HR Professional - December/January 2008 - (Page 55)

The recruiting machine is very complex. We put the call out for applications in February last year. Right now we are recruiting 15 days a month. We will be moving that up to 26 days a month by the end of October and six days a week from October through next summer. We will do this for at least 30,000 people (accounting for attrition). We’ve got a team of about 70 people who are involved in that machine and 10 people behind the scenes doing the administration. Of that 70 people, only 10 are paid. HRP: This is a huge operation, how will you dismantle it after the Games? DW: Everyone here is on a contract with end dates so they all know what they are working toward but we have retention incentives to keep people here. We are in the process of defining how many people we need to close the books after the Games and we will have that decided by the end of this year. Next year, we will communicate to all employees what their official end date will be and we’ll have a small team pulling together the exit materials for every employee. We’ll have 50 per cent of the workforce leaving after the Games and the rest will leave by the end of March. The process starts a year in advance. We’re paying close attention to the potential for employee depression. We are implementing a Life After 2010 program, which gives current employees access to future employers as well as a social networking safety net with former colleagues. We also have reunions planned to maintain the team connection. w w w.H RThought L ea der. c om HRP: Have you learned anything from Beijing in terms of HR strategy? DW: What became clear to me in both Torino and Beijing is that HR strategies are culturally influenced. Beijing was criticized by the media for certain aspects of their volunteer program but those criticisms were unfair. Their volunteers were very young and were less capable of confidently handling unplanned activities. In China, when plans change it requires supervisory involvement. It’s not because the volunteers aren’t capable or don’t know the answer, but culturally they are trained to get the answer from Looking to recruit Chartered Accountants? Advertise your positions to over 74,000 CAs Access our resume database (free with every job posted) For more information visit www.casource.com/advertising 392854_Canadian.indd 1 D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 / J a n u a r y 2 0 08/19/08 9 55 9:07:22 AM http://www.casource.com/advertising http://www.HRThoughtLeader.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of HR Professional - December/January 2008

HR Professional - December/January 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Contributors Leadership Matters Upfront Legal Compensation Human Capital Talent Management The R-Word Speak No Evil On Message Strategy HR 101 Interview with Donna Wilson Off the Shelf The Last Word

HR Professional - December/January 2008

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