Canadian HR Strategy

20 Executive Series Digest hrreporter.com fellow co-worker in our branch or offi ce?' and that was an 'Ah-ha' moment for me," he said. e program, which was launched with just one email to every region, aver- ages about 10,000 thank-you messages per month. While 93 per cent of the messages sent are public, the tool also allows users to send private messages. "It's just taking a step back and remem- bering not all employees want to be up here being thanked. It gets back to the im- portance of knowing who your employee is and what type of recognition do they want," said Richardson. A pilot project that launched along with the social recognition platform proved the success of the tool. It found recognition op- timization leads to increased engagement, which leads to increased performance. " e more instant thanks and nomina- tions people sent and received, they were more engaged and more loyal. e ones that didn't were more susceptible to leav- ing the organization," said Richardson. e platform is also being embraced by senior leaders. " at speaks volumes to this," he said. "Many of our executive team have come into this and one of them said to me, 'I used to spend two hours a week on the phone, but now I can recognize 10 times as many people in such a short time.'" TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT T he right tools for the job (Organizational Effectiveness) By Dave Crisp T he annual "Tool Time" session at the Strategic Capabil- ity Network revealed some programs and practices that were genuinely astonishing. is year, four practitioners — representing CBC, RBC, Bean- fi eld Metroconnect and Points International — explained programs that work well for them. Most startling were two approaches for getting CEOs to recog- nize their own impact on the culture and people at their organiza- tions, how their behaviour — as well as that of other people — needs to change, and what they need to learn for overall performance to improve. Fortunately, the presentations are now captured on video (go to www.scnetwork.ca to view clips) because slides o en do not do jus- tice without personal commentary, and only listening for a second or third time really revealed some of the most surprising successes. It's tough for CEOs to ask for help, to be honest about their wor- ries and their own actions in particular. Especially revealing was the hilarious, down-to-earth story from CEO Dan Armstrong of 40-employee Beanfi eld — which he started at age 15. It has really taken off in the last fi ve years, requiring its fi rst HR manager and a series of eye-opening learning challenges for the top managers, in- cluding Armstrong himself. Suffi ce it to say Armstrong found a useful profi ling tool by Heather Hilliard to help employees not only understand their dif- ferences but what they could do about them. In one case, a key executive was rescued from almost certainly being fi red to becoming one the company's biggest contributors. It illustrates the truth that change for the better can only begin with seeing and accepting responsibility for the problem. Similarly, Sherrill Burns helped Points International's chief peo- ple offi cer Inez Murdoch focus on key cultural styles among dif- ferent leaders. is led to change programs that likewise improved results, answering questions for executives, including the CEO, such as: "How is my behaviour aff ecting culture here?" Interestingly, both consultants said they are usually called in by CEOs who want everyone but themselves to change, so the consul- tants fi nd subtle ways of encouraging CEOs to see their own roles and diffi culties. It was also great, but less earth-shaking, to hear how 70 per cent of the trainers at CBC are staff members, though concerning to see they have "People & Culture" (CBC's name for HR) pay for, but not direct, development. Development is housed in the line to "ensure it adds to productive results in every case" — perhaps a scary signal that HR is missing that important key? In another demonstration that even big companies can and should keep learning, RBC's manager of recognition programs in- troduced an online tool for thanking people. e benefi ts? Employ- ees who received thank-you messages as part of the pilot program participated in signifi cantly more productive activities than those in the control group. Knowledge of how to improve performance keeps growing and, most importantly, so does zeroing in on the factors that really make a diff erence. Dave Crisp is a Toronto-based writer and thought leader for Strate- gic Capability Network with a wealth of experience, including 14 years leading HR at Hudson's Bay Co. where he took the 70,000-employee retailer to "best company to work for" status. For more information, visit www.balance-and-results.com. HR tools in a viral world (Strategic Capability) By Karen Gorsline F or years, HR tools have been affi liated with the dreaded "corporate rollout," where employees brace themselves for the newest corporate initiative. Even when legitimate needs are being met, the fanfare, design and rigidity — and lack of early engagement — dull enthusiasm. e introduction of such tools faces even more of a challenge when employees have instant access to information and expect high

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