By HR and health and safety consultancy Peninsula Canada

It’s the time of year dedicated to being with family and friends. However, for employers, it can be a very stressful time—especially when it comes to dealing with the overwhelming flood of vacation requests at once.

While it will be challenging to accommodate everyone, it is best to ask your employees to request their time off well in advance so you can have enough time to plan and accommodate accordingly. You can also create a vacation calendar. This will not only keep track of all dates but ensure you don’t have multiple employees off at the same time. If you are faced with more than one employee requesting the same time off, try to incentivize them to change their requested vacation dates.

It is also very important to be aware of public holidays. The remaining statutory holidays in 2021 occur during the holiday season—Christmas Day, Boxing Day (public holiday in Ontario only), and New Year’s Day. In 2021, all these holidays fall on a Saturday or Sunday.

As these holidays are on the weekends, employees in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta (where those days are working days) will receive a paid day off on Dec. 27, 2021, and Jan. 3, 2022. Additionally, Ontario employees will also get a substitute holiday on Dec. 28, 2021, to account for Boxing Day.

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.

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Marc Macdonald is the senior vice president of Human Resources at Lowe’s Canada. He spoke at the Hardlines Conference last month in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. Dealers and managers from stores and suppliers attended from across the country in person and virtually. He talked about the importance of supporting workers with everything from food and days off to mental health supports. Here, in his own words, is a recap of Macdonald’s message at that event.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Canada, our priority was to protect the health and safety of our 26,000 associates and of our customers, all while continuing to serve Canadians who were counting on us to make their homes safe and comfortable. Nothing could have prepared us for that.

We worked tirelessly to make sure we were implementing new safety measures in stores, in line with the recommendations of public health authorities, which constantly evolved as they learned more about the virus.

Most importantly, it was about being there for our associates and listening to them, all while respecting the safety measures in place. We made it a point to have our teams visit our stores regularly to assess the situation and make sure we were providing them with the support they needed. Having our leaders lead by example and be there, on the floor, was paramount in reassuring our store associates, who represent 90 percent of our workforce, and keeping them motivated and engaged.

One key element during the first few months of the pandemic was communication. All our teams received daily communication with all the relevant information on issues such as new safety measures, guidelines, and company decisions. Another element was keeping our associates engaged and connected. We launched a series of initiatives designed to foster and preserve that sense of family across our network.

It was also important for us to provide concrete support to our front-line associates and show our appreciation for their hard work. We introduced monetary compensation and other initiatives, such as in-store food pantries to give store associates easy access to key food items.

One of the major side effects of this pandemic has been its impact on the mental health of Canadians. We reviewed our mental health coverage to broaden its reach, including expanding coverage to psychotherapists, making it easier for eligible associates to find help in a time where psychologists had long waitlists.

Another key part of helping our associates deal with the stresses of the pandemic was making sure they were taking time off. From the top down, we made sure our message was clear: we wanted our associates to take two weeks off during the summer to recharge their batteries and enjoy a much-deserved rest.

The pandemic challenged us as humans. It tested our resilience and highlighted the importance of mental health and our need to connect. It also highlighted the importance of ensuring the company’s HR function remained flexible, nimble, and empathetic.

If the pandemic reminded us of one thing, it’s how important our people are and how important it is to take care of them.

One aspect of working from home is the flex-time that comprises a typical workday. For many roles, a nine-to-five presence is essential, but for others, getting the job done can happen any time of the day—or night.

That flexibility can lead to a desire to fill extra time with another job, either a side gig that someone develops themselves or, more and more, people applying for, and getting hired at another job. For an employer, this might be considered the ultimate betrayal. But if the job is getting done, how does it matter?

A recent article in The Guardian describes how working at home grew during COVID, and how more and more people, whether dissatisfied with their current job or merely seeking to make the most of their time at home, have taken on one, two, and even three extra jobs.

If you feel you are paying your workers adequately and that pay should reflect their full working commitment, you will definitely not find a good fit for a moonlighting staffer. Especially in roles that require creativity or a commitment to growing the company, any spare time or energy for work should be directed to the job at hand.

The upside here affects both the worker and the job: the company could potentially benefit from that “extra mile” the worker takes, while those strategic ideas and that creative thinking can help boost an individual’s career within the company.

However, as the article points out, working for someone else could violate non-compete agreements. Likewise, the very fact that a worker is concealing something from their boss can lay a lot of stress on that individual. In an age where establishing a life-work balance has become more important than ever, taking on that extra job may feel like one is getting control of one’s life. But it could also jeopardize that individual’s ability to make the most out of their life in other ways.

This month we talk again with Zaida Fazlic, director, people and culture at Taiga Building Products, the national building materials wholesaler. This is the latest instalment in our occasional series with her on the topic of leadership.

Leadership used to be tactical, about delegating and measuring performance. But today it’s much more far-reaching than that, says Zaida Fazlic.

“One principle of leadership is servant leadership, where you realize it’s not really about you, it’s about them. When your people are empowered and when they do a good job, they make you look good. Then you’re successful.”

She stresses that the root of strong leadership is competence. “You have to know the job, how to get the job done.” But, she adds, a good leader must embody “integrity, trust that your word is reliable, that you have a good moral and ethical compass. It’s those two things—it’s competency and it’s character. And that’s where emotional intelligence fits in, with your character.”

Fazlic says that not having empathy can result in drama and tension, and it drains energy from a company and its team. “One of the components of emotional intelligence is self-awareness and self-regulation, being able to manage your hot buttons.” A good leader knows what makes you tick, what triggers you. “Are you about to have an emotional blow-up? Is that really productive?”

It’s important to “push that pause button” and determine if there’s a better way to deal with that situation. “That’s the self-regulation.”

But empathy does not mean weakness or tolerating poor performance. That only enables bad habits. Instead, look for ways to empower your people. “What can you do to help people and then hold them accountable? It’s really important to hold them accountable.”

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.

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.”

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.