Hired fresh from UBC’s Sauder School of Business in 2011 with a specialization in HR, Fiona Ho swiftly became recognized as a highly personable, driven and effective HR generalist by Fortinet Technologies (Canada) Inc. in Burnaby. A few years on, Ho has defined her own path to success and was recently recognized with HRMA’s 2014 HRMA Rising Star award.

What attracted you to HR originally, and what do you think of the career opportunities the profession yields?
Back in high school when I knew I wanted to pursue HR, it was because I wanted to work with people, a passion that I realized very early on, can be achieved in many professions. I now think back to what drives me, and that is when I uncovered my true attraction to HR.

When we ask how someone’s day is, the response is often related to whether they had a good day or a bad day at work. People spend a lot of time at the workplace and so much of what goes on there impacts our personal lives.

HR has the ability to facilitate a work environment where people are able to showcase their strengths and deliver beyond their potential. When this happens, the business moves forward and people are engaged.  Being part of this is what I find most rewarding in HR.

In my opinion, the career opportunities the profession yields are exciting given how technology has advanced the various realms of HR, and streamlined many manual processes. It would be interesting to see how technology would continue to evolve and shift the HR profession so that more time and resources can be dedicated to the most important asset of a business – the people.

What milestone or challenge has defined the past year for you in HR, and similarly, what lies ahead?
One of the highlights in HR for me this year is leading Fortinet’s HRIS platform upgrade. This has been a huge learning opportunity, having to simultaneously see the big picture and the minute details of the upgrade. Working with our vendor and the various regions and internal departments is not an easy task as there needs to be an in-depth understanding of every aspect of the system and how each piece of data is used. It is a big undertaking as the HRIS impacts all 2500+ employees at the company. Migration is set for this fall, and what lies ahead includes post-migration clean-up, training for the global HR team, and the implementation of new features next year.

What advice do you have to offer those who are seeking to better define the business worth of HR in their organizations?
It is about aligning HR’s objectives with the organization’s objectives to make sure the business is moving forward. Start with understanding how your role contributes to the organization and why you are doing what you are tasked to do. Secondly, understand the business by asking questions. Together, this will establish the common goal and HR will be on the same page, working towards what the business wants to achieve.

Who or what is your original and/or ongoing HR inspiration?
There are two phrases that I live by, both professionally and personally.

My VP has been instrumental in shaping who I am today as a HR professional. She once told me to “Never stop speaking up,” and it stuck. It is a delicate balance, knowing when to speak up and when to listen, and for her to share that with me, reaffirmed my belief that I have what it takes to be an effective HR professional.

Another phrase that I live by was shared with me by someone I respect in the HR community: “You can have it all; just not all at once.” This is a daily reminder for me that a happy medium in life can be achieved but it does not all come at once but rather in stages. Balance needs to be maintained so you can focus on doing each thing well and be proud of what you have accomplished. As an emerging HR professional, it is natural to want to get involved with and learn everything. I often have to take a step back and remind myself that opportunities will present itself; what’s important is to focus on what is in front of me and do those things well.

If you were not a Rising Star in the world of HR, what would you be doing?
I would be selling pies and coordinating weddings, both of which I currently do on the side. Sharing homemade pies started off as a hobby and people wanted to buy them so sales started to happen. It would be a dream to open up a pie shop and be able to share these pies with others. As for weddings, I have been involved in many family and friends’ weddings, and through referrals, I become a day-of-coordinator and landed my first clients this year.

(PeopleTalk Fall 2014)