“Walmart Canada has announced that it will invest in its staff to help them cover the costs of getting an education. Through its Live Better U (LBU) education program, the giant retailer will lay out $50 million over five years for the program, to “cover the cost of tuition, books, and course fees for associates,” the company said in a release.

The program is part of an effort by Walmart to ensure that its associates have the skills needed for the future.

“We believe there is a path for everyone at Walmart and we want to remove barriers to high quality education,” said AnnMarie Mercer, chief people officer, Walmart Canada.

Walmart says the LBU program offers a path for all associates, whether they’re looking to accelerate their growth, get in-demand credentials, or receive a degree or licensing for a specialized role. The course offerings were selected based on the new and future needs of the business. Some offerings include:

• Growth accelerators such as English as a Second Language, French as a Second Language and GED courses
• In-demand courses and certificates such as project management, data analytics, omni retail, ecommerce, business communications, and strategy
• Degrees and licensing for pharmacy technicians and opticians, with more to come

The retailer wants to ensure associates are trained and equipped with the skills they need for the future so that they stay and grow with Walmart Canada. All eligible permanent part-time, full-time, and salaried Walmart Canada associates can apply to LBU. The program has been available at Walmart in the U.S. for the past five years and this year has been expanded to Canadian associates. It’s been recognized as a way to reduce turnover and build camaraderie among staff. In the U.S., nearly 120,000 Walmart associates have taken advantage of the program to date.

“We’re proud that through LBU, we’re offering our associates a program designed with them in mind,” Mercer added. “LBU meets associates where they are on their educational journey by offering online, flexible programs to help them balance work, life, and school.”

Wolf Gugler is president of Wolf Gugler Executive Search. He specializes in landing roles for hardware companies in Canada and the U.S., especially in sales and marketing. With Canada’s unemployment rate running at 5.5 percent last month, “It’s still a candidate’s market,” he says.

As a result, companies looking to hire can be at a disadvantage. And that means the process of hiring can’t be a long one, Gugler warns. The days of three, four, and even five interviews are over. Nowadays, he’s seeing many candidates receiving multiple job offers. For companies looking to hire, he says, “in many cases, if you don’t move quickly enough, that talent goes by the wayside.”

The effects of timeliness work at different levels. It’s not just a matter of securing the right candidate before someone else does. It can also be indicative of management culture. That means a candidate can evaluate your company based on how long it takes to make the hire.

Gugler says candidates have shared with him their concern about the culture of a company that’s doing the hire. Dragging out the hire may demonstrate to the candidate that your company is indecisive or struggling with too many layers of authority to respond quickly. “The timeliness part is demonstrative of how a company runs their business. So the candidate sees that your hiring process is stretched out or indecisive, or whatever the case might be, so then they relate it to, ‘Is that the way it’s going to be when I’m on board and I need a decision made?’”

His advice to any HR department? “Make sure you have a good relationship with your senior team. Try to do whatever you can to build that line of communication and trust, so when they say, ‘I have a need, here it is, take care of it,’ the HR team can go ahead and take care of what they need to do.” Then, when HR presents the short list of candidates, trust that they’ve brought you strong potential hires.

By HR and health & safety consultancy Peninsula Canada

One of the toughest challenges managers in leadership positions struggle with is how to handle difficult employees. It’s frustrating when an employee’s troublesome behaviour and negative attitude start to influence others, dragging down their productivity too.

Dealing with difficult employees is no walk in the park, but it’s crucial to tackle the issue head-on and as soon as possible to keep the damage to a minimum. Here are some steps employers can take to handle a difficult employee:

Pinpoint the problem. Take the time to identify the exact behaviour or performance issue that’s causing the difficulty. Is it a matter of attitude, work quality, or perhaps something else altogether? By clearly defining the problem at hand, employers will be better equipped to find a suitable solution.

Open up the lines of communication. Set up one-on-one meetings with the employee to have an open discussion about your concerns. It’s important to document the discussion, noting down the date, time, and all the important details of the conversation.

Listen. Give the employee an opportunity to express their perspective and any challenges they may be facing. Listen actively and empathetically, encouraging open communication.

Provide feedback and expectations. Clearly articulate your expectations for behaviour, performance, and improvement. Offer constructive feedback, focusing on specific actions and suggesting ways to rectify the situation.

Offer support and resources. Determine if the employee requires any additional support, such as training, mentoring, or counselling. Provide access to resources that can help them overcome challenges and improve their skills.

Monitor and follow-up. Regularly check in with the employee to monitor their progress. Provide ongoing feedback and support as needed. If the issues persist or worsen, consider implementing a performance improvement plan (PIP) with specific targets and consequences if improvement is not achieved.

Peninsula is a trusted HR and health & safety advisory company, serving over 6,000 small businesses across Canada. Clients are supported with ongoing updates of their workplace documentation and policies as legislation changes. Additionally, clients benefit from access to our 24/7 employer HR and OHS advice line and coverage on legal through our Peninsula Protect service promise.

“If you want something done right, do it yourself” is a well-worn cliché. But, as Zaida Fazlic, Taiga Building Products’ VP of people, culture, and change management, explains in an upcoming Hardlines podcast, it makes for poor management advice.

At a time when succession is the number-one concern for many businesses, “We need to think about investing in the next generation of employees so that our businesses can go on and be viable and successful in the future.” That begins with delegation, says Fazlic.

Trying to get everything done yourself, she acknowledges, is an understandable temptation. “There’s a lot going on. There’s an expectation that we need to get a lot done in any one day. And it may seem efficient to just do it yourself, and it may seem faster to do that. But in the long run, it’s not sustainable.”

If a store becomes a one-person operation, what happens when that person is no longer around? “When I look at the data that’s out there, the expectation is that most of the baby boomer generation will be entering retirement age in the next five to 10 years,” says Fazlic. “So what that means is that we need to invest in upskilling, mentoring, and coaching the next generation, who will step in to make sure that the business remains an ongoing concern and is successful beyond any one generation.”

Experienced managers bring a wealth of knowledge that is key to running their stores and invaluable to their team members. “But we have to figure out a way to download that knowledge and wisdom to the next generation.”

(Hear more of Zaida’s insights on succession, delegation, and what the advent of AI means for the industry in the next episode of What’s In Store, the official Hardlines podcast series. Click here to sign up for updates about new episodes in your inbox!)

The days of long interview and hiring processes are over. Timing is more important than ever. “We all know that the hiring cycles are way too long,” says Kelly Mawhinney, a partner at Toronto HR consultancy Mercer Ltd., who was recently interviewed on the topic by Michael LeBlanc, senior retail advisor at the Retail Council of Canada.

Mawhinney says she recently visited a client and had to tell them, “You guys are killing people. There’s no way people are going to go to this panel, and this test, and this panel, and this test.” She advised the client to compress the timeline for hiring. “You’ve got to streamline the process. You have to follow a game plan when hiring and you have to tell the people hiring what the game plan is going to be.”

She stresses the importance of staying close to the potential hire throughout the accelerated process. “You really have to be proactive, you really have to be streamlined, and you really have to get bums in seats quickly.”

But getting the new hire in place is only part of the challenge, she notes. “Then the retention game plan has to kick into gear, because you don’t want recent hires deciding, ‘I really don’t like this job.’”

For many dealers, succession means effectively transferring the business to the next generation in the family. But that handoff can come with some terms. For some, that means pushing the kids out of the nest to try other jobs and careers before taking on the family business.

This strategy works well for both sides: it can help ensure that the new owners will have a wider range of experience to draw from than just the family store. And for the young owners-to-be, it can satisfy their curiosity about other career and life directions, and also bring them back into the family business with a renewed focus and energy.

Mathieu and Marianne Moisan represent the new generation of one such family. The dealer-owner cousins are the grandchildren of the founding owners of the store in Saint-Raymond, Que.

The Moisan family had an ironclad rule for any members of the younger generation who wanted to take over as owners of the store: they had to go work somewhere else first. Mathieu chose to work as an estimator at a construction company. “It really clarified for me that my place was in the hardware store,” he told Hardlines. Marianne worked for nine years as a comptroller for an aviation company. She went on to get her CPA certification.

We asked the cousins how they divide up their responsibilities at the store.

“It almost happens by itself, given that we both have our strengths and weaknesses,” Mathieu said. “Marianne is really more on the finance side, procedures, employee relations, and all that. Then I’m more on the side of purchasing, supplier relations, logistics, deliveries, coordinating always having the right stock at the right moment, and the right price.”

By HR and health & safety consultancy Peninsula Canada

Career development encompasses any form of professional development or education that supports staff in furthering their career. It is important for employers to prioritize career development to ensure their employees are in line with industry trends and best practices. Investing in additional training and education will lead to higher retention rates and an increase in productivity.

Employers can do their part in encouraging staff to have access to both internal and external learning opportunities.

Below are some effective ways employers can help their employees advance in their careers.

1. Career pathways: It is important to define clear career pathways so that staff understand the skills and experiences needed to progress in their careers.
2. Training programs: Provide training programs, workshops, and seminars that focus on enhancing employees’ skills and knowledge.
3. Coaching and mentorship: Providing coaching opportunities will help to set up staff for success by setting career goals and creating development plans.
4. Feedback and evaluation: Conduct regular performance reviews to help staff understand their strengths and areas for improvement. This will help them work on their professional growth.
5. Internal job postings: Encourage internal job postings and promotions to give employees the opportunity to take on new challenges and responsibilities within the organization. This demonstrates the employer values and recognizes talent from within.
6. Awards and recognition: Recognize and award employees’ contributions and achievements to their careers. This can include performance-based bonuses or public acknowledgment.

Peninsula is a trusted HR and health & safety advisory company, serving over 6,000 small businesses across Canada. Clients are supported with ongoing updates of their workplace documentation and policies as legislation changes. Additionally, clients benefit from access to our 24/7 employer HR and OHS advice line and coverage on legal through our Peninsula Protect service promise.

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.

It’s tough to pick the best candidate for the job when they don’t show up. Almost half of Canadian employers stated in a recent survey that “the poor quality of candidates” is their number-one problem when it comes to the hiring process. So, what are you doing to screen out the duds?

First: stop hiring anyone who just shows up! Thousands of businesses around the world are now hiring anyone who simply shows up for an interview. It’s a desperate move and a huge mistake. These non-performers will hurt your business while they are there with you and will cost you a ton of grief and money when you finally decide to pitch them. You need an effective screening process to weed through applicants.

That requires a strong understanding of who you’re looking for. Do you know what skills, talent, knowledge, experience, education, attitude, values, personality, and energy level are needed for the hire? What are the deal breakers? Finding great people is like looking for a needle in a haystack. But it’s a lot easier to find that needle if you know what the needle looks like.

What questions do you ask to find out if candidates have the qualities you need? Create a script of questions to ask. Don’t wing it! For each position, create a job description that states the outcomes to be delivered and the key activities required to deliver those outcomes. Most job descriptions focus on activities only, rather than outcomes—and that’s a big mistake.

Don’t just hire people who can do the specific job that you’re recruiting for today. Hire people who can actually help you get to where you commit to be in three to five years.

Ask yourself these three questions:

1. Can they do the job we’re interviewing for?
2. Are they a great fit with our culture, values, and standards?
3. Can they help us grow the business to where we commit to be in three to five years?

Get references, and check them. Do the work. Ask specific questions. Once again, write a script. And above all, don’t wing it!

Improper handling of a forklift truck, even the slightest misjudgement, can result in harm or injury to oneself or a fellow worker which could have lifelong repercussions. That’s why safety policies and programs at work are so crucial to address physical safety. But there’s more to a worker’s wellbeing than the physical.

Traditionally, retail safety programs have been about preventing physical accidents. A case in point: Home Depot Canada spends about a third of its roughly 20 hours of “Before the Apron” new-hire training focused on physical safety. This includes hazardous materials, working at heights, equipment safety, and customer safety protocols.

Mental health in the workplace was the subject of a seminar at the Retail Council of Canada’s Human Resources Conference, held recently in Toronto. The presenter was Kristy Cork, a workplace mental health consultant based in St. Thomas, Ont. Her seminar focused on “steps retailers can take today to improve psychological health and safety in existing safety programs.”

It’s not simply about “stress,” Cork said. “Work is never going to be stress-free. So, if we focus only on stress, we are missing a big part of the issue.”

The upside of having mental health policies is that employee retention goes up. The alternative, if your employees don’t outright quit, is “quiet quitting.” Cork defined this as an attitude in which the worker says, “I’m not going to work for the equivalent of 65 hours a week anymore. I’m only going to do what’s in my job description.”

Cork listed 10 major causes of work-related stress: heavy workload, changes within organizations, job insecurity, lack of autonomy, over-supervision, lack of proper resources, lack of equipment, few opportunities for promotion, insufficient training, and long hours.

How to improve your workers’ mental health? “You cannot, in any workplace, prevent mental harm if you don’t know what your hazards are,” Cork said. “You have to do an assessment. You have to talk to people. You don’t start throwing darts at the wall hoping you’ll hit the problem.”

The best way to begin this process is through an employee survey. Cork has tracked her clients’ results and found out that, on average, only about 30 percent of employees answer “yes” to the question: “Does your employer promote a healthy work environment?”

Ghosting is not only a modern dating term: employers are similarly getting left in the dust after candidates are going silent on communications, skipping interviews, or simply not showing up for the first day of work.

That was the blurb for a “ghost-busting” seminar at the recent Retail Council of Canada (RCC) Human Resources Conference in Toronto. The conversation touched on employer branding, varied approaches for in-store and hybrid employees, and the expectations of a value-driven workforce.

Kelly Mawhinney, a partner at Toronto HR consultancy Mercer Ltd., was interviewed on the topic by Michael LeBlanc, senior retail advisor at the RCC. When it comes to ghosting, there are steps that those who are hiring can take. Complacency is the number one enemy, Mawhinney said.

“You can’t be blasé. You can’t just say, this is our stuff: we are a great company.” You have to constantly market yourself as an employer, reach out to prospects, and enlist, enlist, enlist.

If you’re an HR professional, you have “internal clients,” Mawhinney said. These are the people within your company whom candidates will be reporting to. HR professionals need to get them to “narrow down the three things they need [for a position].”

Why is hiring so difficult nowadays? Part of it is that a company’s values and secrets are openly available online. Glassdoor—the heavily-visited website where employees talk about what it’s like to be a worker at a firm—is just part of the equation but it’s a crucial one. “Make sure your Glassdoor is clean,” Mawhinney said. That means checking it frequently and addressing workplace issues that make a company look bad.

“You have to be proactive there. You may not realize how many people actually go online to see what people think about your brand—or the CEO! There’s a lot going on [online]. People are much more aware about what they’re getting into,” and what you stand for as an employer.

When it comes to a “values proposition,” a company has to know what it values in an employee and it needs to communicate that to prospective employees in a way that is compelling, Mawhinney said.