The School of Human Resource Management has launched the latest issue of its industry magazine, HR Edge. With content produced by experts from York and elsewhere, this alumni-edited magazine brings the latest research and news on the evolving world of HR to professionals across Canada.
HR Edge was first launched in 2008 and is published annually. The Fall 2015 issue is the first to be edited by alumni. With the support of former editor Professor Len Karakowsky, this year’s co-editors are graduates of the Master of Human Resources Management program, Althea Gordon and Tanya Magloire.
“This issue’s overarching theme is that the practice of HR is changing,” says Marie-Hélène Budworth, director of the School of Human Resource Management in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. “While the combination of articles is eclectic, [the magazine] is built around this theme of the changing world of work. There are a lot of forces that are impacting how we work today, such as our changing values around the role of work in life and family, technology and globalization. It’s much easier to work across national boundaries.”
Under its umbrella theme, the Fall 2015 issue focuses on high-quality mentoring in an article by human resource management Professor Jelena Zikic.
“Supporting and encouraging the creation of valuable relationships between people within work settings is an important antecedent to success,” says Budworth.
Zikic’s article “considers the role of mentoring for newcomers to Canada,” she says. “It speaks to the importance of supportive relationships for job search in today’s global workforce and provides clear guidance on what can make these mentoring relationships work.”
Workplace change includes the trend of pet-friendly workplaces. In “Who let the dogs in?,” professors Christa Wilkin, Paul Fairlie and Souha Ezzedeen look into organizations that have pet ownership policies to improve work life for employees.
“People have a need to blend, to bring their life into the workplace,” says Budworth. “The article on pet friendly workplaces is an interesting look at how this is happening, how people are bridging their work life and their home life.”
This issue also announces the retirement of Professor Monica Belcourt, founding director of the School of Human Resource Management.
“Monica Belcourt has been a driving force for HR at York University and nationally. She has been a visionary and really was instrumental in setting us up to allow the creation of the school of HR at York,” says Budworth. “As a school, we have a great deal of gratitude towards what she’s created and the legacy that she’s left us.”