Heidi Hauver
Vice President, Talent and HR, Leadership and Culture Mentor, Invest Ottawa
Applied Management – Class of 2005
Human Resources Management – Class of 2007
Photo by Mark Holleron, Ottawa Business Journal
Spend 30 minutes with Heidi Hauver and you will be convinced that human relations is one of the most exciting professions anyone could take up. A firm believer in transformational HR and a proven executive leader, Hauver is a compelling and convincing advocate for the field who has made a name for herself as an entrepreneurial force in Ottawa’s business scene.
Today, Hauver is Vice President, Talent and HR, Leadership and Culture Mentor, with Invest Ottawa. She is in her third year with the company, including the last two years as part of the executive team led by President and CEO Michael Tremblay.
Hauver didn’t follow the traditional educational path to get there. She was already working full-time when she decided to enhance her skills at Algonquin College, first with an Applied Management (Class of 2005) and then with a Human Resources Management (Class of 2007) Certificate. She remained in the workforce all through her time at the College, and although she admits it was a challenge – and denied her some of the joys of the typical student experience – working and going to school concurrently had its benefits.
“In truth, I thoroughly enjoyed it on many levels. I wanted to keep working and make a dent in my career and education in HR at the same time. It enabled me, a newcomer to the city 20 years ago, to expand my local network. To this day, I’m still in contact with some of the folks I took courses with. Going back to school let me combine ongoing real-world business experience with the academic side and actually practise what I was learning on the job.”
Perhaps most important, it helped her achieve her main goal. “I wanted to get into a purposeful role that would allow me to do the work I’m passionate about, which is the transformational side of HR.”
Hauver is a compelling advocate for the complex discipline that HR is today. She notes that many people still associate the field with past personnel departments that handled payroll and benefits. Essential functions, to be sure, but transformational HR is about much more. HR departments of this kind tend to be led by Chief Talent Officers or Chief Employee Experience Officers – or leaders who fulfil those roles even without the altered title.
Shifting HR in this direction and leading a workforce to reach its full capacity is what Hauver’s career is all about.
“I was never about the purely transactional nature of what traditional HR is all about. I was fascinated by the people and what they and their companies could achieve with strong guidance. I was captivated by how much HR could influence the business, the impact we have on the culture, who is hired and how we engage those team members over the course of their career. I love being part of that. I have wanted to transform the HR function in any organization I’ve been in. I’m a people person and a builder, and luckily I’ve had a lot of opportunities in companies to build.”
One of those opportunities was provided when Hauver joined the innovative team at Ottawa IT services firm Pythian, having previously built the HR department at the non-profit Canadian Internet Registration Authority from the ground up. She spent six years as Vice President of HR at Pythian, expanding the department from one employee to 20 and winning industry awards in the process.
She describes those years as an incredible journey, one she shared with a supportive group of colleagues under the leadership of then-CEO Andrew Waitman, a man she says believed fully in and shared Hauver’s Strategic HR vision for the company.
“The team was world class,” she notes. “I learned so much. Every HR person should work in the services sector at some point because it’s critical that you’re building a culture where everyone can be their best. I wouldn’t describe it as a challenge. It was an opportunity, one I appreciated early on as a cool chance to shape what HR can be about, create a great work environment for our team and enhance the working of the whole organization.
“We worked hard to hire great talent and retain that talent. During that time we were recognized as a Top Employer – it involved a lot of hard work to get there but it was worth it.”
Today, Hauver is with Invest Ottawa and can look back with justifiable pride on a consistent record of success. Hauver has won a number of awards for her work, including the inaugural 2018 Leadership Agency Award for Woman of Distinction, a 2017 Top HR Professional, a 2012 Ottawa Business Journal Forty Under 40 Award and a 2012 CATA Information Technology Strategic HR Leadership Award.
An executive and a mother, Hauver also carves out significant time in her calendar for community service. “Ever since I moved to Ottawa,” she says, “I’ve made a point of giving back to the community. I got my first volunteer experience with Volunteer Ottawa – I’m a super-fan of the work they do.” This experience eventually came full circle when she became a board member. She currently shares her time, knowledge and mentoring with the Ottawa Labour Market Planning Committee, Hire Immigrants Ottawa, Women in Communications and Technology, CHEO, and the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.
There is still time in her day to give back to the school that helped put her on her current path. Hauver is happy to speak to students when asked, and encourages young people and others already in careers to consider how studying at the College could change their lives.
“People considering post-secondary should reach out and talk to alumni, talk to instructors. They should consider part-time and distance programs. It’s amazing to do classes online now, it’s so accessible. They’ll find like I did that Algonquin makes it really easy to reach their education goals.”