New energy in HR

Employment Services has been combined with Training and Development to create a new unit called Employment and Employee Development (EED). The combination responds to the recommendations of a recent task force conducted by the Office of the Vice-Rector Institutional Resources.

Director of Human Resources Valérie Gagnon, who came to Concordia last March, said the merger "will give new direction and scope to the service we offer to the community, placing increased attention on career development," she said.

"Our aim is to recruit top-notch personnel, counsel employees on career planning, and offer training to encourage professional growth and fulfilment. These are sound strategic objectives -- in fact, as Concordia heads into the new millennium, they're vital."

EED staff will not only give employees direct support, but will offer their skills to managers as they recruit and hire.

The unit will be headed by Elaine Arsenault, who has an MA from McGill University in counselling. In her nine years as Manager of Training and Development, Arsenault has greatly revitalized Concordia's internal training activities, not only offering a broad range of popular sessions on professional and personal development to individual staff, but also making sessions in managerial skills available to department heads and academic administrators.

"I look forward to integrating training with employment services," Arsenault said, "because it means that staff will be better prepared for the future they want. And aligning employees' goals with the goals of the institution as a whole means a stronger, more effective university."