This webinar discusses how to prevent HR nightmares. It will cover lessons learned and what to avoid, building a proper HR foundation, legislative compliance, treating employees as the greatest asset, and helpful HR resources. The presenters are Micheal Burch, Christine Roy, and Barbara Nicholls, experts in accounting, human resources consulting, and employment law. They will take live questions at the end.
1. Welcome to Today’s Webinar
The Expert Toolkit Series:
How to Prevent an HR Nightmare
2. Questions
Ground Rules
Windows Mac Tablet
• Attendees are in listen-only mode
• This webinar is being recorded for future on-demand playback
• Your participation represents acknowledgement that we are recording
• Tweet questions & comments to: #WelchExpert
3. Presenters
Micheal Burch, CPA, CA, CFP
Managing Partner
mburch@welchllp.com
www.welchllp.com
@WelchLLP
Christine Roy
Human Resources Consultant
christine@hrsolutionsottawa.com
@croyhrsolutions
Barbara Nicholls
Partner – Low Murchison Radnoff LLP
bnicholls@lmrlawyers.com
@LMRlawyers
4. What we will cover today
• Lessons learned / What to avoid
• Building a proper foundation
• Legislative compliance
• People: your greatest asset
• Helpful resources
10. Q & A
Micheal Burch, CPA, CA, CFP
Managing Partner
mburch@welchllp.com
www.welchllp.com
@WelchLLP
Christine Roy
Human Resources Consultant
christine@hrsolutionsottawa.com
@croyhrsolutions
Barbara Nicholls
Partner – Low Murchison Radnoff LLP
bnicholls@lmrlawyers.com
@LMRlawyers
Hinweis der Redaktion
Darryl
Darryl - introductions: Micheal Burch, CPA, CA, CFP, Managing Partner of Welch LLP since 2006, is responsible for the direction and operations of Welch LLP. Micheal provides specialty service support in all areas of strategy and he has extensive experience in taxation, financial and estate planning and cross-border consulting.
Christine Roy – Human Resources Consultant has 25 years of experience in human resources. Prior to launching her independent human resources consulting practice in 2008, she was the Director of Human Resources for the Ottawa Police Service. She has worked in both the private and public sectors where she gained hands-on experience working with senior leaders to align human resource programs with organizational strategic objectives.
Christine brings to an organization her experience providing strategic support and hands-on practical human resources solutions in all major areas of human resources in diverse settings such as municipal government, police service, high tech, engineering, non-profit and start-ups.
Barbara Nicholls – Partner, Low Murchison Radnoff LLP is head of the firm’s employment and labour law group. Barbara is involved in the preparation and presentation of cases before labour tribunals, at arbitration and before the courts. She has appeared before various appellate courts including the Ontario and Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Barbara advises clients at both the local and national level on trends in employment and labour legislation and jurisprudence. Barbara also has extensive experience in insurance matters and has acted for individuals and insurers, with particular emphasis in the area of professional liability.
Managing people is not easy. For most business owners, it can be a real challenge to find and keep talented people. Not everyone is equipped with the skills and knowledge or feel they have the time to put in place the multitude of polices, programs and supports to properly manage their people.
Lessons learned and things to avoid
In today’s environment, it’s important to put your best foot forward
Hiring people is one of the single most significant investments you can make; don’t just wing it; conduct a proper interview – plan and prepare in advance; ask good questions
Don’t just go with your “gut”
Conduct references – not just for finding the skeletons in the closet but it can help you learn more about the strengths and improvement areas of your new hire
Make sure you have good employment agreements and follow a proper hiring process: important for clarity, liability and certainty
Manage performance – ensure you follow a proper process. Progressive discipline, performance improvement, timely and regular feedback.
Build the proper foundation
There need to be some good basic HR practices
Fair and equitable pay and benefits
Orientation and onboarding - important to have people start off on the right foot. It sets the tone for the rest of their experience with the company
Ensure you maintain good records
Have proper workplace policies – Health and Safety, Workplace Harassment and Workplace Violence
Good practices to deal with employee issues; resolve conflict, manage performance and deal with personal matters
Legal compliance
Ensure you are meeting your legislative and regulatory requirements:
Employment Standards Act, Occupational Health and Safety Act, Human Rights Code, AODA, etc.
Know what you can and cannot ask in interviews
Know what documentation you are required to maintain
Know what training you are required to provide
People are greatest asset
In small businesses, we often worry about investing or spending $ if we can’t see an immediate return on that money but a small investment in your people will lead to big rewards
Training and providing professional development
Employee Recognition Programs
Mentoring programs
Investing in your leaders through coaching and developing staff
Assessing employee satisfaction
Providing regular and ongoing feedback
Keeping your people happy; trained and engaged will pay off big time.
Sometimes it is the small things that matter
Some helpful resources
Ontario Human Rights at Work
http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/human-rights-work-2008-third-edition/iii-principles-and-concepts
Mental Health
http://www.guardingmindsatwork.ca/
“War for Talent”, Ed Micheals, Helen Handfield-Jones, Beth Axelrod
“2013 Employee Engagement Trends”, The Hay Group
“The Science of Happiness”, Globoforce
“Shaping the Future: Leadership in Ontario’s Nonprofit Labour Force”, The Mowat Centre
Centre for Creative Leadership, www.ccl.org
Monday Morning Manager – The Globe and Mail
Harvard Business Review -Free e-newsletters
Ministry of Labour – great tools, guides and calculators
Sign up for law firms alerts and newsletters
Seed Questions:
At what point should an organization consider investing in HR support or services?
When can I dismiss an employee for cause?
I hired an employee and found out after they started working that they lied on their resume? What should I do?
If I didn’t have an employment contract with an employee when I hired them, can I just get them to sign one after they have been working with me?
What is a probationary period? Can I extend the probationary period if I need more time to assess whether or not the employee is working out?