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Picture this: amidst a skills and talent crunch, an organization’s most senior leaders and top-performers retire, taking with them much more than a gold watch – 30 or more years of experience and intimate knowledge of the company. As middle managers move up to fill the gaps, new gaps will appear, until the entire organization from top to bottom is riddled with vacancies – and customers hanging in the balance.

Suddenly recent grads of the Y generation will be at the forefront of the battle for top talent, and companies will have to compete for honour roll students and campus superstars.

Why not hire them now?

Recruiting recent grads is something some employers are making a priority – not just to fill entry-level roles, but as a strategic component of succession planning and sustainability. It’s about being proactive, rather than reactive, as some would say.

As the Globe and Mail recently rolled out their list of “Top 50 Employers for Young People” (with the editors of “Canada’s Top 100 Employers”), Career Edge was profiled in a timely feature in the Globe today, entitled “Keeping a Generation from Getting Lost.”

The article by Randy Ray highlighted the challenges faced by the large number of unemployed youth in today’s tough job market, particularly those who graduated at the height of the recession and have remained unemployed since.

The article, featuring an interview with our own Janice Rudkowski, Director, Marketing & Communications, raises the question – what will become of this cohort, and what will happen when employers need fresh talent? Will they be “passed over in favour of the next crop of fresh graduates,” as Janice postulates in the article. Will they lose some of the skills and knowledge they graduated with months, or in some cases, over a year ago?

Fortunately there are some excellent companies out there that recognize the value of recruiting and training new talent now. Loblaw and Kraft – both host employers to our Career Edge program for recent grads – both appeared in the article as examples of excellent programs that are “kick-starting careers” and enjoying the benefits of new talent.

As the economy recovers, now is a great time to build a “talent pipeline,” because before we know it, we’ll be facing a talent drought.

By Guest Blogger: Janice Rudkowski, Director, Marketing & Communications, Career Edge Organization

I was fortunate enough to attend the Getting Down to Business with Social Media session yesterday, held by Queen’s Executive Development Centre. There are lots of Social Media themed sessions, conferences and crash courses out there for business professionals to partake in. Some try to convert, others try to simply inform or educate and then others try to take Social Media Strategy to the next level.

This one was of the later – it definitely took social and digital media strategy to the next level. Neil Bearse, Manager of Web-Based Marketing at Queen’s University, presented the second hour of the session. He really hit the mark in terms of how organizations should be thinking about digital media. I took away three really important insights from his engaging, entertaining and thoughtful presentation.

1. It’s time to stop questioning why and start looking at the facts.

Millions and millions of people are already actively engaged online whether it’s for social or professional purposes. So, why are organizations still wondering if they should develop a digital media strategy? Social and digital media has already demonstrated itself as an integral part of our society. From preschoolers to grandmothers – everyone is engaging online in one way or another. So too should all organizations.

2. In essence, we’re all marketers within our organizations.

Digital media strategies don’t simply belong just in the Marketing Department. Since social media is an integral part of our everyday lives, it also has to be woven through every part of our businesses. It’s true that Marketing has traditionally been the brand keepers, but today everyone in the organization contributes to keeping the brand healthy and well. It’s not just what’s written on the company website or company brochure that dictates brand health, it’s how we talk to a customer or even how we talk to our friends and family about our jobs. Virtually every online and offline interaction feeds into the health of a brand. So, it’s crucial that everyone within an organization recognize their role, importance and contribution to the organization’s overall strategy in order for its digital media strategy to achieve success.

3. Digital media is exactly what email was 15 years ago and what the fax machine was 30 years ago to businesses.

These techno inventions changed the way people communicated. So, now we have another technological revolution which once again changes the way that we do business. The difference is, now businesses have the opportunity to reach out and engage in direct dialogue with their customers and consumers in an instant. We’re entering into a new era where a customer/consumer relationship is not just defined by face time or simply the quality of a product or service, but it’s defined by every single online and offline interaction. And now more than ever, it’s the online interaction that contributes so much value to the equation.

Building on the positive news we reported on our blog last week related to job growth in Canada, we encourage you (if you haven’t already) to have a look at our spring issue of Career Bulletin – our quarterly e-Newsletter, and read about Canada’s “slow but steady” economic recovery.

Some highlights include:

• Last month the economy added nearly 18,000 jobs
• Last quarter saw the strongest bout of growth in employment we’ve seen in 2 years
• The number of Canadians receiving regular EI benefits decreased in every province for a total of 47,000 nation-wide
• 40 per cent of executives in a recent study said that finding skilled professionals in today’s labour market is a challenge
• The latest quarterly survey from Bank of Canada announced last week that, as sales increased, firms would increase their hiring and investments

Click here to read the full article!

Yesterday Career Edge Organization President & CEO Anne Lamont returned to Toronto after an exciting weekend in Halifax, attending the 2010 ALLIES Learning Exchange: Putting Ideas into Action.

ALLIES stands for “Assisting Local Leaders with Immigrant Employment Strategies” and is a project jointly funded by our friends at Maytree and The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation.

This project offers resources, networks and expertise to cities across Canada providing the support needed for local initiatives around finding suitable employment for skilled immigrants (a really informative backgrounder on ALLIES is available here through the Maytree website).

Anne Lamont was really impressed with project leader Peter Paul’s efforts at this year’s event, which brought together 150+ participants from more than 10 city regions including our partners from TRIEC (Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council) and their equivalents in other Canadian cities such as Edmonton and Calgary.

Anne Lamont and other guests were greeted with a warm welcome from Gordon Nixon, president and CEO of Career Bridge host employers Royal Bank of Canada.

Keynote addresses included:

• Don Drummond, TD Bank Financial Group – Changing Face of the Canadian Workplace

• Alan Broadbent, Maytree – Making your Immigrant Employment Council Work for your Community

• Will Kymlicka, Queen’s University – The Future of Multiculturalism in Canada

• Naomi Alboim, leading immigration expert – Immigrants and the Economic Recovery

And last (but not least) Ratna Omidvar, President of Maytree, provided closing remarks.

Other highlights included panel discussions on hiring practices, mentoring and engaging employers, in-depth workshops and a “marketplace” where Anne Lamont participated to provide information about our Career Bridge paid internship program for internationally qualified professionals.

As in previous years, we are happy to be ALLIES and participate in this wonderful event – it was a great opportunity for Anne to see familiar faces and meet new champions that stand alongside Career Bridge and Career Edge Organization to help launch careers and put talent to work!

We look forward to seeing what they have in store for 2011.

After a tough couple of years and a crawling recovery in recent months, finally, some great news!

A record 108,700 jobs were added to Canada’s economy in April according to Stats Canada, signalling growth and better times to come. A large portion of this increase (approximately 2/3) was men over 25 years old returning to the workforce. 65,000 of the jobs were part-time and 44,000 were full-time!

This has taken everyone by surprise, as the growth is four times the consensus forecast. And while increases were seen in all provinces, Ontario, Quebec, British Colombia and Manitoba had the most job growth.

Jobs aren’t the only thing that went up – wages have gone up as well, by about 2%.

So who is doing all the hiring? Retail and wholesale companies were the industries that led the pack, according to an article in Business Week this morning, which also goes on to report:

The International Monetary Fund said April 21 Canada will grow the fastest among Group of Seven countries this year and next, with an expansion of 3.1 percent in 2010 and 3.2 percent in 2011.

Go Canada!!

This morning the Center for Students with Disabilities at Centennial College, Progress Campus arranged for an information session for students about employment prospects after graduation. Scotiabank and Career Edge Organization were invited to give presentations.

Scotiabank was represented by Sophia Dritsas, Assistant Manager, Diversity Initiatives and Kay Leslie, Manager Workforce Diversity. Career Edge Organization was represented by Rizwan Abdul, Client Relations and HR Manager and Rima Dasgupta, Recruitment Sourcing Specialist.

Kay and Sophia from Scotiabank spoke to the students about the opportunities their organization offers to persons with disabilities and the framework they have around providing workplace accommodations for persons with disabilities. They also talked about the partnerships Scotiabank has established with various agencies including Career Edge Organization that work with persons with disabilities to make Scotiabank a more inclusive workplace for persons with disabilities. They also mentioned that internships through the Ability Edge program are a viable way to establish a career at the Bank.

Rizwan from Career Edge Organization in his presentation spoke about the benefits of Ability Edge paid internships for students with disabilities. Some of the benefits are:

• Internships provide option to break through the frustrating cycle of “no experience, no job; no job, no experience”

• Interview concentrates on abilities versus disabilities as disclosure concerns are minimized – All employers have understanding from the beginning of recruitment process that applicants have a self-identified disability

• Reasonable workplace accommodations are provided to interns during the internship

• Interns can reach potential by removing stereotype concerns

• All interns have a designated Coach who assists them to gain valuable work experience

• Win-win experience for the intern and the Host Organization as both get an opportunity to decide if the internship can potentially lead to permanent employment

Rima concluded the presentation by explaining the registration process on the Ability Edge website to students.

It has been unusually quiet in the office this week.

Over the past few days, Career Edge Organization has had a strong presence at the National Consultation on Career Development and Workforce Learning conference, better known as NATCON.

Having attended in the past as delegates, this year we were invited by the Conference Board of Canada to deliver two engaging presentations on subject matters within our areas of expertise.

On Monday, our President & CEO, Anne Lamont, delivered an informative and practical workshop on measuring diversity initiatives. Deanna Matzanke, Director, Global Employment Strategies at Scotiabank partnered with Career Edge Organization and presented alongside Anne.

While Anne Lamont gave an overview of diversity issues in Canadian employment, as well as 7 key factors in measuring diversity success, Deanna was able to provide an employer perspective, using Scotiabank as a case study for championing, measuring and improving diversity and inclusivity initiatives.

Yesterday we were treated to an energetic, fun and yet informative presentation from Gen Y authority, Dr. Karyn Gordon, who helped the audience understand the notorious millennial cohort in their cultural, familial and professional contexts.

This was a perfect segway into our second presentation. This morning, our Director, Marketing and Communications, Janice Rudkowski, built on the foundation set by Dr. Karyn’s keynote presentation, by providing the audience with insights derived from our Canadian Gen Y study which we conducted with Angus Reid Strategies last September.

For those who are not familiar with it, NATCON is considered a major industry conference in Canada that brings together professionals representing business, labour practitioners and policy makers from across the country. Simultaneously taking place were the “Global Best Awards” for education and business partnerships, also held by the Conference Board of Canada.

To learn more about it, visit their website: www.natcon.org

This afternoon our Vice President at Career Edge Organization, Donna Smith, sent out a fun but serious call to action to all staff:

Since today is Earth Day, this is a great opportunity to think about how we can each contribute to making this a cleaner, greener planet.

Here is my challenge to each of you…

Please propose one idea easy to implement idea that will make our offices  greener. I just know this creative team will come up with some fabulous ideas.

Donna’s promise? Starting today, she will only bring her early morning tea into the office in a reusable travel mug.

The rest of the staff quickly chimed in:

“Carrying a shopping bag with us all the time, so that we don’t use plastic bags!!” – Rima

“Order environmentally responsible office supplies…recycled paper clips anyone?” – Sydney

“How about keeping a stash of scrap paper for taking notes instead of using new paper every time” – Paula

“We can recycle our broken or old electronic devices by taking them to stores like Best Buy or Staples” – Ramtin

“If you take electronic devices to the green living show on the weekend you get in for free!” – Rory

“We can start using stairs instead of the elevator. (Yes, applies in my case too!)” – Rizwan

“Support our local farmers market, for example the one at Metro Hall (in Toronto)” – Janice

“Save trees by printing less – instead, save important emails and documents in electronic files for future use.” – Michelle

Talk to us! What does your workplace do to make the world a “greener, cleaner” place? How did your organization acknowledge Earth Day?

Are you in the loop?

Each quarter, Career Edge Organization sends out our e-Newsletter to up to 25,000 of our closest friends – host employers, partner organizations, interns and alumni all receive the Career Bulletin. Our next issue is scheduled to be sent out tomorrow, and will feature an update on Canada’s economic recover, spring cleaning tips for your office and workspace and an inspiring story of a recent Career Bridge intern who is now a Vice President at United Way in Toronto.

Click here to subscribe now!

Our newsletter provides our partners and stakeholders with updates on our organization as well as the greater business community as it pertains to employment in Canada. Our regular sections include:

• A letter from Anne Lamont, our President and CEO
• Updates on our internship numbers, new Host organizations, staff and alumni
• Inspiring success stories and profiles of real people who have been touched by our programs
• Industry news – what’s going in the Canadian economy, labour market and business community
• Workplace trends – the latest trends in hiring and talent management
• Career management – professional development tips for everyone including job seekers, human resources professionals and senior hiring managers

Our previous issues can be found on the Career Edge Organization website’s “Information and Resources” section.

If you haven’t been receiving our newsletters, make sure you have subscribed with your up-to-date contact information. You can subscribe here.

Subscribe now to stay informed about the latest updates, success stories, industry news, and workplace trends in Canada’s employment landscape. Don’t miss out on valuable insights and opportunities to connect with Career Edge Organization!

Are you a good writer and wish to contribute to the Career Bulletin? Talk to us and let us know by leaving a comment below!

A couple of days ago I read that female executives in the federal public service are on the rise.

This prompted Maria Barrados, president of the Public Service Commission, to state that “given the representation of women, I think it’s fair to look at the act.” The act she is referring to, of course, is employment equity law.

The bureaucracy’s watchdog is saying that now is the time to consider whether women should still receive preferential treatment under the law, and many agree.

This prompted the National Post’s editorial board to write, “just hire the best person for the job” on their blog this morning, saying that while parliamentarians are reexamining policies around women, they should take the next step and repeal protections for the other three “favoured” groups – aboriginals, visible minorities and the disabled.

The article went on to say, “If a general mentality of prejudice in favour of men – i.e. a systemic discrimination – ever existed, it is long gone.”

Is it?

While women have made strides in Canadian government, they are still underrepresented in corporate Canada, particularly in executive roles and on boards.

Aboriginals, persons with disabilities and visible minorities continue to be underrepresented in all sectors.

Most importantly, while diversity can perhaps be measured in numbers, inclusion is a different story.

Equity laws should be looked at as training wheels for organizations it looks like the Federal Government is ready to have them removed, where hiring practices for women are concerned. But this should be done with caution and each of the protected groups deserves its own careful considering.

Anyone who remembers learning how to ride a bike knows that if the training wheels come off too soon, well, down we go!

What do you think? Tell us by leaving a comment below.