Look beyond your workforce’s current skills to assess their potential and you might just find a diamond in the rough.

Gone are the days when workers spent their entire career within a single organization. According to a 2018 report from the recruitment firm LiveCareer, today’s workers spend an average of 3.8 years with an employer. This number is even lower among younger generations like millennials. In fact, while the average employment duration was 8 years for baby boomers, it was just 5.4 years for generation Xers and a mere 2.4 years for millennials.

This mobility creates major recruitment and retention issues for employers, and the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t helped ease the pressure. An Angus Reid survey found that in Quebec, 41% of respondents who are currently employed are either actively looking for a new job or plan to do so within the next year, once market conditions improve. Here’s what workers are looking for:

• Personal development opportunities;
• Sense of belonging within the workplace;
• Recognition from the employer;
• Being given responsibilities;
• Good relationships with colleagues and managers;
• Competitive compensation.

Now more than ever, organizations are faced with the challenge of helping employees achieve their professional development goals, even though workers are increasingly inclined to change employers regularly. At the same time, organizations have to promote a management philosophy that encourages professional wellbeing. So, what’s the best strategy for meeting these goals? It can start as early as the recruitment phase.

Recruiting for today—and tomorrow

Traditionally, recruitment specialists review resumes to see whether candidates meet the criteria for a specific position. Do they have the right level of education? Will they bring the right skills to the table? Is their past experience relevant to the challenges that the job entails?

Next, recruiters interview candidates to further assess their skills and compatibility with the manager, team, workplace and conditions. The purpose of all this is to find someone who meets a clearly defined need. But what happens if the employee wants to grow within their role after a few years?

There are ways to help workers develop their professional potential within an organization—and boosting their job satisfaction at the same time.

Assessing potential in addition to skills

A person’s potential is their aptitude for developing new competencies in order to assume more complex roles within an organization. It’s important not to confuse an individual’s potential with their current job performance.

Performance assessments measure whether a worker is successfully completing their tasks. These evaluations don’t usually provide any indication of whether the worker has the potential to take on different or more complicated responsibilities.

There are three key factors that can influence a worker’s development potential within their organization:

Good match between the individual and the organization

The worker’s values are aligned with the company’s. People who are naturally curious, independent and looking for challenges will want to advance their careers in companies that promote innovation and accountability.

Ability to learn

Given the fast pace of change in today’s workplace, workers who are willing and able to learn new things tend to be more agile, credible and adaptable.

Personality

When determining what roles and responsibilities a candidate is suited for, some points to consider include their self-reliance, ambition, leadership skills, priority management capabilities, personal interests and ability to manage stress.

Is there a diamond in the rough within your ranks?

Could your next manager already be working for your company? Are there people within your teams who can help your organization meet its medium and long-term goals? Evaluating a person’s potential can help you answer these questions and more. By assessing each candidate’s potential, you can:

• Make an informed choice based on a deeper understanding of the candidate and their potential to help the organization grow;
• Understand their aspirations in order to provide them with professional development opportunities and boost their engagement;
• Help the worker make a smooth transition into their new role or team;
• Find out what motivates workers and how to engage them;
• Prevent unpleasant surprises and dodge costly recruitment mistakes.

By gaining insights into each candidate’s personality, interests and values, you’ll be able to gauge whether they can grow into more complex roles. You’ll also get a better idea of how the organization can help them advance their career.

Our human resources professionals have developed a candidate potential assessment model that’s backed by a range of helpful tools. These include skills and aptitude tests, as well as personality, interest and values inventories.

Interested in learning more? Contact us to inquire about our personalized recruitment services. Our multidisciplinary team will be pleased to connect you with the right solutions for your needs.

This article was written in collaboration with Mathieu Beaudoin, Human Resources Advisor.

The Grant Thornton International IFRS team has updated the document Insights into IFRS 16 – Lease term.

The document Insights into IFRS 16 – Lease term was updated to reflect the latest thinking in this area, including the November 2019 Agenda decision on Lease Term and Useful Life of Leasehold Improvements issued by the IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRIC).

The document now covers how an entity determines the lease term of a cancellable lease or a renewable lease and provides additional examples in this regard.

The issue

Determining the lease term under IFRS 16 is significant.

Firstly, the longer the lease term, the larger the lessee’s right-of-use asset and lease liability will be.

Secondly, the length of the lease term determines whether a lease qualifies for the short-term lease exemption.

Finally, IFRS 16 contains additional application guidance on how to deal with periods covered by options to extend or terminate a lease. While the new detailed guidance can be helpful, it also means there is more to consider when determining the lease term.

This document explains the key aspects of determining the lease term at commencement date and when it should be reassessed.

The Insights into IFRS 16 series provides insights on applying IFRS 16, Leases, in key areas. Each edition focuses on an area of IFRS 16 to assist you in applying the guidance in the standard.

Are you planning to transfer your business to a promising successor? Take the time to do it right, step by step, with a structured and integrated approach.

Quebec’s economy relies on a large number of SMEs. The numbers say it all: Quebec is home to nearly 240,000 businesses with less than 99 employees and another 4,300 with 100 to 499 employees. Combined, these companies account for more than 87% of all jobs in the province.

The pandemic has had serious repercussions on the economy. Uncertainty and anxiety have cast a shadow over many businesses. For a lot of entrepreneurs, the health crisis has prompted hard questions on both professional and personal matters. Work-life balance, personal success, relationships, health and wellbeing have emerged as important values.

Not to mention the fact that 35% of Quebec entrepreneurs are 55 or over, and the average business owner is 49. At this stage of a person’s working years, it’s only natural to start thinking about what comes next.

Successfully transferring a business takes time—and a plan

It’s important to take a structured and integrated approach to the entire transition process. Economic statistics show that business ownership changes fail 70% of the time in Quebec and across Canada. Moreover, just 10% of business owners have a successor in mind.

An entrepreneurial succession professional can help you make the right decisions. Their role is to anticipate potential problems, facilitate communication between all parties and help stakeholders make smart business decisions.