Posts Tagged ‘employee retention’

Winning the War on Talent

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

With the tightening job market, organizations are requiring new or different outsourced HR services. The war on talent is definitely heating up and internal HR teams are challenged with shifting priorities and strategic workforce planning issues.

Over the past several months, BOWEN has been researching workforce trends. Through our findings, we’ve recognized that many organizations need help with retaining and attracting employees, and we’ve responded! Our Outsourced HR division is providing transactional HR services to organizations, allowing their internal HR professionals to move into a more strategic role and focus on larger company priorities. Our experienced team will conduct reference checks, exit and stay interviews, and can help fill in gaps where required.

Companies need to maximize their internal resources, manage costs and deliver results. Most importantly, organizations need to ensure that their fingers are on the pulse of their workforce so they can retain existing employees, while being competitive in attracting new top talent. BOWEN’s Outsourced HR professionals can help internal HR teams ensure they have the flexibility and skills to respond to the changing labour market and conditions, and achieve optimal results.

Please contact Marilynn Balfour (mbalfour@bowenworks.ca), Director of Outsourced HR, for more information.

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Posted in Career building tips, HR Management | No Comments »

Talented Terrors are Toxic in the Workplace

Friday, February 4th, 2011

It may not be a topic that gets a lot of attention, but it should. Talented terrors are a workplace reality. Their skills and abilities make them superstars, but their attitudes leave a lot to be desired. Talented Terrors can deliver excellent results but their attitudes damage morale and destroy teams. They actually believe you can’t manage without their brilliance.

Talented Terrors will push you to the limit to see how much they can get away with. They drain all your energy making it difficult for you to deal with them. They do not nor do they want to give 100%. Whether you work with them or supervise them, you need to manage them. They need to be held accountable for their actions so they don’t drive the productive employees away.

What can you do to turn this situation into a win-win for all? BOWEN is going to tackle this tough topic at our next “Building a Better Workplace” seminar series in February. Judging by the incredible response and the sellout of three seminars, this is one hot topic that managers have been struggling with for years. We promise to run more seminars in the near future and will post a few highlights from our discussion later this month.

If you’ve got a toxic talented terror on your team, there is hope! With the right approach and resources, you can turn things around. Stay tuned.

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Posted in HR Management | 1 Comment »

The High Price of the Workplace Bullying

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.

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Posted in HR Management | 1 Comment »

Not Just for the Playground

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!

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Posted in HR Management | No Comments »

TELECOMMUTING MAKES THREE TIMES THE BUSINESS SENSE!

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.

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Posted in HR Management, Work / Life Balance | No Comments »