Earlier this year Human Resources launched its HR Administrators Forum, aimed at offering practical information on basic personnel matters and who to contact. The first session attracted 105 HR administrators, coordinators, advisors and managers from various faculties, departments and administrative units, all eager to find out more about the staffing and recruiting process at McGill and to get a better glimpse of labour relations and the 13 different unions at McGill.
After the session, attendees were asked to fill out a brief evaluation form and provide general comments to adjust for the next session, set for this fall. On whether the session’s objectives were clear, whether the information provided was practical and the overall satisfaction with the session, a majority of attendees agreed and offered valid comments.
Comments included the opportunity to meet members of the HR team, the possibility to ask many questions, putting faces to names and understanding the HR structure. Others offered ideas about topics for future sessions. Some asked that we provide more in-depth information, shorten each presentation, address one topic per session instead of two or three … all good suggestions that will be considered in planning the next forum.
Alison Verkade, Director, Shared Services (HR) and the instigator of this forum, was enthusiastic: “I am really delighted with the high turnout for this first forum, a strong indicator of the need for these types of sessions. It’s important for HR to reach out to individuals in the community who are dealing with basic HR tasks but don’t always know where to start. And there are those who have misperceptions about what HR can offer. This was the first forum, but these sessions will get better with time, and especially with people telling us what they want to hear about. We’re listening.”
Look for an announcement in the months ahead about the topics for the next HR Administrators Forum.