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HR Review Implementation

Staff Development

Deliverable: Ensure all HR Service and Operations staff, as well as employees in faculties and departments who administer HR functions, have the knowledge, skills, and behaviours to deliver exceptional levels of  service and accuracy.

Book with a lightbulb on it

The HR Review indicated the user community wanted better access to HR supports, and to ensure that payroll services were delivered by experts. Numerous actions have been taken in response. Examples include: 

  • Investments were made to increase payroll expertise, with a Senior Manager for Payroll, Tax and Data Compliance hired in July 2020, and a new Director of HR Operations, Systems and People Analytics hired in April 2021; all payroll team members continue to be fully certified through the Canadian Payroll Association. 
  • Re-alignment of HR Operations allowed for greater focus on new HR Service Desk priorities and client support on HR operational matters across our community. 
  • Several HR teams were realigned to form HR Centres of Expertise including Compensation, Pension and Benefits; Health, Safety, Well-being, and Labor Relations; Talent, Employment Equity and Development; and Strategic Project Management.  
  • Strategic HR Partner roles were introduced to support Faculties and departments; certification training continues to be provided through the Human Capital Institute (HCI).  
  • ELR and HR partners also participated in Alternative Dispute Resolution training. 
  • 78 HR team members received Lean Six Sigma* training. Some project leaders completed Green Belt certification. 
  • HR team members attended training on customer service, resilience, and mental health. 

Outcome – Improved access to Resources and Improved Communication for Administrators in Faculties and departments 

To enable knowledge sharing with departmental administrators and leaders, HRS: 

  • Introduced the HR Network delivering monthly information and training sessions for over 400 Faculty or department administrators who are engaged in HR work.  
  • Established new Communities of Practice for HR Strategic Partners (monthly), all embedded HR partnership team members (monthly) and Employment Equity Facilitators and embedded EDI Specialist roles (quarterly plus forum). 
  • Focused efforts towards change management. Training and education, post go live support and on-line resources are provided for every new project and process optimization effort.  
  • The Talent, Development and Employment Equity team members facilitated over 220 sessions supporting hiring, onboarding, employment equity, and team engagement. 
  • The HR Forum continues to be provided two-times per year (since 2016) delivering updates on key trends and HR strategic initiatives. 
  • An HR Update newsletter provides monthly updates on numerous topics.