Powered by People: Why HR is an Enabler of Business Success

At Capital Power, we’re working to deliver responsible energy for tomorrow. It’s our mission to create dependable, cost-effective and future-ready electricity solutions. This is a major undertaking and responsibility that requires a dedicated team of experts and innovators engaged to perform their best across our business. Building and maintaining the right team to do this is critical – a strategic approach to Human Resources can make this happen.

The Evolving Role of Human Resources

Throughout my career in the Human Resources (HR) field, the role of HR within an organization has significantly shifted. Traditionally, HR focused on the day-to-day and more transactional aspects of the business, like handling payroll, contracts, and policies. It served a necessary purpose, but its impact on the bottom line was limited and not fully understood by most companies. Today, with the fast pace of business, increasing use of technology and changing employee expectations, the scope of HR has evolved. HR has become strategic and agile: anticipating the needs of employees while aligning with the overall business objectives of an organization to deliver results. HR has developed into an essential pillar of robust corporate strategies.

At Capital Power, we understand that people are our greatest asset, and that attracting, hiring, developing, and retaining the right talent has a direct impact on our success. We’ve integrated our HR people strategy as part of our long-term corporate planning and have built a comprehensive Employee Value Proposition (EVP), which will be a key driver of talent attraction, engagement and retention for our business.

Harmonizing HR Priorities with Emerging Workplace Trends

As the way we work changes, and new technologies take hold across industries, the strategic role of HR cannot be overlooked. From enhanced workplace interconnectivity to the digitization of big data, the structure of a traditional office and how employees interact with one another and make decisions is changing. Today’s workforce is also more diverse than ever. There are five generations working together, each with their own needs and ways of thinking. Diversity across race, gender, and educational backgrounds further increases the number of new ideas brought to the table.

HR departments like ours are on the frontline of these emerging trends; we are change agents within our organization working to navigate and adapt our people priorities to meet the expectations and needs of the modern workforce. These trends are shaping the modern corporate structure and our approach to building, maintaining and engaging a high-performance team. New skills, new positions, and new ways of thinking are necessary. The ability for our HR team to engage top talent, support their resiliency and adapt to new ways of working, positions us for long-term viability as an employer and has a direct impact on our company’s bottom line.

Engagement and Experience: How to Attract, Retain and Develop the Right People

People are at the core of our business. Everything that gets done is because of the knowledge, skills, commitment and experience of our employees. This means we need to place a strategic focus on attracting the right people and ensuring they remain engaged, motivated, and empowered throughout their time with us. This is where HR can have significant value.

We are undertaking new approaches to hire, retain, and engage talent across our organization. At Capital Power, our people priorities are focused on:

• Supporting employee growth through building critical skills and competencies that support the long-term business needs and strategy of the organization
• Developing future leaders through succession planning and progressive management opportunities
• Delivering a compelling employee experience through our culture, career development opportunities and lifestyle benefits
• Driving digital business transformation for the organization though evolving employee roles and skills building

At Capital Power, we want our employees to feel satisfied and engaged by their work. It’s our priority to empower our employees so they can deliver their best work and drive our business forward.

“Human” Resources: It’s About the People

More than ever before, HR plays a strategic role within our organization. People are at the core of everything we do, and HR provides the support our people need to perform by creating an environment where they can succeed. We have a responsibility to engage and empower our employees in way that allows each individual to be their best every day – producing exceptional results with endless possibilities.