By Elizabeth Bonner

The BC HRMA HR Cafe continues to evolve as a unique opportunity for student members to liaise directly with HR professionals. Originally launched in the Lower Mainland three years ago and on Vancouver Island last year, a third HR Cafe was added to the roster this year for the benefit of students in the students in the Kamloops area at Thompson Rivers University. 

Across the province, the feedback from students and presenters alike is overwhelmingly positive with good reason.  How else can students of HR gain such ready access to more senior level HR professionals?

In the Lower Mainland, the 3rd Annual BC HRMA HR Cafe held on March 28, 2012 at the BCIT Burnaby Campus took the learning experience on step further with the integration of social media throughout making strong use of Twitter to share insights and feedback (@BCHRMA #HRCafe).  Sponsored by Davies Park Executive Search Consultants, the night was an unqualified success both online and in person, attracting over 200 HR professionals and students to 30 tables. Conversation and tweeting ensued.

As explained by presenter Christine McLeod, social media guru and Impact People Practice’s chief idea officer, the new tools at HR’s disposal are powerful ones: for recruiting, retention, training, development, and old-fashioned listening. The greatest strength of the social media tools has been revealed in their ability to keep the conversation going. As espoused by McLeod, social media has evolved into social business for those organizations and individuals who have integrated its potential into their personal and professional lives. Moreover, the integration of social media within the context of the BC HRMA HR Cafe makes perfect sense considering its creator’s inspiration – “the deep philosophical roots of the World Cafe as an experience and social phenomenon.”

On Vancouver Island, the HR Cafe was also held on March 28, 2012. About 90 students attended the function coming from Vancouver Island University, Camosun College, University of Victoria, and North Island College. These students networked with tenured HR professionals while exploring HR topics ranging from employee engagement and retention to labour relations to research, metrics, and total compensation. (Read a personal account of the Vancouver Island HR Cafe.)

Sarah Hood, Manager of Workforce Development and Strategies at the Capital Regional District was both a table host and closing keynote speaker for the event.   Sarah sees the HR Café as one more way that BC HRMA builds a strong HR community on Vancouver Island.  Four different educational institutions participated with students from a broad range of programs who came together to learn together, both from HR experts hosting the café tables and from each other, through the interactive discussions.  The networking and connections are invaluable and offer students a warm welcome into the HR community.

The inaugural HR Café at TRU in Kamloops was held on March 30. It was a component of the university’s annual HR Conference, an event  organized by the faculty of the School of Business and Economics, and had more than 75 attendees.  The BC HRMA-led HR Café piece added a valuable dimension to the day in the form of interactive, dynamic small group dialogue to complement the regular seminar format presentations. Positive feedback from the students referred to the invaluable personal connections made and real world perspectives given by the HR professional through the ‘speed roundtabling’ format. Active learning from the power discussions was clearly evident. 

Here are just a smattering of comments shared about the three events:

• Great to connect with people that are passionate about HR. It was an inspiring night!
• I met some amazing students and professionals. In addition to building my network, it was just a really opportunity for everyone passionate about HR to gather together and have a conversation.”
• “At every table there was a nugget of information.”
• “Expert knowledge is invaluable; having the conversations that I did with the professionals that I met was amazing.”
• “I met a lot of really great leaders in the HR Industry and I had the chance to connect with them on a level that wasn’t just about networking. They were all so eager to share their own experiences and this provided great context for not only networking but relationship building.”
• “You can still learn from others no matter what stage of your life you’re in.”

Fostering connections, stimulating discussions and encouraging further exploration of the varied HR career paths, the HR Cafe’s cup is neither half full nor empty, but filled to the brim with future potential.

Elizabeth Bonner is BC HRMA’s member relations manager for the Coastal Vancouver region. She can be reached at ebonner@bchrma.org.