March

I can't believe there is only a month and a few weeks before the end of my coop term! Time has definitely been going by way too fast. A lot of the same things have been going on this month but I feel like I am getting more efficient at my job as I continually come up with more effective ways of doing my job, streamlining my work. I feel like I have gotten better with my organizational skills and have been better with being able to multi task and complete a wide array of different tasks each day. I have also gotten better with my communication skills as I have developed a good dependable bond with coworkers and supervisors that I work with. I will be very sad when the day comes and I will have to leave them all behind.

When it comes to solving problems and dealing with everyday situations that come up be it investigations, discipline, or other problems that come up I feel that I have improved knowledge to make a call. My analytical skills as well as my improved professionalism and confidence has also played a big part in aiding me.

This month I am mostly concentrated on overseeing the apprenticeship project from the beginning to the end. This process will consist of gathering all the applicants, booking them in for a time to write an exam, and conducting an interview in order to choose a qualified candidate for our apprenticeship program.  Another project that I am responsible for overseeing is the launching of the new lenel system in which I have to help with the information session and distribution of cards to all members of the site. It really is an extensive process and requires a lot of planning and organizational work.

Asides from my two huge projects, I am continuing to meet recruitment demands, be involved with a Aboriginal Career Fair for kids in Jr. High, conduct exit interviews, and compile a Coop Manual of step by step procedures of all the projects that I have been working on.

There is way too much to do and way too little time!

February 19, 2011

This month, both my direct supervisor and my superintendent were away on holidays for a couple weeks. I was left responsible for a lot of the work required from HR. While the workload was immensely heavy, I had never felt more important, motivated, and ready to work. While I was responsible for a lot of recruitment work that consisted of things such as scheduling interviews, doing interviews, scheduling feedback sessions, organizing travel itinerary for applicants, and doing sign ons; I was also involved with new employee sign ons, going through resumes, attending meetings, and dealing with WCB cases. While faced with such a busy workload I had also successfully met the entry level recruitment goal of 10 candidates for this month which was considered to be pretty impressive by my supervisors.

The main highlight of this month for me was attending the Courageous Leadership workshop at the beginning of the month. This workshop was created by Teck as a company to inspire its employees to be leaders in ensuring that the workplace is safe and healthy. The workshop was very inspirational to me as it highlighted important points such as being responsible for our own and other's safety, having the courage to speak up, being a leader, and having the right attitude. It was meaningful to me in that the content could also be applied to my personal life and not just at work.

Janaruy 28, 2011

The month of January started off with the new launching of the AX system which would lead to a dramatic change in the way the whole site was to operate. Preparations of this new operation had taken place many months prior to this and it was interesting to have the opportunity to witness this change over. Basically, the AX system would result in the linkage of computers to many aspects of our everyday operations. It was definitely eye opening to take note of all the preparation, training, and struggles that took place prior, during, and even after the change over. Cardinal is currently trying very hard to upgrade its processes to ensure that things are running more efficiently and effectively. It is interesting to note, however, that this places a strain on employees that have been working with Teck for 20 or even 30, 40 years and are use to the "old" ways of how things "have always" been done. Such dynamics are good to observe as change in any workplace always affects different work place cultures differently.

My first week started off with a few days of interviews in town as well as sign ons for many new hires that are starting off in the new year. It however, took almost no time for everything to pick up as by the second week a huge investigation that I got to be apart of had taken place, followed by tonnes of paper work dealing with disciplinary letters, as well as a termination.

Aside from all the recruitment work and drama from the investigation, I had the opportunity to work very closely with the General Manager on Cardinal's Trades Forecast and Demographics for the next 4-5 years. This was a good experience for me as it was not only an opportunity to work on my (poor) math skills, it also gave me the opportunity to work on my communication skills. When I first started working at Teck, my supervisors had constantly commented on my shyness and lack of contribution during meetings and  socialization. After having the opportunity to interact with everybody a little more however, and having more confidence in commenting on the things that I do, I believe that I am slowly improving on my communication skills.