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Skills
International connects jobs and skills
The Brampton Board of Trade has been extremely active
in raising awareness about the benefits of hiring skilled
internationally trained professionals through efforts
such as the award-winning Skills Without Borders initiative.
Another initiative available to employers in the Brampton
area is Skills International (www.skillsinternational.ca).
Skills International partners with community-based agencies
that prepare newcomers to meet the needs and expectations
of employers in Canada. Our role in this process is
to connect and market “job ready” internationally educated
and trained professionals with employers who need their
skills. Employers register with Skills International
and search the database for prospective employees with
the relevant skills they seek through an easy-to-use
e-matching tool that automatically identifies candidates
that best fit the opportunity.
Skills International is unique in that employers control
the process and review and initiate contact with prospective
candidates who they identify. Employers also have access
to more detailed candidate information than is available
in a standard resume. Electronic copies of educational
degrees, certifications, letters of recommendation and
references, and information pertaining to regulatory
and licensure status on candidates is available to registered
employers through Skills International.
The application allows employers to search quickly on
numerous criteria including required skills and competencies,
certifications, work experience and past employers.
Employers post opportunities that remain active on the
system and automatically match candidates who best fit
the job requirements. This functionality allows employers
to continually be on the look out for a unique set of
skills and competencies. In addition, HR professionals
can create a hiring community within a posting; send
login information to members of the hiring committee
and view prospective candidates; and share recommendations
and comments with the hiring committee members.
Skills International is a project sponsored by the Ontario
Trillium Foundation and is currently funded by the Ontario
Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration. It is an Internet-based
initiative that is dedicated to highlighting the talent
and skills of pre-screened internationally educated
and trained professionals who are already residing in
Canada and who have been pre-qualified as “job ready”.
Skills International is a collaborative project lead
by WIL Employment Connections from London Ontario; COSTI
Immigrant Services in Toronto and the New Canadians
Program operated by the Waterloo Region District School
Board, and was launched in March of 2006.
To get a complete list of organizations using Skills
International as part of their recruiting process, please
visit the Skills International website at www.skillsinternational.ca
The service is free (for a limited time) for all employers
but requires registration and completion of the Employer
Participation Agreement (EPA) For more information,
contact Kerry Lambie, Project Liaison Officer for Skills
International at Brampton’s COSTI office, (905) 459-8855,
ext. 234 (lambie@costi.org),
or visit the site to register directly.
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Communications
and personality type
People are being told, “we don’t know, we can’t know
and you have to be productive while dealing with uncertainty.
Don’t get too comfortable; it will probably all be different
tomorrow.”
What does this environment feel like to the people
caught up in it? What do people need to help them to
deal with the present and the future?
Change can be difficult to manage but even more so,
if clear priorities are not set, communication is weak
and roles are not clearly defined or understood.
Here is s scenario I was involved in recently, where
a dysfunctional group of managers had been taken off
their jobs for a Special Project. They didn’t know how
to let go or what to let go of in their old jobs. As
a result, the project team was lacking cohesiveness.
Managers struggled with letting the self-directed teams
develop and they couldn’t give up the authority for
getting things done. Everything was coming to a standstill
because no one had any authority to approve anything.
Employees were frustrated and the managers were not
effective on the project team.
We used focus group meetings for the employees and
the Myers Briggs Type Indicator to identify Manager
preferences and here’s what we discovered:
o no one had been groomed in the departments to take
over the manager’s position as a backup
o staff were struggling with who would do what; they
couldn’t make decisions
o a self -appointed leader emerged among the staff who
was alienating everyone.
o the manager was never available
o there were endless meetings that produced nothing.
Another major discovery was that leaders were handing
out bits and pieces of information, not setting out
priorities and because the managers were not being told
what the project was about, they didn’t see the urgency,
“burying their heads in the sand” -hoping the project
would go away. Does this sound familiar?
This Project team began to turn around once they learned
to understand each other and the communication patterns
that arise when people are faced with change, and how
they react to change because of their preferences. The
Myers Briggs Type Indicator, helped to identify where
people get their energy from, how they gather information
and how they make decisions, and how they like to relate
to the outside world.
The leaders of the project realized what their team
members needed in way of communications to be effective,
while at the same time, learned their own preferences.
They also realized that individual preferences sometimes
interfere with the way people communicate and provide
information to others.
For more information on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI) you can reach Frances Laming-Vancer at 905-793-5017
or at frances@hrconcepts.ca
– www.hrconcepts.ca
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Do
the math – it’s an investment
“Sending employees on personal development programs
are nice but far too costly for a small to medium sized
business like ours.” This statement is repeated more
times than enough by countless business owners every
week. Unfortunately, the statement is based on a business
myth.
The myth: “personal development (facilitated learning
programs) are an expense”.
Truth be known, the development of your employees is
an investment, much like investing in new computer hardware
/software or facilities.
Before you dismiss paying for employee development,
provided either by an internal learning & development
group or external consultant, take the time to do the
math. Consider the cost for the programs being funded
for employees. Add back in savings able to be directly
linked to the improvement in knowledge; skill set; attitude
and motivation of the staff. I believe the result will
be a positive ROI (Return on Investment).
Leaders then ask: “how do I begin to do the calculation
of my Return on Investment for employee development.”
First, you need to know what the outlay would be for
programs such as those to improve the leadership skills
of existing or recently promoted members of your leadership
team. Perhaps you want to send your staff on a program
to learn how to evaluate their day to day processes
then recommend and implement time and cost saving solutions.
Another area could focus on improving staff time management
(personal productivity) skills. You might also want
to focus on client service training or making them more
aware and accepting of the diversity in today’s workplace.
To calculate your return on investment you need to
consider the reduced cost of recruiting and hiring new
staff; the value add in performance from employees that
are satisfied; the improved productivity from becoming
aware of how to manage their time; the value of increasing
your business because your customer service is better.
One final item to consider is the positive impact on
operating expenses.
Of course, it is easy to say DO THE MATH, but without
a template to follow, it is just another thing to do
on your already heavy workload. Therefore, the following
template is offered for your consideration.
Less: Investment in Employee Development:
– Leadership Skills Program = $
– Communication Skills Program = $
– Process Improvement Training = $
– Personal Productivity Training = $
– Client Service Training = $
– Diversity Awareness Training = $
Now total that investment.
Plus: Return on Investment:
– Improved Employee Satisfaction = $
– Reduced Turnover/hiring Cost = $
– Improved Productivity = $
– Improved Customer Service = $
– Increased Business = $
– Decreased Operating Expenses = $
Total the return and calculate the net positive ROI.
I urge you to look to the future of your organization
and DO THE MATH.
Gordon Newman is President of The Newman Learning Group
Inc. an organization dedicated to providing value add
solutions to improve the bottom line performance of
organization and individuals. Gordon may be reached
at gordon@newmanlearning.com
or 905-790-2944
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Religion
and work. Oil and water?
Tune in to Suzanne McFarlane - a diversity sourcing
specialist with Hewitt Associates,
a world leader in HR consulting. She will outline what
you, as an employer, need to know
about accommodating religions in your work place. She’ll
explain your responsibility to respect
employee religious practices and how to implement changes
in your organization that will
improve your employees’ satisfaction and productivity.
hireimmigrants.ca is hosting a tele-seminar on religion
and work so that employers can
learn more about accommodation and ask any and all the
questions they might have.
The seminar will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 16, from
noon until 1 pm, over the phone.
Len Starrett, Manager of Human Resources at Tyco Electronics,
will also share his experiences.
Register online today at www.hireimmigrants.ca/seminars.htm.
If you cannot participate check back online a week after
the event to download and listen to the audio file.
The duty to accommodate religious practices is not
discretionary and employers should approach this mandatory
requirement with openness; it is another way to widen
the recruiting pool and improve employee satisfaction
and productivity. We’ll explain the duty to accommodate
employees’ religious practices and how to implement
these changes in your organization.
The hireimmigrants.ca tele-seminar series is funded
by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
hireimmigrants.ca is a program of the Toronto Region
Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) and is funded by
the Ontario Ministry if Citizenship and Immigration.
It provides employers with interactive tools and resources
to accelerate the integration of skilled immigrants
into their organizations. TRIEC is working to increase
access and support for immigrants trying to enter the
labour market, while at the same time helping organizations
like yours benefit from the talents and skills immigrants
bring with them.
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