Why the best HR leaders know their toolbox is never finished

Early on into her role as Human Resources Director at EastGen Inc. in Guelph, Ont. – she joined the company in March 2026 – Sheila Thomson is already demonstrating what cross-industry HR leadership looks like in practice – and what it can unlock inside one of Canada's most traditionally minded sectors.

Thomson's career has taken her across telecommunications, engineering, tourism and technology startups – each move adding a new skill to what she calls her "HR toolbox." Now working for a cooperative that develops and markets genetic technologies and reproductive solutions for livestock producers across Ontario and Atlantic Canada, she’s drawing on that accumulated experience to build a people strategy designed not for the next product release, but for the next generation of farmer members.

"At the end of the day, people matter," says Thomson. "What industry, what province, what country – people value the same things – they value being recognized, compensated fairly, doing work that matters to them, and working for a company that aligns with their values."

Building the toolbox: the case for cross-industry experience

That conviction sits at the centre of Thomson's professional philosophy. But she’s equally clear that recognizing common ground is only half the job. Adaptability is the other.

"A tool that maybe worked in one industry may not work the same way in another industry or organization," she says. "So it's being adaptable to the industry and the organizational culture – the tools are essentially the same, but you sometimes have to just modify them."

For Thomson, a career that has crossed several industries isn’t a liability – it’s a strategic asset that widens the range of solutions available and reduces the likelihood of anchoring to a single approach simply because it worked before. "When something doesn't work, there are lots of different ways to solve for one problem, with many solutions," she says. "I'm open to seeing things in a different way and just building my toolbox."

She also believes that learning and adapting in HR leadership never stops. "I never think that my toolbox has shut down – I need to keep adapting it because markets change overnight,” she says. “If I'm not willing to try different tools then it just becomes stagnant and I'm not ensuring that the organization is set up for success and to make their people as engaged as possible."

From startup speed to agricultural roots

In the tech sector, where Thomson previously worked, things move quickly and strategies are more short-term, she says. EastGen operates on a fundamentally different rhythm, and many of the organization’s approximately 125 employees across Ontario and Atlantic Canada are also customers – livestock producers who have built careers around EastGen and whose commitment to it runs deep.

At EastGen, the culture reflects something different. "It's more rooted in the consistency with the organization, the commitment, the feeling that this is a place where you are putting your roots," she says. "So there's more stability, there is more ownership."

That shift has extended Thomson's planning horizon considerably. Where she previously worked within a one-to-three-year strategy window, she is now thinking in five-to-10-year terms – a change that demands greater intentionality across every career stage, she says. "We have a much larger range of career stages – those that are just entering the workforce, those that are leaving the workforce through retirement," she says. "An HR strategy has to make sure that we are thoughtful of all different engagement factors for all different ranges of the career stage – the difference with the tech and the agriculture is people will stay here their entire career, they will retire here."

EastGen's workforce is also predominantly field-based, with technicians operating across a wide geographic range, according to Thomson. Managing a dispersed workforce in Canada is a known challenge for people leaders across sectors, so Thomson is addressing it through a new internal initiative called EastGen College – a structured in-person learning and connection program being rolled out across the organization.

"People communicate better when they connect, and they connect better when they can communicate," she says. "By bringing people together to connect, the goal is that we're going to learn, we're one team. And as we continue and go to our dispersed places, we can share our information more effectively and that then drives our business more productively."

HR at the executive table – and what it takes to earn it

One of the factors that drew Thomson to EastGen was a signal she rarely sees in Canadian workplaces: her predecessor as Human Resources Director had been elevated to the chief executive officer role. It told her, before she had even arrived, exactly how the organization views people leadership, she says.

The broader question of whether HR's presence in the boardroom translates to genuine strategic influence remains a live debate. While seven in 10 organizations describe human resources (HR) as a strategic partner, only one in four consider it central to enterprise strategy, according to the HR Directors Consensus 2026 survey by Principal Connections, reported by HRD Canada.

At EastGen, Thomson says that groundwork was already in place when she arrived. "HR has always been part of the business decisions, always had a seat at the executive table," she says. "It wasn't something I had to fight for. But that was also why I chose the organizations that I moved into."

Her approach to navigating the tension between people priorities and business priorities is built on what she describes as threefold advocacy. "We are advocates for the employees, we are advocates for the leaders, and we are advocates for the business," she says. "As long as an employee feels that they have had that advocacy, they understand why a decision is being made."

Thomson believes that to earn that kind of influence, HR leaders need to demonstrate clear strategic and financial literacy. "It's being able to understand the financial implications of every decision that's being made,” she says. “It's being able to think long term and being able to understand the industry, not just the people that work for the company."

What great HR leadership requires

Thomson offers a pointed view on what separates effective HR leaders from those who plateau. Many people enter the profession because they enjoy working with people – but leadership demands something harder, she says.

"There's a lot of tough decisions that have to be made," she says. "The success of moving into leadership in HR, where I've seen it successful, is those who can adapt, continue to learn, continue to grow, and continue to look outside of the box."

The broader shift in how HR is perceived – moving away from policy administration toward genuine strategic contribution – is one Thomson welcomes as part of a natural professional evolution. That trajectory is familiar with many HR leaders across Canada, with leaders from various sectors describing a move from back-office function to co-equal business partner.

"Now [HR] is being seen as a strategic partner, and its value is being more respected," Thomson says. "I think it's just an evolution of the profession."