York Professor Monica Belcourt (MA '72, PhD '87) was awarded the inaugural Right Management HR Academic of the Year Award at the 2009 Human Resources Summit Awards gala in Toronto recently by the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) and Canadian HR Reporter.
“Academics play an important role in any profession – not only do we create and publish the knowledge used in practice, but we teach the next generation of professionals. It is absolutely wonderful to have an award that recognizes the contribution of academics,” says Belcourt, a professor in York’s School of Administrative Studies, Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies.
Right: Monica Belcourt
The awards recognize individuals across Canada who have made outstanding contributions to the human resources profession and business community through the implementation of innovative human resources programs and practices as well as through leadership. They are designed to acknowledge the best in human resources management and to be the benchmark for HR leadership in Canada.
"The HR profession is a comparatively young profession, and so I think these awards are timely, and are part of the process of recognizing the contributions of all those who helped to build this profession.”
Belcourt has a wealth of experience. She has worked as director of personnel for Canadian Pacific Rail, director of employee development for the National Film Board and as an HR specialist for the federal government. She has also taught human resources management (HRM) at Concordia University, the University of Quebec at Montreal, McGill University and York, where she helped to create the first bachelor, master's and PhD degrees in HRM in Canada.
“I am very proud to be part of several groups that enabled HR to be recognized as a profession,” says Belcourt.
Belcourt’s next challenge is to raise the profile of a newly approved School of Human Resources Management at York along with funds to name it and to support research chairs and centres. Once the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies is up and running, Belcourt will take on the role of director of the school.
"The goal is that whenever anyone in the world wants HR research and education, they will think first of the School of Human Resources Management at York University," says Belcourt.
Belcourt is the academic editor of Canada's first textbooks in human resources management, which now number 11 and include Managing Performance Through Training & Development; Recruitment and Selection in Canada; Strategic Compensation in Canada; The Canadian Labour Market; Industrial Relations in Canada;and International Human Resources: A Canadian Perspective. She is also the co-author of Managing Human Resources and Strategic Human Resources Planning.
In addition, Belcourt was part of a national team that established the competencies and the standards for the certification process for human resources professionals, and created the nationally recognized CHRP (Certified HR Professional) Designation. She was also president of the Human Resources Professional Association of Ontario.
To watch highlights of the inaugural Human Resources Summit Awards, click here.