Rachelle Gagnon Brings Fresh Perspective to ANBL Board
Rachelle Gagnon is bringing a fresh perspective to the NB Liquor board of directors.
As vice president of administration and customer experience with Assumption Life with a professional history in HR, Gagnon has been serving on the ANBL board since 2013. She has now taken over the role of chair.
We chatted with Gagnon about what sort of vision she has for the board going forward.
What was the background that led you to take on a role with the ANBL board?
I’d been on a number of boards for a number of years, most notably through the Human Resources Association at the provincial and the national levels. My background was very specialized in human resources and the last number of years I’ve been on a number of different boards, [including] the Moncton Chamber of Commerce. I really enjoyed it. It’s interesting, the knowledge you can bring to a board, the contacts you make and all the experience you gain.
Three or four years ago I found an ad in the paper because they were recruiting for new members of NB Liquor. They were looking for a specific skills profile … to ensure that the skill levels from a variety of different fields are well represented on the board.
HR was one of the skills they had an interest in. I don’t think there was anyone in the past who had been on the board with a background in human resources.
What was it about your experience in HR you found helpful in your role with the board?
When I joined they were just at the point where their director of human resources was getting ready to retire. They had a new CEO at that point. They were looking to make all kinds of organizational changes, to review some of the positions in terms of the levels of responsibilities … I was able to look at some of the key performance indicators in human resources, what kind of reports should the board usually see related to HR metrics … I simply [gave them] the opportunity of having someone with some experience to help and give some advice and resources as it may be needed for the organization.
Because we have different backgrounds, it’s often being able to see whatever issue from different angles and just to see we’re to the point where we can provide valuable and timely advice to management on a variety of subjects.
It’s given me all kinds of experience in perspectives of different organizations and how they function.
Do you think your approach as chair will be different from that of previous chairs?
I have a very participative style of management because I manage a fairly big team at my workplace right now. The value of the role that I’m taking, it’s not necessarily just to promote the input of the chair but really to ensure that all board members have an opportunity to have a say and to contribute and to provide advice to management on a variety of subjects.
Do you have any particular plans or vision for the future of ANBL? Any issues you’re concerned about addressing?
I think there are a lot of challenges facing ANBL in terms of ongoing development. Every file they’re involved in at this point, whether it be what will happen in the future regarding the marijuana file, that’s something that hasn’t been decided yet and there’s a number of ongoing developments. There are a lot of microbreweries. There’s the wine in the grocery stores. There’s a lot of development.
The role of the board is to ensure that there’s oversight and control, supervision of the business and that our governance is clear, that we’ve got the right process, the right policies that affect health … It’s to ensure that we do what we’re supposed to be doing and do it well and to ensure that level of oversight and as well that level of support, and in some cases, that could mean direction to senior management.
What challenges are you expecting to face because of changes in the industry?
I’d love to have a crystal ball and see what’s going to happen. In some cases it’s regulatory. In some cases, it’s just the market conditions, where the industry itself is going, not necessarily just in New Brunswick but in other liquor jurisdictions as well.
It’ll be interesting to see for sure what’s going to happen in the next few years but no doubt the industry is undergoing all kinds of changes in terms of e-commerce, in terms of everything that’s happening in retail as a whole … I know the CEO is following what’s happening in other liquor jurisdictions [very closely] as well to see to what extent what we do is among the best practices of what we should be doing.