How recruitment practices have changed in Canada

Industry Insights into Changes in Recruitment Practises

Emilie Boffo is a dynamic and proactive HR partner who has just taken the bold move to relocate from France to Canada.

With more than 15 years varied HR experience developed within the international aerospace industry, she has some fascinating insights to share about the way recruitment has changed during her career and how she believes HR professionals can continue to be successful as the industry evolves.

Tell us a bit about you

I just arrived in Canada having worked in Europe for close to 15 years in HR at an international company. In that job, I had a variety of different experiences and HR roles: HRBP, Change management, Team Leader in recruitment teams, PMO, to name a few!

Now that I’m in Canada, I’m going to start a coaching certification with Integral Coaching Canada and search for new HR opportunities here in Vancouver.

What do you look for in an employer?

I am an HR professional who likes to be proud of the products and values of the company I work for, so I’m always looking for businesses that I can find this in.

I love to work for organisations that fight the status quo, listen to their employees and offer them the appropriate empowerment and opportunities to challenge themselves, to be creative, to try, to fail and support them in constantly learning and growing.

I like to be a partner for my business, to share and ask questions, and challenge each other to grow together.

How do you think recruitment has changed in the last 10 years?

From my perspective, I think there have been two main factors that have changed the recruitment process in the last 10 years.

Firstly, the profiles of candidates are slightly different today. And I’m not talking about Generation X, Y or Z, and their different driving forces; but to recruit is also to welcome and consider the diversity of our candidates (in all terms, age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, education, national origins…) and their range of experiences, aspirations and expectations. Within the last 10 years, the recruitment process has included ways to incorporate much more of this diversity.

The second element is, of course, the new tech we have at our disposal now: social media, candidate portals, AI, gaming and more are all changing the way we recruit.

However, although the landscape may be different, one element remains consistently important: experience. A focus on both candidate and employee experience remains crucial to attracting, engaging and satisfying the talent you want to acquire or retain.

What does a successful hiring process look like to you?

I think success goes beyond the process, it is more about the result - this is what allows us to define it as a success.

The technology we use and the interviews we conduct must have as a result: an enthusiastic newcomer well on-boarded, a thankful leader happy to welcome his or her new team member and a happy recruiter.

That may sound simple but having a great recruitment experience will always make you stand out as an attractive company.

Name one skill or trait, if anything, you believe the HR industry currently lacks

I was weighing up two potential responses to this - Project management and an agile way of working and leveraging data. But I would say mastering data and learning how to collaborate with our IT colleagues is probably the one that stands out to me most (after all, getting that right might also help us to shadow their agile ways of working & project management practices!)

What would be your top three personal development tips for other HR professionals?

1. Continue to learn. Be curious, challenge yourself, your way of working and the way you think. As the world around us moves, we must be agile, flexible, ready to adapt ourselves to new schemes, changing cultures, and inclusive leadership models.
2. Stay attuned to data management and new tech to better understand what they can bring to your organisation and be aware of the risks and traps to avoid.
3. Keep a “people-focused approach.” Even if bots, artificial intelligence, digitalisation are everywhere we still have humans working with humans. Understand their needs, and their experience, ensuring qualitative connections and collaboration are crucial.

What industry buzzword would you be happy to see the back of?

I’ll take a risk to go against the current trend by saying: Resilience.

Not because organisational resilience doesn’t make sense but more because the word is so overused that it is losing its meaning. Resilience isn’t a new concept or new idea; however, like many buzzwords, it is tricky to really know what is behind it.

I would prefer to hear about organisational and individual abilities to quickly anticipate, adapt and change, to overcome major incidents or disturbances, to absorb a crisis or to recover. I’d especially like to hear how well an organisation can thrive in a world of uncertainty. And how we can all build these capabilities to turn crisis into opportunities, instead of just talking about resilience without any detail.

About Emilie

Emilie is an HR partner and change management practitioner with 15 years’ experience in an international company. Recently she arrived in Vancouver and is currently seeking a new professional opportunity. A self-acclaimed person nerd and social butterfly, Emilie loves meeting and working with new people to overcome exciting challenges together.

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