As it faced financial peril, this company's staff rallied to evacuate 80,000 locals from the wildfire
After 138 years of success, a major Alberta company last year found itself in financial peril – yet when true disaster struck, in the form of the Fort McMurray wildfire, its staff and leaders banded together tens of thousands of displaced locals find shelter and comfort.
At the time, staff at Edmonton’s Northlands weren’t sure for how much longer they’d have jobs. The company was in strife as its major income earner, NHL team Edmonton Oilers, prepared to move to a new home.
The company, which operates the Northlands Coliseum, Northlands Park Racetrack and Casino, and EXPO Centre, was unable to reassure staff that their jobs would be safe.
But when “The Beast” blaze swept through the province, destroying some 2400 homes and displacing tens of thousands of residents, Northlands’ leaders and staff came together put their own fears aside to evacuate 80,000 people.
Northlands’ former vice president of people services and general counsel Kirsten Hayne says the experience of “leadership under fire” had a remarkable impact on staff and volunteers.
“We saw a whole new level of engagement, of dedication, of self-sacrifice by our staff, and we found ourselves debating among the executive team: what is that secret sauce, and how do we leverage it always and throughout other sorts of business crises?”
Hayne, now a labour and employment lawyer Brownlee LLP, will speak about the experience at the HR Leaders Summit later this month
There, she’ll share the key principles that guided Northlands’ leaders and staff through the disaster, including how leadership actions can help organizations thrive during other forms of catastrophe.
Northlands’ experience throughout its financial predicament defied expectations, she says.
“You would expect to see really high turnover in an organization like that. For years, we were very, very candid with our staff that we were in financial peril and we might go out of business, and yet you couldn’t get people to leave,” Hayne says.
“Why did we have this exceptionally good retention, why did we have this exceptionally good engagement that sustains today through that difficult time?”
One explanation is the company’s long-held culture of trust.
“We had a strong team and we further strengthened that strong team before crisis really hit the fan,” Hayne says.
“No one expected us to deal with an evacuation of 80,000 people from Fort McMurray, but in an evening we were able to pull together to do that because we had that existing trust and that existing culture there.”
Kirsten Hayne will speak on principles of leadership at the HR Leaders Summit in Toronto this month.
Related stories:
How HR can create a culture of trust
Is this Canada’s most effective change management plan?
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At the time, staff at Edmonton’s Northlands weren’t sure for how much longer they’d have jobs. The company was in strife as its major income earner, NHL team Edmonton Oilers, prepared to move to a new home.
The company, which operates the Northlands Coliseum, Northlands Park Racetrack and Casino, and EXPO Centre, was unable to reassure staff that their jobs would be safe.
But when “The Beast” blaze swept through the province, destroying some 2400 homes and displacing tens of thousands of residents, Northlands’ leaders and staff came together put their own fears aside to evacuate 80,000 people.
Northlands’ former vice president of people services and general counsel Kirsten Hayne says the experience of “leadership under fire” had a remarkable impact on staff and volunteers.
“We saw a whole new level of engagement, of dedication, of self-sacrifice by our staff, and we found ourselves debating among the executive team: what is that secret sauce, and how do we leverage it always and throughout other sorts of business crises?”
Hayne, now a labour and employment lawyer Brownlee LLP, will speak about the experience at the HR Leaders Summit later this month
There, she’ll share the key principles that guided Northlands’ leaders and staff through the disaster, including how leadership actions can help organizations thrive during other forms of catastrophe.
Northlands’ experience throughout its financial predicament defied expectations, she says.
“You would expect to see really high turnover in an organization like that. For years, we were very, very candid with our staff that we were in financial peril and we might go out of business, and yet you couldn’t get people to leave,” Hayne says.
“Why did we have this exceptionally good retention, why did we have this exceptionally good engagement that sustains today through that difficult time?”
One explanation is the company’s long-held culture of trust.
“We had a strong team and we further strengthened that strong team before crisis really hit the fan,” Hayne says.
“No one expected us to deal with an evacuation of 80,000 people from Fort McMurray, but in an evening we were able to pull together to do that because we had that existing trust and that existing culture there.”
Kirsten Hayne will speak on principles of leadership at the HR Leaders Summit in Toronto this month.
Related stories:
How HR can create a culture of trust
Is this Canada’s most effective change management plan?
Want the latest HR news direct to your inbox? Sign up for HRD Canada's daily newsletter.