But structural explanations\u00a0only go\u00a0so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wendy Cukier, professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at Toronto Metropolitan University, argues that the structure of Canada\u2019s economy sets the baseline for these challenges. \u201cCanada is a country of SMEs, and\u00a0most SMEs don’t have HR people\u00a0or\u00a0IT people,\u201d says Cukier. \u201cAnd\u00a0so\u00a0comparing the US,\u00a0where half the\u00a0companies are large organizations,\u00a0to Canada, where 10\u00a0per cent\u00a0are large organizations, is\u00a0comparing\u00a0apples to oranges.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
That reality matters. Smaller firms typically lack the scale to invest in advanced systems, specialized talent, or formal HR functions \u2014 all of which are associated with higher productivity, says Cukier.\u00a0But that structure is only part of the story, as\u00a0culture and organizational priorities also play a role \u2014 and not always in ways that help performance, she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that dichotomizing productivity and performance on the one hand and culture, inclusion,\u00a0and values on the other is a mistake,\u201d she says. In some sectors, she adds, there has been \u201ca bit of a shift away from a focus on performance, outcomes, productivity, to kind of a risk-adverse, make sure everyone feels good about themselves and don’t worry so much about outcomes.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Innovation, risk,\u00a0and HR’s\u00a0role\u00a0<\/p>\n
If structural constraints explain part of the gap, organizational\u00a0behaviour\u00a0explains another, according to Jamie Bruno,\u00a0Vice-President of\u00a0People and\u00a0Transformation at Ontario Tech University. Bruno says\u00a0risk aversion\u00a0is\u00a0embedded in processes and policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But structural explanations\u00a0only go\u00a0so far.\u00a0 Wendy Cukier, professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at Toronto Metropolitan University, argues that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17,9027,236,14449],"class_list":{"0":"post-31736","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-productivity","10":"tag-technology","11":"tag-workforce-design"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}