friends, bosses, colleagues and subordinates
– with one notable exception: themselves,”
said Dr. Racioppi. “Women often shy away
from getting the word out about their cor-porate
accomplishments. They harbor the
misguided expectation that their work will
speak for itself.”
Catalyst research has found that men
are paid on potential while women are
paid on performance. This may be due, in
part, to the reluctance of women to cele-brate
their own accomplishments, says
Dr. Racioppi. “When a woman chooses to
let her work speak for itself, she thwarts
her own progress by limiting information
critical for senior leadership to assess her
talents and abilities. By ‘tooting her own
horn,’ a woman can begin to shift the equa-tion
and give corporate leaders a sense of
not just her performance, but her leader-ship
potential as well.”
There are many effective ways to spread
the word about significant accomplish-ments,
says Dr. Racioppi. “If a woman has
closed a major deal, helped launch a new
product or received an award from a pro-fessional
organization, for example, there
is nothing wrong with relying on word
of mouth to spread the news,” she said.
“However, she should also consider send-ing
out a memo, forwarding a press release
or having a trusted corporate friend or col-league
get the word out.”
MANY HR PROFESSIONALS
SAY UNPAID INTERNSHIPS ARE
UNFAIR
Almost two-thirds of human resources
professionals believe unpaid internships
not tied to education or training should
be illegal, according to a recent sur-vey
conducted by the Human Resources
Professionals Association (HRPA).
Of those respondents who work at
organizations that currently offer unpaid in-ternships,
almost 60 per cent said they should
be illegal, providing an interesting perspective
on the issue from HR professionals charged
with overseeing internship programs.
“Many respondents said that no organiza-tion
should be exempt from the Employment
Standards Act, particularly concerning mini-mum
wage laws,” said survey author Kristina
Hidas, HRPA’s vice president, HR Research
“MANY RESPONDENTS SAID THAT NO
ORGANIZATION SHOULD BE EXEMPT
FROM THE EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS
ACT, PARTICULARLY CONCERNING
MINIMUM WAGE LAWS. OTHER
RESPONDENT CONCERNS INCLUDED
THAT UNPAID INTERNSHIPS DISPLACE
PAID WORKERS, AND THAT THE
PRACTICE IS UNFAIR BECAUSE IT
PROVIDES AN ADVANTAGE TO WEALTHY
YOUNG PEOPLE WHO RECEIVE FAMILY
SUPPORT WHILE WORKING FOR NO PAY.”
– KRISTINA HIDAS, VICE PRESIDENT,
HR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, HRPA
and Development. “Other respondent con-cerns
included that unpaid internships
displace paid workers, and that the practice
is unfair because it provides an advantage
to wealthy young people who receive family
support while working for no pay.”
Other survey stats:
■■ 68 per cent of HR managers working
in organizations with less than 50 em-ployees
said unpaid internships should
be illegal, while 45 per cent working in
large organizations (with more than
5,000 employees) said the same
■■ 20 per cent of respondents are con-cerned
that unpaid internships displace
paid workers
■■ A third of respondents say unpaid in-ternships
only benefit the organization
■■ A third of respondents have seen the
number of unpaid internships at their
organizations increase over the past five
years
Internship value
“Many respondents did feel there was a
place for unpaid internships – as long as
it’s tied to education and training,” said
Hidas. “They provide young people with
important work experience, as well as an
opportunity to build networks and ac-quire
important, transferable skills. Many
members said unpaid internships should
exist within specific frameworks: that they
news
be run as part of a larger educational pro-gram;
be limited in length of time (i.e.,
three to six months); and offer compen-sation
for expenses like food and travel.
Respondents also said that the role of
HR professionals can be pivotal in bro-kering
internships that benefit both the
employer and the individual.”
USING DATA TO BUILD BETTER
HUMAN RESOURCES SYSTEMS
New Conference Board of Canada re-search
shows that Canadian organizations
are heavily investing dollars and energy
into their HR functions in the emerging
“Talent Decade.” During this time, strate-gic
factors such as demographics, labour
markets and productivity are converging
to elevate the importance of talent even
further. In this dynamic business environ-ment,
it is talent management that will
create sustainable competitive advantage.
During the Talent Decade, organiza-tions
will also need to ensure that their
HR function is building effective tal-ent
systems and measurement tools that
support strategic business decisions and
strengthen workforce capacity.
Organizations that effectively exploit
knowledge of data and analytics will have
the capability to drive better business
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ JULY/AUGUST 2014 ❚ 11