CANADIAN HR REPORTER
HR heads south – way south
Canadian delegation to Brazil undercovers HR
practices in one of world’s emerging economies
In September 2011, a small delegation of professionals from Manitoba and Brit- ish Columbia journeyed
to Brazil to study HR practices
in a rapidly emerging country
with a lot of high-tech industry.
It was the fourth Canadian
HR delegation through People
to People’s Citizen Ambassador
Programs, an organization set
up in 1956 by American president Dwight Eisenhower to
unite professionals in various
disciplines with international
colleagues. The previous three
visits took us to China, Vietnam and Cambodia, and Israel.
Even though we had all
done our research, nothing prepared us for the sheer size of
Sao Paulo — it’s the largest city
in the southern hemisphere,
boasting a metropolitan population of nearly 20 million.
Brazil is comprised of a
complex mosaic of people,
architecture and culture, and
there is a stark contrast between wealth and luxury and
poverty and hardship. Elaborate home security measures
place mansions and apartment
complexes behind a fortress
of concrete walls, barbed wire
and glass shards embedded in
towering walls.
Many of the security measures were implemented as a
result of terrorism and kidnapping that peaked in years past,
but they now protect residents
from rising crime.
Brazil is undergoing dramatic change and major cities
are seeing intense growth. The
country is holding major global
events in the next few years, including soccer’s World Cup in
2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016.
It’s now the seventh largest
economy by gross domestic
product (GDP), three places
ahead of Canada. Yet it’s a
country of extreme poverty,
where people commonly sleep
on sidewalks and people live in
clapboard makeshift houses.
■ GLOBETROTTING HR
Previous
trips by the
delegation
■ GUEST
COMMENTARY
DIANE WIESENTHAL
The trip to Brazil was the fourth
trip undertaken by Canadian HR
professionals as part of People
to People’s Citizen Ambassador
Programs. To read Diane Wie-
senthal’s accounts from previous
trips, go to www.hrreporter.com,
click on “Advanced Search” and
enter the article number below:
•China, 6857
Meeting the business world
We met with Brazilian business leaders to learn about their
HR programs and challenges.
We saw that both business and
society are very willing to take
progressive approaches to complex issues. The foundation of
all their solutions rests on fostering a sense of engagement
and passion through learning
and development — the nerve
centre of HR.
The Canadian HR delegation
met with the Rio chapter of the
Brazilian Association of Hu-
man Resources (ABRH). Chal-
lenges faced by ABRH are simi-
lar to those facing Canadian
HR associations — to provide
relevant and value-added infor-
mation and deliver professional
development opportunities to a
diverse membership base. Ac-
creditation through a profes-
sional designation is one of its
future goals.
The culture
As part of the delegation,
activities are arranged to provide the team with a sense of
culture and understanding as
to people’s belief systems and
values. A Jeep ride up — way
up — to the Corcovado unveiled the sheer beauty of Rio
de Janeiro and the enormous
Tijuca National Park.
INSIGHT 23
Photo: Courtesy Diane Wiesenthal
A group of Canadian HR and business professionals travelled to
Brazil to gain an understanding of how the country tackles HR. From
left in front of the Christ the Redeemer statute in Rio de Janeiro
are: Dave Binda, president of HR Results; Diane Wiesenthal, vice-
president of people and organizational services at the Canadian
Wheat Board; Candace Gauthier, a senior business professional;
Karen Pettit, director of people and organizational development at the
Vancouver Island Health Authority; and John Lyons, a senior business
professional.
An evening trip in giant cable cars delivered us to the top
of Sugar Loaf Mountain. This
yielded yet another impressive
view of this major beachfront
city and business hub.
Tours of ornate churches
provide evidence of a strong
catholic religion. Of course,
the towering presence of the
infamous Christ the Redeemer
statue is welcoming evidence
of that.
Despite the huge growth,
Brazil remains a country with
massive crime and excessive
taxation issues. We witnessed
business people demonstrating in the streets to illustrate
their belief the government is
still corrupt and people are demanding a call to action and
reform.
The city is a complex convergence of commerce and
crime, with graffiti gang messages often covering the entire
height of 15-storey buildings.
The solution to dealing with
these monumental changes
appears to be an underlying
investment in education, development and skill-building.
Although, as we’ve seen in the
news of late, some strategic
“strong-arm” tactics are being
implemented to run drug and
crime lords out of town.
As the nation moves to take
its place on the world stage,
it will undoubtedly be implementing sweeping changes and
reforms that will eventually enhance the lives of all Brazilians,
not just the wealthy.
To Moscow, with love
Plans are underway for a
fifth Canadian HR delegation.
This time, the destination is
Russia, a country rich in history with a diverse political
background.
We will examine population
demographics; talent supply
and demand demographics;
attraction, recruitment and
retention of a skilled labour
force; compensation structures, cost of living and standard of living; learning and
development infrastructures
in both public and private
education; organizational development; and understanding
the HR and people challenges
faced by the country and organizations.
We have delegates signed
up from the Atlantic region,
Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia. For more information, visit www.people
topeople.com/dianewiesen
thal.
Diane Wiesenthal is vice-
president of people and
organizational services at
the Canadian Wheat Board
in Winnipeg. She has led
international delegations
to China, Vietnam and
Cambodia, Israel and Brazil
for People to People’s Citizen
Ambassador Programs. This
article was prepared with the
assistance of John Lyons and
Candace Gauthier, delegates
who participated in the trip to
Brazil.
