| Community Futures
Sagehill
Sagehill Participates in HR Pilot Project
Talk with any small business owner or manager
and they will tell you that finding and keeping good employees
is one of the biggest challenges they face. A national human resource
pilot project is now underway to provide HR help to small businesses.
The 30-month pilot project is coordinated by
the Restigouche Community Business Development Corporation (CBDC),
which is based in northern New Brunswick. Sagehill, Visions North
and the East Central Community Futures offices in Saskatchewan
are among the 48 CF and BDC organizations participating in the
pilot.
Across Canada, 100 small businesses (generally,
up to 15 employees) will take part in the development and evaluation
of a set of human resource tools.
By improving the effectiveness of HR management
practices within the business, explains Sagehill small business
specialist Susan Wehage, small business owners and managers will
be able to increase their productivity and competitiveness.
Each of the 100 businesses participating will
designate a staff person who will work with Sagehill and a member
of the Restigouche CBDC. (The pilot was officially launched in
Restigouche in late June, 2007).
"Sagehill will be working with participating
business owners to identify roadblocks preventing them from implementing
HR practices," Wehage says, "which will also increase
their awareness of the benefits of HR planning. Feedback from
employees will also be part of the process."
The small businesses participating with Sagehill
in the project include:
- Wakaw Lake Lodge at Wakaw;
- Cudworth Pork Investors Group, Cudworth;
- Modern Meat And Abattoir (78) Ltd., Humboldt;
and
- Elite Innovations Hair Salon and Day Spa,
Humboldt.
While it's early days for the pilot, from her
16 years experience with Sagehill, Wehage knows good communication
is basic to addressing most HR issues. "It's important that
business owners and employees are on the same page. For example,
holding regular staff meetings provides the opportunity to learn
about what every employee is working on, what is working, what
isn't, and how things can be improved.
"The end result will be a basic, practical,
easy-to-use HR kit that all small businesses can use. Sagehill
will make the kit available to the small businesses in our Community
Futures region," Wehage says.
How the pilot will work
Each of the 100 small businesses participating in the pilot project
will designate one staff person – the HR Business Person
– to the project for two-and-a-half years. Each HR Business
Person with local particpating businesses will work with Sagehill.
The HR Project Support Team based in Restigouche will also provide
ongoing support to all of the participants in the pilot.
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