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I haven’t quite gotten into the habit of coughing or sneezing into my sleeve. I’m trying to get used to this technique that has been suggested to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus. If I keep at it, it will become a habit. How about you? Are you sneezing into your sleeve? Click here to view a humorous short clip on becoming an expert on using your sleeve.

Is your organization prepared for H1N1?  With recent news of seemingly healthy people (my heart goes out to their families) succumbing to H1N1 anything could happen. In any organization consider the impact of missing 10%, 20% or more of your workforce for a week. Can you imagine the impact on smaller organizations? Why not be prepared and proactive, although the H1N1 flu season seems already to be upon us?

I like how some companies are preparing. I see that employees are being supplied with disinfectants, hand sanitizers, and proper hand washing techiques and information listing the symptoms of H1N1 are being posted. Probably the first time in a long time that key boards, and phones are being cleaned so well and so often! There are studies out there that state keyboards are dirtier than toilets and contain super bugs that live up to 24 hours. Since keyboards are so difficult to clean, the best defence is washing your hands often, keeping your hands away from your face, and coughing into your sleeve.

But some companies don’t have a policy yet. Are employees supposed to stay home if they exhibit symptoms, as suggested by the health organizations? Will they be paid? What if a family member becomes ill? Do you have a short term illness policy? If not, do you know how to help your employee apply for sick leave through EI? Do you have a long term disability policy? If you don’t have something in place you will be reacting, your customers and employees will be impacted, and there will be added stress in the workplace.

You can prepare for this easily and cost effectively and it shows that you care about your employees. Click here for a Canadian portal for information on H1N1 including a preparedness guide (a 24 page guide that includes symptoms, vaccine clinics, checklists, and prevention measures). Don’t be surprised if the website is slow due to traffic. Of course, if you need help give us a call.

Keep well,   Joanne

P.S.  Please participate in our confidential poll located to the right of this blog!

Joanne Royce is the Founder of Royce & Associates, a Human Resources and Training Solutions consulting company. She helps organizations create happy, healthy and productive workplaces.

Today, October 26th, 2009, is the day the new law, Bill 118, comes into effect in Ontario. Don’t DRIVE and talk, text, play a game, watch a video, view photos, surf the net, or email on your mobile device! If you absolutely have to answer a call, use a hands free device.   If you need to Google for directions, or text someone, pull over safely to the side of the road first!

If you are going to be tempted to use your mobile device without a hands free device, then turn the volume off the moment you get into your car. It takes 30 days to break a habit and in this case a newer safer habit of focussing on driving will be the result if you actively try to change your behaviour.   

Is a large fine motivation to change our behaviour? Has your mobile device policy been revised?

Safe travels,   Joanne 

Joanne Royce is the Founder of Royce & Associates, a Human Resources and Training Solutions consulting company. She helps organizations develop policies and procedures creating happy, healthy and productive workplaces.

What do the Canadian top 100 organizations do that make them the best places to work?   What makes them the Canadian Idols of the workplace?

This year according to an article in MacLean’s, October 19, 2009 issue, “employees are less concerned with well-stocked lounges and foosball tables – the new keyword is stability.”   Emphasis is placed on initiatives that “make a real difference in the lives of working Canadians,” such as “pension plans, in-house training programs”, and top-ups.  A majority of firms listed training and development initiatives and more companies, then ever are offering parental leave top-ups. 

Here is a “short” list of 50 examples gathered from the top 100:

1. Parental leave top-ups
2. Compassionate care leave top-ups
3. Books are open to employees
4. Flu shots and nutrition advice
5. Birthdays off with pay
6. Promote from within policy
7. Inhouse training college
8. Flexible hours
9. Napping rooms
10. Tuition subsidies, some with no maximums
11. Leadership programs
12. Onsite excercise facilities or classes
13. Referral bonuses, one had a referral bonus up to $10,000
14. Subsidized public transit passes
15. Discounts on services or products sold depending on the company, such as interest free loans, gas, diamonds, and motorcycles.
16. Vacation start with 3 weeks
17. Four weeks of vacation after two years on the job
18. Share plans, profit sharing, pension plans, matching RSP contributions
19. Paid time off additional to vacation from 7 to 12 days extra!
20. Inhouse training programs for workers preparing to write professional designation exams
21. Telecommuting options
22. Paid time off for volunteering
23. Fitness membership or home fitness equipment paid or subsidized
24. Emergency daycare and home care service
25. Extended long weekends
26. Weekly office beer cart
27. Option to “purchase” additional vacation days
28. Grants for adoption costs
29. Firm-sponsored sports teams
30. Donations on behalf of the “volunteer” of the year
31. Forgiving percentage of student loans for recent grads
32. Healthy cafeteria food
33. Upaid leaves of absences up to a year
34. Extended maternity leave up to three years
35. Phased-in retirements
36. Employee language instruction -English, French, Spanish …
37. Paid holiday shut down, in addition to vacation allotment
38. Self-funded leave program allows for extended paid leave of up to two months
39. Flexible health benefits
40. Career development and advancement
41. Subsidies for off-site daycare
42. Leadership Institute
43. Shuttle bus to subway station
44. Excellence rewarded with company-paid trips and cash bonuses
45. On-site massage treatment
46. “Green” head office
47. Inhouse band plays at company functions
48. Marche style cafeteria offers take-home meals
49. Lounge has Wii system in games room
50. Extensive training and mentoring

Well, that’s quite a list.   How does your organization compare?   You will notice that there are some low cost initiatives.  What’s stopping you from implementing some of them?  Can you see how these examples fit into a values based retention strategy?  If you need assistance building a best practice organization that will attract key talent, then please click here to book your complimentary discussion about how to get started.

Best regards,  Joanne

Joanne Royce is the Founder of Royce & Associates, a Human Resources and Training Solutions consulting company.  Joanne is committed to creating happy, healthy and productive workplaces, through best practices initiatives.

An article entitled “Hating what you do” from The Economist, October 8, 2009 discusses an increase in employee suicides in Europe.  With the difficult economy some industries feel the “unhappiness” factor more than others.    Car and telecom companies suffer the most because of “overcapacity” and “technological revolution” respectively.    Getting to the point of employee suicides, makes you wonder who is running the ship.   How can a work environment get so bad that employees commit suicide?

A survey conducted  between June 2007 and December 2008, finds that employees who professed to be loyal to their company, slumped from 95% to 39%, and the number voicing trust slumped from 79% to 22%.  More than 1/2 of respondents said their jobs were “stagnant,” and they would be looking for another job once the economy turns around.   Employee engagement is low.

Unhappiness seems to be like the HINI virus.  Is it an epidemic?   What can you do about it?   What are you doing to “engineer joy” in your organization?  Engineering joy is the responsibility of all people - executives, managers and employees. 

The articles states that companies need to do more than “pay lip service” to the human side of management.    Does your organization have training programs on Effective Communication and Management training?   Does your organization provide team training to teach people how to work efficiently, and respectfully on a team?   Unfortunately during difficult times, training budgets are cut, even though training delivers an ROI of 111%.  

The final sentence of the article is something that should be listened to:  “Today’s unhappy workers may one day be able to exercise the ultimate revenge, by taking their services elsewhere.”   Speaking to several employees over the last few weeks, laid off ones and the ones still working – a common theme tended to run through out…. neither the laid off employees nor the ones still working, believed that the company needed to take such drastic actions.     They thought that the executive teams were using the economy as an excuse to lay off employees and freeze bonuses.   See my previous blog with tips about Trying to Do More With Less – Human Resources Role During Uncertain Times and Handling Recession Layoffs With Dignity and Respect.

Seems like organizations could do a better job of communicating, being transparent, and training their managers and workers how to “engineer joy” in the work place.  Have you considered conducting an Employee Engagement Survey?   Click here to contact me now to discuss the direct corollation between engineering joy (increasing employee engagement) and successful (more profitable) organizations.  

Joanne Royce is the Founder of Royce & Associates, a Human Resources and Training Solutions consulting company.  She believes in “engineering joy.” Joanne is committed to creating happy, healthy and productive workplaces.

Thanksgiving weekend! 

The air is crisp, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and nature is starting to give us a show of colour.   I love this time of year.  Not any more than I do the other seasons, but there is something about the fall season that is always special even with the decaying leaves and garden foliage.  Autumn is a time for picking apples, raking the leaves, and getting the garden cleaned up for winter.   We get nice rosy cheeks, a healthy glow, tired muscles, and a refreshing night’s sleep. 

Thanksgiving is a time to fight with the turkey to get it “dressed” and for the family to set the table and get the potatoes peeled and mashed just right. 

Thanksgiving brings thoughts of loved ones no longer here.  A pumpkin pie brings a smile and memory of mom showing my kids, eyes wide open in amazement, how to apply whipped cream a mile high and pictures of my dad patiently peeling chestnuts – the ingredient that made the turkey dressing special.   Thanksgiving was a favourite time of the year for my mother-in-law who treasured family dinners at the cottage with fresh air, hikes down the cottage road, and a nice wood fire to warm our hands and our hearts.

This poem says it all…. 

Thanksgiving Delights

On Thanksgiving Day we’re thankful for
Our blessings all year through,
For family we dearly love,
For good friends, old and new.

For sun to light and warm our days,
For stars that glow at night,
For trees of green and skies of blue,
And puffy clouds of white.

We’re grateful for our eyes that see
The beauty all around,
For arms to hug, and legs to walk,
And ears to hear each sound.

The list of all we’re grateful for
Would fill a great big book;
Our thankful hearts find new delights
Everywhere we look!

By Joanna Fuchs
www.poemsource.com
used with permission

Have a delightful and happy Thanksgiving,    Joanne

Joanne Royce is the Founder of Royce & Associates, a Human Resources and Training Solutions consulting company.   She is committed to creating happy, healthy and productive workplaces.

Last week I highlighted Ontario’s Bill 118, Ontario’s pending legislation prohibiting the use of hand-held cell phones and other hand-held communications and entertainment devices while driving.  This week, I’ll highlight Bill 168 regarding workplace violence.  

This bill was prompted after an inquest about the murder of nurse Lori Dupont by her ex-boyfriend and co-worker, Dr. Marc Daniel, at Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital in Windsor, Ont. on November 12, 2005.   This legislation is intended to protect workers from violence and harassment on the job.

Ontario’s Bill 168, Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act (Violence and Harassment in the Workplace) 2009

This act will amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act.  Employers must develop policies and programs to help prevent violence and harassment at work and some of the aspects of the bill include: 

• Workplace Violence Reassessments: Employers must reassess the workplace for risks of violence often to ensure workers are protected.
• Domestic Violence: Employers are expected to take reasonable precautions, if they are aware or ought to be reasonably aware, to protect workers from domestic violence in the workplace.
• Disclosure of Persons with a Violent History:  Employers must also disclose information to a worker about a person with a history of violent behaviour.
• Right to Refuse Work:  Employers must allow workers to refuse work if they believe they are at risk of violence in the workplace.

There are new reporting guidelines with employers expected to report to the Ministry of Labour when any worker is unable or refuses to work or requires medical attention because of violence in the workplace.  The ministry will then investigate.   

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) states that in 2007, there were 2,150 allowed lost-time claims from assaults, violent acts, harassment and acts of war or terrorism in Ontario. 

To read Bill 168, click here.

Do you have policies in place?   Have you adapted them for these changes?  Are you being proactive?   Click here to email or call us to arrange a complimentary review of your policies.

Respectfully yours, Joanne

Joanne Royce is the Founder of Royce & Associates, a Human Resources and Training Solutions consulting company.   She helps organizations develop policies and procedures creating happy, healthy and productive workplaces.