Wolseley Canada Inc.

Steven Beggs

Steven Beggs is an accomplished talent development and organizational capabilities practitioner with a distinguished history of driving initiatives in talent acquisition, learning and development, and organizational performance. Beggs brings strategic solutions to the table with a thorough awareness of business dynamics, assuring HR's contribution to organizational success. He has been with Wolseley since 2019 and has contributed to the company's exceptional growth in recruiting and retaining top talent.  

Could you discuss some of the current challenges affecting the HR industry and exerting a significant impact?

I think one of the most significant challenges HR organizations are currently dealing with is talent pipeline management. We’re all feeling the upward pressure on wages and salaries in Canada, driven in part by near-record-low unemployment rates. According to the most recent Stats Canada labor force survey, unemployment just ticked up to 5.2 percent in May, up from 5 percent for the past number of months. We’re all experiencing intense competition to attract and retain skilled talent. HR must ensure effective recruitment strategies, to identify and engage potential candidates through multiple channels. Once talent is on board, HR must nurture their development, to ensure their continued engagement with the organization's work, customers, products, and overall company culture.

Additionally, the current labor market conditions mean that retaining talent is more crucial than ever. HR needs to support senior leadership, by establishing effective strategies to retain employees, ensuring that they are not enticed by other possibilities. While HR organizations will encounter other tactical and practical challenges, I think that a primary focus must be talent and pipeline management. By proactively addressing these issues, HR can build a sustainable workforce that supports the organization's goals, while maneuvering through labor market complexities.

Considering the significant disruption caused by the pandemic, what upcoming technology or trends in the HR sector are you particularly excited about?

AI has the potential to emerge as a considerably disruptive trend in the HR sector, with the entire extent of its impact yet to be discovered. For example, while AI-based automation can process large volumes of resumes, it is important to approach this cautiously. Recently, a prominent organization discovered a flaw in their AI recruitment algorithm that displayed gender bias, excluding female applicants.

“The pandemic highlighted the critical role that HR plays. We now have the opportunity to demonstrate our worth beyond our functional goals and how our work contributes to overall organizational success.”

However, I do see AI's potential to streamline multi-location onboarding processes and to assist professionals in bridging knowledge and experience gaps. In addition, AI could aid with internal talent mobility, by predicting the skills and experiences required in various parts of an organization. 

A more controversial aspect of AI is its use as an employee monitoring tool. While some might argue that AI could be beneficial to identify patterns of burnout or disengagement among employees, in my opinion allowing technology to determine whether or not employees are meeting work standards is unsettling. A human component should always be involved, with AI as a complement, rather than an alternative. Allowing AI to make organizational decisions, in my opinion, is a disservice to our associates and shareholders. Though AI still has to prove its reliability before the HR sector rushes into enhanced automation, I think it is a trend that will significantly shape the future of the HR industry.

Could you elaborate on your role in Wolseley Canada and give us an overview of how a day at the office looks for you? 

I am the Director, Talent Acquisition, Learning, organization effectiveness (OE), and human resource information systems (HRIS). My primary responsibilities encompass talent acquisition, overseeing the learning and development function, and supervising organizational effectiveness initiatives such as performance management, succession planning, and leadership development.

I’m currently working on optimizing Wolseley’s approach toward HR data utilization and analytics. We have access to extensive volumes of data within Workday, our HRIS. While Workday is exceptional at helping us answer historical or real-time questions about our organization, I encourage my team to go beyond that, to use data predictively, and to anticipate and find solutions for pertinent issues like talent pipeline management.

What advice do you want to give your peers and budding professionals aspiring to reach unprecedented heights in the HR industry? 

Align your HR practices to the priorities, challenges, and metrics of the organizations you support. HR is a success enabler, and we must continue demonstrating that our contribution transcends any HR-specific agenda and that we are actively contributing to organizational success. It is essential to immerse ourselves in the business and interact with key stakeholders to respond to the specific needs of our organizations with a solution-oriented and data-driven approach.