What makes a good employee leave – or stay
What makes a good employee leave may not always come down to pay. In fact, a good employee may leave your company in spite of the pay and benefits you offer. Good employees often leave because they’re frustrated with their career development,
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Employee benefit plans that small firms can afford
Employee benefit plans often scare away small businesses. But employee benefit plans don’t have to be expensive. Although offering medical, dental, vision, disability and retirement plans can help you recruit and retain talent, small firms can stay competitive with a host of inexpensive benefits.
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Employee retention programs - ideas for retaining staff
Employee retention programs offer organizations several strategies for reducing turnover. Since people are the only assets that can literally get up and walk out the door, employee retention programs can be vital in a tight job market.
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Small business employee benefits
Small business employee benefits have emerged as keys to winning the war for talent. Small and midsized business employee benefits can be strategic as the labour market continues to thrive and there is increasing competition for top talent.
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Employee retention programs
Employee retention programs can help you hang on to your most valuable assets – your star performers. By implementing even basic employee retention programs,
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Managing a Shorthanded Summer
School is out, the warm weather is calling and your employees are making plans for golf dates, island getaways and family vacations. Many organizations are already operating with leaner teams,
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How to Identify What Motivates Your Employees
When conducting exit interviews, many firms are surprised by the reasons employees give for moving on. Often there are little things that add up to the big decision to look elsewhere for alternate employment.
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Top 5 Managerial Dilemmas
Whether you’re managing your own company or one department within the regional office of an international corporation, there are universal challenges every supervisor faces. These difficulties test the mettle and resourcefulness of even the most seasoned and skilled supervisor.
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Hiring Employees - Seven Winning Strategies
Choosing the right employee for your business is a very important decision that can often be a time-consuming and expensive process. Thoughtful, up-front preparation will reduce the possibility of adding a poor candidate to your existing team. Busy managers are often tempted to fill positions quickly which may result in a marginal employee who can cost you lots of money.
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Hiring - What not to do
A person who is able to the job, and willing to do the work. Someone with team spirit, and who is manageable. Someone who fits within the organization’s culture, and is personally compatible with the organization and our current employees. An emotionally mature adult with sound and rational judgment. That’s all.
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How to Hire and Manage Search Firms
Our experience has repeatedly shown that there is a wide-spread lack of understanding about the different types of search and recruiting firms, the types of services offered by search firms, what search firms actually do and what is the best type of firm to use in a given situation.
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Hire Smart: Staffing Strategically for Cost Effectiveness
Effective management of human resources is one of the most important elements of a competitive business. In lean times and periods of economic uncertainty, it’s especially critical to carefully monitor and manage your biggest expense: labour.
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Temporary employees - maximizing the productivity of your temps
Temporary employees have a huge influence on the success of a company. In today’s fast-paced business environment, hiring temps – temporary project professionals – is an integral part of a company’s ability to remain competitive.
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Boosting Employee Morale
Boosting employee morale creates satisfied, dependable and productive employees. Often a customer will choose to purchase your product or service based on the employee who represents that product or service, and the happier the employee, the more likely he is to attract customers.
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Succession Planning: Preparing for the Future
Succession planning is the key to selecting and developing the people you'll need to carry out the vision for your company. Often referred to in the realm of family business, it isn't just about replacing the boss upon retirement.
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Employee Surveys Yield Important Insights
Employee surveys can make your business more efficient, more attractive and more profitable. You may think everything’s under control, but getting your employees’ input will give you a fuller picture of what's working well and what areas of your organization might benefit from change.
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Workplace Health Creates Workplace Wealth
There are undeniable facts that relate workplace health and workplace wealth. Reports show that for every dollar invested in workplace health and wellness, returns from $2.30 to $10.10 can be measured through reduced sick days, fewer WorkSafeBC claims and increased productivity.
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Employee Retention – Understanding Employee Motivation
Employee retention is a battle for hearts and minds. Most companies are not putting in place the people strategies that will alleviate the challenges of employee retention. There is insufficient understanding of employees’ motivation to engage them and sustain their loyalty.
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Four generations in the workplace
Four generations in the same workplace? It’s a reality for some companies. With the Millennials, Gen X, Baby Boomers and Veterans under one office roof, companies need to manage a range of work and lifestyles.
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Flexible work options: the skinny half-sweet latte of work
In this age where people customize everything from their 10 am lattes to their lunchtime sandwich, “one size fits all” no longer applies. Employees want to customize when, how and where to work, too. Offer flexible work options and your company will have an edge.
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The importance of employee engagement
In February 2006, Towers Perrin released an international workforce study called Winning Strategies for a Global Workforce. The purpose of the study was to “identify the drivers of attraction, retention, and engagement through the eyes of employees.”
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Ideas for offering flexible work options
Flexible work options can help you manage a workforce of individuals with diverse needs. It can also help you brand your company to create a distinct workplace culture. If you’re interested in flexible work options, take a look at the wide range of offerings.
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Retaining top employees by rewarding their achievements
Retaining top employees should be one of your top human resources goals. Like it or not, some of your employees have made it their resolution to pursue new career opportunities. If you’re a manager, this can actually work in your favour in ways that may surprise you.
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Five-step plan for promoting from within
The practice of promoting capable staff members to management-level positions – rather than hiring someone from outside the firm – is a powerful motivation and retention tool. Using this strategy sends a clear message to your current employees that you reward talent, hard work and loyalty.
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Onboarding: call to senior leaders
Why is onboarding important? If for no other reason, it's because organizations are doing do it more frequently than ever. As the shortage of workers escalates exponentially, future-focused leaders need to be strategic about how to integrate their new hires quickly and effectively.
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New hire training: paving the way for new staff
New hire training, orientation and communication tactics can help you get staff up to speed as soon as possible. Managers often want to “on ramp” staff quickly, whether they’re new hires or inter-departmental transfers. However, starting a new job can present an array of challenges and the learning curve can vary depending on the individual.
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Tips on how to keep your seasonal employees coming back
As a seasonal employer, you know how difficult it can be to find qualified, committed, and motivated employees who will work for a short period of time (winter or summer season). Imagine being able to keep the stars of your organization coming back year after year.
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Employee turnover – how much is it costing you?
We all subscribe to the adage that it is cheaper to keep a current customer than to acquire a new one. The same premise applies to employees.
Recruiting new staff is a time consuming and expensive exercise that directly affects your bottom line.
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Job seekers in accounting and finance say respect on the job more important than salary
These days, when talented employees are becoming increasingly hard to find in the labour market, attracting the best people and keeping them motivated are hot topics for Canadian and Montréal businesspeople. During the 1990s, offering high wages was sufficient to keep a workforce satisfied and attract the most qualified talent.
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Effective mentoring – the structure of learning relationships
Effective mentoring is far from easy. While companies recognize the value of mentoring programs and commit to implementing them in their workplaces, many fail to recognize the structure and skills required to make a relationship-based, informal feedback development process, such as a mentoring program, work. Effective mentoring takes planning.
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Give staff the training they really need
Today more than ever, employers are aware of the importance of encouraging adaptability, specialist skills and development in their employees. Keeping up with new industry practices and technological change are essential if employees are to meet the challenges of the future. For employers, this means training is an aspect of staff development they cannot afford to ignore.
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Fundamental Human Requirement - Recognition
Receiving recognition for achievements is one of the most fundamental human requirements. Effective leaders know the importance of recognition and the role it plays in reinforcing the accomplishments of employees, ensuring there will be more of them.
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Give Staff the Training They Really Need
Today more than ever, employers are aware of the importance of encouraging
adaptability, specialist skills and development in their employees. Keeping up
with new industry practices and technological change are essential if employees
are to meet the challenges of the future. For employers, this means training is an
aspect of staff development they cannot afford to ignore.
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Labour Market Partnerships for Employers
Labour Market Partnerships is an employment program that provides financial assistance to organizations to encourage, support and facilitate labour force adjustments and human resource planning activities which are in the public interest.
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Hold onto your star temps
More people consciously choose to move from job to job - acquiring new skills, working the hours that suit them and shying away from long-term commitments. How times have changed.
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Motivating Your Staff
In times of skill shortages, employees need more than an impressive pay deal,
prestigious job title and package of perks to stay interested in their current
position for a reasonable length of time. People are also working longer. With
long work hours, their decision is often not whether they are fulfilled in their job
but how motivated they feel. Much of this depends on how they relate to you –
the boss. Do you captivate and motivate?
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Work-Sharing 2009
Work-Sharing is an adjustment program designed to help employers and workers avoid temporary layoffs when there is a reduction in the normal level of business activity that is beyond the control of the employer. The measure provides income support to workers eligible for Employment Insurance benefits who are willing to work a temporarily reduced work-week.
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HR Trends in BC
In March 2009, BC HRMA conducted its second annual survey of HR trends. The survey gathers information relating to the challenges and issues facing HR functions in BC as well as projections regarding changes in staffing, HR budgets and the focus of resources over the next 12 months. In addition, this year the survey collected data on HR involvement in strategy and areas which HR should be discussing but is not.
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Surviving an Economic Downturn: Creative Alternatives to Layoffs
You want your company to be seen as an "employer of choice" so you can attract and retain great staff regardless of economic conditions, but with all the news about the economic downturn, you're wondering whether you have any alternatives to staff layoffs.
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Predictive Attrition
Predictive Attrition - Sounds like something out of the Tom Cruise Movie Minority Report. In fact, it is a term, as used in a recent Canadian Business article that better describes a new methodology at Google for measuring the likelihood of retaining an employee. The article goes on to say that Google is doing what it does best, using data to drive management decisions (one of its 10 Golden Rules), while critics say that just doing something because it can be done does not always make business sense.
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The Importance of Corporate Culture and Fit to Employee Success
Employee success is largely affected by two things: Personal factors and environmental factors. Personal factors include the appropriate skills to perform a job combined with the motivation to utilize those skill-sets effectively. Environmental factors include manager fit and cultural fit.
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Free Online Course 'Preparing for H1N1: Employer Responsibilities'
Safety Services Canada is proud to offer a free H1N1 flu prevention course for a limited time. The online course is specifically designed for employers and outlines their legal obligations regarding H1N1 flu prevention in the workplace.
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Let's Hang To What We've Got
Employers may have a common resolution in mind as the new year approaches: keeping top performers on board. As we begin to come out of a difficult recession, many companies recognize that their most valued employees will be presented with other opportunities.
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5 Tips for Boosting Employee Engagement
In order to stay afloat, a compulsory effect of the recession for many companies has been a concentrated and immediate focus on the bottom line. As a result, employers and their employees have felt the inevitable strain of extensive layoffs, chaotic restructurings, and difficult cuts and freezes in pay and benefits.
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How to Measure the Quality of Hire
Good or bad economy, the need to make a quality hire doesn’t change. Given that the Cost of Voluntary Turnover for 2009 was approximately $56,000 for the private sector and over $80,000 for the public sector, hiring decisions cannot be taken lightly as the wrong decision can impact the bottom-line.
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Power Employees- Who they are and what makes them great
Top performers. They are most often the true indicator of a company’s culture and are part of the integral root system of a company’s success. They are the first to speak up and also the first to pursue feedback. What they will not do is sit idle.
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A Successful On Boarding Program to Prevent New Hires from Jumping Ship
As the economy continues on an up swing, organizations will be busy trying to find the perfect employee to fill the gaps needed to fuel their growing business needs. Finding a qualified employee is one thing but keeping them is a whole new ball game.
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Is there really a talent shortage?
Things are looking up. The economy seems to be getting stronger. Hiring freezes are thawing. People are finding work.
It’s not entirely positive – both job hunters and employers are struggling. Competition for job opportunities remains fierce, and hiring managers seem to have their pick. And yet, positions remain vacant, and employers find it difficult to find what they’re looking for. We still have a talent shortage.
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