2. WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT HR?
Good HR practices can make your Writing Centre
run more smoothly.
Increase staff retention and staff happiness
Avoid claims of poor employment practices
Ensure that your Writing Centre is running efficiently
Running a Writing Centre is kind of like running a
business: good staff and a high quality product are key
to your success. Sound HR practices can help you
achieve that.
3. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HR
7 areas of knowledge and action according to the Canadian
Council of Human Resources Associations:
1. Professional practice
2. Organizational effectiveness
3. Staffing
4. Employee & labour relations
5. Total compensation
6. Organizational learning, training, and development
7. Occupational health, safety and wellness
The following slides focus on the most relevant information from
the CCHRA document.
4. 1. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Maintain effective working relationships between
staff, students, and the campus as a whole
Evaluate your program’s effectiveness
Ensure you are staffing people according to human rights
legislation, union documents, etc.
Advice
If you aren’t comfortable with conflict, get some training
Think of your Writing Centre as a business: maintain
accurate records, be aware of the budget, develop a
strategic plan, and consistently monitor your results
5. 2. ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
Ensure that your Writing Centre is efficient
Study what changes need to be made and figure out how to
handle that change process
Promote a productive culture that values diversity, trust, and
respect
Provide performance feedback, coaching, and career
development
Advice:
Learn how to coach others so you can provide
motivating, helpful feedback
Research your Writing Centre. What are you doing well?
Less well? How can things be done more efficiently?
6. 3. STAFFING
Assess your hiring methods: Are you getting the right people?
How do you know?
Discern when outsourcing services makes sense
Control staff discipline and the termination process
Advice:
Learn what your institution requires of you when
disciplining an employee
Provide corrective feedback to a staff member in a
timely, thoughtful manner.
7. 4. EMPLOYEE & LABOUR RELATIONS
Provide advice and counselling to staff regarding their
employment rights and responsibilities
Create a file in response to a known or suspected incident of
misconduct
Advice:
It can be difficult for new staff to understand how their
contract and union documents apply to them. Take the time
to explain the most relevant parts to them.
8. 5. TOTAL COMPENSATION
For most Writing Centres, compensating their staff well is
beyond their budgets and employment agreements.
However, you can increase what staff get from their work by:
Creating a professional development path
Tailoring training sessions based on their interests
Providing access to professional development sessions on
campus
Encouraging them to take on research projects
Supporting their efforts to publish in journals and on
websites related to Writing Centre work
9. 6. ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING, TRAINING AND
DEVELOPMENT
Decide on the most effective training initiatives for the success
of your staff and your Writing Centre
Base your training plans on what your staff currently needs
and foresee what they will need later
Measure the training you provide
Advice:
Training is not just for the new. Provide ongoing, regular
training to all staff.
10. 7. OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, SAFETY AND
WELLNESS
Provide information to your staff about the programs on
campus that address health, safety, and wellness
Create an injury and accident log to ensure you have a paper
trail
Know your responsibilities to a staff member when s/he
returns to work, needs workplace accommodation, etc.
Advice:
Ensuring the health, safety, and wellness of your staff while
they are working for you is your responsibility. Perform an
audit to see how well your Writing Centre is doing in
protecting its staff.
11. CONCLUSION
Maybe you started in Writing Centre work for the
writing and the students. However, once you are
the boss of the Writing Centre, you have additional
responsibilities:
Budgets, measurements, and evaluations
Staff coaching … including difficult conversations
Development of training and professional development
opportunities
An awareness of best and next practices not only in
tutoring, but in Writing Centre management
