Kiera Gest
Alberta HR Business Partner, Anne Riddick, gives the inside scoop on human resources in the workplace. In this comprehensive interview, Riddick goes into detail on the importance of technology and key communication skills needed to be successful as a Human Resources Manager. She emphasizes the need to be people oriented while maintaining professional skills in the business field. She also touches on the importance of skills such as media and communication in the professional workplace. Having said that, enjoy her insights and knowledge on what businesses look for in aspiring human resource workers.
What is your professional history (include your timeline and roles)?
Anne Riddick: “In 2001, I started working at Ricoh Canada as the Head Human Resource Coordinator. In 2004 I transferred to be the Human Resource Generalist. In 2008, I was promoted to the role of Human Resource Manager. In July of 2012 I accepted a position at Enbridge Pipelines Alberta. I started as a Human Resource Business Partner Lead in 2017 and then in 2018 I was promoted to Senior Business Partner and Technical Manager.”
What writing advice do you have for professional communicators?
Anne Riddick: “The best writing advice I have would to be succinct; people don’t have time to read lengthy e-mails.
Understand your audience; some people like details and others don’t, especially if you’re asking them to make decisions on something. For example, keep the body of your e-mail short but attach supplementary information if required.
I had one manager who acclimated to write novels, and no one read her e-mails, they were too long. She had great information but lost her audience and consequently lost her effectiveness, even if she was a subject matter expert. Send a pre-read in advance if possible, especially if you’re looking for others to comment/provide feedback or make a decision at an upcoming meeting.”
What is your one pet peeve when it comes to professional writing?
Anne Riddick: “One big pet peeve of mine is when people are inundated with e-mails. Be thoughtful about being concise, stating your purpose and not flooding your recipients with unnecessary e-mails.Professionals do not have the time, nor patience, to read lengthy emails all day.”
What kind of business reports do you read and/or compose regularly?
Anne Riddick: “Administrative Human Resources reports and informational presentations on PowerPoint are the main modes of communication I use in my daily work . Many of the business reports I compose and read are in Excel or in Power BI.”
What are your writing suggestions to make those types of reports successful?
Anne Riddick: “Don’t over crowd the page or make it too long. A Power Point should emphasize your key points.
State your purpose; clearly articulate what you want the intended reader to do with the information. Is there an action required? Are you looking for them to make a decision? Review and provide feedback? By when?
These are the kinds of questions you need to be thinking about while constructing successful reports.”
What speaking advice do you have for professional communicators?
Anne Riddick: “Speaking in front of an audience is a key skill. Being able to relate technical information to a non-technical audience is also important or you can lose a crowd. Making eye contact is important; it’s fine to refer to your notes but avoid just reading off a page; make it your own.”
Name one thing you wish you had known about business communication prior to your professional career.
Anne Riddick: “I learned a key lesson in my last year of university. I was an arts major but switched to business (a joint major). In my arts classes, our assignments included writing 10,000-word essays. Whereas in my business classes, we were challenged to write our reports in as few words as possible (we were even penalized if our reports exceeded the maximum limit)! So, I suppose I learned this just before my professional career, but it was an important lesson and it has served me well.”
After assessing the Burning Glass list of Baseline Skills (2016), which skills not in the top 5 would you move into the top 5… and why?
Anne Riddick: “I suppose it depends on what type of job you’re going into, but these would be my top 5. Building effective relationships- it is outstandingly important to develop strong relationships with everyone you work with. Critical thinking- you need to be able to think fast and smart depending on the task; you won’t have much time to think in certain circumstances. Leadership- being a leader is very important; it makes you more competent and reliable. Teamwork- it is essential to be able to work with the people around you. Time management- you need to be punctual with everything you do.”
What team skills do you feel young professionals need the most?
Anne Riddick: “I believe that young professionals need to be able to influence without authority. They need to be able to be in a professional workplace setting and have everyone collaborate, rather than follow basic directions given.”
Key Takeaways
As you can tell, Riddick is very experienced in her field. From the start of her professional career, Riddick has been well educated in the business field. The most important and beneficial pieces of information I’ve taken away from this interview would be that communication is key. Whether that be towards coworkers or companies, it is very important to maintain good communication skills. She stresses the need to be clear and concise with everything you do. She states that this makes the information easier to understand and more to the point. In her profession as an HR Manager, she must relay information in an efficient way to the coworkers and companies she communicates with on the daily.
Referencing the “Burning Glass: Skills Gap For Baseline Skills” chart above, the key skills for Human Resources are customer service and presentation skills. Riddick highlights the importance of evolving professional communication skills as a young adult. She explains that media and speaking are also very important skills to have under your belt. Riddick voiced her top three skills to have to be successful in her field: building effective relationships, critical thinking, and having leadership. Based on her responses to these questions, it is certain that college students today need to focus on good communication skills to be successful as they enter the professional workplace.
Anne Riddick Biography
Anne was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. She started at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver as an Arts major, but then switched to a double major consisting of Business and Psychology. Completing her time at Simon Fraser University, she received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Business and Psychology. Out of University, Riddick started her career in 2001 at Ricoh Canada in Mississauga, Ontario as the Human Resources Manager. She stayed there for 11 years and then started working for Enbridge Pipelines Canada (Edmonton, Alberta). Throughout her time there she has held the titles of HR Manager, HR Lead, Technical Manager and HR Senior Business Partner (the position she holds to this day).
Anne Riddick’s LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/anne-riddick-58131413
Kiera Gest is a sophomore at the University of Southern Indiana (USI). She is pursuing an accounting degree. She plans on starting an accounting career after receiving her bachelor’s degree in the spring of 2020. Click here for LinkedIn.
