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The lifeblood of any successful enterprise is its employees.
"Your employees are your greatest asset – that's why we call them human resources," said Carol Benedetti, community development co-ordinator for the Orillia Area Community Development Corporation (OACDC).
With that in mind, the OACDC, in partnership with other community business stakeholders, is organizing a Human Resources Management workshop Sept. 18 for area businesses.
"A lot of entrepreneurs and small business owners are not used to being bosses," said Benedetti. "This interactive workshop offers participants insight into the fundamentals and the importance of the HR function in the operation of a business."
Topics include:
- Employee recruitment: ensuring the right fit, staging the selection process, interviewing, probationary periods;
- Employee retention: performance evaluations, the human factors, remuneration and incentive programs, training and development;
- Employee rights: knowing your rights and the rights of employees, discipline and termination issues, and coaching your employees while managing your employees.
"The question is how do you utilize your people properly and efficiently," said Benedetti. "The workforce has changed so much. Employees are much more mobile than they were 25 years ago, so how do you retain people? How do you reward employees today? That's a skill that needs to be paid attention to. Those are the kinds of things we will talk about in this workshop."
The workshop will be led by Julie Scott of Innovative Perspectives.
"Scott is very experienced and will lead the session," said Benedetti. "There will definitely be some experiential learning and some takeaways that people will appreciate."
Christian Lauder appreciates the training opportunity. He has participated in previous workshops.
"They have been fantastic," said Lauder, manager of Stone Gate Inn. "All the staff that I brought to the last training session found it very helpful and my only regret was that I had to staff the hotel that day and not everyone could attend the session."
He is hoping to attend the upcoming human resources training.
"Management is human resources," said Lauder. "Any training that can help you identify strengths and weaknesses, that can help you learn how to better manage people is appreciated. Every employee is different and it’s not easy to manage those personalities… I would be happy to learn more about that."
The human resources training is part of a series of professional development workshops the OACDC is spearheading.
Training for local businesses was identified as a need through the Business Retention and Expansion (BR+E) process conducted by the Orillia Economic Development Committee (EDC). The BR+E process was initiated as a means to better understand area businesses.
"The survey provided a picture of the local business climate and identified major issues that were impeding the success or expansion of local business operations," said Dan Landry, manager of economic development for the City of Orillia. "Information gathered through this survey was designed to enable the economic development office to assist local business in identifying and realizing growth potential and opportunities."
One of the key recommendations was the development of business-training opportunities – an idea that was put into action by the OACDC in partnership with the EDC, the Orillia and District Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Orillia Management Board.
"We did a survey asking local businesses about their training needs and from that, we created this professional development series," said Benedetti. "These workshops are not just for small businesses; they are for all businesses. And they are for businesses in Orillia, Ramara, Severn and Oro-Medonte."
Cost for the human resource management seminar, which will be held in the Couchiching boardroom at the City Centre from 9 a.m. until noon, is just $45.
"It was important for us to keep the cost down and we were able to do that thanks to the support of our sponsors and partners: the Simcoe Muskoka Workforce Development Board, the County of Simcoe's economic development office, the City of Orillia's economic development office, the Orillia Manufacturers Association, Georgian College, Severn Township, Oro-Medonte Township, Ramara Township, the Orillia and District Chamber of Commerce, the Oro-Medonte Chamber of Commerce, the Ramara Chamber of Commerce, Ontario's Lake Country, Lakehead University and the Downtown Orillia Management Board," she said.
Benedetti said further training programs will be developed. She invites local businesses to discuss their training needs with the CDC.
For more information or to register, call the OACDC at 705-325-4903, ext 101 or e-mail info@orilliacdc.com. You can also register on the website, orilliacdc.com.
SIDEBAR:
The Orillia Area Community Development Corporation has developed a series of professional training seminars for area businesses to help address training needs. The following are the workshops planned for this fall:
Sept. 18: Human Resource Management, led by Julie Scott
This seminar will be held at City Centre, 50 Andrew St. S. in the Couchiching boardroom from 9 a.m. until noon.
Sept. 27: Fall prevention, led by fully accredited Georgian College instructors
Learn how to protect yourself, identify hazards and prevent accidents on the job. Training includes safe use of equipment, knowledge of regulations and safe practices for trades workers. This workshop will be held at the Orillia campus of Georgian College from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Cost is $160 per participant.
Oct. 3: Basic financials
This workshop offers participants an introduction to financial statements, budgets, projections and cash flows. This will be held at the CDC office, 22 Peter St. S. from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. and is free.
Oct 18: Developing your on-line marketing strategy, led by Josh Muirhead, owner of Socialmark Media. He will show you how to use technology to its fullest potential to promote and grow your business. You can learn about search engine optimization, social media platforms and networking, mobile marketing, tracking and analytics and what’s ahead in digital marketing.
This seminar will be held at Stone Gate Inn, 437 Laclie St., from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Cost is $45 per participant and attendees are encouraged to bring their laptop as this will be a hands-on, interactive session.
Nov. 6: Making the most of social media for your tourism business or organization, led by Jill Vandal of the Tourism Company.
This is where you can learn how strategic digital marketing can increase your bottom line and help you become a destination of choice.
This workshop will be held at Mariposa Best Western Conference Centre, 400 Memorial Ave., Mariposa East Room, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Cost is $45 per participant. Bring your laptop and apply what you learn while you learn.
Nov. 7: Creating a marketing plan
This is an opportunity for new and existing businesses to learn how to develop a marketing plan, how to determine your target markets and reach them effectively.
This workshop will be held at the Ramara Community Centre, 5482 Highway 12 between Atherley and Uptergrove, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. and is free.
For more information or to register for any of the workshops, call the OACDC at 705-325-4903, ext. 101 or e-mail info@orilliacdc.com. You can also register on the website, orilliacdc.com.
Christian Lauder, manager of the Stone Gate Inn, has participated in training sessions organized by the Orillia Area Community Development Corporation and is looking forward to the upcoming workshop on human resources management. "Any training that can help you identify strengths and weaknesses, that can help you learn how to better manage people is appreciated," he said.
