In today’s fast pace, ever changing environment, it can be a challenge to stay optimistic. As an HR Professional, Business Owner, Leader in an organization or any Business Professional, we are faced with various obstacles in our daily work. One of the biggest, being our human resources. How do we keep them engaged & motivated? How do we turn negativity into positivity? Martin Latulippe is a very well-known Certified Speaking Professional. He is a business performance strategist, inspirational speaker and human potential expert. His ability to move audiences to take action with his quick wit, brilliant insights and wildly entertaining storytelling sets him apart. Come join us for a motivational session that will not only focus on equipping you with some tools to better your organization but some inspiration to become a better you for 2016! We look forward to seeing you!

The workplace is a complicated and challenging place for our people. It is increasingly demanding of time, attention and results. Individuals and organizations need to get smarter about how people can maximise their potential and stay engaged. In this interactive session we will look at how people development is changing to meet the needs of individuals and businesses alike.

The past year has produced several ground breaking legal cases in various industry settings that all HR Professionals should be aware of. Jamie will review several of the cases that have arisen over the past year here in New Brunswick as well as in other Provinces. This promises to be a high intensity session that will provide legal perspectives on the most influential employment decisions of 2015.

Information will be shared on a number of topics with respect to employment/ immigration programs and specific opportunities related to hiring and engaging the new Syrian residents. Speakers and topics: Eric Arsenault, Fire Chief and Director of Emergency Measures will review the current resettlement process of our new Syrian Residents discussing the challenges and successes. Charles Leblanc, Manager of Employment and Continuous Learning Services, will discuss the various employment programs and services that are available for the Syrian newcomers and for employers. He will also review the work of the newly formed Joint Employment Service Delivery Committee in support of the employment of our new Syrian Residents. Angelique Reddy-Kalala- Immigration Strategy Officer, will discuss the importance retaining our new Syrian Residents in Greater Moncton and the various ways individuals and corporations can get involved, covering such topics as: employment, volunteerism, and donations.

NBCC Human Resources Management students will be presenting a fresh look at employee benefits. They will consider our changing demographic of multigenerational and multicultural employees. They will discuss the changing workplace from making gender transition to acknowledging stress and depression. Finally, they will suggest how to breathe life into new benefits and make policy changes for organizational success.

HR used to be the department you sent your staff to when they needed someone to talk to about a problem. Today`s HR professionals are working in an environment of continuous change; if they aren`t, they should be. As part of continuous change, program and benefits reviews are a must and how to do ROI analysis is a new skill every HR practitioner should have. Should you implement the latest trends? Can you do an ROI calculation? How can you make the best decision? How can you get buy-in? The session will provide participants with the impacts of ROI calculations as well as get new ideas of new initiatives with great ROI for HR.

Join us for our annual legal update with Lucie LaBoissonnière and Dominique Fontaine from McInnes Cooper. By popular demand based on membership feedback, Lucie and Dominique will begin the half-day session by giving tips and advice on managing medical absences. The second half of the session will be dedicated to a discussion on recent cases of interest and trending topics. While every employer has to manage medical absences, this task is never easy. The rights and obligations of employers and employees must be balanced: employers have a right to require regular attendance and punctuality, while employees benefit from a wide range of rights under human rights legislation, employment standards legislation and the common law. When does innocent absenteeism lead to a frustration of the employment contract? When can an employer ask for medical justification for an employee’s absences? Does the employer have a responsibility to continue to pay and provide benefits when an employee is on medical leave of absence? The first half of the session will focus on managing medical absences. The second half of the session will be an overview of recent cases of interest and trending topics. A recent New Brunswick case suggests that many employers are not properly training and re-training their employees on workplace policies. A simple employee sign-off on a policy may be insufficient to convince a court or an arbitrator that the employee understood a policy and the consequences of its breach. This session will offer several tips on how to ensure your employees are aware of the workplace policies – and how to prove it. On July 14, 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that the “Unjust Dismissal” sections of the Canada Labour Code protects non-unionized federal employees from termination of their employment without cause. Non-unionized employees working in federally-regulated businesses now enjoy the same “just cause” protection that most unionized employees have in their collective agreements. The decision means that, federally-regulated employers must meet the higher bar of just cause for dismissal before they can terminate an employee’s employment. The impact of this decision will be discussed at the session. Finally, in the last year, there has been many discussions on the rights of transgender employees. These employees face many challenges in the workplace, not the least of which are vulnerability to and fear of discrimination. The session will discuss several ways in which an employer can support these employees.

In July 2016, Hay Group conducted its annual compensation planning update for the upcoming year. Organizations were surveyed with an online questionnaire for their forecasts for base salary policy and base salary actual for the next twelve months. Six hundred and ninety-nine organizations responded: 461 industrial, 117 financial and 260 organizations from the broader public sector. Join us to explore the results and to take a look at the compensation trends and strategies we can expect for 2017.

In this interactive workshop, we will explore our role as a strategic partner and learn how we enable business performance within our organizations. We will consider the balance between being a business leader and an HR professional, explore performance expectations and consider the results we need to deliver in this ever changing climate. This workshop will include self-assessment, goal setting and a plan of action.

The HRANB Moncton Chapter Executive cordially invites members and up to one guest each to our appreciation holiday celebration. This drop-in event will also be a fundraiser for the Food Depot Alimentaire. We will be accepting donations of non-perishable food items, and in return members will receive a free drink ticket while quantities last. Delicious hors d’oeuvres will be served during live festive music. To cap off this wonderful evening, several door prizes will be given to lucky winners. We look forward to welcoming our members and their guest as a thank you for your support throughout the year.