DOES YOUR WORK ENVIRONMENT HELP YOU THRIVE?

A recent read of the New York Times best-selling author Dan Buettner’s “Thrive – Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way” about world-wide research into the principles of contentment and satisfaction got us thinking. How can we apply the research of thriving to the workplace and to business success?

Given we spend much of our daily lives at work, ensuring that our employees are in the right job and in the right environment can be critical to the success of your business.

Based on Buettner’s analysis of the scientific research, here are 7 factors on which employers can focus to help their employees to thrive, which in turn, will help the business to thrive: (more…)

On October 22, 2010, the Province reported that the BC Labour Relations Board upheld the firing of two employees of West Coast Mazda for making disrespectful, damaging and derogatory comments about their employer on Facebook. What makes this case more interesting is that the comments were made during non-work hours, and were not sent from company computers. Also, the employees’ manager was included as one of their Facebook “friends”.

While this case may be one of the first in Canada to support a firing because of Facebook, it likely will not be the last.

For employers, does this mean that companies need to set policies for staff on the use of social media? The best answer, unfortunately, is “it depends”.
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MacLeans’ magazine, Canada’s only national weekly current affairs magazine, contacted Vancouver-based Clear HR Consulting for human resources expertise and advice for an article on retaining talent in 2011.

One of the tips offered by Cissy Pau, principal consultant of Clear HR Consulting, was to ask employees what changes would keep them in their jobs. When compiling the responses, often common themes will emerge for where organizations can make changes.  For example, businesses with younger workers should let their staff know about potential advancement opportunities to retain this segment of their workforce.

For more information on effective ways to retain staff, be sure to review our newsletter archives, and contact us for human resources advice and expertise for your business.

Investment Executive contacted Clear HR Consulting for human resources expertise and advice on how to get the most from performance reviews.  Cissy Pau, principal consultant of Vancouver-based Clear HR Consulting, provided some tips on how to have a constructive performance review meeting.  Some of the tips included:

• Be prepared in advance of the meeting so both sides are clear on the purpose of the meeting;
• When giving feedback, both positive and negative, describe the behaviour, give examples, and explain the consequences and impacts of the behaviour;
• Don’t limit feedback to a once-a-year meeting – instead have regular, ongoing, casual communications with your staff to keep them on track.

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.

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, 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