The safety association for Canada’s oil and gas industry has released two guidelines designed to help the industry achieve safety at worksites by enhancing supervisors’ performance and successfully hiring and managing contractors.

When it comes to influencing workers to behave safely, leaders need to show them how it’s done. Recent studies have shown a direct link between workers’ perception of the priority their leaders place on safety and their attitude towards working safely.

What you do speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say - Emerson

This important and highly observant quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson says a great deal about the importance of the behaviour of company leaders in establishing the safety culture of the company. So if you’re an owner, manager or supervisor please read on and we’ll explore the significance that leadership behaviour and conversations can have on your company’s safety success.

I Love Rewards, the leader in results-driven employee rewards and recognition solutions, announces the winners of I Love Rewards' 50 Most Engaged Workplaces. This annual award recognizes top employers that display leadership and innovation towards engaging their employees.

"The organizations included in I Love Rewards' 50 Most Engaged Workplaces Awardâ„¢ have created an environment where engaged employees truly are their greatest assets," says Razor Suleman, CEO and founder, I Love Rewards. "As the leading rewards and recognition solution provider helping companies engage its employees, it is an honour to award top employers who understand the importance of their people and share their best practices with others on how to foster employee engagement. Congratulations to all this year's winners, you are an inspiration to other businesses looking to drive engagement in their own organizations."

The panel of judges evaluated each applicant on how they measured up to other organizations based on the Eight Elements of Employee Engagement. The Eight Engagement of Employee Engagement include: Communication, Leadership, Culture, Rewards & Recognition, Professional & Personal Growth, Accountability & Performance, Vision & Values and Corporate Social Responsibility.

I Love Rewards' 50 Most Engaged Workplaces(TM) listed in alphabetical order:

    1. 1-800-GOT-JUNK?
    2. Access America Transport Inc.
    3. Aird & Berlis LLP
    4. American Express
    5. Apex Distribution Inc
    6. Bayer Inc.
    7. B.C. Housing
    8. BlueCat Networks
    9. Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business
    10. Century 21 Canada Limited Partnership
    11. Cliffstar Corporation
    12. ConAgra Foods Canada Inc.
    13. Dayforce
    14. Delta Hotels and Resorts
    15. Empathica Inc.
    16. Flight Centre
    17. Fusenet Inc
    18. Gap Adventures
    19. Genesis Hospitality Inc.
    20. Highmark, Inc.
    21. Hydro Ottawa
    22. IQ PARTNERS Inc.
    23. Kootenay Savings Credit Union
    24. LoyaltyOne
    25. M5 Networks
    26. Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd.
    27. Marriott Hotel- Calgary and Edmonton
    28. Medcan Clinic
    29. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
    30. Meridian Credit Union
    31. Milestones Restaurants Inc.
    32. Molson Coors Canada
    33. NetSuite Inc.
    34. peopleCare Inc.
    35. Polar Mobile Group Inc.
    36. Royal SunAlliance Insurance Company
    37. Servisair
    38. SIRIUS Satellite Radio Canada
    39. Softchoice Corp
    40. Speakers' Spotlight
    41. Supply Chain Management
    42. Syncapse Corp
    43. Synovate
    44. Varicent Software Incorporated
    45. We Care Home Health Services
    46. William Osler Health System (Osler)
    47. Workopolis
    48. XO Communications
    49. Young & Rubicam
    50. Zappos.com, Inc and its Affiliates

Recipients of I Love Rewards' Most Engaged Workplaces Awardwill be honoured at an awards gala on September 9, 2010 at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto, Ontario.

I Love Rewards is a leader in results-driven employee rewards and recognition solutions. Top employers in North America choose I Love Rewards for its proven best practices in launching and sustaining successful, ROI-based programs. Our focus is to recruit, retain and inspire employees and align them to company goals. We believe that engaged, motivated employees drive the results most important to business success. For more information on the award visit www.iloverewards.com/engaged.

Strong leadership results in dramatic effects on work engagement, team performance and innovation, according to a recent study of leadership in the Canadian workplace. However, the report also shows that poor leadership has negative effects on employee morale, project success and working relationships.

The study, conducted by Psychometrics Canada, a leading assessment publisher and consultant for the development and selection of people in business, government and education, which involved a poll of 517 human resources professionals across Canada, confirms that leadership is seen as an important area of organizational functioning and development. The majority (63.2 per cent) see leaders as having a lot of influence over their organizations’ success, with only 2.5 per cent reporting that leaders have very little influence. The most common effects of good leadership are increased motivation (85.5 per cent), improved working relationships (85.1 per cent), higher team performance (80.7 per cent), better solutions to problems (68.9 per cent), and major innovations (41.6 per cent).

Leadership does have its downside, however. When not properly used, leadership can have negative effects. HR professionals have witnessed good people quitting and a lack of morale (91.7 per cent), employees’ skills not being utilized (87.2 per cent), feuding staff members (68.3 per cent), and failed projects (60 per cent). Three-quarters (76 per cent) have also witnessed a disconnection between the organization’s goals and its employees’ work.

"These figures should be a strong alert to organizations that poor leadership could be causing them major problems,” says Shawn Bakker, psychologist at Psychometrics Canada. "Our results show that leadership is influential, and organizations with effective leadership in place are realizing a wide range of benefits including increased financial performance and improved work relationships."

When asked to rate the importance of various leadership skills to success, 90 per cent of respondents reported that communication is critically important, followed by dealing with change (52.6 per cent), managing people (48.2 per cent), setting goals (37.5 per cent), solving problems (30.3 per cent), and project management (12 per cent).

The study also uncovered a serious gap between the ratings of importance for these skills and leaders’ current level of effectiveness. Only 27.8 per cent of respondents rated leaders’ communication skills as effective, even though nine out of 10 see communication as a critical skill. Twenty-four per cent of respondents indicated that the leaders they know are not effective when it comes to dealing with change.

Respondents cited a number of obstacles that get in the way of today’s leaders developing their skills. These include leaders not seeing the need for improvement (67.5 per cent), not having enough time (63.1 per cent), lacking support from superiors (50.1 per cent), and having inadequate training budgets (41.6 per cent).

Recommendations for leaders
Recommendations for leaders to be more effective included:

• talking less and listening more (81.4 per cent),
• providing clear expectations (78.1 per cent),
• having more informal interaction with staff (75.6 per cent),
• clearly communicating how the organization plans to manage change (89.4 per cent),
• assigning tasks to staff based on their skills rather than office politics (71.4 per cent),
• holding people accountable (67.7 per cent),
• giving employees more responsibility (64.6 per cent),
• overcoming resistance to change (48 per cent), and
• deferring to people with greater expertise (63.1 per cent).

 “What surprised me from our research was that, even with the understanding that leadership is key for organizational success, the leaders themselves were not actively pursuing their own development – despite the opportunities available,” says Mark Fitzsimmons, president of Psychometrics Canada.

To read the complete report, visit www.psychometrics.com/docs/leadership.pdf.

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Fact Sheet

• From November through December 2009, Psychometrics Canada surveyed 517 HR professionals currently working in Canadian organizations. These individuals work in business, government, consulting, education and not-for-profit sectors.
• The majority of people see leaders as influential. Yet, six out of 10 people also believe that leaders are given too much credit for what their organization accomplishes. So although leadership is significant, its impact may be overstated.
• It does not matter whether leaders are in business, government, consulting, education, or not-for-profit; the ranking of skills’ importance does not change.
• Three out of four HR professionals have seen feeble management of people lead to wasted time, duplicated efforts and poor working relationships. More than half of the survey respondents have observed team members working against each other as a result of ineffective leadership.
• Other problems that come from poor leaders are missed opportunities, workplace conflict, increased sick days and absences, and qualified people being shown the door.
• 10.8 per cent of respondents have seen the inability to lead through change result in a company going out of business.
• Almost three-quarters have seen employees resist change that management proposes because it was poorly managed.
• 67.3 per cent of respondents said the ideal leader for their organization would be “someone who is democratic and involved, focuses on working with and through people.”
• Based on a sample of 26,477 leaders (Center for Creative Leadership), 40 per cent of people in leadership roles today are described as being thorough, orderly and focused on organizational stability and consolidating systems. Thirty-nine per cent of leaders say their style is being pragmatic and analytical, and focusing on the development of long-range, comprehensive plans. Only 12 per cent of today’s leaders have a primary style that is democratic and involved.

As director of workforce engagement and communications for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), Erin Sills is responsible for leadership and culture development, change management, team effectiveness and internal communications.

Ninety-four per cent of employees who report that change was not handled well in their organizations are disengaged, according to a global study by Right Management. The research identifies the factors critical to change implementation effectiveness and the correlation with employee engagement. For employees who said leadership managed change effectively, only 40 per cent  were disengaged.

Right Management’s white paper, entitled “Ready, Get Set…Change! The Impact of Change on Workforce Productivity and Engagement,” summarizing the key findings drawn from research of 28,000 employees in 15 countries. The paper serves to demystify the change process and highlight key engagement drivers that senior leaders can use to effectively improve change management initiatives and results.

“Employee engagement is a key driver of organizational effectiveness and directly impacts productivity and profitability,” says Deborah Schroeder-Saulnier, senior vice president for global solutions at Right Management. “It’s a critical measure of person-organization alignment, expressed as employee satisfaction, commitment, pride and advocacy. Disengaged employees negatively impact productivity, customer retention, morale and satisfaction on the job.”

Schroeder-Saulnier notes that change is necessary for companies to evolve and respond to dynamic market conditions. “Given the constant need to navigate rapid change, such as organization restructurings, revamped product lines or the appointment of a new leader, it is imperative that organizations introduce systems to help their entire workforce to participate in and adapt to change. Leaders need to involve their workforce in change, not just impose it. They can be more effective in implementing changes by understanding behaviours that create obstacles. Agile organizations can be trained to embrace change, not only as a one-time event, but on an ongoing basis.”

Key findings from the global study include:

• Best performing organizations manage change nearly four times more effectively. In top-performing companies (defined as those achieving higher revenue and above-average customer loyalty profit results), 60 per cent  of employees responded that “change is handled effectively in my organization,” compared to 16 per cent  of employees in below-average performing organizations.

• Less than half (43 per cent ) of employees are confident in their organization’s change process.  One in three employees believes their organization does not handle change effectively.

• The biggest downfall for senior leaders is the perception that they do not follow through on what they say they will do. Less than half (47 per cent ) agreed that senior leaders communicated change effectively; 54 per cent  of employees doubted senior leaders’ ability to respond appropriately to changing external conditions.

• Organizations that do not manage change well are four times more likely to lose talent.  Twenty per cent of employees who perceived change was not handled effectively indicated they planned to leave within one year versus only 5 per cent of employees who held a favourable view. The latter planned to stay for at least five years.

• Ineffective change management can lead to lower levels of job confidence. Of the employees who reported that change management was not handled well, 45 per cent  expressed favourable feelings about not losing their job within 12 months, while 32 per cent did not. This is in stark contrast to organizations with effective change management, where 80 per cent  of respondents had positive feelings about keeping their job versus only 7 per cent  who did not.

• Ineffective change management negatively impacts an organization’s ability to attract talent. When employees reported that change was managed poorly in their organizations, 75 per cent of respondents had concerns with their company’s ability to attract talent.

Schroeder-Saulnier notes that employees are not always prepared to successfully embrace change, thwarting the organization’s ability to meet objectives. “Change is often perceived as threatening and can be distracting and disruptive to your organization’s ability to operate efficiently. Employees need to be treated as more than passive recipients of change.”

Copies of the white paper, “Ready, Get Set…Change! The Impact of Change on Workforce Productivity and Engagement,” can be obtained by contacting This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Right Management surveyed 28,810 employees across 10 industries in 15 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Demark, France, Germany, India, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States). The data was collected between November 2008 and January 2009.

Right Management (www.right.com) is the talent and career management expert within Manpower, the global leader in employment services. 

There may be no quick fix to the current financial crisis, but fostering new perspectives by advancing more women into leadership positions is a sure-fire, long-term resolution, says Groundbreakers, a new report from Ernst & Young.

“Groundbreakers is about diversity of thought and not necessarily about race, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, which we traditionally associate with diversity,” says Lou Pagnutti, Ernst & Young chairman and CEO. “Canada, and the world for that matter, needs business leaders who bring different skills, who think about familiar problems in new ways, and reject the kind of groupthink that may have contributed to the global financial challenges the world is facing.”

In Groundbreakers, Ernst & Young brings together telling research that makes clear the case for more women leaders in business. For instance, the report cites data from Goldman Sachs that found closing the gap between male and female employment rates could boost US GDP by as much as 9 per cent, Eurozone GDP by 13 per cent, and Japanese GDP by 16 per cent.

“Investing in women to drive economic growth is not simply about morality or fairness. It’s about honing a competitive edge,” says Pagnutti. “There is opportunity during this time of adversity – it’s time we recognize that, and build women into the leadership fabric of our organizations. Diversity is not a ‘nice to have.’ It’s a business imperative.”

Groundbreakers references an Economist magazine report that says over the past few decades, women have contributed more to the world’s GDP than has new technology or the emerging economies of China and India.

Groundbreakers also cites data from a 2007 Catalyst report that found that on average, Fortune 500 companies with more women on their boards of directors turned in better financial performances than those with fewer women board directors.

How can Canadian companies build leadership capacity for increased competitiveness?

1. Create a deliberate plan to get women into leadership positions. Don’t just wait for time to fix inequities. Implement programs to get women the right mentoring and experiences, and make sure accountability exists in order for this plan to be realized.

2. Work towards “functional diversity.” Professor Scott Page of the University of Michigan uses this term to capture the idea that we need people with diverse ways of perceiving problems, rather than groupthink, in order to devise better solutions. Research has shown that, under the right conditions, a group of intelligent problem solvers chosen completely at random will likely outperform a homogenous group of even the best problem solvers.

3. Don’t underestimate the power of critical mass. A 2007 McKinsey study showed companies with three or more women in senior management scored higher than companies with no women at the top over a range of measures for organizational excellence. It is not just about adding a woman here or there. It is about building the critical mass that gives people the power to speak up, and to have their views heard.

Ernst & Young is recognized as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for 2009. For more information, please visit www.ey.com/ca.

With turbulent markets and talent challenges facing companies in Europe, a new study identifies compelling talent management practices that will help companies engage top talent more effectively, reap the benefits of under-utilized leadership, and remain competitive. Otherwise, according to the study, European employers are at risk of losing hard-to-replace and valued business leadership, possibly to competitors.

Reporting on the attitudes and mindset of current and future business leaders in Europe, Leaders in a Global Economy: Talent Management in European Cultures, by Catalyst and Families and Work Institute, surveyed over 4,500 senior and pipeline (future) business leaders in three cultural regions: Anglo, Germanic, and Latin Europe. Notably, the study revealed that nearly one-half of leaders intended to leave or were uncertain about staying with their current employer over the next five years. The study highlighted specific cultural challenges and barriers across gender and region which impact leaders, particularly women leaders who perceive less access to talent management practices.

“Not surprisingly, our study reveals few women currently in senior leadership but many women in the pipeline, suggesting a different future reality,” says Nancy Carter, PhD., vice president, research, Catalyst and co-author of the study. “We heeded the call to help senior executives improve talent management systems and enhance potential for all talent – essential in tough economic times. We hope that companies will seize this opportunity to advance women leaders as they do men and lay the foundation for future success.”  

According to the study, focused talent management practices can reduce barriers across region, rank, and gender and counter the downward spiral of job/company dissatisfaction, lessened commitment, and greater intent to leave. The study underscored that when women and men leaders are satisfied with access to talent management practices, they are more likely to view their jobs and companies more positively, feel greater responsibility to do a good job and, ultimately, are less likely to leave.

Among the study’s critical findings:

• There was no difference between what men leaders and women leaders plan to do if they leave their current employer. Of women and men leaders who intend to leave, 82 per cent said they planned to stay in the workforce; nearly 60 per cent of that group intended to seek a job at a similar organization. And there was little evidence that women were more likely than men to leave large multinational companies for smaller ones or to start their own businesses.
• Women and men leaders in Anglo Europe were most at risk of leaving their current employers within five years. Women and men leaders in Germanic Europe were least likely to leave their current employers within five years.
• Women and men leaders in Latin Europe reported lower satisfaction than Anglo and Germanic European leaders about company commitment to talent diversity.
• Women leaders were less likely than men to receive constructive feedback and to see promotion and work assignment decisions as fair. Women leaders in Latin Europe were least likely to perceive work assignments and promotion decisions as fair, while women under 30 were more likely to perceive work assignments and promotion decisions as fair. Women leaders also reported having less ‘line of sight,’ an understanding of how their job impacts company success.

 “We saw in our last study that, although women and men hold nearly identical workplace values, men find a better workplace fit than do women. This study shows that women face greater career barriers and perceive less access to helpful talent management practices,” says Ellen Galinsky, president, Families and Work Institute and co-author of the study. “Now we’ve identified ‘power practices’ that can reduce those barriers and increase commitment, with significant benefits for talent and employers.”   

According to the study, barriers to career advancement include lack of access to champions and mentors, limited knowledge of company politics, few role models, and limited access to job opportunities. The study points to specific talent management practices with greatest impact on reducing career barriers. Those powerful practices include:

• Constructive feedback which can lead to increasing a positive view of job and greater intent to stay.
• Support from supervisors which can lead to increasing a positive view of job and greater intent to stay.
• Fair and just decision-making in allocation of work assignments which can lead to increasing a positive view of company and commitment to doing a good job.
• Fair and just decision-making in promotions which can lead to increasing a positive view of job and of company and greater intent to stay.
• Line of sight – understanding company goals and how one’s job links to those goals – which can lead to increasing a positive view of job and of company, commitment to doing a good job and greater intent to stay.

Specifically, leaders surveyed recommended that their organizations:  

• Make valuable job opportunities available for leadership development that will increase breadth and depth of knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• Offer mentorship and guidance to leaders that will help them acquire skills needed to succeed in their roles and advance to the next level.
• Provide supervisory support as well as manager accountability.
• Engage in more constructive feedback on an ongoing basis that is tough, direct and honest.
• Listen to employees and build transparency, equity and consistency.
• Create a culture that offers options for getting work done without neglecting personal lives, using skills and abilities in a more efficient manner.

Leaders in a Global Economy: Talent Management in European Cultures is the third in the landmark Leaders in a Global Economy series which explores talent management systems in the global marketplace. Sponsors of the study include: BP p.l.c., Citigroup Inc., Henkel, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM Corporation, Johnson & Johnson; JPMorgan Chase & Co., Total S.A., and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Founded in 1962, Catalyst is the leading nonprofit membership organization working globally with businesses and the professions to build inclusive workplaces and expand opportunities for women and business. With offices in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and more than 400 preeminent corporations as members, Catalyst is the trusted resource for research, information, and advice about women at work. Catalyst annually honors exemplary organizational initiatives that promote women’s advancement with the Catalyst Award.

Families and Work Institute (FWI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that studies the changing workforce, family and community. As a preeminent think-tank, FWI is known for being ahead of the curve, identifying emerging issues, and then conducting rigorous research that often challenges common wisdom, provides insight and knowledge, and inspires and leads to change. Its purpose is to create research to live by.

To learn more about this report, as well as the other reports in the Leaders in a Global Economy series, please visit www.catalyst.org and www.familiesandwork.org.