Editor’s Note
A Deep Down into the Enthusiasm and Achievements of Canada's Most In uential Leaders…
Although Canada isn't primarily renowned for entrepreneurship and business leadership, it has produced its fair share of shining stars who have succeeded because of their determination, intelligence, and can-do mindsets. Canada's exceptional infrastructure, generally positive perceptions of national hazards, and an incredibly attractive investment environment make it feasible to operate businesses with essential ease.
The region's corporate leaders have made a remarkable contribution over the years, significantly stimulating the economy. Witnessing business leaders reshaping the Canadian economic landscape is certainly a source of immense pride. "Canada's 10 Most Influential Leaders to Follow in 2023" is a brand-new edition of The Inc Magazine's ongoing effort to highlight the most significant business disruptors in Canada. The remarkable business owners and changemakers who make up this special edition are brimming with energy and have some of the most cutting-edge products on the market. We delve into these extraordinary leaders' thoughts to learn more about what drives them, what motivates them, and how they've achieved such remarkable success in their specific domains.
Our team has worked exceptionally hard to publish this publication, which chronicles the journeys of outstanding businesses. We sincerely hope and wish that each page you flip in this issue will instill great inspiration in your head. We hope that all of these intriguing reads will inspire and motivate you to conquer obstacles and pursue your goals. We sincerely believe that this distinctive edition will truly inspire and elevate our global readership panel and enrich their lives. We will be delighted if reading about these tales of achievement drives you to triumph over obstacles and embrace your objectives.
Happy Reading ..!!
Jermaine Murray Founder | JupiterHR
Murray Jermaine
Helping Black Jobseekers Secure Tech Roles
For ages, Black employees have been underrepresented in the otherwise geeky world of the tech industry. According to research, in 2018, Black workers accounted for 12% of the entire U.S. workforce, but only 8% were tech professionals. A 2021 report indicates that Black employees have much shorter tenure in tech organizations than non-Black employees, and they also tend to move more between companies than their non-black colleagues.
Due to the low representation of Black People in the field, Black tech employees have few visible role models to aspire to, learn from, and emulate in the tech sector. Because of this, there are far fewer lived experiences to draw from, and organizations continue to use procedures that are more effective for others.
So enters Jermaine L. Murray, aka 'The Jobfather,' the founder of Toronto-based job consulting firm JupiterHR, creating opportunities for Black people in tech by helping professionals secure jobs and recruiters diversify their hiring practices. Jermaine is a recruiter and career coach dedicated to getting more Black people involved within the industry. He specializes in making things transparent while connecting people with inclusive environments where they could have great careers.
Jermaine went to school for Broadcast Journalism to become the Black Larry King and got a brief stint on a Sirius XM radio show for 6 months before it was axed. After multiple failed attempts, he started JupiterHR, a resume-writing business that slowly evolved into a Recruitment and Referral business for Black candidates.
Increasing the Representation of Black People in Tech
JupiterHR is a Career Coaching and Recruitment platform focused on increasing the back representation in the world of technology. Since 2019, the company has helped over 351 Black people to get their next job within the tech industry.
You can’t overrepresent an underrepresented community. We won’t stop, can’t stop until we even the playing field.
Under Jermaine's leadership, JupiterHR focuses exclusively on placing Black community candidates. Over the years, the organization has built up a community of over 10,000 Black professionals worldwide and adds more daily to its community. It has launched a Recruitment Academy that trains people from all over the planet to become full-fledged tech recruiters with a guaranteed paid internship.
It also has plans to facilitate the hiring of 12 people from Jamaica and the Caribbean to get Remote Recruitment jobs that can pay at least $50k, which is 5x the average salary for residents of the Caribbean Islands.
Ensuring A Smooth Sailing Process
Jermaine is fascinated by seeing all the opportunities for people to make a living. Witnessing what the market is offering and then using that information to empower people by making them aware of all the employment opportunities available if they know where to look and how to position their skill sets.
As a career coaching and recruitment platform, JupiterHR believes in centering its goals, processes, and execution around prioritizing what is best for its community members. This ensures complete transparency from the onset, starting from salary to the DEI makeup of an organization. It also informs its candidates that it's okay to withdraw from an interview process if they feel the role is not suitable or what they expected before the interview.
Navigating Challenges
Jermaine believes identifying organizations that haven't thrown DEI to the wind because of the recession is one the biggest challenge for JupiterHR.
"It, unfortunately, seems that for many companies, the first cuts they made were to their DEI initiatives. It is of the utmost importance that we vet our partners and companies interested in working with us because we don't want to put our community members in positions where they're set up to fail,"-he said.
Additionally, Jermaine is also witnessing a lot of pushback on the Work from Home models from employers and an even stronger backlash from candidates and employees who are ready to walk away from their jobs that don't offer flexibility.
Looking at the Future
In the future, JupiterHR will continue to grow from just helping Black people get jobs in tech to assist them in getting jobs in all industries, starting from healthcare to construction to education and several other critical sectors.
As an advocate for Black talents in tech, Jermaine wants to see more Black Recruiters, Black Hiring Managers, and Black Leadership in every sector to ensure a diverse talent pipeline.
Importance of Right Management to a Modern Business
In business, we have always heard and worked under management. But have you ever thought about why management is such an integral part of any activity? The word Management is understood by different senses. Some people take it as the art and science of getting things done through and with people. Some others consider it as the process of achievement of the goal. Some describe it as the optimum utilization of the resources for the purpose of accomplishing the organizational objectives.
As per Management Innovations 2008, “Management is the process of reaching organizational goals by working with and through people and other organizational resources.”
It has three characteristics:
It is a process of continuing and related activities
It focuses on reaching company goals
It achieves these goals by working with and through people and other resources
In addition, management comes up with all six Ms like Men and Women, Money, Materials, Machine, Methods, and Markets. These resources are used to reach business goals like high sales, revenue generation, business expansion, etc.
Here are some major points which make management important to any business especially in the modern-day;
Proper Utilisation of Resources
Utilising your resources is vital for an organisation to stay competitive and relevant in this modern era. The right management helps in the division of work and prevents the employees from underperforming or getting overburdened with work.
Every employee in a company has his own specific field. Through management, the employees are provided work related to their field of knowledge and experience. It boosts the speed and accuracy of work and the company’s growth ultimately. Besides, management also makes sure to make the right use of available space and equipment.
Support Stability
The company should be maintained in a way that external market problems do not hamper the company’s operation. It needs instant and effective changes that need to be made without hurting the company’s stand. Without proper management, it will not be possible. Management will provide stability and adaptability to the company, supporting it to survive market turbulence and flourish with time.
Present the Feel-Good Factor
Keeping the employees delighted and satisfied is very important for the smooth functioning of the company. When a company is managed with efficiency, growing rapidly and, in turn, generates good revenue, hence opening avenues of development for the people involved. The upward journey ensures the workforce of not just better incomes, but better positions, that keep them motivated.
Creation and Maintenance of Coordination
If in any company, people do their individual work without caring for and know about their connection with one another, such scattered activities and work can result in all wastage of time and productivity. Managers create and work to maintain coordination among human and material resources and lead all of them towards the accomplishment of organizational goals.
The Balance Between Multiple Goals
This is another key factor that shows the importance of the right management in a business. In any organization, the management has two goals, the first one is individual and the second one is organizational. Both goals are important, individual goals satisfy the employees and employers of a company and the organizational goal satisfies both on a broader level.
Social Development & Innovation
The right management always prepares the company for social welfare. It helps to direct the human energies towards the needs of the society on different levels from education, health, environment, and so on. Aside from social development, management also makes sure that their company is making efforts for innovation. In this digital era, where everything is changing so rapidly, moving with time is vital. Here, management plays an important role. They encourage employees to research the current market happenings and bring the latest innovation within the organization.
So, these are some key points to understand the importance of the right management to a Modern Business. Hopefully, you found this article interesting and helpful.
Easy Ways to Nurture Leadership in Your Organization
Developing future leaders has become a need for most companies. And, many organizations have already invested to nurture leadership. It is vital to invest in your team, when you forgo your employees into more capable professionals, they become more valuable to your business- mainly if you can build leadership skills that will support them make you more responsible and capable of spearheading growth well in the coming. To make this process somewhat easier for you to accomplish this, here are some effective yet easy ways in which you can nurture leadership in your organization;
Present Opportunities to Your Employees
When you consider your own trajectory to a position of leadership, you are most likely to reach there since you had more experience than other people did not. It is vital to support others to develop themselves, and at the beginning, you must present opportunities for them to do so. Another way to nurture leadership in your employees is by stretching projects beyond the normal day-to-day roles of your employees. Let them take the driver’s seat so that they can get the wisdom and confidence required to make good judgment calls.
Foster an Environment of Experiment and Exploration
In this rapidly developing world, budding leaders should have the ability to assess and take appropriate risks. Generally, companies struggle in building a culture that values risk-taking habits, but those that allow it are five times more likely to understand the innovation and respond to it efficiently. There are many companies that are focusing on building a culture of risk-taking with the goal of developing people and encouraging innovation.
Enhance their Skills
When it comes to leadership, one of the biggest challenges is the ability to lead people. Someone may hold excellent management skills, but they might be that good at leading others. No doubt, overall performance is a measure of one’s ability and experience and vital to find a leader, but you need to look beyond performance to properly get an employee’s aptitude to grow and develop others. Try to proceed with caution and give more weight to the potential than performance on the leadership scale.
Engage in Critical Debate
Everyone wants to play well as a team but as you move into a leadership role, it becomes vital to learn to engage in an important debate. Senior leaders hold major skills and expertise that need to be shared to take the right step and do proper planning.
Strong business leaders do not shy away from conflict but they make sure to keep things professional. Nurturing leadership at all levels of your organization is a perfect investment of your time regardless of your company size and business goals.
Support them In Side Projects
These days, it has become quite common for professionals to have a side-hustle whether just to utilize their free time or just to earn some extra money. Some of your employees might be running small businesses in their free time, while others may enjoy involvement in community organizing efforts. If you know about such projects, make some efforts to support them. It is not just about money; you can give them advice if they are willing to listen. Inspiring and encouraging is another great way to support and nurture leadership in people.
Foster Their Confidence
Self-confidence is a vital aspect of leadership and management. Without it, people cannot be strong leaders. At the initial phase, you employees may not be confident in doing things and that is completely fine. Here, organization should encourage them to take new tasks and try to finish them. With this, employees will get knowledge and experience that will ultimately boost their self-confidence.
Bottom Line
Finally, if you know someone with high potential, who can make an exceptional leader, they might not be aware of themselves, do not thwart their growth. You can help them to know about their unique skills and bring their strengths and talents in limelight so they can accelerate their growth. Remember, before you are a leader, success is about growing yourself. When you are a leader, success is about growing others.
Hopefully, you found this post helpful and interesting!
