As a business owner, leader, or manager, your first job is clarity about what your business stands for, who your customers are, what they need, and how you communicate to the marketplace. Many good things can come from the bottom up in an organization, but clarity can only come from the top down.

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

Cooper offers a list of 10 “clarities” for managing any uncertainties a company might be facing. They include reviewing the fundamentals of your business, such as being clear about who your target customers are and what life’s really like for them. With that in mind, it’s also important to be clear about what compelling customer value and experiences your company is committed to delivering and how these differentiate you from your competitors.

Cooper is emphatic about the value of this process. “Most businesses lack this kind of clarity and it’s killing them,” he says. “Without clarity, there can be no commitment or urgency. And without commitment and urgency, there’s no accountability.”

Other areas that may need additional clarity? They can include how and where will you effectively brand, market, promote, and sell your compelling value story in a crowded, cynical and competitive market. There’s no point in being the best if your customers don’t know it.

Other areas that Cooper stresses include being clear about your company’s vision for the future and making sure you have the technology, systems, processes, and equipment needed to be innovative, cost-effective, customer-centric, and profitable.

Delivering on these initiatives means having the right team in place. Focus on being clear about the employment experience, career opportunities, culture, and organizational structure. That way, you’ll be better able to attract, lead, and retain a talented, dedicated, top-performing team.

“Do we have clear and well-communicated structures, responsibilities, authority, and accountability?” Coopers asks. “Is there clarity about how we measure and reward performance? And how do we deal with non-performance?”

(Has a lack of clarity created a vacuum of uncertainty at the top of your business or department? Are you, as a leader or manager, unclear, indecisive, or overwhelmed in any way? If so, sit down with your team and use Cooper’s list of “10 clarities,” offered here at no charge to you!

This month we talk with Walter Pranke, vice president, human resources, at Lee Valley Tools, a national chain of tool and gift stores headquartered in Ottawa.

What are the rules surrounding a business’s ability to mandate vaccines among employees? Are there any rules? According to Walter Pranke, who heads up HR for Lee Valley Tools, the province of Ontario has laid out guidelines regarding vaccination and whether employers have a right to access status for certification.

“They clarify that, yes, an employer can do that and it’s not seen as a requirement for accommodation unless for medical reasons,” Pranke says. Those medical reasons are very narrow, he adds, so legitimate medical exemptions will not be easy to come by. “This has given employers real confidence that they can ask without repercussions.”

The Ontario Human Rights Board tends to lead the way on policy, says Pranke, so he expects other provinces to follow suit. This will be important because as much as one-fifth of the population has yet to be vaccinated in Canada.

“So for us, how do we manage that situation? Do we bring people back to work?” Pranke says that figuring out the needs at head office is one thing, but not so clear-cut for staff in the stores who may have to face an unvaccinated population.

“How do we protect them?” Pranke asks. “If a store has 20 percent of its population that is not vaccinated, what’s the risk?”

He says a strong policy not only provides clear assurances to existing staff who are coming back to work but also offers a sense of security to potential new hires. “So that’s where we can really change the comfort levels and also help people who are feeling uncomfortable coming back to work.”

To safely and fairly accommodate workers who have not received the vaccine, tests must be administered every 72 hours or roughly every second or third day. Companies cannot discriminate against non-vaccinated individuals, so the company must pay for the testing.

By HR and health & safety consultancy Peninsula Canada

Rumours and conspiracies surrounding vaccination and the pandemic can cause tension in the workplace. With so much misinformation online, it’s easy for people to lose track of the facts. It is in the interest of employers to address and manage misinformation in their workplace to protect their staff, their customers, and their business as a whole.

Providing ongoing updates and education to staff can help them make the right decision when it comes to vaccination, clear up any confusion, and resolve vaccine hesitancy. Employers can train staff in person with presentations or with online resources. What matters most is that the information is taken from credible sources.

Communication on vaccines should be clear and issued as often as there are news updates or changes to legislation. Staff should feel that their employer is being transparent about how vaccinations will be managed in the workplace and they should feel comfortable asking questions or raising concerns.

To curb the spread of misinformation, rumours, and judgement among coworkers, employers can set expectations for staff behaviour relating to vaccination at work. Workers should be discouraged from discussing their vaccination status or inquiring about others’ vaccination status, as this can be a sensitive subject.

Instead, workers should be instructed to raise any concerns with their employers directly. This can help prevent the spread of misinformation and keep the workplace a professional and inclusive space for all.

Peninsula is an HR and Health & 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 labour shortage across North America has businesses looking for ways to attract people more effectively. The single biggest draw is, of course, salary. Some of the world’s top retailers are taking steps to raise wages.

Take Walmart. The world’s largest retailer, and America’s largest employer, it wants to hire 20,000 to keep product moving ahead of the anticipated holiday shopping rush. But it wants people not just for the front lines, but to maintain its supply chain. Jobs include order fillers and freight handlers at Walmart’s 250-plus U.S. distribution centres and transportation offices.

The average wage for a Walmart supply chain worker is $20.37 per hour. Also, in an attempt to cope up with fierce competition for workers, the company has begun paying special bonuses and covering 100 percent of college tuition costs for employees. Other large retailers in the U.S. are offering similar perks.

Here in Canada, Amazon Canada has boosted base pay to attract workers as it seeks to hire 15,000 this fall. At the same time, the company is increasing the starting wage for its front-line, hourly employees in Canada to between $17 and $21.65 an hour. Starting wage is currently about $16 an hour. But people who are already with the company won’t be left out. All existing Amazon employees will get a salary lift of $1.60 to $2.20 per hour.

Costco is one retailer that has always paid more—and provided benefits plans. Last spring, when many retailers, especially in grocery, were drawing back their COVID bonuses and salary bumps, Costco Canada locked them in. A $2-per-hour pandemic bonus was removed, but staff received a permanent raise of $1 per hour. Wages for Costco Canada workers now start at $16 per hour; the average hourly wage is $23.71.

There’s wisdom in paying people more. Auto pioneer Henry Ford made a point of paying his workers enough so they could establish a life—and buy one of the cars they were helping to build.

While Canadians watch the performance of The Bay to find out whether a traditional department store—and the country’s oldest retailer—can survive COVID, or even the changing tastes of consumers, a similar drama is playing out with another chain.

Kohl’s has 1,100 stores in the U.S. and though they’re smaller than a traditional department store and boast that they’re more convenient, they carry a similar mix of products.

Michelle Gass, the CEO of Kohl’s, was interviewed recently by the New York Times. While her company faces countless changes as it looks to re-invent its bricks-and-mortar reality, one of the key learnings she spoke about in her career path to this role was from her previous employer, Starbucks. And that was the importance of culture. Starbucks, she said, was able to build a strong culture over time, and the power of that culture made a lasting impression on her.

Culture maps out the social order of an organization. If defines and shapes the attitudes and values of its employees. Culture represents a body of shared values, which must extend from the executive offices right down to the front-line workers. Finding individuals whose personal values align with your corporate culture is essential to building a good team.

A strong culture is typically driven from the top down, but it must be responsive to the needs and the skill sets of staff on the front lines. A good culture has its roots in the founding principles of a company, while being able to embrace the need for change in a disrupted world.

It is also a guideline for good leadership. A study in the Harvard Business Review, entitled “The Leader’s Guide to Corporate Culture,” summed it up: “Leading with culture may be among the few sources of sustainable competitive advantage left to companies today. Successful leaders will stop regarding culture with frustration and instead use it as a fundamental management tool.”

Sarah McVanel is the founder of Greatness Magnified, an organization that specializes in providing training programs and certifications for employees-at-large. She is a recognition expert, professional speaker, coach, author, and creator of F.R.O.G.—Forever Recognize Others’ Greatness. With 25-plus years of experience, she invigorates companies to see their people as exceptional so that, together, they can create a thriving culture where everyone belongs.

If your organization can offer employees the option of working remotely, even part of the time, and you don’t work to find innovative ways to make this happen, you can expect turnover. Remote work is one of a number of substantiated trends from COVID that isn’t going away.

Many people in our current knowledge workforce not only can work remotely, but they may do their best work without the distractions, commute times, and stress of a typical five-day workweek.

Here’s one more reason to take remote working options seriously. You’re not just competing with other more remote-friendly employers. You’re also competing with the growing gig economy, where people can work for themselves. The rise of entrepreneurship means you may be competing with the employee’s own side hustle to convince them to stay with you!

Great people have options. Give them a reason to choose you. Considering the cost of replacing workers, are you hearing questions from prospective employees about flexible work options? Are staff asking, “Can we continue to work from home?” Are managers remarking, “I get so much more done when I have a work-at-home day”?

They’re asking for a reason. These are clues that remote work needs to be considered as a key ingredient to attract and retain great staff. Now is your opportunity to capitalize on it before they take flight.

By HR and health & safety consultancy Peninsula Canada

Having a company policy on vaccinations will provide clarity for staff and set expectations for how the subject of vaccination is to be approached in the workplace. Employers can use this policy to inform workers, to ensure workers conduct themselves appropriately, to include staff in the employers’ process of fulfilling their workplace health and safety obligations, and to initiate conversations with workers who may require accommodation or have concerns.

When creating a vaccination policy, employers should assess whether making vaccinations mandatory is reasonable for their workplace. In Ontario, for example, most workplaces must have a vaccination policy outlining workers’ responsibilities (such as providing proof of vaccination or showing a medical exemption). However, workers are not required to get vaccinated unless their employer makes this a workplace requirement.

Employers in industries that can provide accommodations such as remote work and that can maintain health and safety even if some workers remain unvaccinated may want to implement alternative measures before making vaccination a necessary condition of employment.

Peninsula is an HR and Health & 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.

In a bid to stem the post-pandemic labour shortage, employers are offering a variety of incentives to potential workers. That can mean flexible hours, higher wages, or even signing bonuses.

This last perk is usually reserved for corporate executives or specialist workers in technology or trades. But CBC News reports that it’s becoming an increasingly common feature of want ads for positions ranging from hair stylists to call centre workers.

Marie-Hélène Budworth of York University’s School of Human Resource Management says it’s a sign that “these are desperate times” for many employers. On the other hand, some employers prefer to invest in higher overall wages rather than a one-time bonus, which Budworth says is a greater benefit to workers in the long run.

Julie Labrie, president of recruitment firm BlueSky Personnel Solutions, says salaries have gone up “drastically.” Increased paid time off, sometimes as much as four weeks of vacation is also becoming more common.

Others are thinking outside the box to lure employees. One Montreal grocer is offering bus passes and store rebates to employees. A Halifax baby boutique joined forces with neighbouring retailers to give new hires the option to combine part-time positions.

“We talked with other tenants in the mall who were also finding it really hard to attract workers,” Ivy Liu, owner of Fluffy Bottom Babies in Bedford, N.S., told The Globe and Mail. “We came up with a plan that if we find the right worker but they want full-time hours, they could work three days here and two days in another store.”

Since the pandemic’s outbreak, workers in essential services have been publicly celebrated, but material compensation has often lagged. Meanwhile, those who had worked in non-essential fields found they could earn more money staying home, thanks to programs like CERB. Now, burnout is widespread, and a looming “mass exodus” of workers has shifted the balance of power to jobseekers.

“The power swings back and forth based on market conditions and supply and demand from employer to employee,” executive recruiter Ken Stoddart told the CBC. “And right now it’s skewed towards the employee.”

Other retailers are setting their sights on younger recruits. Tristan Tremblay, 14, works at a store in Chicoutimi, Que., which includes a hardware store as well as a filling station and convenience store. “My father started working young and he wanted me to start working young too,” he explained to Le Journal de Montréal. The work, he added, is “a bit repetitive … but it’s going well.”

At the same time, some retailers are looking to the other end of the lifespan. Don Dyck is president of Kingdon TIMBER MART in Peterborough, Ont. The store used to count on Trent University students for seasonal work, but interest from that demographic has waned. Nowadays, he says, his seasonal employees are more likely to be workers later in their careers who don’t wish to work year-round.

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

As head of human resources for a major hardware and fastener company, Martina Pileggi is a strong believer in corporate values and the importance of communicating and reaffirming those values across a company. During COVID, she and her team have been busy keeping in touch with Hillman’s 900 employees across the country.

Now, as lockdowns end and sanctions get lifted, people are returning to some form of normalcy, even as Canada braces for a fourth wave thanks to the rise of the Delta variant. While the way out of this pandemic is still not entirely clear, Pileggi says a company has to be ready—and maintain standards for the safety and well-being of staff. She offers four points to consider:

1. Commitment to health and safety. This cannot waver, she insists. While many variables remain, ensuring the well-being of your team is job one. The focus here is on the things you can control and what your organization and customers value as important.
2. Keeping jobs intact. Many companies were too hasty in letting people go. Now, the job market definitely favours those looking for work. At Hillman, HR took a longer view. “I am happy to say we were able to ride out any layoffs and keep people working,” says Pileggi.
3. Control your cash and expenses. Hillman saw COVID impact its retail customers in a range of ways. The hardware and home improvement sector has thrived, while many smaller independent retailers and service companies saw sales plummet. “This year has been complex for businesses and our customers. Most have bounced back, but with significant changes to how they do business, due to market fluctuations. Companies have to adapt—HR needs to be at the table to know how to support and be a value-add during these times.”
4. Commitment to communications. Even as things return to normal, Pileggi has no intention of taking the foot off the gas when it comes to staying in touch with staff. She continues to hold monthly safety meetings and developed a series of “stand-up” meetings with Hillman’s various distribution centre operations to ensure ongoing face time throughout the company.

“We came up with a structure,” she says, “that could connect with every single person. And I’m very proud of that.”

By HR and health & safety consultancy Peninsula Canada

The fourth wave is here, and cases are expected to continue rising. Employers must continue to follow public health guidelines and take every precaution to protect the health and safety of their workers.

Reports are showing that the majority of cases are among younger, unvaccinated individuals. Employers can encourage their workers to get the vaccine and support them in making this decision by providing education from reliable sources. Meanwhile, employers can continue to require masks to be worn in the workplace and enforce other measures, such as distancing.

Employers can do their part to limit the spread of the Delta variant by having staff work remotely and reminding staff to stay home even if they experience mild symptoms, such as a sore throat.

Workers should also be provided with support at this time as personal circumstances, such as children starting virtual learning, and mental health may affect their ability to work. Employers can provide accommodation, flexibility and direct staff to additional help via Employee Assistance Programs and government resources.

Peninsula is an HR and Health & 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.