Calgary TELUS Convention Centre Marcia Lyons, General Manager

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Calgary TELUS Convention CentreMarcia Lyons,
General Manager
Human Resources in the MICE IndustrySeminar
on MICE Opportunities in APEC Economies
September 28, 2007
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Are Human Resources Important to MICE?

• As I mentioned in my phone call, the security
  staff were very helpful and very patient with us
  considering the number of calls we made to them
  throughout the day. The banquet staff and
  maintenance crew were very helpful as well.
• Just wanted to tell you how fantastic it was to
  have the Convention Centre staff working with us.
  Once we had put together the enormous fountain
  focal point, we discovered a vital piece missing.
  We found ourselves CTCC star engineer, Sean, who
  disappeared to his workshop, and just like Santa,
  appeared with our toy all fixedyou should have
  heard the cheer.
• Everyone was very impressed with the facility
  spaciousness, elegance and staff.

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Are Human Resources Important to MICE?

• It is no secret why Calgary has become such a
  successful and prosperous city, its because of
  the kind of people I met and have worked with
  there.
• The facilities and the food were excellent. The
  staff were very professional and competent. I
  would like to single out your business office and
  shipping department for excellent customer
  service.

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Labor Market Key to Business Success

• Two factors critical to organizations
• They must have access to talent
• They must be able to hire talent

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Human Resources - Competitive Advantage

• Our industry is changing
• Perception of facilities as commodities
• Price sensitivity as driving factor
• Supply is increasing
• Need to differentiate for competitive advantage

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Customer Expectations are Changing

• Demand for unique experience
• Relationships are important
• Consumer expectations are high
• Service components are important

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Technology Driving New Commercial Reality

• Increased access to information
• New business processes
• Websites
• Interactive booking systems, sophisticated
  audio-visual equipment

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Globalization

• Emergence of global markets
• Demand for standardized consumer products across
  broad-market segments
• Travel patterns changing

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Step 1 for Any Great Company

• Get the right people on the bus - First who,
  then what - Jim Collins
• Little of todays technology is proprietary.
  Technology is easily obtained and replicated and
  only levels the playing field. An organizations
  valued human assets cannot be copied. - Bill
  Gates

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Bottom Line

• Human resources are a differentiating factor, and
  for the organization getting the right people in
  the right place at the right time, is critical.
• Employees are facing a more complex work
  environment.
• Knowledge workers are becoming more important
• Organizations need effective human resources
  strategies to remain competitive.

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Factors Impacting Labor Market

• Aging population as birthrates decline
• Occurring in most developed and rapidly
  developing countries U.S. is becoming an
  exception
• Shrinking of youth labor market
• Competition for talent increasing for all sectors
• Non-traditional sources of labor becoming
  important
• Nature of workplace change

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Aging Population - Canada
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Aging Population - China
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Aging Population United States
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Aging Population Japan
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To Succeed

• Managements focus must shift from

Management of Techniques and Things
Management of People
Competitive Advantage
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Factors Impacting Labor Market Women in the
Workforce

• Over the last half century
• Women have increased presence in the formal labor
  market.

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Women in the Workforce
Source Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development, Labor Force Statistics 1981 - 2001
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Women
PERCENTAGE
Source Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development, Labor Force Statistics 1981
2001 and Labor Force Statistics 1971 1991
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Men
PERCENTAGE
Source Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development, Labor Force Statistics 1981
2001 and Labor Force Statistics 1971 1991
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Women in the Workforce

• Over the last half century
• Women have improved levels of educational
  attainment
• Have narrowed skill gap relative to men

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Women in the Workforce

• However
• Womens participation still viewed less important
• Female occupational clusters are common
• More women than men work part-time
• Womens compensation rates are lower
• Women hold few senior executive positions

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International Comparison of Non-Farm Employment
Distributions by Major Occupations
1995
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Women in the Workforce

• Women experience unequal access to market
  opportunities
• Driven by broad societal forces
• Social
• Political
• Cultural
• Economic

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Women in the Workforce

• Within organizations, access is limited by
• Lack of female role models
• Career disruption for family reasons
• Womens fit in male-dominated organizational
  cultures

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Women in the Workforce

• Women offer a potential pool of talent
• Key questions
• How can the MICE industry effectively tap into
  this pool?
• Can we break the glass ceiling?

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Factors Impacting the Labor Market - Diversity
in the Workplace

• Does diversity become essential as traditional
  labor pools shrink?
• A diverse workplace will present challenges
• More women
• Multi-generations
• Aging workforce
• More immigrants

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Attracting Employees to Our Industry

• Common Perceptions about MICE
• The Good
• Global tourism projected to continue growing
• Travel sector has appeal
• MICE providing opportunities
• Provides variety
• The Bad
• Not viewed as having career potential
• Little room for advancement
• Labor unskilled
• Part-time jobs
• Compensation rates are low

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Attracting Employees to Our Industry

• Requires a multifaceted approach
• Must be proactive, not reactive
• Involves government, industry and organization

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Attracting Employees to Our Industry

• Role of Government
• Policy development and legislation to address
  issues
• Retirement
• Immigration
• Diversity
• Family and work balance
• Providing appropriate access to education

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Attracting Employees to Our Industry

• Role of Industry
• Start to plan now
• Understand broad impacts of change
• Know the market
• Create/communicate positive perceptions
• Develop practices to encourage skill growth

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Attracting Employees to Our Industry

• Role of Organization
• Make human resources a priority
• The strategic plan must acknowledge the value of
  human resources

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Planning for the Crisis

• Role of Organization
• Practice manpower planning across the
  organization
• Seek appropriate balances of generations
• Use flexible work practices
• Practice diversity management
• Identify high potential employees
• Endorse continuous learning
• Pay attention to retention

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Planning for the Crisis

• Role of Organization
• Take Recruitment seriously
• Put the right people on the bus
• Adopt a strategy of continuous recruitment
• Recruit outside of the box
• Liaise with community resources
• Be an Employer of Choice

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Planning for the Crisis

• Role of Organization
• Commit Resources to Employee Development
• Hire for attitude Trade for skill
• Recognize training creates a competitive
  advantage
• Employee commitment
• Customer retention
• Support development of industry initiatives

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Planning for the Crisis

• Build flexibility into workplace practices
• Situational leadership
• Flex time
• Flex benefits
• Develop exceptional leaders