Download a free white paper written by Pam to go further in-depth on this topic.
Author Archive
-
Revisiting your Mission Statement
As an HR Consultant for the last 13 years, I’ve been exposed to a diverse group of organizations, across many different industries and in those years I’ve seen A LOT of mission statements. They usually get framed and posted on the wall somewhere in Reception. What is interesting is that very few of those mission statements were memorable to me – it was rare to see a statement that truly defined, in a clear and concise way, the company’s purpose and end-state goal. Often the statements I read sounded all too similar, i.e. “To be the best in the industry,” “To continually provide exceptional customer service to our valued customers,” and “To be flexible to our clients ever changing needs.” It seems to me these declarations were more of a marketing statement than a mission statement.
Illustration by Patrick Leger
I recently came across a fantastic article entitled “How to Write A Mission Statement that isn’t Dumb” that contains wonderful insights on writing a Mission Statement that has true value. What I learned from this article, is the most effective mission statements are:
- simple
- quantify the organization’s goal
- completely void of meaningless statements like “To strive towards excellence”
If you develop a mission statement that EVERY employee can remember and understand, they could use it as a guiding tool when making every day decisions in their job.
You may have heard this famous story about President Kennedy that exemplifies my point. During a visit to the NASA space center in 1962, President Kennedy noticed a janitor carrying a broom. He interrupted his tour, walked over to the man and said, “Hi, I’m Jack Kennedy. What are you doing?”
The janitor responded, “I’m helping put a man on the moon, Mr. President.”
How’s that for simple, goal-oriented and completely void of meaningless statements?
Now the bigger question – have you read your mission statement lately?
-
Canadian salary increases for 2010?
Last week, Hewitt Associates released some valuable insights for employers from their 31st annual Salary Increase survey. The survey was conducted in June and July of this year and the results are based on responses from 387 organizations representing more than 710,000 employees in Canada.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SURVEY
- The average salary increase is projected to be a “modest” 2.8 per cent nationally in 2010, up from the 2.2 per cent increase actually awarded in 2009.
- Organizations in Alberta are projecting average increases of 3.0 per cent and in Manitoba a projected 3.2 per cent increase. In Saskatchewan, companies are forecasting 4.2 per cent increases which are the highest in the country, likely drive by its broad-based economy (agriculture, mining, and oil and gas) that appears to be more recession-proof than other sectors across Canada.
- Fifty per cent of respondents indicated they will increase salary increase budgets in the coming year (in comparison to the budget for 2009) due to the more favourable outlook for 2010. The remaining respondents indicated they are expanding their salary increase budget for reasons such as an expectation of strong company performance in 2010 or believe their organizations’ pay levels are below market.
- Last summer, 1.8 per cent of employers were forecasting salary freezes for 2009. In reality, 29.2 per cent of organizations froze salaries, which is the highest amount in 10 years.
- For 2010, only 6.5 per cent of employers are planning to freeze salaries and another one-third are still undecided and taking more of a “wait and see” approach before confirming their strategy.
- With respect to variable pay (i.e. bonus), the survey shows an increasing emphasis on company performance as a factor when determining variable pay amounts. In fact, 74 per cent of companies reported that company performance will be a factor (as opposed to exclusively relying on individual performance as the sole indicator), which is up from 69 per cent in the previous year.
MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
No matter what your organization decides to do with respect to salary increases for 2010, the key to retaining and keeping your employees motivated is simply communicating with them. If you choose to remain silent on the subject, your employees will rely on gossip, speculation and wishful thinking and will formulate their own expectations. For many employees the fear of the unknown is far more frightening than being told the reality (often it is not as bad as employees think it is). Even if the news is not good, it is certainly better to prepare employees for how they will be impacted and share the business and financial reasons why these decisions were made. If your organization is still uncertain, this should also be communicated and a timeline for when the decision will be made and communicated to employees.
So what can you do to keep your employees in the loop and manage their expectations?
- Organize a town hall meeting, President’s breakfast or Lunch and Learn, to discuss this and other key organizational issues with your employees.
- Share financials to support decisions that you make. The numbers don’t lie and most employees will be more likely to understand another year of salary freezes when the numbers are down significantly.
- Be realistic! If the current picture is not positive, be careful not to make overly optimistic assumptions about the future to lessen the blow– Conversely, be careful not to be overly negative to make your point!
- Ensure your Managers and Supervisors are “singing off the same song sheet” and that they are communicating a consistent message to employees
- Share your recovery and cost containment plans with employees – show them you are actively trying to improve the situation
- Showcase other company benefits (i.e. group benefits, pension, company matched RRSP contributions, etc.). Remind employees to focus on “total compensation” not just base salary.
-
Workplace Violence – New Legislation May be Coming Soon
ONTARIO GOVERNMENT INTRODUCES BILL 168
(The Occupational Health & Safety Amendment Act)On April 20, 2009, the Ontario Government introduced Bill 168, Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act (Violence and Harassment in the Workplace), 2009. If passed, Bill 168 would impose new obligations on employers in respect to harassment and violence in the workplace. Employers will be required to develop workplace violence and harassment policies, assess the risk of violence in its workplace, address domestic violence issues, and alert co-workers to any person with a violent history.
We have compiled notes on the proposed legislation to keep you informed on how it might affect your workplace and internal health & safety policies.
WHAT IS “WORKPLACE VIOLENCE” AND “WORKPLACE HARASSMENT”
Bill 168 defines “workplace harassment” as engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in a workplace, which is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome. “Workplace violence” means the exercise of physical force by a person, or an attempt to exercise physical force against a worker in a workplace, which could cause physical injury to the worker.You will notice the definition of “workplace violence” does not make any reference to psychological harm, unlike Bill 29, which was previously introduced. Also important to note is the definition of “workplace harassment is very broad in comparison to the definition of “harassment” as defined in the Human Rights Code.
POLICIES RELATED TO WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT
The Bill requires employers to prepare a written policy with respect to workplace violence and workplace harassment. The policies must be posted (and reviewed annually) and employees must receive training on these policies. Different requirements would apply to workplaces of five or fewer employees.ASSESSING THE RISKS OF VIOLENCE IN THE WORKPLACE
The Bill requires an employer to assess the risk of workplace violence in their specific workplace taking into account the nature of the workplace, conditions of work and the type of work performed.The risk assessment must also factor in both common risks at other similar workplaces and risks specific to the employer’s workplace. A copy of the risk assessment and its results would need to be provided to the joint health and safety committee or health and safety representative. Employers, who are not obligated to have a committee or representative, must advise employees on how to obtain copies of the assessment and its results and it must be provided to workers on request.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ISSUES
The Bill requires an employer to “take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of the worker if:- a domestic violence situation would likely expose a worker to physical injury in the workplace and,
- the employer becomes aware or ought to reasonably be aware of the situation.
DISCLOSING PERSONS WITH A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
The most sensitive aspect of the Bill is the requirement to provide information, including personal information, to an employee about a person with “a history of violent behavior” provided the following applies:- the worker can be expected to encounter the person in the course of his or her work; and
- the risk of workplace violence is likely to expose the worker to physical injury.
The above applies only to situations where disclosing the information is reasonably necessary to protect workers from physical injury. A specific definition of what constitutes “a history of violent behavior” is not provided. The employer would need to devise a notification process for persons with a history of violence (including suppliers, customers, patients, etc.) so workers who may encounter the person are aware of the risks. Clearly, disclosing this type of personal information about an employee (or other person) may cause an employer to inadvertently violate other laws (i.e. privacy, human rights, etc.).
WORK REFUSAL (in relation to the threat of workplace violence)
The Bill permits a worker to refuse to work where there is sufficient reason to believe workplace violence is likely to endanger the employee. The Act currently prohibits certain workers such as police officers, firefighters, correctional officers and hospital employees from refusing work when the unsafe condition is inherent in the work or is a normal condition of employment. The standard work refusal process would be followed (i.e. investigation of work refusal, visit from MOL inspector where required, etc.)REPORTING OBLIGATIONS
The Bill requires an employer to report and provide specific information of the workplace violence incident to the joint health and safety committee within four days of its occurrence.IMPLEMENTING A WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAM
An employer will be required to develop and maintain a program to implement the workplace violence policy. The program must include measures and procedures:- to control the risks identified in the risk assessment or reassessment;
- to summon immediate assistance when workplace violence occurs or is
- likely to occur including when a threat of workplace violence is made;
- for workers to report incidents or threats of workplace violence to the
- employer or supervisor;
- to investigate and deal with incidents, complaints or threats of workplace
- violence; and any further elements required by regulation.
IMPORTANT POINTS TO CONSIDER
The Government is clearly taking an increased interest in the very real problem of workplace violence and harassment and therefore it is fairly likely some version of Bill 168 will be passed into law in the near future. In preparation, employers may want to take steps to do the following:- review their current policies and procedures as they relate to harassment and workplace violence and update accordingly
- consider areas of concern and triggers for violence in your workplace and take steps to rectify these issues now
- include these items in your joint occupational health & safety meetings to get the members talking about risks in your workplace
- include workplace violence and harassment training in your new hire orientation process
Pivotal will keep you updated on the progress of Bill 168 and how it can affect your workplace. Let us know if you have any questions in the meantime.
-
What can we do to help our employees through their own economic hardships?
I saw a question online about this very subject but the question was closed before I could respond so I thought I would post it here:
I think perhaps the biggest impact you can make (outside of the obvious which would include providing employees with financial planning and budgeting lunch and learn sessions) is dealing with the employee’s fear over their own job security. Employers need to communicate, communicate and communicate again to uneasy employees about the company’s position in these difficult times. I would recommend quarterly (or even monthly depending on the industry) town hall meetings where the President/Owner discusses items such as:
- What has been the impact of the economy on the company so far? What will the future potentially bring?
- Is the company stable? If so , re-assure employees of their job security. If not, be honest with your employees about the possibility of job cuts or temporary layoffs – it is much better for an employee to prepare emotionally and financially for a job loss than to blindside an employee with a termination.
- Finally, ask employees for cost cutting or revenue generating suggestions. It is much easier to cut the holiday party or cancel the sales meeting in Hawaii when it was the suggestion of an employee or department. It also alleviates the employee’s feeling of helplessness and lack of control – a good employee will be more than happy to actively participate in cost cutting initiatives if they truly believe they may be contributing to saving their job.
A blog by:
