First Reference Talks

Do we place too much emphasis on stress at work?

Monday, October 17th, 2011

Seventy-three percent of working Canadians experience almost daily stress in their jobs, according to a recent study by Statistics Canada. That’s approximately 10 million people, or nearly one-third of Canada’s population. More than one-quarter of workers say their job is “quite a bit” or “extremely” stressful; close to half say they experience “a bit” of stress. But where is all the stress coming from, and is it affecting workers’ productivity?

Morever, should employers be aiming for stress-free workplaces?

Tags: challenging work, disengaged employees, engagement, flexible scheduling, insomnia, motivation, productivity, sources of stress, stress, work-life balance
Posted in Employee Relations, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

The standards challenge

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

How do you measure turnover? Most people think they understand turnover. It is a simple and useful concept when it comes to understanding the flow of people through your organization. It is an important marker for determining overall organizational health and likely productivity impacts. If turnover is too high, your business stalls due to constant re-training; if turnover is too low, it can stagnate, leading to mediocre performance.

Tags: employment contract, headcount, HR metrics, HRMS, productivity, resignation, retirement, stagnation, standards, termination, turnover
Posted in HR Analytics, HRMS, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Assessment of human resources: An organization’s most valuable assets

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

How does an organization identify the best person for the job when filling a position? Companies generally follow a defined process for recruiting, hiring and promoting. They have a job description and certain criterion they are looking for. Whatever the process may be, it needs to be robust and legally defensible. The best method for achieving this is to use a formal assessment centre.

Tags: assessment centre, Assessment of human resources, effective hiring process, employment law, hiring and promoting, HR, International Congress on Assessment Centre Methods, job description, maximizing workforce competence, minimizing legal liability, productivity, recruiting, selection process
Posted in Employee Relations, Human Resources, Recruiting and Hiring | Make a Comment »

Absenteeism is on the rise

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

We have just reported our Q2 2011 results. We have gone through the time consuming and detailed process of auditing and are now in the process of letting folks know what happened in Q2 2011 on a range of metrics. One measure that we have been keeping a close eye on is absenteeism. Absenteeism keeps going up and the Q2 results are continuing that trend.

Tags: Absenteeism, absenteeism rate, aging workforce, Analytics, Attendance management programs, Attendance policy, costs of absenteeism, Disability management programs, duty to accommodate, employment opportunities, HR metrics, labour market opportunity, people costs, productivity, Time and attendance, unemployment, voluntary turnover
Posted in Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Analytics, HRMS, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Heated arguments: Temperature wars in the office

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

The room temperature at work is an ongoing point of contention in many workplaces, including ours. It is either too cold in the summer or too hot in the winter.

Tags: Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, Canadian Standards Association, Construction Projects Regulation, employment law, environmental analysis, hazard, Industrial Establishments Regulation, minimum temperature limit for work, occupational health and safety legislation, office environment, productivity, risk assessment, room temperature, room temperature at work, Thermal environment, too cold in the summer or too hot in the winter, work performance, workplace safety
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources | 1 Comment »

Volunteering: a pleasure or a burden?

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

After I joined the board of directors at a not-for-profit arts organization, it didn’t take long for me to wonder how I’d balance my new obligations with the rest of my day-to-day life. I’d volunteered before, but only informally. Now I have regular responsibilities, mainly meetings and fundraising. I’ll probably invest 70 to 80 hours volunteering with the organization this year. It’s a worthy cause, but it’s also worthwhile to question the time commitment.

Tags: counselling, EAP, employee assistance program, employee communication, employee health, family commitments, HRPP, Human Resources PolicyPro, Legal Profession Assistance Conference, LPAC, morale, not-for-profit policypro, NPPP, productivity, stress, Thomas E. Ullyett, volunteer workers, volunteering, work-life balance
Posted in Employee Relations, Human Resources, Internal Controls, Not-for-Profit | 2 Comments »

Accountants call for national entrepreneurship strategy

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Canadians are pretty good at creating businesses that last, according to a new study by the Chartered General Accountants’ Association of Canada. Around 85 percent of new Canadian businesses survive for a year, 62 percent make it at least three years and 51 percent are still going after five years. The Business Development Bank of Canada puts this last number above 66 percent.

Tags: BDC, bureaucracy, Business Development Bank of Canada, CGA-Canada, Chartered General Accountants’ Association of Canada, compliance, education, entrepreneurs, income tax, Industry Canada, innovation, national entrepreneurship strategy, productivity, red tape, regulatory compliance, skilled labour, small and medium enterprises, small business, small business financing, SMEs, tax, tax compliance, training
Posted in Finance and Accounting, Internal Controls | Make a Comment »

Social networking and Internet abuse in the workplace – Learn the latest

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

We’ve written plenty on First Reference Talks about the significant effects—both negative and positive—that online social networking can have on workplaces. Whether its Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, news or entertainment blogs or what-have-you, employees are using social media, and increasingly they’re doing it on your time. Employers should be aware of the potential value they can derive from social media, as well as the potential risks.

Tags: blogs, communication, defamation, employment law, facebook, harassment, Internet, internet policies, LinkedIn, morale, Network Security, Ontario Employment Law Conference, performance management, productivity, security, social media, social networking, social networking policies, Stringer Brisbin Humphrey, termination, time theft, twitter, YouTube
Posted in Conferences, Human Resources, Internal Controls, IT, Privacy and Security, Privacy and Security | Make a Comment »

Automated human resources management – is it time?

Monday, April 25th, 2011

One software industry analyst has been watching the human resources management system market for some time and has discerned some trends. With the economy recovering from recession, organizations are focusing on core HR concerns, such as strategic hiring and productivity. As a result, they’ll invest in technologies that help in these areas, particularly if they “offer an immediate return on investment or meet some compelling management or regulatory need”.

Tags: HR metrics, HR technology, HRIS, HRMS, human resources management, human resources management system, market trends, productivity, record keeping, software, strategy
Posted in HR Analytics, HRMS, Human Resources, Internal Controls | Make a Comment »

Conflicting views on engagement?

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

There are a lot of factors to employee engagement. Some employees need recognition, in the form of pay, benefits, seniority or favour. Others need to feel that they are part of the company and have a stake in its success. Still others need to feel a connection to their work; it must be creative and challenging. Most workers probably need some balance of all these factors. I know I wouldn’t last long in a dull and repetitive environment. But I also would feel unappreciated if I weren’t remunerated appropriately.

Tags: anger, challenging work, depression, employee benefits, employee engagement, employee recognition, employee retention, health and safety, insufficient pay, job meaning, overwork, productivity, promotions, remuneration, salary, stress, workplace violence
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources, Recruiting and Hiring | Make a Comment »

Should employers be involved in helping employees deal with obesity?

Friday, March 25th, 2011

Is it an invasion of privacy for employers to get involved in the process of helping employees lose extra weight so they can be healthier? Should it be mandatory for employers from a health and safety perspective to require some type of fitness and nutrition management program in the workplace? Could an increase in education regarding fitness and nutrition lead to improved employee health and consequently improved productivity in the workplace? Could the pressure to lose weight affect employees’ self-esteem in a negative way? Is it unfair for employers to put pressure on employees to lose weight? Is it discriminatory under human rights legislation to require someone to increase their general health?

Tags: BMI, body mass index, discrimination, employee health, employment law, epidemic, excersise, fitness, harassment, helping employees lose weight, obesity, overweight, productivity, The Obesity Epidemic in Canada, weight problem, wellness programs
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »

Are our devices harming our health?

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

I’ve caved. The end of my phone contract has been looming large, and as I pondered my options, somehow I thought, “I’d really like to be more connected.” So I’m ditching my two-year-old, decidedly not smart, flip phone and getting an iPhone—and a data plan. Soon I’ll be able to tweet and update my Facebook status and share photos wherever I am. And I’m afraid.

Tags: conduct and behaviour, distraction, downtime, employee Internet use, employee relations, exhaustion, facebook, focus, hours of work and overtime claims, Internet, iPhone, multi-tasking, overtime, performance, productivity, risky behaviour, smartphones, social media, stall-call, stress, technology, twitter, wireless
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources, Internal Controls, IT, Privacy and Security, Privacy and Security | Make a Comment »

How do you promote workplace health and safety?

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

When Benjamin Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, it turns out he was talking about fire safety at a time when fire departments and other prevention measures didn’t exist.

Tags: Benjamin Franklin, efficiency, engagement, fire safety, morale, prevention, productivity, profit, rewarding employees, workplace accidents, zero accidents
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources | 2 Comments »

Sleeping on the job: not just for slackers

Monday, January 24th, 2011

If you’re like most nine-to-five workers, you probably feel a bit slow sometime after lunch. Maybe you reach for another cup of coffee or tea. Maybe you grab some fresh air, a piece of fruit or something sweet and sugary to get you through. But in many cases what you really want is to place your head on your desk and close your eyes for a few minutes. Of course you can’t though—what employer in its right mind would let you do that?

Tags: conduct and behaviour, employee relations, Employees sleeping on the job, employees taking naps, employment law, productivity, sleeping on the job, The Energy Project, valid reasons to worry about workers napping, workplace performance
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources | Make a Comment »