Workplace mediation - is it worth it?

Worried about a leadership shortage? Or are you a new leader and... OMG it sucks?? This week I talked about building leaders with Corina Walsh, a seasoned leadership coach and host of the "People and Culture Success Show". Corina has considerable knowledge and practical advice to help HR identify, nurture, and accelerate leadership within an organization. She shed light on the common mistakes new leaders make and how HR can help. We talked about: 🛠️ Promoting people who are technically strong. Could be a bad idea. 🎯 The key attributes of emerging leaders - they should be people-people. 🔍 The important role of HR in succession planning and leadership development. 🔧 How to help new leaders transition smoothly and effectively. 📚 The importance of ongoing leadership training and development. If your leadership pipeline is barely a trickle or new leaders are failing. Check this out. Find Corina at shiftpd.com. She has a lot of free resources too! Find Andrea for small and medium sized business consulting in Western Canada.

Are you worried about your labour supply? Well... there are places you might find it, if you're open-minded. In this episode of The HR Hub, we dive into the world of older workers, their potential, and the myths surrounding them. I spoke with Laura Tamblyn Watts, CEO of CanAge, Canada's national seniors advocacy organization. She is a researcher, teacher, speaker... and well qualified to participate. We covered the gamut and I asked tough questions like: don't they cost more? Laura shared her insights on this and the good and bad news about the labour market and how we can prepare for looming labour shortages. We discussed: 🧓 How older workers can be a solution to Canada's significant labour shortage 💼 The importance of good retention strategies and avoiding ageist practices 👩‍💻 Why the myth that older workers can't use technology is just that - a myth 🎓 Everyone wants learning and development - including older workers 💡 How companies can actively attract, retain, and support older workers At the very least, include age in your DEI statement. She is super knowledgeable! Check it out! Find Laura at / laura-tamblyn-watts-a8ab61 CanAge https://www.canage.ca/ Living, Learning and Earning Longer: https://www.aarpinternational.org/ini... Find Andrea for HR Consulting [email protected]

Are you grappling with the complexity of pay transparency? We all want compensation to be fair and equitable, but transparency opens up even more questions about compensation as comparisons are made. And there were a lot of questions to start with! If you might be affected by pay transparency laws, watch this discussion with Sally Loftis. Sally is the Managing Director of Loftis Partners. She specializes in pay equity, transparency, DEI and OD. This episode will help any HR professional seeking to understand the often murky water of pay transparency and equity. In this episode, you will learn: 🔍 The reasons why some employers are hesitant to share pay data and the repercussions of such reluctance. 💡 Some employees don't want pay transparency either - it's crucial to communicate internally before implementing changes. 👥 There's a balance between complete pay transparency and protecting employee privacy. ⚖️ Pay transparency doesn't replace pay equity, but they work together. 🚀 There are ways to 'do' pay transparency in a way that builds trust across the organization. Follow Sally on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallyloftisloftis/ Her site https://www.loftispartners.com/ Find the Pay Equity Collective at https://pay-equity-collective.mn.co/share/GTCEIh6yArceY6cY?utm_source=manual This is a link to her guide on conducting a pay equity assessment Find Andrea for SME consulting in Western Canada at thehrhub.ca

If I was going to listen to one episode of my own show this year, this would be the one. There is something I love about all of them, but this was next level. It may be appropriate considering the guest: Dr. Peter Cappelli. He is a professor of Management and Director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous Harvard Business Review articles and, recently, the author of a book on the topic of our discussion: Our Least Important Asset: Why the Relentless Focus on Finance and Accounting is Bad for Business and Employees. He explains so many things you think are dumb about the way we handle our workforces. Like: ❌ Employees are not assets. They're a fixed cost and one that must be minimized to drive shareholder value. ❌ Creating the appearance of shareholder value is NOT the same as creating a strong and efficient business. ❌ This leads to so many practices you think are shortsighted. Decreasing training budgets, layoffs, wonky recruitment, capped salaries... and it's invisible. Or, at the very least, opaque. ❌ All because of GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and how they are applied to HR decisions. ❌ Even investors wish this would change. There was so much to take in and so many useful insights for HR more broadly. It's longer than my typical episode, but I HIGHLY recommend it! It will be well worth your time. A link to Dr. Cappelli's book https://www.amazon.com/Our-Least-Important-Asset-Relentless/dp/0197629806 Find Andrea on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/ or at [email protected]

Cat owners need not apply! I promise it's unfortunately real and relevant. We even spent a couple minutes talking about how analytics might enable discrimination on factors that seem to have no bearing on performance like whether you love cats vs dogs. This kind of data is part of the trend towards creepy analytics. I spoke with Dr. Salvatore Falletta who just wrote a book entitled 'Creepy Analytics'. He helped me draw the line between AI and analytics which are related but not exactly the same thing. Whether analytics or AI, HR needs to be monitoring this or legislation will eventually do it for us. Some unfortunately real questions we discussed: 👂Should your employer be able to listen in on conversations? 🚽Should your boss know if your are in the bathroom? 💸If you dump company stock, should your boss know? 🤔Should your employer be able to scrape sentiment from your emails? 🙀Is your love of cats (vs dogs) relevant and, even if it is, should a prospective employer make decisions on this? We need transparent data collection and analytics and white box AI. These were just a few of the insights in this somewhat dystopian but also funny episode. Sal’s LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/salvatore-falletta/ Sal’s Book: Creepy Analytics: Avoid Crossing the Line and Establish Ethical HR Analytics for Smarter Workforce Decisions Find Andrea https://www.thehrhub.ca/

Where do you stand on the performance appraisal debate? Some say it's just too hard to do well and, when not done well, it does more harm than good. Others say it's essential and we just have to get better at it. What do you think? I'm genuinely interested!! Many companies still do them though so I was curious and reached out to Sue Ingram of Converse Well to talk about it. She is certainly a wonderful person to talk to! I'd recommend her anytime for a conversation. She also knows a lot about HR including performance appraisals. Some of the tidbits from our conversation: 🔍 You have to train for HONEST conversations between managers and employees. 💰 Some organizations don't expressly link compensation to the performance appraisal, but since both the appraisal and compensation require judgment... Sue says they're linked regardless. 🎯 You have to measure the right things . 💡 Training. Training. Training. Find Sue on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sueingram1 Her email: [email protected] Her book: https://www.amazon.ca/Fire-Well-Staff-They-Thank/dp/1781331464 Find me (Andrea) for consulting support [email protected]

So do you have problem or underperforming employee? Can't quite pin it down? These are hard for anyone to deal with for so many reasons - complex laws, reasons, emotions running high... But I try to help you sort it out in this episode including clarifying when you really should get expert help. This is the third in my series for small and medium business owners and NFP execs. I'm an HR consultant and helping you navigate these murky and frustrating waters! In this episode, I review: 🔍 The importance of approaching any problem with an open mind - don't demonize or ignore your employee, but also don't wait for the issue to resolve itself. 📚 Three categories for employee problems: misconduct, health-related issues, and poor performance. Understanding these categories can help you know which tools to use in handling the situation. 🗣️ The value of conversations and coaching in managing poor performance. 📝 An HR cliché: take notes! Let me know if you found this helpful or if there is some other question at: https://www.thehrhub.ca/ [email protected] I would also love to connect via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

Are you frustrated with your presentation skills? For some it's total fear. For others like me, I'll do it, but there are many other things I would rather do. In this episode of The HR Hub, I explored how to use storytelling in presentations. My guest, Jilliane Yawney, is a speaking coach who turns scientists and engineers (and HR) into confident speakers and storytellers. Jilliane is not just a speaking coach. She's also the founder of the Calgary Story Slam, one of the biggest in Canada. Using her expertise, she helps professionals weave useful stories into their presentations, ensuring the key messages are understood and remembered. Here's a sneak peek into our conversation: 🔬 How storytelling humanizes data and makes it more relatable. So you need both! 🎭 The power of storytelling in conveying emotions and influencing decisions, while avoiding blatant manipulation. 📊 Balancing storytelling and data: Can you overuse stories? Yes, but... 🎯 The importance of understanding the purpose of your story. Clear purpose is important in many aspects of HR. 📚 The essential elements of a good story: Conflict and structure. Think Harry Potter. This episode is a treasure trove of insights for anyone looking to enhance their presentation skills and make a bigger impact at work. Whether you're an HR professional or just someone who wants to communicate more effectively, this episode is a must-listen! Find Jilliane at https://www.jillianeyawney.com/ Find Andrea at [email protected]

Navigating HR compliance can feel daunting for HR professionals nevermind for business owners or NFP execs! Today's episode is here to provide an overview of the rules and laws that may affect how you hire, manage, and pay employees. This is the second in the series for SMBs aiming to help small and medium business owners and NFPs navigate people issues and avoid some of the major pitfalls. In this episode, I discuss: 📚 The concept of compliance and why being ethical isn't enough. Skirting the edges of what's legal and ethical can lead to costly court cases and damaged relationships. 🚧 The importance of compliance and its impact on small and medium-sized businesses including the risks. 📑 The top five areas of HR compliance that I frequently encounters as an HR consultant. From provincial employment standards to privacy laws, I provide an overview of each. 🔍 Other areas of compliance such as labour relations, payroll, benefits, and taxation rules, equity legislation, accessibility rules, and pensions and benefits rules. 🛠️ Finally, I discuss how to avoid compliance problems. Find me at [email protected] The links I referred to: Compliance Works: https://complianceworks.ca/ WCB Episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPrgga7uuYk&t=2s Labour Relations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl_xlEa5zi4&t=19s

Do you think about things you learned years ago but didn't really learn? This is one those for me - that is, the 'transfer of learning'. Michelle Ellis was my partner in this exploration. She's an expert in L&D - currently a director for Intellum, which is an learning management software company. She was also a L&D leader at Disney! Before that, she was a school teacher and has her PhD. She knows some things. In this episode, you'll gain valuable insights on: 🎓 The concept of learning transfer and its importance for our investment in training. 📈 How to be intentional about your own learning journey so that you bring what you learn back to work.. 💡 The role of leaders in ensuring learning transfer into the workplace, and how they can help their employees get the most out of training sessions. 📊 The importance and challenge of measuring learning transfer. Michelle shared some strategies around quantitative and qualitative data. 🖥️ How learning management software can facilitate learning transfer, with features like social chat and gamification. Find Michelle on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-ellis-phd-cxac-cert-3357833/ See Intellum here: https://www.intellum.com/ I am an HR consultant to small and medium businesses and not-for-profits. Reach out to me here: [email protected]