HR Update: Rise of the 15-minute ‘hood

BY ROB THOMAS

news@obj.ca

They call it The Retreat. The 8,000-squarefoot on-site/off-site office in the former Monk House in Kanata serves as a kind of home away from home for Fullscript employees who used to work downtown.

Heather Tyrie, chief talent officer with the Ottawa tech company, says the limestone heritage house at the end of a wooded drive had just the feel they were looking for.

“The vibe that we went with when we renovated this place was that it needed to feel like home,” Tyrie says. “We kept the original wood floors. We didn’t really change the character of it.”

The heritage house has been renovated as a meeting and team-building space that opens onto modern-style offices at the rear and complements Fullscript’s downtown offices at Constitution Square. The company’s 250 Ottawa-based employees are free to choose their preferred workplace — Kanata, downtown, or remote — with a desk reserved for those who are in the office more than three days per week. The Kanata location opened in September and is, according to Tyrie, a response to the pandemic, employee preferences and company growth.

Jennifer Cross, business development manager with Marant Construction, thinks more businesses will “need to start taking a risk” as Fullscript has done as work patterns change.

“We’ve seen employers surveying their workers — meaning if hubs were open, where would those places be — and what we’re seeing is that in neighbourhoods like Orleans, Barrhaven and Kanata, employees want to eliminate the commute but still have the opportunity to work with their colleagues and out of their own house,” Cross says.

Tyrie says shifting demographics and employee preferences guided the Fullscript decision. Pre-pandemic, about 70 per cent of Fullscript’s Ottawa employees lived in or near downtown, whereas now 50 per cent live downtown or east of it and 50 per cent live west of Bronson Avenue.

“For a lot of people, it is about commuting after being in their homes for a long time,” Tyrie says, citing employee feedback. “It takes a lot for somebody to get in their car and pack a lunch and put on office clothes, so putting it closer to their home makes such a huge difference.”

Tyrie admits that typical downtown amenities are lacking in Kanata. It’s a great place to take a beautiful hike at lunch, but you can’t grab a quick meal and coffee, she points out.

Cross says the push for businesses to meet employees where they are is shifting the thinking around development. Questions about amenities are common.

“Amenities used to service people where they work and so the downtown is full of dental offices, coffee shops and dry cleaners that are no longer being actively used by workers coming to downtown,” Cross says. “So, we need to recreate those amenities spaces where people live.”

Cross likens it to the need for “15-minute neighbourhoods” that put a person’s daily needs just a short trip from home.

Josée Anne Pronovost, an architect and partner with Linebox Studio, has experience in this tricky multi-play of building a holistic workplace ecosystem that also accounts for informal social spaces. Linebox designed the Hub350 tech centre in Kanata aimed at boosting tech community interaction.

The Hub350 space, located in Mitel’s former headquarters at 350 Legget Dr., is a meeting place for industry leaders, academia and finance professionals to collaborate on projects. The 12,000-squarefoot “living lab” features open-concept meeting rooms as well as smaller private offices, lounges, booths, seating areas and auditoriums with stadium-style seating where founders can pitch their businesses to potential investors.

In addition, it houses a full-service media studio where companies and individuals can produce and broadcast stories and promotional materials.

“But then you also need the other interacting spaces,” Pronovost says. “So, the coffee shop and the grocery store and the corner store and the pharmacy and the restaurants.”

Linebox is now finalizing another project that also reimagines the work and home life relationship, although the aim is almost opposite that of Fullscript in Kanata. Linebox is converting a commercial property at 473 Albert St. into 100 apartments for CLV Group, with the aim of enticing residents into repurposed offices. Among many baked-in amenities is a remote business centre.

“A place to work from home, but not necessarily in your home,” is how Pronovost describes it. “It’s of the time, whereas we’re talking about office spaces being vacated and the building parks of the government being now potentially up for grabs. And what do you do with those buildings?”

Pronovost notes that repurposing a building is not the easiest thing to do but it is a sustainable option. “We’re in a time of a lot of reinvention, a lot of rethinking,” she says.

BY CAROLINE PHILLIPS

caroline@obj.ca

Attracting and retaining millennials is crucial to solving the ongoing labour crisis that’s left hotels, restaurants and other similar businesses struggling to find sufficient staff to run their operations, says Altaf Sovani, author of a new book, Labor Shortages Crisis in Hospitality, Tourism & Event Industry.

There’s a catch, though. Businesses and leaders may have to adjust their needs if they want this increasingly powerful demographic of workers to stick around.

During COVID, many workers who either lost their jobs or had their full-time hours slashed have gone on to other industries that are more stable or better paying. But, even before the pandemic came along, the hospitality sector was facing a pervasive shortage of workers. “It’s just that it’s gotten even worse,” said Sovani in an interview with OBJ.

And so have the customers. “Customer expectations have not changed from pre-pandemic levels. In fact, many have become more demanding.”

In his new book, Sovani has come up with solutions for hospitality leaders eager to recruit, retain and motivate millennials, or those who currently fall between the ages of 26 and 41. They’re an educated, informed and tech-savvy group expected to represent 75 per cent of the global workforce by 2025.

While COVID has been a factor behind millennials quitting their jobs, job satisfaction remains essential to their retention in the hospitality industry, Sovani found.

His book identifies and explores eight key reasons why millennials are abandoning their jobs in hospitality and tourism. They are: an inconsistent application of organizational policies by supervisors; a culture that favours seniority over merit; a lack of opportunities for

Author and entrepreneur Altaf Sovani

advancement; excessive focus on the aging baby boomer culture; insufficient training and development; poor compensation and benefits; and a greater desire for work-life balance.

“People don’t leave restaurants or hotels; they leave bad managers,” said Sovani, who’s of the view that good managers don’t manage people, they manage things. “With this generation, you need to lead them, you need to support them, you need to motivate them.”

Sovani, who has more than 40 years of experience in the hospitality, tourism and event industry, runs his own consulting firm, Alzen Consulting. He worked for 27 years at Algonquin College, most recently as academic chair for its School of Hospitality and Tourism.

In the 1980s and ‘90s, he was heavily involved in hotels and restaurants (he owned The Brokerage, which was the first restaurant in the Rideau Centre to offer cappuccinos).

Sovani sees innovation as helping to shape the future of the hospitality industry, which is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the global economy. Booking engines, mobile apps, digital concierge services, keyless entry systems, and automated check-in and check-out processes are all examples of innovation and technology that are helping to make the industry run more efficiently. “But, you still need the human element,” he added.

Sovani based his research on thousands of informal conversations with millennials who chose to or aspired to join the hospitality industry. He also conducted dozens of formal face-to-face interviews with millennials as part of his doctoral research, in partnership with California Southern University.

“Millennials want baby boomers to respect them, to listen to them and to understand them because they want a sense of belonging and value in the organization,” said Sovani. What millennials are looking for, he said, is more flexibility in their work, to be valued and to be supported in their career progression. They don’t want to feel like they’re stuck in the past or being managed by their mom or dad.

He also found that millennials do remain loyal to their employer if presented with opportunities to advance. They’re looking for purpose, he said. They also want to work for an employer that demonstrates things like corporate social responsibility, empathy to climate change and progressive work policies, he learned.

A major sticking point remains the low wages and lack of proper benefits. Because more customers and clients carry credit cards now over cash, it’s more challenging for hospitality workers who traditionally relied on tips to complement their low pay.

Of the millennials interviewed by Sovani, 63 per cent expressed concerns that their wages weren’t enough to meet basic needs. Some mentioned that they had moved back in with their parents because the cost of living was so high.

Sovani argued that, in order to attract people back to an industry from which they’ve chosen to walk away, employers must offer the full package, including training opportunities, workplace wellbeing, flexibility and opportunities for growth.

He lists Stephen Beckta as a shining example of an industry leader who put his staff first during the pandemic. Beckta, who owns flagship restaurant Beckta dining & wine and its sister restaurants, Play and Gezellig, launched a successful fine dining meal kit service, called Curated by Beckta. It helped to keep his staff employed when dining rooms were temporarily shut down, said Sovani.

Sovani contrasts Beckta’s “human connection” approach with other operators who furloughed staff without bothering to check up on them until a year or so later, when they needed them back at work. “How you communicate with and care about your employees matters,” Sovani said.

Sovani also acknowledges in his book that a revival of the sector must involve a coming together of industry, associations, academia, and government to address such relevant areas as immigration, as well as technology and innovation, and to ensure students are ready to hit the job market upon graduation.

Sovani, who’s a baby boomer, applauded the millennial generation for continuing to strive for purpose and flexibility. He acknowledged that, had he done the same, he may have spent more time with his two daughters when they were growing up, or focusing on self care. It would not likely have come at the expense of his career, he opined.

“I don’t believe so, because I loved my work and I would have been more productive in less time.

“I am glad that this generation is pushing for balance and I am hopeful that our industry will meet their demands.”

BY CAROLINE PHILLIPS

caroline@obj.ca

HR leader Heidi Hauver never thought there’d come a day when her professional life didn’t revolve around the office. “I went into the office every day,” she said of her 20-plus years of working at nearly a dozen organizations, including Invest Ottawa.

But when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in March 2020, she — much like 37 per cent of the Canadian workforce — shifted to working remotely. In doing so, she realized the arrangement offered many advantages, including greater flexibility and work-life harmony.

Once the pandemic started to ease, Hauver said she became inspired by the “great reimagination.” She felt it was time to pave the way for others at Invest Ottawa and that meant an opportunity to reimagine what was next for her.

This past January, Hauver joined Waterloo-based data-centric software company Shinydocs as its Ottawa-based vice-president of people experience. She provides executive leadership to employees spanning seven provinces.

“It’s about having access to talent and not requiring them to relocate to Ontario,” she explained. “They can remain where they are, where they’re building their lives, and still be part of a really exciting opportunity and a growing organization. We are seeing a lot of great talent reaching out to us directly because of the amazing culture we are creating, which includes a work-from-home environment.”

Taking on a remote role has meant learning to approach things differently, Hauver acknowledged. “Finding ways to be innovative, to create that team connectedness is really important. I personally think it’s challenged me as an HR leader and I love it because it enables us to try and find new ways of doing things to meet the needs of the team.”

Areas of focus for Hauver are communication, work culture, employee engagement, human connections, and trust.

“You have to make sure you take the best parts about working in the office and translate that into a virtual way,” said Hauver of recreating those friendly, impromptu office conversations in a different work landscape.

“Again, it’s about changing your mindset, having that willingness to try something new.”

Hauver relies on messaging apps such as Slack to keep team members informed, aligned and engaged in the workplace. Group activities, such as virtual office Olympics, have been successful in promoting health, wellness and social participation, she added.

Human resources has come a long way, said Hauver of a growing field that used to be relegated to administrative and transactional responsibilities. “It’s not a ‘nice to have’ it’s ‘a must have’. You need to have a great culture, you need someone leading that is being mindful, paying attention and iterating.

“I’m a big believer in making sure your team is part of the solution. We lean in, we get feedback, we encourage the team to come up with ideas … That’s something we all have to do, whether we’re in the office or not.”

Organizations that shed office space in order to operate remotely need to look at taking some of their budget savings, if they’re not already, and putting it into their employees, said Hauver.

“Make sure you have the tools to keep your people connected and communicating, make sure you have some money set aside to facilitate some of those in-person meetings, to invest back into your people to make sure you still develop the culture you want.”

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Not knowing how to negotiate a salary and how to advocate for yourself can leave you feeling helpless. Here are some helpful hints and tools to use when you are in a job interview, or a review meeting with a superior. They will get what you want during salary negotiations.

Before you suggest any numbers or agree to any amounts, you should research comparable rates among your peers, and have an idea of a target number or range you would like to fall within. Knowing what you are worth, what the going rate is, and what you would like to achieve in the meeting will help you respond appropriately to any offers.

When you get the chance to advocate for yourself, view yourself as a product/service that your company needs, and highlight the ways that you make the company money or help reach its goals. It can be difficult to talk about yourself in this way, so if you need to, practise beforehand. It is crucial to be able to sell yourself.

When you are discussing salary with an employer, you may reach an impasse on the monetary amount. Don’t be afraid to negotiate for non-monetary benefits, such as vacation time, or flexible working hours.

If you don’t ask for a raise in a review, you will probably not get one. If you don’t negotiate your starting salary, you will not know what could have been available. You will be glad you took the extra step to negotiate and advocate for yourself.

Practical negotiation workshops will give you the skills necessary to tackle any type of employment discussions.

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BY SARAH MACFARLANE

sarah@obj.ca

The days of Christmas cocktail parties and festive after-work gatherings might be behind us — at least, that’s what some Ottawa experts say.

In fact, when it comes to the holiday spirit and team morale, invitations to work get-togethers just aren’t cutting it anymore.

“In many organizations, there’s been a move back to in-person when it comes to holiday parties with the caveat that people participate if they’re comfortable. There’s been a strong movement towards comfort-based participation,” explained Rob Rosenfeld, vice-president for the National Capital Region and public sector team lead at LifeWorks. “There used to be pressure on showing up, but now there’s an understanding that some people show and some don’t.

“Organizations should have appropriate means of engaging and recognizing the efforts of employees in both virtual and in-person capacity,” he said. “So you don’t create this divide between those who can and those who cannot go to an in-person event.”

Rosenfeld said there are also new issues to consider when planning an end-of-year celebration. For example, with a particularly rampant flu season and increased economic stress, some companies are still choosing to go virtual.

“I think what we were able to experience organically before around team spirit we now have to be very deliberate about,” said Karen Brownrigg, founder and CEO of iHR Advisory Services. “Especially for businesses that are hybrid or remote.”

Ultimately, though, Rosenfeld said engagement and support for employees have to be part of “a larger overall strategy” — not just a holiday special.

“If you haven’t made an effort to connect to your employees yet, this is a bit late to get involved,” he told OBJ. “It has to be part of your overall engagement

Karen Brownrigg, founder and CEO, iHR Advisory Services

strategy. Continue speaking to them, engaging them, providing support and being a person who listens.”

Some organizations send their team gift cards, while others stress the importance of mental health support for employees who may struggle during the holiday season.

A recent survey by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) found that 90 per cent of Canadian business owners say they are open to seeking support for a mental health issue. Among them, fear of a cash shortfall (62 per cent) and the recession (51 per cent) were identified as the main sources of stress. The BDC study also found that small business owners in particular are prioritizing the mental health of their employees. Of those surveyed, more business owners are offering flexible hours/ schedules (55 per cent), additional time off when required (50 per cent), and remote or hybrid work options (33 per cent).

Brownrigg said many organizations are prioritizing a celebration of their team’s achievements rather than a more traditional and strictly Christmas-themed party.

“There are different ways to define a holiday party,” she said. “Some people don’t enjoy this time, so how can you make it more about the relationships in the workplace and less about the holiday itself? How do we celebrate each other and our accomplishments and look forward to a new year and new ways to appreciate each other? How can we have fun together?”

“We’re in a different place than we were prior to the pandemic for a variety of reasons,” explained Rosenfeld. “We’re still not at where we were when it comes to isolation, anxiety, financial concern … We aren’t out of the woods.

“External factors place a lot of pressure on a workforce and management has to respond with ever-evolving measures,” he added.

No one can argue that health care systems around the world are in crisis.

The pandemic stretched resources beyond their limits and the increased need for care shows no signs of abating. COVID-19, however, isn’t entirely to blame.

“People are living longer with illnesses they used to die from,” said Nathalie Cadieux, chief financial officer and executive vice-president of finance and business development at the Ottawa Hospital (TOH). “We’re proud to be saving lives, but we can’t ignore the pressure it’s putting on the system.”

That’s why the hospital is exploring new ways to serve the community.

“We’re calling it ‘post-COVID recovery’,” said Cadieux. Creating capacity in the public health system

As CFO, Cadieux manages a balancing act between building financial strength and allocating resources. One tool that she and CEO Cameron Love are exploring to strike this balance are publicprivate partnerships (PPPs).

About a year ago, one group’s offering captured their attention: The Harley Street Healthcare Group (HSHG), which brings 50 years of experience managing a PPP in the U.K..

Their proposal stood out from other offerings because it doesn’t involve transferring patients from a public to a private system.

The HSHG is also committed to reinvesting a portion of their profits back into the public system to help further ease restraints.

The Harley Street model Ottawa local Amita Kochar is CEO of the HSHG in Canada. “Our number one priority is to take as much pressure off the system as we can so we can help reduce wait times and other barriers to accessing care,” she said.

While Kochar may be known best as a local entrepreneur and philanthropist, her passion for health-care goes back to her youth. As an 18-year-old college student, she faced a life-altering challenge of her own: she was in New York City on 9/11.

As she watched her fellow students struggle to cope with the trauma by turning to drugs and alcohol, she was dealing with crippling anxiety.

“When you’re a teenager, you don’t have coping skills for something like this,” said Kochar. “I developed uncontrollable anxiety and agoraphobia that resulted in panic attacks.” She tried medication, but it didn’t solve the problem.

During a visit to India, her parents suggested complementary therapies. “Within two to three weeks I was feeling better — I could go to a restaurant again,” said Kochar. The experience even inspired her to become a reiki practitioner.

Today she wants to help others struggling with similar health challenges. “Our 360 degrees of health approach incorporates my experience with ancient practices, healthcare operations, foundation and donor experience, as well as my business experience,” said Kochar.

Innovation and integrated care are the way forward Prioritizing innovation in the Canadian health-care system is a fairly new proposition, but TOH is committed to making it work.

“Innovation and integration of care are at the forefront of our strategic plan,” said Cadieux.

That focus appealed to the HSHG. “They’ve reached a point where they know they have a problem, and they genuinely want to solve it,” said Kochar.

Since it’s the first time TOH has considered a partnership like this, they’re doing their due diligence. “We’re taking baby steps to make sure we understand the risks and seek the proper approvals,” said Cadieux.

What the two parties have built so far is a foundation of mutual trust and respect. “They’re a very forwardthinking team that’s going to set a precedent in Canada,” said Kochar.

Cadieux returned the sentiment. “The HSHG team truly wants to make a difference,” she said. “They’re being very patient with us, and we’re getting close.”

BY ROB THOMAS

news@obj.ca

Steve Morrier calls himself the chief alchemist.

Nine years ago, he formulated a modest business crafting distinctive cocktail syrups in his kitchen with $2,000 of his own money. A few months later, he was fielding three investment offers on the CBC program Dragons’ Den. These days, his Split Tree Cocktail Company cordials are distributed online and through retailers across the country. Not bad for a laid-off tech worker and former microbrewery sales rep turned entrepreneur.

“It was always the goal around the eight- to nine-year mark to try and get a store up and running and I just felt like, jump now or give up. You can’t keep waiting. It’s never going to be a perfect time,” Morrier says of his company’s new 2,000 square foot retail location at 98 Richmond Rd. in Westboro.

It’s much more than a storefront for Split Tree’s signature cordials. Morrier aims to give Ottawa a one-stop cocktail shop and home entertaining boutique on the order of Toronto’s Cocktail Emporium, Montreal’s Alambika or Vancouver’s Crafty Bartender.

“I’ve just always thought Ottawa was missing it,” Morrier says. “They had a lot of people who sort of dabbled in barware, dabbled in cocktails, but nobody just went all in.”

Split Tree’s retail floor is dedicated to all things cocktail-related. That includes charcuterie boards and cheese plates, in addition to the barware, hardware and cocktail ingredients one might expect.

Meanwhile, he is developing an event space and kitchen at the rear of the store for workshops and tastings. He also plans to develop custom mixes, exclusive to the store, as well as a juice program to supply local bars and hotels.

“We’re just trying to be as nimble as possible and not really say no to any sort of revenue stream that fits within our theme,” Morrier says of his big-tent approach. He says the next step will be securing a liquor license to the kind of workshops and tastings Split Tree is able to offer.

Morrier admits that having a storefront is more of a personal ambition, rather than something his original business demanded. “I really had a pretty good system set up where I had a distributor. I just took orders and shipped stuff off and had people co-packing for me. I was just running the business,” he says.

At the same time, he felt an urge to get more engaged in a business he felt was running on cruise control.

“It was definitely a want, but I also really believed in the idea and I thought Ottawa was ready for this and I think they are,” Morrier says.

Morrier wouldn’t describe himself as a success, but if he has a secret, it has been not overextending himself.

“I never did anything where I said, ‘If this goes south, I’m going to be bankrupt, I’m going to lose everything.’ I always did it very organically and patiently,” he says.

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In case you hadn’t heard, Canada is in the middle of a housing shortage due to lack of supply and affordability, and demand for a solution is only increasing.

That’s why lawyers like Mariam Sarr are doing double duty when it comes to understanding legislation enacted and being enacted at multiple levels of government to solve this problem, including the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by NonCanadians Act.

With this two-year ban on foreign buyers coming into force on January 1, 2023, Sarr and her colleagues at PerleyRobertson, Hill & McDougall LLP/s.r.l. are already on the case. “When a new law is coming in, we want to anticipate any problems that could affect our clients,” she said.

Right now, there are more questions than answers.

What we know is that the law comes into force at the start of 2023 and it likely won’t be applied retroactively, said Sarr, meaning it will not affect agreements entered into prior to January 1.

But after that, residents will need to be mindful not to run afoul of the law. “People who have knowingly assisted in contravention of the Act — meaning they knowingly sold their property to a foreign buyer — may be subject to monetary penalties,” said Sarr.

She suggests that anyone buying residential property after January 1st bring a real estate lawyer into the process earlier than usual.

But wait, there’s more Sarr also wants people to know that this legislation is not being enacted in a vacuum.

There are also provincial and municipal laws being created to address the housing crisis to take note of.

Ontario has already brought forth a law to curb foreign speculation in the Canadian real estate market. “People generally know they have to pay a land transfer tax when they buy a property,” said Sarr. “But in Ontario, there’s an additional 25 per cent tax that non-residents have to pay — it’s the highest in the country.”

The City of Ottawa is also unveiling the Vacant Unit Tax, which comes into force in January, 2023.

This law will require Ottawa property owners to make an annual declaration of occupancy for their residential unit. If the unit is deemed to be vacant, additional taxes will be applied.

There are a few exceptions to this law, such as an owner who has died or is in the hospital. Foreign property owners can also choose to rent out their units to avoid paying the penalty.

Even if your unit isn’t vacant, the law requires you to make the declaration. “Property owners in the city of Ottawa need to take note of the deadlines for those declarations to avoid being penalized,” said Sarr.

Mariam Sarr, Associate at Perley-Roberston, Hill & McDougall LLP /s.r.l