Martina Pileggi is senior director of human resources for the Hillman Group Canada, a fastener producer for the hardware, automotive, plumbing, and electrical markets.

Are we coming out of COVID yet? That’s the big question everyone is facing as companies move to restore some sense of normalcy to their staffing practices. As HR lead at Hillman Group Canada, Martina Pileggi is confronting this issue head on. She sees people getting back to the workplace, but in new ways informed by the experience of almost three years under pandemic restrictions.

She admits that the uncertainty about what’s coming next makes her job interesting—to say the least. “People are learning to re-engage with work. My read is that we are normalizing it. It’s just part of the fabric of day-to-day life, right?”

Hillman is using a hybrid model that was introduced last year, with people coming in three days and staying home two days. Aside from must-attend meetings, staff can choose their days. This system, Pileggi says, “worked very well for us, for our culture. In fact, we are seeing more people being in the office versus not being in the office.” Hillman has set its capacity at the office at about 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

September was very busy for the company with customers welcomed back into the office for the first time. Sales and operations teams started getting together as well. Hillman encourages employees to wear masks—but the company encourages an inclusive environment that respects individual choices.

Overall, Pileggi feels the worst is over and it’s reflected in her own demeanour. “It all feels really good… and more sort of normalized. I think we’re all less tense—I’m less tense—because you can actually come in and do work. I feel like I’m finally doing HR work.”

Pileggi says people can actually have fun again.

“Finally, after two years, I’m not living in COVID land. You know, I’m actually focused on learning and development and recruiting and culture—and finally doing my job.”

By HR and health & safety consultancy Peninsula Canada

Every manager and HR professional has probably already had that tough conversation with an employee about poor performance. Whether it’s about an employee not hitting their targets or about their behaviour, it’s essential to carefully plan out how you’re going to have that conversation. Otherwise, the wrong things may be said or done.

Below are three HR-approved ways to help get an employee back on track and lead them to success.

Identify the problem. When you notice an employee is underperforming, the first step is to sit down with them and have an informal conversation to find out if they have a reason for their underperformance. Some employees feel hesitant to talk to their manager if they are going through a challenging time because they think it might affect their future with the company. Encourage open communication by having an open-door policy.

Create a realistic improvement plan. In some cases, the employee may not know what they need to improve on. Creating a realistic improvement plan includes establishing goals that need to be achieved by a certain date. This will provide a clear roadmap for the employee. Once they have a clear understanding on how to improve, then the employer can have regular check-ins to see the employee’s progress.

Provide resources and training. When talking to the employee, try to think about the current resources and training you offer. Are they sufficient or do they need more? Make sure to ask what they need so you can support them in any way that you can. If they need additional resources and training, take that into consideration.

Offer rewards to recognize achievement. Awards are a great way to recognize great achievement within the workplace. Providing incentives to all employees to meet certain targets or expectations is a great way to encourage great performance.

Peninsula is an HR and Health and Safety consulting firm serving over 80,000 small businesses worldwide, including dealers in home improvement. Clients are supported with ongoing updates to their workplace documentation and policies as legislation changes. Additionally, clients benefit from 24/7 employer HR advice and are protected by legal insurance.

The Home Depot has an entire webpage devoted to details of the company that have nothing to do with sales per square foot, inventory turns, or product specials.

Nevertheless, the facts are presented with as much precision and emphasis as the details of an annual report.

Did you know that 90 percent of Home Depot store managers started out as hourly workers? Or that its Home Depot Foundation has contributed more than $400 million to veterans’ causes in the U.S.? (And here, the company has directed more than $50 million in recent years toward preventing homelessness among Canadian youth.)

Welcome to the world of environment, sustainability, and governance. ESG is the newest way for companies to provide measurement and benchmarks for their performance—metrics that go beyond profits and return on shareholder investment.

But, in fact, ESG is another way to enhance the profile, and presumably the value, of a company. It can be used to polish a business’s reputation to attract better hires, foster supportive workplaces that allow employees to flourish, and, yes, pay off in greater peace of mind for owners—and enhanced share value for publicly traded companies.

Plus it’s the right thing to do.

At Home Depot, its ESG efforts are built around what it calls three “fundamental pillars”: focusing on its people, operating sustainably, and strengthening communities.

Home Depot’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion leads the company’s diversity reporting, which includes gender, ethnicity, and pay equity data for its workforce. Numerous initiatives have been designed to increase the diversity of its workforce, promote inclusion, amplify support for diverse suppliers, and enrich the communities the stores serve. The assessments will help the company benchmark its DEI and responsible forestry programs.

In an open letter to stakeholders in Home Depot’s 2022 ESG Report, president and CEO Ted Dekker reinforced that message. “Our focus on people centres around continuously striving to create a work environment that is inclusive, engaging, and rewarding to associates.”

Those policy goals take into account Home Depot’s vendors as well. “Our commitment to diversity also extends to our supplier relationships,” Dekker says in the letter. “In 2021, we increased our spend with diverse suppliers to $3.3 billion and have announced a goal to achieve $5 billion in direct annual spend with diverse suppliers by 2025.”

Home Depot continues to focus on a sustainable forestry initiative as well. The practice dates back more than 25 years and reflects the company’s recognition that responsible forest management is essential to protecting the health of the world’s ecosystems. It issued its first Wood Purchasing Policy in 1999, working with suppliers to understand and practise sustainable forestry throughout the world. The aim: to aid the protection of endangered forests and to support efforts to preserve timber for future generations.

Companies of all sizes, whether public or privately owned, should look hard at the range of issues that comprise the business’s goals concerning employee well-being, management support, and environmental impacts. It’s good for business—and it’s the right thing to do in today’s business climate.

People have historically found their careers move through different paths and sectors. But during COVID the movement between industries has never seemed so profound. Unfortunately, the number of people who choose to migrate to a career in retail—or even just apply for a job there—are up only slightly.

A new study by CBC shows that Canadians are moving between careers at a great rate. And no wonder: it’s a buyers’ market out there. Last month’s unemployment rate, at just 4.9 percent, was the lowest it’s been in more than 50 years. While retail is seeing a slight increase in workers, other sectors are attracting people in the double digits as people leave service industries such as restaurants, cleaning, and hospitality in general.

The study, based on StatCan employment records, indicates that professional, technical, and scientific services have seen a 19.5 percent jump in workers. Finance, insurance, and real estate are up collectively by almost 15 percent. The construction industry has seen a 6.5 percent increase in its workforce.

The study also examined salaries, comparing wage rates from the first quarter of 2019 to Q1 2022. Employment levels in wholesale and retail trade were up slightly at four percent, even though wages in this sector have grown 12 percent during COVID. Manufacturing was up only 0.7 percent, even as wages grew by six percent.

The sectors suffering the biggest drain include hospitality and food services, down 14.2 percent, and agriculture, down 10.7 percent.

This month we talk with Walter Pranke, former vice president, human resources at Lee Valley Tools, a chain of tool and gift stores based in Ottawa. Walter was instrumental in helping Hardlines develop our HR content when we launched this newsletter a year and a half ago. A certified executive coach, he has returned to private consulting following his contract with Lee Valley.

Companies should pay more attention to performance management. Too many of them, Walter Pranke believes, struggle with this concept. “Let’s rethink the position of a manager,” he says.

It’s no longer good enough to consider oneself a good “team player.” A strong manager must be more like a coach. “It’s a new model,” but it’s one that can be used to drive the business, he says, as long as leaders are willing to take a hard look at their management roles and try to understand what can be done differently.

First and foremost, a manager has to examine how they provide feedback and encouragement on a staff member’s performance. While we may all think we’re top performing managers when it comes to the people side of the business, there are things a manager can amp up—and back off on—to enhance team members, and by extension the company’s own performance.

For example, don’t wait until a staffer is up for their annual performance review to dump all your concerns or their perceived shortcomings on them. That’s an easy one to fall into, especially if a manager doesn’t like conflict. Instead, make your management style one that centres around performance. It has to be an ongoing, organic process.

“That’s the constant feedback that should happen every day,” Pranke says. The old-style manager is concerned about doing their own work. But it’s time to switch that thinking around. Job one should be developing one’s people skills. An effective manager’s role should be 80 percent devoted to coaching, and only 20 percent focused on a day-to-day role.

“We need to re-imagine our performance management. Our process has to shift to enabling, not managing.”

By HR and health & safety consultancy Peninsula Canada

Under every Occupational Health and Safety legislation in Canada, employers must take all reasonable precautions to ensure the health and safety of their employees. Workplace inspections are meant to help prevent incidents, injuries, and illnesses. These inspections help to identify and record hazards for corrective action to ensure employees in the province are staying safe while working.

What types of hazards should employers be looking for in the workplace? Hazards are dependent on the type of business and workplace an employer runs. The major hazards can be broken down into the following categories:

• Chemical hazards caused by gas, liquid, or solids
• Biological hazards such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites
• Safety hazards caused by inadequate machines, unsafe workplace conditions, unsafe work practices
• Physical hazards caused by heat, electricity, or radiation

What are the two types of workplace inspection visits?

Unannounced visits are referred to as Proactive Visits. The officer will ask to see documentation related to the Business Health and Safety Program. This typically includes the written occupational health and safety policy and the workplace violence and harassment policy, but keep in mind they can ask for any documentation required under the legislation.

Employers must immediately report any critical workplace injury or fatality to the authorities. These will result in Reactive Visits. Complaints may also be submitted to the authorities when an employer is not compliant with the legislation. An officer will then be assigned to respond to the inquiry to investigate the complaint or accident further.

Once the officer has completed the inspection or investigation, they will then determine if the workplace is compliant with OHS regulations and issue an order to comply where necessary. In cases of gross violation or extremely dangerous situation, they may issue a fine or stop the work while they are on site.

Peninsula is an HR and Health and Safety consulting firm serving over 80,000 small businesses worldwide, including dealers in home improvement. Clients are supported with ongoing updates to their workplace documentation and policies as legislation changes. Additionally, clients benefit from 24/7 employer HR advice and are protected by legal insurance.

Next month, front-line workers at Lowe’s stores will find extra cash in their payroll deposits, thanks to a bonus program from head office. The program was announced during a call by company executives to analysts following the release of Lowe’s second-quarter results.

“In recognition of some of the cost pressures they are facing due to high inflation, we are providing an incremental $55 million in bonuses to our hourly frontline associates this quarter,” said Marvin Ellison, chairman and CEO of Lowe’s Cos., during the call. “These associates have the most important jobs in our company, and we deeply appreciate everything they do to serve our customers to deliver a best-in-class experience.”

Lowe’s Canada has confirmed that eligible Canadian associates will also receive financial recognition.

U.S. workers will get the added benefit of an increased staff discount on certain products in the store for a limited time. The current staff discount of 10 percent will be raised to 20 percent. The larger discount can be applied to “everyday household and cleaning items,” said Joe McFarland, Lowe’s EVP of stores, “which we hope will ease the burden of inflation impacting many of these items.”

The pay lift reflects the corporation’s desire to keep valuable front-line workers happy with their jobs, differentiate itself from other retailers, and create a greater sense of career within the organization. “We will continue to look for meaningful ways to improve our associates’ work-life balance, while providing them with the tools to build a career at Lowe’s,” McFarland added.

The extra money is in addition to other initiatives to make life easier for staff on the store floor. One such initiative is expanded scheduling options for full-time associates. Now, most full-time associates can request a fixed four-day work week, fixed days off, or choose their preferred shift on their terms.

“This is a significant improvement in our associates’ quality of life, and it is another way that we are differentiating ourselves from other retailers,” McFarland added.

One of the important buzzwords of modern HR is “employee engagement.” Engaged employees improve your business. Disengaged employees damage it. Actively disengaged employees can destroy it.

We reached out to Scott Wright, executive director of advanced training programs at the North American Paint & Hardware Association (NHPA) to talk about employee engagement.

Wright cited an “Employee Engagement Data Study” by Gallup in the U.S., taken shortly before the pandemic, which surveyed all industries, not just the home improvement industry. The survey showed that 33 percent of American employees were “engaged” with their jobs; 51 percent were “not engaged.”

But even worse than that, Wright said, the survey showed that 16 percent of employees were “actively disengaged.” According to a Gallup press release, “Actively disengaged employees report miserable work experiences and are generally poorly managed.”

Note here that the blame for their poor attitude lands on their managers. The elements of improving employee engagement include clarity of expectations, opportunities for development, and opinions counting at work. The NHPA has executive training programs for home improvement store managers—including those from Canada—who wish to increase their skills in increasing employee engagement, among many other skills.

(To learn more about NHPA’s management training courses to help managers understand key concepts of leadership and personal development, reach out to Scott at swright@yournhpa.org.)

Donald Cooper is a Toronto-based speaker and business coach. Using his vast experience as a manufacturer (Cooper Canada sports equipment) and an award-winning retailer, Cooper has helped hundreds of companies in over 40 industries around the world to create compelling customer value, clarity of purpose, and long-term profitability.

Whether your business is large or small, or whether you’re a business owner or department or divisional manager, one of your most important jobs is growing your people. In fact, you can’t grow your business without growing your people.

I’m constantly amazed at how few of my clients have ever sat down with each of their key people to ask them where they’d like to be in the business and in their lives in three to five years, and how they’d like to help the company grow.

These important conversations almost never happen—and many of the best people leave. A recent poll of over 2,000 employees in the UK shows that only one in 10 believed they had long-term opportunities for growth with their current employer. They’re just doing a job. They don’t feel they have a career.

Part of this is because most business owners and managers themselves are not thinking three to five years ahead. They’re too busy solving today’s problems. They have no clarity about the future of their business, so they can’t or don’t want to talk about it with their team.

If growing your business by growing your people makes sense to you, consider these three questions:

Question #1: What will your business, your division, or department look like in three to five years? How big will it be? Where will it be? What will it be doing? How will it operate? In what specific ways is it likely to be different from how it looks and operates today? How must it change and how must it be ‘better’?

Question #2: What does your organization need to learn to be a profitable market leader in those three to five years? What knowledge, skills, systems, attitudes, customer insights, processes, innovations, and disciplines must the organization learn in order to be price-competitive, service-competitive, and profitable? What technology must you embrace and master?

Question #3:  Who are your top performers? Who on your team has the attitude, ability, or potential to help move the business forward? Given what the organization must learn, the talent you’ll need and the potential of your current team, where are there obvious gaps that you’ll need to fill by growing your people or recruiting from outside the business?

Next, ask them what knowledge, skills, training, education, and experience they think they’ll need to perform that new job or position excellently.

Don’t expect them to have immediate answers to these three questions. Most people won’t—and that’s OK. Invite them to take a few days to think about and research the possibilities and book a specific time when they’ll get back to you with their thoughts. If they don’t keep that appointment, you know everything you need to know about their commitment to move ahead.

Once you’ve agreed on a career path for each person, create a specific growth plan for them, including the training and experience they’ll get.

I know this sounds like more work than just solving day-to-day problems and complaining that you can’t find good staff anymore. But this is what real management and leadership is all about.

By HR and health & safety consultancy Peninsula Canada

While salary does matter, the working environment in a company is also a major reason why people stay or leave. A workplace where employees are treated fairly and with respect will attract workers who enjoy their work and value their employer. Here are some ways to create a positive working atmosphere.

Encourage a work-life balance. Be realistic about the workload and deadlines that you set for your staff. They should not be neglecting their health or personal life due to work. Overworked employees are at a greater risk of burning out, being stressed and being less productive. They are also more likely to view their work and workplace negatively.

Train managers on soft skills. People don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses. This often-quoted saying is true. Bad supervisors create low morale and can demotivate the best of workers. At times it is not even a temperament issue but rather one of not having acquired the necessary people management skills. You will benefit when you train your managers in crisis management, stress and conflict management, and on how to be effective leaders.

Provide opportunities for growth. Opportunities for career advancement, or the lack of it, are also a reason why employees may look to switch jobs or feel demotivated. Through workshops, training, or flexible work hours (to make part-time studies possible), you can help your staff improve and update their skills.

Recognize and reward good work. Make your employees feel appreciated by acknowledging their hard work. Mentor them through constructive feedback and give them ownership of their projects. Organizing work socials and holding contests around holidays with rewards, such as gift cards, is another way to keep employees motivated at work.

Peninsula is an HR and Health and Safety consulting firm serving over 80,000 small businesses worldwide, including dealers in home improvement. Clients are supported with ongoing updates to their workplace documentation and policies as legislation changes. Additionally, clients benefit from 24/7 employer HR advice and are protected by legal insurance.