Newsletter
October 2006
Spotlight: In
Conversation with IRC Director Paul Juniper
HR has changed radically in the
25 years new Queen's IRC Director Paul Juniper has been in the field. In the
following Q & A, we ask what he likes about HR; how the role of HR and IR
practitioners has evolved; and what IRC is doing to support this ongoing transformation ...more
Listen to Paul Juniper speak on the evolution of HR
This Issue:
- Don Wood Lecture: George C. B. Smith of CBC/Radio-Canada will deliver the annual Don Wood lecture
in November ...more
- Alumni in Action: Lillian Napierala tells how she gained mastery at negotiations and resolving
disputes ...more
- Powerful Partnerships: Eight steps to creating solid, strategic organizational relationships...more
- HR Forum: Drop
by our booth to say hello at the HR Forum in Ottawa early next month...more
- Free Download: Check out a discussion paper on stress among Ontario nurses, including HR
impacts ...more
- Spotlight: In
conversation with Queen's IRC Director Paul Juniper.... ...more
Upcoming Programs:
- Oct. 15 - 20, Kingston - Industrial
Relations
- Oct. 22 - 27, Kingston - Negotiation
Skills
- Oct. 31 - Nov. 02, Regina - Business
Strategy
- Nov. 07- 09, Kingston - Organizational
Design
- Nov. 14-16, Kingston - Partnership
Development
- Feb. 26-Mar. 1, 2007, Kingston
- Leadership
Capacity
- Mar. 5-Mar. 8, 2007, Kingston - OD
Foundations
- Apr. 15-Apr. 20 2007, Kingston
- Negotiation
Skills
CBC's
George Smith is Upcoming Don Wood Visiting Lecturer
Queen's IRC and the Masters of Industrial
Relations (MIR) program are pleased to announce that George Smith, Senior Vice-President,
Human Resources and Organization at CBC/Radio-Canada, has been chosen as the
next Don Wood Visiting Lecturer in Industrial Relations. Mr. Smith will be on
campus November 8 and 9 for encounters with faculty and MIR students, and will
deliver a public lecture on Thursday, November 9 at 4 pm. The title of his lecture
is "Strategic Negotiations: Perspectives from a Road Well-Travelled."
It will be held at Queen's University, Policy Studies Building, 138 Union St.,
in the Conference Room on the main floor. For further information please contact
Mary Lou Coates at 613-533-6000 x77082.
Alumni in Action
Lillian Napierala is Executive
Executive Director of North of Superior Programs, a mental health agency that
covers 80,000 sq km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont. We asked what new knowledge
she was finding most valuable at work since she earned her Queen’s IRC
Industrial Relations Certificate in May 2006.
"Negotiation Skills was the most memorable program as it was the greatest challenge for me professionally,
following an eight-month labour dispute. My negotiating style has developed
substantially. One of the key lessons I walked away with was that negotiations
are not black and white - one must see the grey areas to successfully negotiate.
"Upon completion of my Queen’s
IR Certificate, I returned to work and managed to settle 23 of 25 outstanding
grievances. I attribute this success to the skills and training I received during
the mock simulations during the Dispute Resolution course. I was able
to see and experience people who were just like me but on the opposite side
of the table, and found myself reflecting: ‘You are just like me and this
is not going to work; we need some give and take here.’
"Labour arbitration is a complex
process, but the IRC program streamlined the key components and presented matters
in a simplified manner. I am now involved in a labour arbitration matter, which
again, through the skills I acquired, has settled, avoiding costly legal and
arbitration fees.
"At our last meeting, our Board
President commented: ‘We certainly are not picking up the phone to Legal
as much. This training investment has paid itself off ten-fold in terms of saved
legal costs, time and energy.’”
Go to Queen’s
IRC Industrial Relations Certificate.
Powerful
Partnerships: Eight Steps to Solid and Strategic Relational Architecture
An organization’s relational
architecture – the network of linkages between people and other business
units, customers, suppliers, and others – is of critical strategic importance.
So how do you ensure your organization's
relational architecture is based on a sound design? Below we share the key building
blocks, drawn from IRC’s Partnership
Development program, to run Nov. 14-16 in Kingston.
Step 1: Define key responsibility areas
Begin with a deep understanding of
your unit’s purpose and key responsibility areas. Ask, What is the focus
of our work, and who do we serve? What are we primarily responsible for? How
are we expected to add value? What critical resources do we require? What is
our authority? What are our accountabilities? How will performance be measured?
Step 2: Identify key linkages
Given the key responsibility areas,
identify the nature and intent of the important relationships (reporting as
well as essential collaborations). Map those linkages.
Step 3: Identify integration
needs
Identify the required level of integration
for each key linkage, based on the nature and intent of each (i.e., seamless
linkage, tactical integration, strategic coordination, separation).
Step 4: Identify linking
mechanisms
Given the required level of integration
for each key linkage, identify the most appropriate linking mechanisms (i.e.,
via structures or processes). Map it out.
Step 5: Create alignment
Beginning with the most critical
key linkages, meet with required stakeholders to discuss alignment needs. Barriers
to alignment fall into five categories: Values Differences, Relationship Problems,
External Pressures, Data Problems, and Structure Problems.
Step 6: Identify rocks in
the road
Explore specific challenges you and
your partners face in building and maintaining a relationship. Boundaries and
specific roles must be clear and well-managed.
Step 7: Issue resolution
Clarify how you will resolve issues
as they occur (set up ground rules; an issue resolution ladder where each party
can go if there are bumps; and make a commitment to remaining interest-based
when working on resolutions).
Step 8: Renewal and support
To survive and flourish, partners
need to ensure that both parties’ interests are satisfied. Common structures
include a review process to identify lessons learned, regular conversations
between contacts, and partnering or relationship champions or coaches.
See
You at the HR Forum
We are looking forward to greeting
our alumni and friends in Ottawa during the HR Forum, which takes place Nov.
7 and 8 at the Congress Centre. We will have a booth at the Forum, so do drop
by and say hello. Paul Juniper, the IRC’s new Director, will be speaking
at the “Top 10 Employers in the National Capital Region” Awards
Breakfast on Nov. 8.
Go to: Ottawa
HR Forum.
Free
Download: Stress Among Ontario Nurses
Nursing is a particularly stressful
profession, says Susan Helen Fitzgibbon in her Discussion Paper, which examines
the prevalence, sources and impacts of high stress levels - including HR issues
around recruitment and retention: click
here
Spotlight:
He's Seen HR From All Sides Now
Paul Juniper has seen a lot of
change in his 25 years in human resources leadership. We asked him why he likes
HR, and where he sees the field - and Queen's IRC - heading in the coming years.
Listen to Paul Juniper speak on the evolution of HR
Given your long experience
in senior HR positions and as a very active association volunteer, you strike
me as someone who is utterly comfortable in the HR practitioner world. What
about this field appeals to you?
I’m a broad generalist, and
I like the variety. I started out being a specialist in training - that’s
how I got into HR. The company where I worked decided they wanted to merge the
training function and what they then called ‘the personnel function.’
They were in different divisions, and they gave me the opportunity to put two
areas together.
I like the breadth, the growth, and
the changes I’ve seen in the past 25 years in HR have been exciting ones.
I’ve never had any reason to leave the field. What’s most appealing
to me is the strategic connection with the business - being able to help the
business develop, or go in the direction it needs to go, by seeing the systemic
connection with HR functions.
For example, if a company has low
wages, that has certain implications for turnover. There will likely be high
turnover, so you will need to train people and have a lot of orientation, meaning
you are going to need more people in that area. So you may save on paying low
wages, but you are going to have additional costs in other areas.
It is this ‘knee-bone is connected
to the thigh-bone’ part that interests me: understanding how that’s
connected, and articulating it to employees and to management.
To read the full Spotlight article,
go to: http://www.industrialrelationscentre.com/hr-management/articles/he-s-seen-hr-from-all-sides-now.htm
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Fax us: 613 533 6812
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