EY People Leaders Forum 2022

Speakers:
Danielle Laramee, Partner, People Advisory Services Leader, EY
Bernard Labelle, Executive Vice-President and Chief Human Resources Officer, CGI
Karen Wensley, Senior Board Member

Research shows that there is now a greater focus on the people agenda at the board level. In the past, boards were more focused on business strategy, however revelations have indicated firmly that strategy cannot be effectively executed without people.  Panellists agreed that talent shortages continue to be a major issue for organizations. As organizations pivot to fill the talent gaps, the focus is on a combination of recruitment of local talent and leveraging global talent, as well as championing diversity and inclusion, and expanding partnerships with academic institutions.

In addition to the talent shortage, organizations are faced with a skill deficit created by the new world of work, that includes digitization and automation. EY research indicates that upskilling and reskilling is a top priority for many organizations. A workforce that's excited about change is prime for upskilling and reskilling. Living in this new Talent reality, the HR function can evolve to become the true lead in driving the people agenda.

Speakers:
Richard Skippon, Partner, Workforce Advisory Leader, EY

Traditional talent strategies have treated talent as a commodity that can be easily created and or obtained. With the evolving talent landscape and changing ways of working, talent strategies have been enhanced with a more comprehensive set of considerations. Most organizations practice silo-ed and static, department led workforce planning. Integrated and dynamic workforce planning is now desired and required. Employees have evolved from a means to execute strategy to also customers of the organization, as critical as external customers. This evolution now puts HR at the forefront to co-create organization strategy; it enables HR to be an innovator to attract, engage and retain talent that enables business; it allows HR to strengthen its operating model and analytics capabilities; and it helps HR to create a marketplace for talent to gain desired experiences and thrive.

Speakers:
Lindsay Falkov, Associate Partner, Workforce Advisory, EY
Gordon Sandford, Partner, Business, Consulting, EY

We live in an age of hyper–disruption, it may very well be the most disrupted era in human history with several skill shortages.  By 2025, $500b a year will be spent on a fragmented employee training and skills development; but by 2030 it is estimated we will experience the largest skills gaps. The global workforce can't keep up. With so much investment, why is it still so hard to create a workforce that’s fit for purpose?

To date, we’ve all been asking the wrong question – how do I train my people? The question to ask is - how can I create an adaptive workforce?

First, consider reskilling as a circular process, intelligently map the exact size and shape of your skills gap, so everything that follows is informed by data. Next, develop only the skills you need, so you can deliver targeted reskilling at speed and scale. Finally move the right people to the right role, so you can realize the benefits of reskilling them. And while all that’s happening, constantly respond to changes in the market by evolving both the picture of your skills gap and the training you deliver to close it.

To achieve a digital and future ready workforce, every significant program initiative is an opportunity to upskill and develop new experiences in the flow of work with a purposeful people transformation journey. This is the art of upskilling and reskilling.

Speakers:
Jo-Anne VanStrien, Partner, Mobility Tax, EY
Leah Shinh, Partner, Mobility Tax Leader, EY
Andy Leung, Director, Workforce Advisory, EY
Heather Finnerty, VP, Talent and Total Rewards, Element Fleet Management

Disruptive forces on mobility for talent include:

• 47% employers are prepared to hire employees in hard-to-fill or critical skills from any geography and allow them to work from anywhere
• 58% employers believe flexibility is the key to retaining talent while 44% believe it is key to attracting talent
• 74% organizations are exploring greater geo flexibility outside their office hub location

There are 3 top mobility priorities for all organizations to consider:

1. Being boundaryless appears to be the key in winning the war for talent
2. Mobility should not be an after thought, it needs to be part of your people strategy and planning from the beginning
3. Mobility is a core capability and differentiator in the future people function

Speakers:
Antoine Mindjimba, Partner, Culture Leader, EY
Andrea Wolfson, Partner, Workforce Advisory, EY
Uros Karadzic, Partner, Rewards Leader, EY

Why should we talk about evolving the culture? Because culture enables strategy. Corporate culture is defined by the implicit, unwritten rules that create expectations for how people choose to behave. It is about the “how” - how people collaborate, how decisions are made, how value is created, and how people motivate each other. It is determined by the collective beliefs and values of your people and is manifested in behaviours, systems & symbols. EY has developed 8 characteristics needed in organizations to unleash extraordinary power of humans. This includes collective cooperation, trust, curiosity & creativity, resilience, psychological wellbeing & passion, compassion, purpose & meaning, and embodying lasting change, built on the foundation of inclusion.

The “Social” pillar of ESG and specifically DEI is fast becoming a key focus for standard setters and regulators globally.

EY’s work re-imagined survey continues the research performed on reimagining work and understanding employee and employer perspectives. The survey revealed that flexibility is a big part of employee wellbeing and navigating the return to work may be one of the greatest change management challenges organizations currently face. Finally, organizations are also “Reimagining Rewards” to better support dynamic workforce needs and outperform market expectations. An ideal total rewards package should include financial, physical, social, and emotional rewards.

Speaker:
Kat Lee, Partner, Workforce Advisory, EY

During the pandemic, all organizations had to act like a start-up by being more agile. When we think about start-ups the core similarities are they have beliefs, they are hyper focused on product, customer, and operations, they are disrupters, and they believe in experimentation. EY asked leaders: During the pandemic, what was the #1 behaviour that helped accelerate the pace of transformation. The most common response was: effective decision making to focus on key priorities.

Agility focuses on enabling purpose, psychological safety, and empowering execution. EY's focus on leadership agility coaching is a different way of leading where leaders are servants, where there is trust, continuous learning and experimentation, and there are new ways of working where leaders delegate authority, focus on team performance and promote healthy challenges. Decision making and prioritization are key micro-behaviours to drive agility, and this includes leading with context, not control; praise empty calendars; and say no to more meetings. Agility focuses on enabling purpose, psychological safety, and empowering execution.