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Learn about the transformative impact of new technologies at Monica Belcourt Speakers Forum

An annual lecture at York University created for human resources professionals will feature guest speaker Robert Carlyle, AVP strategic people analytics for Sunlife Financial on Nov. 20.

Robert Carlyle

The HR Talks: Monica Belcourt Speakers Forum was established in 2015 to bring thought leaders in the field to the School of Human Resources Management. The speaker series is named after Professor Emerita Monica Belcourt, founder of the School of HRM in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies and a HR trailblazer in her own right.

Carlyle will present his talk “The Transformative Impact of New Technologies” from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Schulich Executive Learning Centre.

During his lecture, Carlyle will discuss how accelerating technology development and social change has transformed how societies create wealth. With increased importance on innovation and creativity the criticality of human capital has increased while changing the mix of high demand skills. At this time of flux for HR practitioners, there is also the opportunity to reinvent how people are managed and led using emerging technologies.

In the talk, he will address four topics:

  • new business models driven by technology development and social change;
  • the new workforce; different skills, behaviour and organisation structures;
  • emerging technologies and practices in HR – examples of machine learning, natural language processing and neuropsychology; and
  • visions of Future HR – options for management and leadership with technology pervasive HR.

Carlyle leads the development of observations, insights and predictions to enable better workforce decision making. Through targeted use of technology this is improving the decisions of individual employees (e.g. what should my next job be?), managers (e.g. how do I retain a key employee?) and leaders (e.g. how do I improve team productivity?).

He is also the chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s HR Policy Committee, and member of the Labour Market Information Council of Canada’s National Stakeholder Advisory Panel and formerly the Canadian representative to ISO’s Human Resources Management technical committee.

Prior to joining Sunlife, Carlyle led workforce analytics at RBC, was the global practice leader of workforce planning and strategies at Aon Consulting and was the CEO of a consulting and technology development start-up. He holds several degrees including a doctorate in strategic planning from Cranfield University in the U.K.

A reception with light refreshments will follow the lecture. HR professionals, alumni, students, faculty and staff are welcome to attend this free event. It is presented by the School of Human Resources Management in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

For more, or to RSVP, visit the event page.