Social media may be compared to an oceanic tsunami. These tidal waves travel across the sea at very high speed but relatively low wave height. As they approach the continental shelf, they compress and begin to grow until they are true tidal waves, moving rapidly and consuming everything in their path. Social media as we know them have only been around since 2005, but they are already having a profound impact on how society communicates and operates. As a result, employers face a wide array of issues in the workplace, from new ways of recruiting and employing people to how social media affect employee engagement, productivity and organizational performance. As with a tsunami, if you wait until you see it, you will be too late to survive it. This session will provide practical advice for managing social media in the workplace, using this powerful tool to the advantage of your organization, and establishing the metrics through which you may measure your progress.

Workplace application – This session will examine the major trends and technologies shaping social media and, in turn, society. Attendees will learn how they impact not only recruiting and talent acquisition, but also engagement, productivity, and ultimately organizational performance. The session will include case studies and tips on how to manage a successful social media communications program.

World economic challenges and increased competition intensify the pressure on organizations to become more flexible and people-focused to sustain growth, innovation and operational excellence. This requires effective leadership to plan, implement and sustain complex changes in a dynamic environment. Bombardier Aerospace will present its approach to launching and managing a cultural transformation through an effective, anchored and rigorous change management methodology. In line with its Enterprise Strategic Plan, Bombardier Aerospace is deploying a lean manufacturing system with behavioural and cultural components embedded in the roll-out of the master plan. Human Resources took this opportunity to apply and standardize a global company-wide change management framework based on five key levers. An effective change management process is a key element of the HR Strategy at Bombardier Aerospace to support organizational performance and people engagement. The two speakers will share their experience with us.

Workplace application – This session will describe the business value in deploying a global company-wide change management methodology applicable to real-life cultural and business transformation.

There is no question that organizations the world over are facing enormous challenges with globalization, demographic changes, economic and political shifts, and the recruitment and retention of great talent. The ability to effectively manage diversity and create more inclusive work environments -- in a wide variety of contexts -- will be a key lever for creating competitive advantage in a rapidly changing world. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Economist Intelligence Unit (a subsidiary of The Economist Group) collaborated on the most comprehensive research study to date of global diversity practices, perceptions, and attitudes. This ground-breaking research study, released in June, 2009, includes responses from more than 500 senior executives in organizations from all five regions of the world. Find out what drives the business case for diversity, the unique challenges of each region and the solutions most global organizations successfully deployed. Additionally, learn about the SHRM Global Diversity Readiness Index (DRI) and which of 47 countries studied scored the highest in their readiness for diversity and inclusion practices.

Workplace application – This session will examine global diversity research, specifically providing attendees with an understanding of the business case for diversity and inclusion, challenges around the world by geographic region, and solutions used by global organizations to address those challenges.

Society today is beginning to accept the concept of sustainability as an important issue for both corporations and individuals to address. We, as global citizens, are all coming to realize that the definition of sustainability isn’t simply about environmental sustainability, which in and of itself is a critical issue, but is expanding to include organizational sustainability and social sustainability. Our employees and leaders increasingly recognize their individual and collective responsibility to improve our environment, whatever defines it.

The University of Winnipeg has, through the engagement not only of its staff and faculty, but also through strong relationships with students and the community, been able to develop a sustainability management system that is successfully embracing all elements of sustainability.

This session will discuss the elements of implementing a broad-based sustainability management system that has strong human resources and business links, and share with you the value and importance this initiative has brought to our campus and the broader community.

Workplace application – This session will describe the urgency and importance of Human Resources embracing and providing leadership on the value of becoming a sustainability leader, and how organizations can, in creating a sustainable workplace, not only have an impact on their own organization but also positively impact their communities and our future workforce.

Are HR and employee relations actors (managers and union reps) and their key forums being globalized? Drawing on a range of recent research conducted by the Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT), Professors Hennebert and Murray will look at how globalization is affecting the regulation of work and employment in multinational firms. Worksite actors face compelling pressures: within the firm, from a web of benchmarking and cross-national comparisons within their ever-restructuring firms; beyond the firm, from a wide range of stakeholders on CSR (corporate social responsibility), decent sustainable work and new types of labour regulation. What kinds of capabilities, resources and institutional allies do local actors need to develop to be globalized actors within their multinational organizations? This session looks at how local sites chart their paths in the face of these multiple pressures.

Workplace application – This workshop will ask participants to think about the impact of globalization on their work and how to map the kinds of resources, skills and allies that help HR and employee relations actors navigate the “globalization” of their worksites.

Boston Consulting Group and the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA) have partnered to launch a worldwide report on the future of HR. The study, the most comprehensive review of global HR practices ever conducted, provides piercing insight into the current and future challenges facing companies. It analyses how current and future HR challenges shift over time, looking into topics from sourcing employees, performance and developmental issues to the retention of companies’ soon scarcest resource, its people, as well as HR excellence in operations and processes.

More than 5,000 mainly HR professionals around the world participated in this survey and more than 200 senior executives of leading companies shared their insights in personal interviews. In many companies, the links between corporate strategy and HR on the one hand and between HR and business metrics on the other are often too weak. However, HR departments have a pivotal role in deducting how a company’s overall strategy drives all people issues and tracking the impact of its HR work.

After having mapped the HR landscape, the speaker will explore how several key initiatives are best set up, implemented and evaluated to meet the criteria of strategic linkage and impact measurement. Successful approaches will be illustrated by best practice examples.

Workplace application – This session will present the results of the second worldwide HR study conducted jointly by WFPMA and BCG. It will identify the key HR challenges that companies around the globe are facing today and present best practice insights on how they are best addressed.

>> This session is also presented in French (F11) and in Spanish (C14).