Beyond our role in providing support to individuals during the transition to the new way of working, we may also need to have a good Human Resources strategy and plan. To start, we can contact our Human Resources branch early in the process. Some areas they may be able to help us with include:
- Organization design and classification:
- Can we employ a structural model to simplify classification and staffing processes during our implementation phase?
- Structural models can help facilitate the movement of people across the organization in response to operational demands.
- Human Resources advisors can also guide us through decisions that could minimize the need to put staff through competitive processes downstream at implementation.
- Staffing:
- Staffing advisors can help us with vacancy management and other staffing issues as we shape the new organization and move into implementation.
- If some staff are in vulnerable situations, staffing advisors can assist with early action to help deploy those affected to other areas of the branch or the department.
- Labour relations:
- It is always wise to touch base with Labour Relations advisors to alert them to our change plans and to get their advice in terms of union consultations, should those be recommended. When we do need to consult with unions, this is an indication that they should be included in our list of stakeholders.
- Training and development:
- The earlier we can establish some concrete plans around re-skilling and development opportunities for our staff, uncertainty around the change will lessen and support should increase.
- Some of this training and development can include change leadership training, transition and resilience training for all managers and staff, as well as technical training to support new roles dictated by the changes underway.
- To help support whomever may need to exercise a management or leadership function, coaching can also be a very powerful resource to offer.
It is important that the streams of the Human Resources plan be integrated into our change strategy and timed to fit with the various projects that are driving the overall change.
