By Lisa Gordon
Julie Giraldi never planned to become a human resources professional. With a university degree in criminology and Italian literature, the possibility hadn’t even crossed her mind – that is, until a recruiter pointed out that her outgoing and approachable personality was well suited for a people-oriented career.
That was almost 30 years ago, and since then Giraldi’s HR career has grown and matured. Today, she is chief human resources officer (CHRO) and vice president, Health HR Leadership at the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA), an organization she’s been with for 15 years. Founded in 1924, the OHA serves and supports Ontario’s 148 hospitals in their quest to deliver the best possible patient care.
Overall, the OHA only has about 100 staff – and 20 of them are on Giraldi’s team. Their goal is to “connect the dots on the provincial plan” and develop strategies to assist members by identifying HR best practices, conducting research and creating toolkits and resources to help hospitals focus on important issues like succession planning.
HR Professional sat down with Giraldi to discuss the challenges inherent in her current role, as well as key lessons learned throughout her HR career.
When did you decide you wanted a career in human resources?
Julie Giraldi: It all started with a smile, believe it or not! After I graduated from university, I was working at the TTC as a temporary summer student in the HR department. Meanwhile, I was applying for permanent positions there that related to my criminology degree. The head recruiter at the time pulled me aside and recommended that I focus on HR. “It’s your smile and your demeanor; you’re approachable,” she told me. As I reflect on that, she was absolutely right! People need to feel at ease with you in HR. I focused my sights on HR and the rest is history.
What was your first job in HR?
JG: My first role was employee records clerk at the TTC. It was a great starter role, because it afforded me the opportunity to better understand the HR function and the organization. It also allowed me to build new skills that I would need to get into other positions in HR.
Describe your current job. What are your main areas of responsibility?
My main responsibility at the OHA is to focus on provincial HR initiatives. Most notably, I’ve been involved in executive compensation. The government is putting compensation frameworks in place for the broader public sector, including health care, that would include CEOs and their C-suite. In anticipation of this, I led the development of the first provincial compensation framework for hospital health care system leaders. It’s grounded in best practice, and it helps a board of directors determine the appropriate compensation for a CEO based on a number of complexity factors. This initiative is important because health care is transforming as we speak. We need to make sure we can recruit and retain the right leaders to lead that transformational agenda. If government policy is not grounded in best practice, we won’t be able to attract and retain the people we need to lead transformational change in the health care sector, and ultimately ensure Ontarians get the best health care.
I’m also involved in emerging issues – for example, we are currently working with a broad group of system stakeholders and partners to help identify root causes of workplace violence and better understand how we can prevent these incidents, all while ensuring both patients and staff are kept safe. We’re developing a report based on feedback from key stakeholders and presenting it to the Ministries of Health and Labour, which I’m very excited about. I’m also responsible for the e-health and IT portfolios and am a trustee on the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP).
What do you love about your job?
JG: I love working with a great group of people. They’re bright and full of energy with great ideas, and that really makes me tick! I’ve hired most of my staff, and I love to see that through mentoring and coaching, they’re getting to the next level of their careers. I also love that I can influence change at the provincial level; to me, that is really exciting and amazing.
What are the challenges you experience in your job?
JG: One of the challenges any association faces is managing the expectations of its members. The key is to engage the members – listen to them, learn from them, involve them in your work. This was the approach I took in building the compensation framework and it was successful. Also, when I first arrived at the OHA, we had 31 per cent turnover. It took a lot of time, effort and disciplined focus to turn that around. But in the last eight years, we’ve hovered around 97 to 99 per cent employee engagement! That is phenomenal when you look back at the 31 per cent turnover. My biggest learning from that was the importance of engaging staff and delivering on your commitments.
What's key to leading HR during a difficult time for a client organization?
JG: From my own experience, it’s important during difficult times to be open and transparent with staff. Never underestimate culture – “culture eats strategy for breakfast!” It really is true. As an example, when we started repairing OHA employee engagement, I thought HR could just lead the way and do it. But that wasn’t the case. We had to start from the bottom up, so we put together a staff relations committee that drove the development of our values and our behaviours. To this day, this committee continues to help us maintain the extraordinary engagement levels we’ve attained. Finally, I would say that if you’re asking people for their opinion – for example, through employee engagement surveys – you need to embrace the results. If you’re not committed to sharing the results and implementing an action plan, don’t do it! HR will lose credibility immediately, and it’s so hard to get that trust and credibility back.
What skills are important for success in HR?
JG: I think fundamentally you need to know how to motivate and engage people, and get them working at an optimal level. You also need to understand the culture and strategy of the organization, because if you don’t understand it you can’t deliver on the business side. How can you recruit the right people? We all know recruitment is an art, and not a science.
What tips do you have for new grads or those in entry-level HR jobs who want to move up the ladder?
JG: The biggest tip is to understand the various aspects of the business beyond the HR function. Get involved in the budget and strategic planning processes; this expands your understanding of the organization and sets you up for future success. You need to know how to do the basics really well – learn the various aspects of HR and learn where your strengths lie. Create your brand as an HR professional.
What's the future of HR?
JG: HR continues to evolve. I think it’s going to remain an integral part of future organizations. I think what will happen is that the journey into future senior leadership positions will include HR in a more overt manner. I think it has to be embedded in future roles – business leaders need to have a solid understanding of HR techniques and practices. Also, recruiting and retaining top talent will continue to be a challenge. The competition is fierce, not just in Ontario and Canada, but also worldwide. So you will need leaders who understand the fundamentals of HR in order to be competitive and attract and retain the best and brightest.