International Personnel Management Association/Canada
l’Association internationale de la
gestion du personnel - Canada

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Saskatchewan Chapter

2001

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I look forward to my first year as Chapter President. I would like to thank Pat Bokitch, for her leadership over the past year. Pat's professionalism and commitment contributed to our receiving the IPMA Best Chapter Award at the National Training Conference in May, 2001. This is going to be a hard act to follow! Also join me in wishing Pat all the best as they prepare for a new addition to the family.

It is my pleasure to introduce the Saskatchewan Chapter Executive for 2001-02.

The dedicated executive are well on their way in the planning to deliver our members quality events that promote excellence in the practice of human resource management.

Our first professional development workshop will occur on Friday, November 02, 2001. Mark Jackson with HayGroup will share his knowledge on Succession Planning for Strategic Continuity. I encourage everyone to take advantage of this skill enhancement opportunity and I look forward to seeing you and your guests at this event as well as upcoming programs in the year to come.

Karen Jellicoe

-IPMAIGP - Saskatchewan Chapter - Page 1

IPMA PROGRAM
INFORMATION

• Holly Hobbs, Sask. Environment & Resource Management
• Annette Wright, Sask. Public Service Commission
• Laurie Phipps, Sask. Property Management Corporation
• Casino Regina (Agency Membership)

We would also like to thank all those who have renewed their membership, for their continued support.

2000-2001 was a very successful year and we look forward to another great year in 2001-2002!

Friday, October 19, 2001
Hotel Saskatchewan Radisson Plaza, Blue Lounge
10:00 am to 1:00 pm….Plate lunch included
IPMA Members $17.00
Students $15.00
Non Members $20.00
To register please contact Diane Gurski at dgurski@psc.gov.sk.ca or call 787-7529

IPMA Award

MISSING E-MAIL ADDRESSES

CONGRATULATIONS to this year’s winner Judith Campbell, who achieved 90% in this course. Well done Judith!!

• William Cudmore
• Leslee Gosselin
• Bonita Cairns
• Terry Kuyek
• Linda McKay

Membership Director contact information:
Sandra Murchie
787-7658
s.murchie@psc.gov.sk.ca

-IPMAIGP - Saskatchewan Chapter - Page 2

Labour Relations Abstract

Termination of a Probationary Employee in an Underfill Position

The Facts of the Case:

The case centered on the termination of an employee who was on initial probation. The employee had been selected as an “underfill” for an information technology position (the position was a level 8 and the employee was hired as a level 7). The employee received the typical orientation that was provided to employees commencing in an IT position. Shortly after starting it became clear that the employee was not meeting standards. There were frequent verbal coaching sessions and a below standard 5-month performance rating. At the 5-month rating he was verbally told that he would have to improve his performance or he risked not passing probation. The employee was told that he would have the next two months to show improvement. The employee was hampered by a lack of understanding of the operating systems employed in the unit and he was also spending a considerable amount of time on the internet attending to personal issues. The employee continued to receive extensive verbal coaching and was sent to formal training sessions, however, the employee showed no improvement. The manager met with the employee when the review period had ended and provided him notice that his employment was terminated immediately due to failure of probation.

Shortly after his termination he filed a harassment complaint. The basis of the complaint was that the former employee had received numerous inappropriate emails from his supervisor and coworkers and was so upset by these that he was unable to meet work standards. The complaint was investigated and it was determined that the employee had in fact received inappropriate emails and was thus harassed. The Deputy Minister reviewed the results of the harassment investigation, but she determined that the harassment was not the underlying cause of the lack of performance. 

Arguments at Arbitration

At arbitration management argued that the case required to sustain a termination of an employee on initial probation was much less than that required to sustain the termination for cause of a permanent employee. It was further argued that the employee had been oriented, trained, coached and was provided an appropriate amount of time to demonstrate his skills. It was argued that this was simply a case of a bad match of skills and that the harassment issue was important but not directly related to his inability to meet standards.

The union argued that the harassment of the employee had, in fact, so effected the employee and the work environment was so poisoned that it was impossible for the employee to perform his job. They further asserted that the employer had failed to properly orient and train the employee and that the assessment of poor performance was unsubstantiated.

Arbitrators Decision

The arbitrator was not swayed by the argument that the harassment was a factor in the termination. However, the arbitrator did find that the assessment of the probationary employee was deficient. He found that the employer had not properly adjusted the performance standards to account for the underfill appointment. He further commented that the coaching that was provided, which was informal and largely verbal, should have been documented and should have provided clearer direction to the employee regarding expectations and possible consequences of not meeting standards. The arbitrator ordered the employee reinstated to government, but in a different department.

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Two important lessons were learned from this case. It goes without saying that it is important to clearly lay out the performance expectations of an employee, however, it is doubly important to remember that those performance standards need to be adjusted whenever a position is staffed as an underfill. Secondly, it is imperative that coaching discussions and performance feedback be documented in writing and copies provided to the employee. Even though the standard of assessment is lower for a probationary employee versus a permanent employee it is still necessary that the basics of communication and documentation be followed in order to sustain a termination for sub-standard performance.

By Ray Deck

CERTIFICATION UPDATE

As you have read in previous National and Chapter newsletters, IPMA has put forth a proposal for IPMA-US to recognize the IPMA-CP standards for reciprocal recognition.  The tentative implementation of the dual certification program is July 1, 2002 .  Talks are continuing respecting the standards for certification, and the process by which certified members would apply for recognition of the IPMA-CP designation by IPMA-US.

The proposal included a “grandparent” clause which would be time limited.  We had hoped to provide you with more information respecting the “grandparent” clause at this point, but further information is unavailable.  We will keep you apprised as developments unfold.

The IPMA-CP designation provides members with numerous benefits:

• Official recognition of excellence from a national human resource/personnel management association
• A benchmark for professional development
• An indication of areas for future enhancement
• National portability of certification designation
• Validation of learning and work experience achievements by human resource/personnel professionals, community leaders, academics
• Enhanced credibility

Application forms and further information on becoming a certified member can be found on the IPMA website at http://www.ipma-aigp.ca/ or contact Colleen Flaman at 787-2324 or cflaman@sem.gov.sk.ca

CALLING ALL STUDENTS AND VOLUNTEER MENTORS….

The Student Mentoring Program is a great program for students and mentors. It gives students a chance to get involved in the work world of Human Resources and gives mentors a chance to meet new faces, gain fresh ideas, and contribute to the ongoing learning of a student interested in the HR field. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please contact Shelley Archer at 787-0480 or email sarcher@ecd.gov.sk.ca

IPMA attended the University of Regina Career Fair once again this year on September 26th. Our booth was visited by many students and to date it has generated 2 new student memberships and 2 new students participating in the mentoring program. It was a great success. Thanks to all who were involved.

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THERE ARE ONLY A FEW SPACES LEFT…

For our fall Professional Development event :

SUCCESSION PLANNING FOR
STRATEGIC CONTINUITY

Cannington Room, Regina Inn
1975 Broad Street, Regina
November 2, 2001
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (lunch provided)
$295 for IPMA Members
$355 for Non-Members
$395 for Combined Workshop and
IPMA Membership

The Context:

Rationalization of middle management and an ageing managerial workforce are creating acute leadership succession and organizational continuity problems. Learn how powerful new succession planning and leadership development processes are being integrated to more rapidly identify and build the talent needed to meet the imminent leadership crisis.

This one-day interactive workshop is designed to provide participants with a succession planning framework, as well as processes and tools to help them design and implement a succession planning approach that meets the specific needs of your organization.

The Content:
By attending this workshop, you will learn how to:

• Complete a succession planning “health check” survey for your organization

• Align a succession plan with corporate strategy
• Assess your organization’s demand for specific technical leadership capabilities
• Assess the current supply of needed capabilities to determine the gap
• Design and implement development strategies to close the gap
• Develop a project plan to create a succession plan for strategic continuity.

The Facilitator:

Facilitator for the workshop is Mark Jackson, Regional Director, Organization Effectiveness & Management Development Practice, with the HayGroup. His areas of expertise include design and implementation of integrated human resource management projects. He has designed, managed and implemented projects involving job competency model development, selection system design, individual assessments for selection and staffing, 360-degree performance management systems, training and development processes, Leadership development process and career and succession planning processes. Mark has extensive experience in the development and application of integrated competency-based human resources management processes. He has developed and managed competency projects for both public and private sector. His clients include national and multi-national organizations.

Questions or registration for the event can be directed to Michèle Birns-Hahn, Director of Professional Development at 787-7476.

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

- Thomas A. Edison

IPMA Saskatchewan Chapter Executive 2001-2002

Please don’t hesitate to call any members of the Executive if you need information, have ideas you want to share, or if you would like to help out in any of the following areas:

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