With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1199442
FEBRUARY 2020 BCBUSINESS 49 We have a bold vision for the future. Join our team at technicalsafetybc.ca/careers Everything we do has the safety of British Columbians in mind. Are you passionate about working for a purpose driven and innovative organization? C M Y CM MY CY CMY K diversity ad test.pdf 3 12/10/2019 9:51:38 AM Untitled-107 1 12/11/19 10:34 AM Lawyers | Patent & Trademark Agents Borden Ladner Gervais LLP is an Ontario Limited Liability Partnership. blg.com Setting the Standard of Excellence We have the right team to help you succeed. Graham Walker Managing Partner, Vancouver 604.687.5744 What's the best way to approach a candidate about a position? Most people, if you're talking to some- body who's a perfect candidate, have no interest in moving on. You've got to captivate them with an opportunity that is truly compelling. We're not talking about title and salary. How are you connecting to their why and the mission for the organization? I like to ask, How would you like this conver- sation to start? You immediately get them focused in the mode of what is it that they want. This is about the candidate. Get them engaged from the very beginning. How do you integrate new hires? On day four, we bring all of the stakeholders in the organization, as well as the new hire, together and ask: Where is the company going? What is the company vision? How is this new hire going to be a part of that? About day 50, I do the midterm check-in with the same questions. We don't do any reflection on what has happened or what bumps came along the way because it's not a shame and finger- pointing exercise. What about retention? One-to-ones on a regular basis to iden- tify what the challenges are, what the opportunities are, areas for develop- ment and so on—that's how you retain people. Open dialogue, open commu- nication, lots of collaboration. Any tips on keeping people engaged over the long term? As I explain in my book, "A surefire path to employee disengagement is to stifle their interests in tasks that fall outside their job descriptions. 'You can't do that—that's a marketing thing.' Or 'We don't need you to lead that training; that's what we have a training department for.' Effective people leaders see their employees as varied, complex individuals. They expect team members to do their jobs, but they're always interested in their employees' unique interests and passions, and they strive to draw these out within the context of their assigned tasks." –F.S.