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Archive for the ‘HR Management’ Category
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
While it may not be reality right now, there is a labour shortage looming in the oilpatch. Two different reports, one by human resources consulting firm Mercer and one by the Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada, are predicting a substantial shortfall of oilpatch employees as early as next year. It’s good news for potential employees, but not so good for oil and gas companies.
The key for employers is to be proactive today. Start to look at how to engage alternative labour pools, such as foreign workers, Aboriginals, women and disabled persons are all good alternatives that can provide skilled workers to the looming employee shortage. Employers need to look at what skills they need in order to effectively recruit and manage these potential employees NOW. Diversity training is a must and one that BOWEN can provide.
While a labour shortage may still feel like it is “sometime in the future”, it is actually must closer than we think. Employers who will be ahead of the curve are proactively planning for it now.
Tags: career resources, diversity, employee management, workforce planning
Posted in Economy, Employment opportunities, HR Management | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
On Saturday, Jun 12, the Calgary Herald featured an article about BOWEN’s Bullying in the Workplace seminars.
If you haven’t had a chance to read it, check it out here:
//www.calgaryherald.com/life/Bullying+workplace+rise/3145498/story.html
Interestingly, the story resulted in some great responses from Herald readers who were happy to see that this important topic was being discussed!
Yesterday, newspapers across Canada were picking up the story based on Queen’s University’s School of Business research that shows workplace bullying can be more damaging than racial or gender harassment. Interestingly,the Province of Ontario is preparing to pass a bill that will require employers to “develop and communicate workplace violence prevention policies, assess the risks of workplace violence, and take reasonable precautions to protect workers from domestic violence in the workplace”.
(http://http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/canada/Bullying+work+worse+than+gender+racial+harassment+Report/3151623/story.html
Quebec and Saskatchewan already have similar legislation in place. Let’s hope it is not long before every province follows suits. Workplace bullying is wrong - plain and simple!
Tags: Add new tag, career resources, human resources, management
Posted in General, HR Management | No Comments »
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
I’m on a learning curve but am excited to be venturing into the world of social media. From all I’ve been seeing and reading, it is becoming an essential part of an organization’s entire marketing approach. I know there is still much to learn but one of the things that really appeals to me about social media is the opportunity for virtual networking and dialogue in such an informal, easy way. My tweets are somewhat infrequent, but I am starting to post more regularly. If you’d like to follow me on Twitter, you can find me at http://twitter.com/sbowensmed. I’d love to hear from you and look forward to more chats in the future.
Tags: human resources, networking, social media, social network
Posted in General, HR Management | 3 Comments »
Friday, May 28th, 2010
Last week, I wrote about the real problem of bullying is in today’s workplace. What is workplace bullying? It can be defined as the mistreatment of others motivated by the bully’s personal agenda and is intended to strip down the target’s confidence to have them conform or comply with the bully’s intent. It may sound pretty formal but really, bullying is a form of manipulation and is about control. And just like with school bullying, workplace can have a long term psychological impact on the target and it involves repetitive, aggressive behavior meant to intimidate and control the victim.
It’s also something that can be difficult to talk about or address, but not doing so can cost employers more than they may realize. An article on the Canadian Women’s Health Network states A 2007 survey of bullying targets conducted by the Workplace Bullying Institute in the United States found that 45% of the respondents experienced stress-related health problems, including anxiety, panic attacks, sleep problems or depression.
Prolonged exposure to stress in the workplace can lead to other serious health concerns, such as problems related to cardiovascular, neurological and immune system health. Also, targets often decide to quit their jobs and end up trading the stress of bullying for the stress of being unemployed.”
As an employer, I want to ensure that I know what signs to look for so that my employees can feel safe and remain focused on their responsibilities, while enjoying a healthy workplace. When we start to count the costs, both from a monetary and a morale perspective, it is too great to tolerate any form of bullying. We don’t accept it at school and we shouldn’t accept it in our workplace.
Check out my May 20th entry for more information on our upcoming free seminar about workplace bullying.
Tags: career resources, employee management, employee retention, human resources, management
Posted in HR Management | 1 Comment »
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
Bullying is not an issue confined to the school playground and it doesn’t just happen to kids and teens. Bullying is a fact of today’s workplace, and it’s something we don’t talk about enough. There are many signs to look for, just like with children.
Bullying impacts employees and corporations in many ways, including financially and psychologically. There are also many questions. How do you identify a workplace bully? How do the seek out their targets? Most importantly, how do you stop it?
I firmly believe that there is a tremendous opportunity for workplace leadership by tackling the tough topic of bullying. BOWEN is pleased to be offering a free seminar about this issues as part of our new Building a Better Workplace series. The session takes place June 10 between 12 and 1 p.m. For more information, you can e-mail hbrooks@bowenworks.ca.
Watch for new blog posts next week when I dig a little deeper into this topic. It’s worth talking about!
Tags: career resources, employee management, employee retention, human resources
Posted in HR Management | No Comments »
Friday, April 23rd, 2010
This week is Telework Week in Calgary and there are several reasons to celebrate - and consider - why telecommuting makes sense.
Calgary Economic Development (CED) is leading a regional telework initiative called WORKshift that profiles and promotes the many benefits of telecommuting for employees. As part of this important program, companies are being invited to evaluate and incorporate flexible work arrangements for their employees.
I am really excited about CED’s leadership in this initiative and support the goal of Calgary becoming a centre of excellence in telework! There are so many benefits to telecommuting - for individuals, corporations and the environment. It’s a business practice that I personally encourage at BOWEN and one that organizations need to consider when looking at cost savings, space planning, sustainability and of course, employee satisfaction.
While there has already been much discussion on how telecommuting can help organizations realize efficiencies, as well as encourage employee productivity and a work/life balance, it also has a lot a merit from a corporate social responsibility standpoint. Here’s a fascinating fact: if there was a 3% reduction in the number of Calgarians commuting to work on any given week day, our traffic gridlock would be eliminated. What a time-saver, not to mention what it would do for our environment. Now that’s something that would help us all out!
WORKshift is the only program of its kind in Canada and it’s just one more way that Calgary is leading the way with its entrepreneurial, can-do spirit. Check it out at workshiftcalgary.com.
Tags: employee retention, human resources, telecommuting, workforce planning
Posted in HR Management, Work / Life Balance | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
On March 9, 2010, Stats Canada released a report stating that the diversity of Canada’s population will continue to increase over the next two decades, Stats Canada Report. One of the report highlights says that by 2031, between 25% and 28% of the population could be foreign-born. It is expected that 30% of Calgary’s population will be foreign born.
What does this mean for future workforce planning for Canadian companies? My colleague, Ken Vinge, spoke to Calgary’s Global Television yesterday about this topic to share BOWEN’s viewpoint, Global Story.
Quite simply, companies need to start planning how they will recruit, incorporate and manage their foreign workers NOW. For several years, BOWEN’s Immigrant Works program helped to place temporary foreign workers into professional intern jobs. Our learnings from this program are very relevant to future workforce planning.
Companies need to take into considerations the language and cultural nuances in managing a foreign workforce. Plan for how you will support foreign professionals within your workplace and orient them to how business typically operate in North America. How will you coach your managers to really maximize the benefit of this dynamic workforce? What we do know is companies that are already hiring foreign workers and investing in diversity in the workplace will be ahead of the curve when the real hiring crunch comes. Best of all, they will reap the rewards of a knowledgeable, talented, hardworking and loyal workforce. And that makes great business sense to me!
Tags: diversity, foreign recruitment, management, Stats Canada, workforce planning
Posted in Economy, HR Management | No Comments »
Friday, February 19th, 2010
A bad hire can cost companies a lot of money. However, for small- to medium-sized businesses, it is often difficult to manage the expense of a fulltime HR professional. Outsourcing Human Resources duties can make a lot of sense, both financially and from a staff resources perspective.
Outsourced HR can include services like pre-employment screening, reference checking, education verification, background checks and recruitment support. Whether it’s retaining the workforce you have, or building for the future, Outsourced HR can fill in the gaps with a company’s current HR team, or offer specific expertise for small companies without a designated HR person. Now that is good business!
It’s always important to understand the business you are in. Employing, managing and supporting our people is essential but it may not be critical that these expertise are held in-house. Do you need a compensation expert as part of your staff or only during salary reviews? More and more companies are looking for alternate solutions to manage costs and resources. As we consider demographic realities one might argue how we staff and currently see HR will likely have to change as we have so many retiring from the HR community and so few with similar expertise to replace them. Outsourcing may be a big part of a future solution. To get a sense of the quality of HR consultants in the market see our group of affiliates at HR Works.
Tags: background checks, career resources, hiring, human resources, recruitment support
Posted in Career building tips, Economy, HR Management | 1 Comment »
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
As a working mother, trying to balance family commitments with a busy career, I know how hard it can be sometimes to keep all the balls in the air. In fact, if I’m honest, I do occasionally drop a ball or two! I know that there are many working moms (and dads) in the same situation. With school and extra-curricular activities now in full swing, the demands on time are even greater! In today’s softer job market, there are opportunities for employers and employees to find a better life / work balance.
Instead of laying people off, employers can consider offering reduced work weeks or job share situations. This gives employees the security of on-going employment, while also allowing for more time with family members. The reduction in pay can often be countered by a reduction in child care costs.
It can be a win, win situation for everyone!
Another option is to look at a flexible schedule. For many working parents, flexibility is a huge draw to a certain company or job opportunity. The ability to take a day to chaperone a class field trip or volunteer at a child’s school can be priceless.
Finally, employers can save money and keep high-performing employees happy by allowing for telecommuting. In this age of technology, why not let people work from home, as long as they are getting the work done well? I know for myself, a few quiet hours in my home office can be extremely productive - there are fewer interruptions and I can truly keep my focus on the project at hand.
Balancing work and family life is not easy, and things change from week to week, and month to month. However, know that as you may be struggling with balance, you are not alone. In fact, I’d say you are in good company!
Here are few articles with great tips for working moms (and parents):
http://balancing-career-mothering.suite101.com/article.cfm/strategies_for_work_life_balance
http://www.businessweek.com/careers/workingparents/blog/archives/2007/03/worklife_balanc.html
http://www.google.ca/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4TSHC_enCA303CA303&q=Work%2flife+balance+moms
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/article757602.ece
Posted in Economy, HR Management, Work / Life Balance | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
With so many pressures facing manager and business owners, saying “thank you” to your team may not seem like a top priority. There are sales targets to meet, budget to balance and expenses to manage. However, saying “thank you” can actually save you time and money in the long run. It can help keep employees motivated and engaged.
At a time when we are all watching our bottom line more closely, there are still creative and inexpensive ways to recognize your team. I believe that it has never been more important to thank my team for making sacrifices and doing more with less. They need to know their efforts do not go unnoticed.
Now is a great time to get to know your staff better. There’s very little cost to a coffee and it’s absolutely free to have a conversation, but getting to know your staff and giving them a chance to ask you questions or share their concerns is a priceless gift.
Sharing a meal is another easy and informal way to have a team conversation about how people are feeling, what is going on in the company and to simple have some team building time together. You can bring in muffins and donuts, or a fast food hot breakfast to the office, take your staff to a picnic on the hill at Crescent Heights or a local park, or even invite them into your home for a simple and special evening. Regardless of what kind of activity you choose, it’s worth it to take the time and make the effort to say “thanks” for a job well done and for hanging in there through these choppy waters!
Posted in HR Management | No Comments »
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