CBC Radio One contacted Cissy Pau of Vancouver-based Clear HR Consulting to appear on the Early Edition with Rick Cluff on Thursday July 29, 2010 at 6:50 am to discuss workplace productivity and email. For you early birds, please be sure to listen for Cissy’s segment!  We’ll post the podcast link after it becomes available.

Vancouver-based Clear HR Consulting was contacted by BC Business magazine for human resources expertise for an article on how to choose a location for your business.

Some expert tips that Cissy Pau, principal consultant of Clear HR Consulting, shared for finding your dream office included:

• locating your business where you can attract the kind of employees and clients that you want;
• being clear on what amenities are important to your staff for the building and surrounding area to have; and
• choosing an environment that inspires and motivates your employees to work.

Cissy Pau, Principal Consultant of Clear HR Consulting Inc. in Vancouver, BC, was contacted by Canadian Business magazine for human resources expertise for a recent article in how to coax your employees to share their ideas and encourage innovation.

Some tips that Cissy Pau shared included ensuring that management is willing to listen to ideas and providing rewards to those employees whose ideas are implemented.

Vancouver-based Clear HR Consulting is a human resources consulting firm that provides HR services to small- to medium-sized businesses, and can help you encourage your staff to share their ideas and be innovative.

BC Business magazine contacted Cissy Pau, Principal Consultant of Vancouver-based Clear HR Consulting Inc., to write an article on managing employee productivity in this age of social networking.

As Cissy Pau explored in the article, for some employers, social networking has no part in the employee’s workday, while others view it as integral to the company culture. Where do you draw the line? Finding a balance between managing employee productivity and personal social networking will depend on company culture, employee needs and customer expectations.

For assistance in creating HR policies on using Facebook and other social networking tools to manage employee productivity in your small- to medium-sized business, please contact Vancouver-based Clear HR Consulting.

Canadian Business magazine contacted Vancouver-based Clear HR Consulting to provide human resources expertise on succession planning, especially as it relates to how to groom ambitious staff to take over your position, for their February 15, 2010 issue.

A key tip when handling an ambitious employee who is interested in your job, is to ask some critical questions, including:

• How would you feel if this person were to go work for your competitor?
• What impact would this have on your business?

For more information on how to successfully navigate succession planning issues for your business, please contact Vancouver-based Clear HR Consulting for human resources expertise.

Cissy Pau, workplace expert and Principal Consultant for Vancouver-based Clear HR Consulting, was interviewed this morning in studio for CBC Radio One’s Early Edition regarding the high level of employee anxiety in British Columbia. She provided human resources expertise on dealing with employee anxiety and effectively maintaining employee productivity.

Clear HR Consulting’s top 5 tips to reduce employee anxiety and maintain employee productivity are:

1. Communicate updates and information to employees on a regular, timely basis - you cannot communicate enough about anything.
2. Maintain strong leadership and a strong vision for the future.
3. Ask for employee input on how to improve work environment.
4. Use down times as an opportunity for employee skills development and cross-training.
5. Show appreciation to staff and have fun.

As well, Cissy was asked about ways to effectively manage a company restructuring. Some of Clear HR Consulting’s tips include:

1. Develop a communication strategy which ensures employees are kept informed.
2. Use employee layoffs as a last resort - look for other alternatives first.
3. Hold one-on-one, in-person meetings with all affected employees.

Cissy Pau, Principal Consultant for Vancouver-based Clear HR Consulting, recently attended a human resources seminar on the HR issues that Vancouver businesses need to be prepared for the 2010 Olympics Games.

Some things to plan for:

• Transportation disruption - Road closures & parking bans will make
  it potentially difficult for employees, customers and suppliers to get to
  your office and vice versa.  VANOC is hoping to reduce traffic on our city
  roads by 30% to lessen traffic congestion.

• Rush hour - Businesses can expect rush hour conditions 24 hours a
  day in Downtown Vancouver and rush hour to start at 2:00 pm elsewhere around
  town.  VANOC is encouraging employees to start work prior to 7:00 am and
  leaving before 2:00 pm.  With most Olympic events occurring in the
  afternoon, it’s anticipated that getting to work in the morning should be
  ok, but leaving work in the afternoon may be a problem.

• Employees working from home - Many employers are encouraging
  employes to work from home during the Olympics.  If you do this, please be
  aware that the home office would be considered an alternate work location
  and would be subject to WorkSafeBC rules and regulations.

• Internet access - With over 15,000 journalists and hundreds of
  thousands of people in Vancouver who will be accessing the internet, there
  may not be enough band width to handle the increased volume.  Companies need
  to have a contingency plan in place in case internet or email access is
  hampered.

• Cell phone access - As with internet access, the huge volume of
  people accessing the cell phone network in Vancouver could negatively affect
  our cell networks.  Contingency plans may be needed in case data devices
  such as Blackberries do not function properly and to ensure that employees
  can be contacted if cell phones don’t work.

• Staff training - With many planned and unexpected absences which
  will occur during the Olympics, companies need to start cross-training staff
  now so that these absences can be accommodated.

• Time Off / Absence Policies - At this point, it is unknown how
  difficult it will be for employees to get to work.  Policies may need to be
  developed to deal with unexpected absences (e.g. if an employee shows up to
  work 3 hours late because they were using public transit, will this be
  considered paid time or unpaid time).

• Communication - Be sure to advise employees, customers and suppliers
  of your plans for business during the Olympics so that they know what they
  can expect.  Those who are outside of Vancouver may not realize that service
  could be impacted.

Some things that companies are doing during the Olympics:

• Encouraging transit use and car pooling
• Allowing telecommuting so that employees can work from home rather than fight traffic to come to work
• Encouraging employees to take vacation during that time or to flex their hours
• Cross-training staff now so that unexpected or planned absences can be accommodated.
• Hosting Olympic-themed events for employees & clients
• Ensuring there is a TV at the office to watch highly coveted events and to cheer on the home team!
• Purchasing 6-week 2010 Transit Games Passes for employees during the Games