Roger Hardy is the founder and CEO of ClearlyContacts.ca, the world’s largest online retailer of contact lenses and eyeglasses. Hardy’s “never-say-die” attitude and uncanny problem solving skills have helped him become a proven developer of successful business strategies and have helped ClearlyContacts.ca become the largest Canadian online retailer today. Hardy has been honored with many awards over his years as Clearly Contacts’ leader, including Business in Vancouver’s Top Forty Under Forty in 2002, and The Pacific Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Business-to-Consumer) in 2006.

What inspired the original vision for Clearly Contacts and what was the key to creating the success it has become?

The original vision was really to serve customers better than they were being served. Going to an eye doctor or an eye clinic for contact lenses and eyeglasses is an expensive and cumbersome process. My idea was that there “ had to be a better way” and that’s what inspired me to build the original web site and start selling contact lenses, online. I think our original idea was a customer focused one, and anytime you start with ‘what does our customer want and need’ it leads to lasting success. Today we continue to focus on what customers want and try to give it to them faster, with a better experience and greater value than anyone else can. We’re constantly finding better ways to listen whether through direct customer calls, email feedback or social media. Listening and then working hard to deliver has really been our key to success.

You have taken culture to heart from the beginning with Clearly Contacts. What lies at the core of your culture and how does teambuilding differ today from when you began in 2002?

We really did take culture to heart early. I think of it as having been our competitive advantage for a long time, and hope that it still is.  At the core of our corporate culture are really our purpose and core values, and we use these as the foundation for all our hiring, and team building efforts. As a larger group today we try to ensure that our core values are still resonating with our team and also that the values are driving people to be engaged with our company on many different levels.

As Clearly Contacts continues to grow, what drives the success of your recruitment and onboarding practices?

Our success in recruitment is driven by constantly reminding ourselves of the basics—a focus on ensuring people who are joining our team share our values and can get excited about our purpose and mission statements. Recruitment and onboarding continue to be an evolving work in progress and as we grow we need to continue to learn and optimize the process to achieve better and better results.  But for us getting the basics right is so important.

What do you define as the area of greatest opportunity for HR professionals looking to make an impact on the bottom line?

There has never been a more critical time for HR professionals to be having an impact on organizations. Companies are moving faster and faster and time is critical. As we all know its people that build companies, and attracting and retaining the best people is also critical to our success. HR professionals are being asked to play a bigger and bigger roles in smart companies; they now have a seat at the table making key decisions with CEOs and Boards of businesses.

The best HR professionals are thinking strategically about where the company is going and what its going to need six–12 months out and they are working hard to fill those gaps internally and externally before the company hits them. The HR professionals that best understand the objectives of the CEO and Board can make contributions like never before. By having candidates and succession plans “ pre-loaded”, by the time the CEO is asking to fill a void – they already have a solution, which may have taken 6-9 months to provide.  This keeps the organization from missing a beat – which can mean life and death in the fast-paced world of quarterly expectations today.

Any final words of advice for HR professionals seeking to “Inspire, Influence, Innovate” in 2013?

HR today is THE critical role inside companies and organizations which can make the difference in today’s fast-growing companies and determine the success of tomorrow’s companies.  Smart boards and CEO s absolutely understand this and it is a very exciting time to be an HR professional.

The difference between good and great professionals will be the ability to predict and add value to our collective future. The people who get ahead of where the company is today and see where its going are the ones who are going to be adding the most value driving the organization forward.

It’s a time where I would be looking for a seat at “ the table” to take on more responsibility and participating in shaping the team.  I would be working hard to align the team with the corporate strategy and ensure that as the company grows I will “own”  any gaps in recruiting or succession and become the GO TO source for providing forward-looking solutions.

(PeopleTalk Spring 2013)