Canadian HR Strategy

20/CANADIAN HR STRATEGY MEC or Manager Excellence Community. "(HR people) know better than anyone that the reason peo- ple leave or stay with a company is because of their relationship with their manager. So we want to have the very best managers in the industry working for Microsoft because we know that will be what will make our employees the happiest and most successful. So, once a quarter, we take every manager out of their job for a full day to do intense management training," said Kennedy. "And this development is paying off." MENTORSHIP AND MILLENNIALS The organization also invests in Microsoft Advanced College Hires, or MACHs, which is a fairly elite group within the com- pany, said Kennedy. "It's a group of undergraduates and MBAs that we hire for basically a two- year leadership program. They do come in and work in a functional area like HR, consulting, professional services, et ce- tera, but they're a community that gets together for classroom training, for learn- ing circles, for both business and social communities. And this group likes to give back," she said. "It's not just about hiring talent for the future of Microsoft — it's who they are. They are the millennials… they also are the group that grew up in the mobile-fi rst, cloud-fi rst world that we are all living in." The MACHs perform reverse mentor- ing at Microsoft for senior executives and leaders — Kennedy has her own MACH mentor who keeps her up-to-date on trends among the younger generations. "He coaches me on what are the latest apps for the millennials, what social strate- gies do they follow, are my tweets relevant to this generation, and other areas that are hot. Because, again, these are some of our most important customers," she said. "As you can imagine, this is a huge fi - nancial investment for Microsoft. We rank towards the high end of the tech industry, we spend between $2,000 and $4,500 per person per year on training and education, and that's com- pared to a U.S. number for all industries of $1,600 per year. It is critical to the success of our company." WORK WHENEVER, WHEREVER "Workplace" is defi nitely an evolving term, said Kennedy, and it's critical that employers keep pace. "It used to be that your offi ce or maybe your desk would be your workplace. Today, it could be your cube or maybe your touchdown station. But in our world, it could be your car, an airplane, a commuter train, it could be your kid's soccer game, your customer's space — you need to work wherever you want organization, they're not just siloed in what they learned in uni- versity, but we encourage them to take different experiences across not only Microsoft Canada but the Microsoft corporation." INVESTING IN CAREERS, NOT JOBS It's also important to understand employees don't just want a job — they want a career, said Kennedy. That's why the organization invests a great deal in career de- velopment initiatives. "We have a culture of continuous learning. Our new CEO, Satya Nadella, likes to talk about lifelong learners. But let me give you some numbers: Last year, our employees (around the world) did over 2.4 million hours of online training," she said. "On top of that, we have Microsoft certifi cations — a lot of our customers and partners will go get certifi cations in certain areas. We encourage our employees to also become certifi ed. And if you're the best in the world or the best in Canada at Of- fi ce 365 or maybe Windows Server, we encourage you to make your own video and share it, upload it to the Infopedia portal, so we can share it and fi nd out who has the best ideas across the company." The organization averages between seven and 18 days of formal training for employees, which could be classroom learn- ing, learning circles or participation in some of the huge global events Microsoft holds around the world, she said. Another critical area of investment in careers is around train- ing managers, which is why Microsoft has a group called the "We spend between $2,000 and $4,500 per person per year on training." Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is silhouetted as he walks on stage to deliver a speech to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Ottawa. PHOTO: JIM YOUNG (REUTERS)

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