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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Wiki's and the New Employment Relationship

I was watching a video from Jack Welch today and his take on WikiLeaks, and how it impacts those of us in Society and in Business.

He makes some great points.

For the average citizen, Julian Assange exposed a number of secrets that exposed the government in ways they would have never wanted to be seen... Many applauded him as standing up against 'big brother' and facing him head on.

The government... Well he pissed 'em off plain and simple... Not only did he read their diary, but he shared it with the world!

But what about those of us in business?

As Jack Welch says, "Trade secrets are trade secrets - there is no way you want them outside the company."

Like the recipe for Coca-Cola, there are some secrets that provide the competitive advantage companies need to stay in business and giving them away is grounds for punishment!

So how do we overcome this?

Well internally, everything the company does should have buy-in and people should know the reasons why things are happening the way they are... Albeit this is not always easy.

Also, it should be defined what is internal knowledge (not for sharing) and confidentiality agreements need to be signed.

Externally, listen to stakeholder and consumer opinions.  Think of how the actions you are taking will be perceived.  The perception of a company can change over night... Look no further than BP.








Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Members Are to be Seen, Not Heard

Are you a member of the HRPA? Has your cheque cleared?

Great - now please keep your head down and be quiet for the remainder of the ride.

Sounds harsh right? But what would one be lead to think that when the Toronto Chapter opens up discussion about the controversial bill 138 and gets shut down?

You haven't heard?

About a week ago, the THRPA Board of Directors sent out an email to all members that read:

Dear THRPA Member,

Recently Bill 138 “Registered Human Resources Professional Act, 2010” received First Reading in the Ontario Legislative House on November 23, 2010.

We encourage all THRPA Members to read this Bill as it concerns an Act respecting the Human Resources Professionals Association.

Bill 138 can be accessed by clicking HERE.

THRPA Board of Directors

In my previous blog, I questioned the lack of communication from the HRPA surrounding this bill as it seemed extremely sneaky.

As shown above, the THRPA created awareness of the bill to their members and looked for some dialogue, then a week later (today) this email is sent out by the HRPA:

As you may know, the Board of the Toronto Personnel Professional Association Inc. ("TPPA") has operated the Toronto Chapter of HRPA since 2004. The right of a third party to operate a Chapter of HRPA is dependent on its compliance with HRPA By Laws for Chapters and maintaining standards of good governance and compliance with the Code of Conduct for Chapter Directors. Since 2008, the Board of HRPA has grown increasingly concerned with TPPA's management of the affairs of the Toronto Chapter, including:


The rapid erosion of member equity. Since 2008, member equity has dropped from close to $400,000 to less than $20,000, receiving a qualified review from the auditor of the most recent financial statements;


A steady decline in member engagement. The Toronto Chapter now has the lowest level of member engagement out of all of the larger chapters and is in the bottom 10 percent of all chapters;


Lengthy delays and resistance to the adoption of the new Chapter By-Laws. The Toronto Chapter was the last of all Chapters to do so.


On November 29th and 30th, 2010 the Board of HRPA met with the Board of TPPA to express these concerns. On December 1st, the TPPA Board signed an agreement accepting the new Chapter By Laws and committing to address the HRPA Board's other concerns about the management of the Toronto Chapter.

In the weeks since the agreement was signed, the TPPA Board has failed to comply with its commitments to the HRPA Board. Further, TPPA's Board has continued to violate the Code of Conduct for Directors of Chapters of HRPA.

As a result, effective immediately, the TPPA Board is no longer permitted to operate the Toronto Chapter of HRPA. HRPA has an obligation and responsibility to govern the HR profession, to represent our members' interests and protect the reputation and integrity of the profession. The unwillingness of the TPPA board to adhere to good governance left HRPA with no other alternative.

Within the next seven days, HRPA will appoint an interim Board of Directors for the Chapter and, as soon as possible, establish a process to elect a new Board to run the Toronto Chapter.

If you have questions, please email chair@hrpa.ca.

Regards,

Antoinette Blunt, MPA, CHRP, SHRP


HRPA Board Chair

 
So are we living in a Police State?  The HRPA acts under the guise of 'furthering the profession' and 'membership development' but more often than not seems to only want to increase their control.
 
                                       
If this bill passes as is, I will personally not continue my membership with the HRPA.  I do not want to belong to a member-based organization THAT THINKS THEY should have more power than the police, that doesn't care about membership concerns, and has a complete lack of transparency.

Further, what organization would hire me knowing that the organization I am a member of could do an investigation at anytime, without a warrant, take what they want, and make my employer foot the bill?