Earlier this year, BioTalent Canada announced a new project to help connect and advance women in biotech. The data presented in the 2013 labour market study – Sequencing the Data showed an alarming trend within Canada’s bio-economy; while over 60% of physical and life sciences post-secondary graduates in Canada are women, the number of companies…
Introducing and maintaining an employee benefits plan can be a challenge for any business; and for small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the balance between employee satisfaction and bottom-line is only the tip of the iceberg. With a major and rapidly approaching demographic-shift, corresponding rise in healthcare costs, and employee absenteeism, presenteeism and happiness becoming prominent…
Our country has a rich history of innovation. From peanut butter and paint rollers to advances in medical technologies and innovative therapies – Canada has its fair share of talented inventors and researchers. When it comes to pharmaceutical innovation, the list is impressive. Right now there are over 7,000 potential new therapies in development worldwide….
I tell my kids that under no circumstances should my obituary include the word ‘Lawyer.’ Instead, I prefer ‘Problem-solver,’ ‘Servant Leader’ as they are more accurate. Lawyer is a label and a very limiting one and I want my title to reflect the kinds of problems I solve – governance, operational, or stakeholder engagement issues….
Organizational announcements might not initially seem like it, but they serve as important messaging for both the news consuming public as well as the investor relations community. The key to maximizing the impact of an executive announcement is in the presentation of the information and the reasoning behind its issuance. Following are the top three…
Recruitment, selection and hiring are the principal human resources (HR) activities of bio-economy companies. With best practices in place, bio-economy companies can successfully attract and hire candidates with the right skills to help the organization grow and foster a culture of innovation. BioTalent Canada will be featuring a three part series to help guide any…
More than a third of Canadian biotechnology companies are dealing with skills shortages — a worrying trend that is predicted to continue. Access to skilled professionals is essential for biotech companies to execute their innovation agendas and to drive new products and services to market. It also helps secure and build Canada’s global leadership and…
Several recent court cases in the United States focus on trade secret misappropriation by employees departing technology companies. These high profile American cases are a reminder that Canadian companies face the same issues. Canadian courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, have held that an employer’s trade secrets are valuable commercial assets that employees must…
Before change occurs, a pro-active step is the formation of a transition team headed by a transition manager to direct the process of change. Their responsibilities include developing and communicating transition best-practices as well as executing the day-to-day transition activities. The transition team should include people from HR; department managers and supervisors. It is important…
The performance management cycle (see below) shows the stages involved in the process of planning, monitoring and evaluating employee performance. Performance Planning The planning stage provides an opportunity for one-on-one goal setting between the supervisor and employee based on work unit objectives that are aligned with organizational goals. It is a way to ensure individual…
