harper and Colleen Coates.

Dr. Lana Adeleye-Olusae is a Human Resources Excellence Award-winning CPHR with a Strategic Management Certificate, post-graduate diploma in education, and bachelor of agriculture, master of business administration (financial management and accounting), master of arts (church administration) and doctor of ministry (leadership coaching) degrees. In addition to being the Director of Human Resources at the Manitoba Museum, Lana is also a Delivery Consultant on the Business Development Bank of Canada and National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program/Management Advisory Service administered by the Canadian Association of Management Consultants. Lana is also an ordained pastor with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. His teaching ministry is focused on encouraging Christians to engage in works of service that benefit others and society at large.