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HR advice for hiring seasonal workers during the holiday season

By HR and health & safety consultancy Peninsula Canada

As retailers prepare for the busy holiday season, all indicators point toward shoppers returning to in-store shopping while also enjoying the convenience of online retail. If you plan to hire seasonal employees this winter, we recommend you keep the following in mind to protect your business.

Hire staff for online sales

This season, you may need additional staff to handle, pack, and ship or deliver online orders and manage curbside pickups. For in-store operations, too, you may need extra staff to implement health and safety measures, such as physical distancing and disinfecting sales counters and pin pads.

Provide transparency in hiring

Your job posting must communicate clearly what the role requires and the job schedule. Be honest about any physical requirements, such as heavy lifting, and schedule requirements, such as working late or on the weekends. Making your expectations clear at the outset will help you find the right candidates.

Draw up employment contracts for seasonal staff

Though you’ll need temporary staff only for a few weeks or months, it’s a good practice to sign job contracts with your seasonal employees. The work contract lays down the job duties and entitlements for both the employee and the employer. It will also shield you from any potential legal claims.

Offer health and safety training

Besides training on how to safely do their job, temporary staff must also receive COVID-19 health and safety training. It should include your daily screening procedure, how to self-monitor for the flu and COVID-19, and next steps in case they experience symptoms while at work. A good response procedure will help employees navigate through this.

In preparation for increased foot traffic, employees should also be trained on the workplace harassment policy. Training employees on de-escalation techniques may also prove helpful in protecting them from harassment if a conflict arises.

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.

Slegg uses fresh thinking to find new staff under COVID

Throughout the pandemic, most provinces considered hardware stores an essential service. This led to some staff feeling uncomfortable and taking a leave of absence.

“We were trying to be as accommodating as possible and recognizing that everyone has different comfort levels of COVID,” said Jennifer Burgin, human resources manager at Slegg Building Materials, a chain of building centres on Vancouver Island. “We really did everything that we could do to protect our staff.”

Burgin points out that staff appreciation, like barbecues and team building events, had to be cancelled due to the public health situation. The pandemic has caused a shift in employment culture in society. Businesses are receiving fewer job applications, making it tough to fill empty positions. This wasn’t as much of a challenge before the pandemic.

“We just don’t see a lot of applications for positions,” Burgin said in a recent issue of HHIQ.

But being unconventional sometimes can lead to success. Slegg started posting videos on TikTok and YouTube about workplace culture and job opportunities at the company. “We’re trying to think outside of the box and try new things,” said Burgin.

“I’m just trying to look at it from a new perspective. What’s been done in the past doesn’t always work. You can try new things, but not all of them are going to work.”

Have you created a vacuum of uncertainty at the top of your business?

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!

Expert Advice of the Month: Managing staff expectations as vaccines are mandated

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.

Ask the HR Department: Handling misinformation in the workplace

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.

Even big retailers are paying their workers more as labour remains scarce

 

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.

An organization’s culture can provide direction for strong leadership

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.”

Remote Work: Why We Can’t Rule It Out to Retain the Best


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.

How should employers approach vaccination in their workplace?

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.

Employers get creative to find new hires in a competitive job market

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.