Human Capital

No wonder talent was one of the hottest topics at Go North, a brainstorming conference for entrepreneurs put on last month by Google and RBC in Toronto. There was a lot of talk about what Canada’s doing right—producing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) grads that are the envy of the world, for one—and what companies here need to do better. Here are some of the takeaways.
 
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What we’re doing right

Our universities are producing top tech talent

• Canada has a highly educated talent pool, drawn from universities and institutions that produce some of the best technology graduates in the world.
• Our schools go beyond offering some of the strongest math programs around: they’re also teaching students how to apply it—in computer science, in real-world scenarios, and for the benefit of new technology companies.

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What we need to (continue to) do to succeed

Empower to retain

• Engineers, by nature, thrive on learning. In order to retain top talent, it’s critical to empower them. Instead of saying “You need to build this,” an employer should be saying “Here’s the problem. Now solve it.”
• Employers also need to be mindful of overprescribing. Trust your employees with the challenges you’re giving them.

Leverage Canadians’ sense of loyalty

• Canadians have a sense of loyalty.Employees will stick with a company for years, rather than jumping from business to business, as is more common in Silicon Valley.
• What this means for entrepreneurs: employees who joined your firm when it was a startup will often ride the wave with you instead of running for the hills (or Valley).

Hire for potential over experience

• Talent is irreplaceable.You’ve got to find people who really have it. You can teach skills, and let them build experience with you.
• Other things to look for? Fit, personality, aptitude, interest, energy and passion.
• Look for people who love to solve problems—it doesn’t matter what kind. What matters: their enthusiasm for digging into a problem and their talent for finding a new solution.

Then, hire for experience

• When you’re ready to scale up your business, identify people who have experience in larger organizations.
• Find people who know how to take a company from a few dozen employees to a few hundred. Look for leaders who can manage product, finance, marketing and operations teams.

Diversify your employee base

• Don’t hire only people who are like you. Actively look for diversity of background, gender, experience and age.
• A diverse set of employees can foster a range of thought and perspective, lead to unique ideas, innovative solutions, and breakthrough experiences.

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Where we need some work

Our talent pipeline needs to stay stocked

• While our post-secondary institutions are doing a bang-up job of producing exceptional talent, Canada could do more to develop early-stage tech skills.
• Other countries have integrated a coding curriculum into elementary programs—if Canada wants to compete, we need to introduce technology into the school system earlier, and more effectively.

Face the talent shortage head-on

• To build a globally competitive company, it’s critical to bring talent in from around the world. Canada makes up 2% of the global population.That means we can’t build companies with just Canadians.
• While a firm has to compete on salary, it’s also important to highlight the other benefits of living in Canada: affordable living, work-life balance, employer-employee loyalty, and an incredibly collaborative community that drives a culture of innovation.

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