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    Hi,

    I'm Pierre.

     

    Meet Pierre Côté. As Practice Leader of Stratford's Interim & Virtual HR Practice, he leads with a strategic vision and a collaborative spirit. With a focus on innovative and responsive HR solutions, Pierre delivers tailored human resources services that drive organizational success. Whether providing on-demand HR expertise or guiding HR operations, he is dedicated to helping businesses achieve their objectives.

    Pierre leads Stratford's Interim and Virtual HR Practice. Working in collaboration with the Stratford People & Culture team, Pierre partners with clients to offer a wide range of human resources services with the objective of helping organizations leverage their human capital to meet their business objectives. This includes stepping in to provide on-demand HR subject matter experts, HR business partnership, acting as the HR Leader and managing HR operations.

    Pierre is a results-driven Human Resources professional with more than 25 years of progressive HR experience. Pierre brings a strong background in helping organizations effectively use human capital to maximize business outcomes. As a trusted HR leader, he has successfully advised clients in managing human resource requirements of rapidly evolving organizations through a significant change where being innovative, nimble, and most importantly responsive to growing business needs is key in delivering value.

    Pierre Cote

    Pierre Côté, Interim & Virtual HR Practice Leader,

    Stratford People & Culture

    “The team, led by Pierre Cote, has had a profound impact on our organization. It is because of their work and expertise that we have successfully navigated some very difficult issues. We continue to engage the Stratford team to provide strategic and tactical HR advice and we continue to see as value added, to our core internal HR program." 

    Tim Howe, Ottawa Carleton Lifeskills

    An Interview

    with Pierre.

    Beyond our credentials, what sets us apart are the values we share and the ways we work. Every member of our team has a passion for giving back and helping organizations reach their goals. It’s why clients often tell us that when they met our people, they knew they wanted to do business with us.

     

    To help you get to know us a little better, we sat down with some of our team members and interviewed them on everything from professional experience and obstacles to extracurricular activities and playlist recommendations. We thought you may appreciate seeing the personal side of our team through their shared personal insights, recommendations and hobbies.

     What do you like to listen to while working?

    Deep House, EDM, Chill Jazz, and Hip Hop.

     

    What are your favourite business books, podcasts, and blogs?

    • Blogs by David Ulrich

    • The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*** by Mark Manson

    • Any business book written by Ken Blanchard


    Who are you most influenced by?

    I am most influenced by Ken Blanchard because of his knowledge on the art of management and Obama because of his values and public speaking abilities.

     

    What is one piece of advice you find yourself constantly sharing with your clients?

    I actually have two.

      1. Manage people as you would appreciate being managed as an employee.
      2. Political agendas and personal envy will get in the way of doing the right thing for your team.

    How do you add value to your clients?

    I add value by understanding my client's business and helping bridge the gap between human resources (HR) and the business from a people practice perspective.

     

    What do you think makes Stratford unique?

    The quality of the people that work at Stratford and the credibility we have in the market.

     

    What is your favourite type of client engagement?

    My favourite client engagement is being able to work as the advisor for senior management teams. I also appreciate Organizational Development, HR Audits, Employee/Labour Relations, Leadership Coaching, and Talent Acquisition work.

     

    Do you sit on any boards or volunteer?

    Yes, I have in the past and enjoy this type of work but as an HR Advisor to many organizations, I've had to step down to prevent conflicts of interest.

     

    What are some of your favourite past times?

    I enjoy being a DJ. I used to work in bars and clubs as a student and I will still do some “gigs” for social events.

    I also really enjoy working out!

     

    Any recommended movies or TV programs?

    • Breaking Bad

    • Black Mirror

    • Saturday Night Live

    • The Walking Dead

    • Silo


    Any recommendations on people to follow on their LinkedIn or social media accounts? 

    • David Ulrich

    • Josh Bersin

    • Meghan Brio

    • Steve Boese

    • Laura Putnam

     

    Why?

    These are all great HR leaders that bring a different perspective on the art of human capital.

     

    What’s one of the biggest obstacles you’ve had to overcome as it relates to your career?

    An obstacle I must often overcome is dealing with the political aspects of organizations. This can be challenging when attempting to move great ideas forward, as personal agendas sometimes get in the way of doing the right thing.

     

    Do you have any favourite quotes?

    “I hire smart people and get out of their way.”

    – Lee Lacocca

    “Tell people what you need, NOT what to do.”

    – Peter Drucker

     

     If there is one thing you hope your clients gain from working with you, what would you want it to be?

    Have an outside in view of how HR should deliver services to the business. This means to clarify HR work (practices, policies, analytics, and people) to ensure that it is focused on delivering value to external, as well as internal, stakeholders. Ensure that your HR team know and understand stakeholder expectations.

     

    PC Leadership Team

    Stratford People & Culture.

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