Human Resources Director Joins Us
When i was asked to write this article for our staff newsletter I was thrilled!…
I can’t express how excited I am to join the George Spady Society (GSS) team. In my very short tenure here, I’ve been able to connect with many of the teams (still more to go) and I can see everyone is very passionate and driven about the roles they play within GSS and I am very proud to be a part of this amazing team!
I know I have shared with many of you a bit about my background, but for those who have missed it here you go. I grew up in a small town in Saskatchewan called Melfort. I moved up to ‘the big city’, to attend University where I graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce and a major in Human Resource Management. I started my HR career in radio at the Saskatoon Media Group where I worked for a couple of years before transitioning over to not-for profit where I have been ever since! I worked with the Saskatoon City Hospital Foundation for roughly 5 years, wearing a number of different hats as we were a small but mighty team.
After this, we moved up to Edmonton—Sherwood Park to be exact—and I applied again to a not-for-profit organization, the University Hospital Foundation, where I’ve been until joining your team. The University Hospital Foundation was a wonderful career opportunity. It let me hone many of the HR skills that prepared me to take on this new opportunity with your agency.
I can see GSS is very strong and is doing great work as an agency. You have training and development for your entire team, and you roll it out to staff seamlessly. You promote from within—I can’t tell you how many organizations I have seen where staff ask for this and it rarely happens. You are strong in policy development which aligns to our accreditation program. You recognize the importance of accreditation and do not take its meaning lightly. You ensure all the work we do enhances our participants’ journey with us while maintaining the highest level of professional standards. You should all be very proud of yourselves!
Because you are doing so many things right, I want to really focus on you, the team! I want to make sure everyone knows and has access to the things that are important to them. Like where can I access benefit and RRSP information? What forms are required when I want to take a maternity/paternity/parental leave? How can I best access and use Dayforce—where can I find my vacation balance, request a vacation day or update my address in the system?
We have an amazing team here at GSS, but it is a lot of work to make sure we are recruiting the best and the brightest. Program Managers are busy, and they have done a wonderful job ensuring we get the right people in the right roles. I envision HR assisting with this process and freeing up Program Managers to spend time with you and participants within our programs. Lastly, I want to ensure that when you need support, HR is here for you and you can ask for help. This is my commitment to all of you.
If you have an HR-related question or issue, please feel free to reach out to me and I can either assist directly or will refer you to someone on our Admin team who can. I can be reached at 780-722-0730 or ddiab@gspady.ab.ca. I am and always will be a ‘my door is open’ kind of a person so please know you can connect with me anytime and I will do my very best to ensure you get answers to your questions.
Thank you for making me feel so welcome in my first couple of months here, it is an absolute pleasure to be working with all of you and I look forward to many years to come!
Contributed by Dawn-Marie Diab, GSS HR Director