"Emotions Drive People, and People Drive Performance"
"Emotions Drive People, and People Drive Performance"
After immigrating to Canada, Geoff began his career working as a Horticulturist where he managed a 10-acre garden centre, owned and operated a landscape management company, and managed an environmental contracting company. He also taught integrated pest management and plant pathology at the college level. During this time, Geoff realized how much he enjoyed mentoring his employees with their own career journey, and he eventually became an Employment Counsellor, and later, an HR professional. He now operates his own HR consulting company specializing in career management, recruitment and retention, and diversity and inclusion. (https://commonsensehr.ca/) Geoff appreciates that there are many parallels between horticulture and human resources that are not obvious at first glance. Just as cultivating healthy plants depends on providing suitable growing conditions, it is equally important to develop a healthy workplace for employees to thrive as well.
Geoff is a consummate professional with deep knowledge of D&I. When I managed BC Hydro’s Recruitment Team he was able to source high quality applicants by taking the time to understand our R&S process end to end. Several of Geoff’s referrals are now long term employees, a testament to him understanding our business & value alignment. More recently as I’ve changed business roles but also Chair the BC Hydro Cultural Exchange Employee Network. Geoff has shared his expertise in cognitive bias and neurological context. This is shaping our delivery of workshops and awareness sessions for employees. We recently had a successful Exploring Unconscious Bias workshop with 50 attendees and members of our executive team! I look forward to working with Geoff for several years in his new capacity!
I have had the pleasure of working with Geoff directly now for the past 3 years, in which time Geoff has served as an Employment Specialist. Geoff is an exceptional communicator, gifted in the art of persuasion, which is demonstrated regularly in his negotiations with prospective employers. Geoff has had tremendous success placing clients into employment utilizing his extensive network of employer contacts. He is also experienced in accessing other types of employer supports (training, subsidies, etc.) in order to ease the process of hiring a new employee. Geoff knows the value of working together and has even taken on a leadership role within our team of placement services professionals by organizing and chairing Job Developer/ Marketing meetings. Geoff also serves as Back in Motion’s Diversity Coordinator, responsible for coordinating efforts of the Diversity committee. These efforts include diversity and inclusion training, awareness and educational opportunities, including workshops, newsletters, conferences, etc. These trainings have been invaluable to our culturally diverse team. Geoff’s passion for his work has made him an asset to our team. I am proud to provide this recommendation on his behalf.
Geoff engages relationships with his clients with a sincerity that can be witnessed in each interaction. He brings a calm, pragmatic approach to imparting information in a user-friendly manner-- making otherwise challenging concepts easy to understand. It's also delightfully refreshing to enjoy his good nature and humour in the workplace. Highly recommend Geoff!
Certified to provide both in-house and online trainings.
Member of the BC Human Resource Association (CPHR)