True Benefits Blog

2009 Employee Wellness Survey

Did you know that this is Canada’s Healthy Workplace month (October 5 to November 1, 2009)?

The 2009 National Wellness Survey conducted by Buffett & Co. reveals that Canadian organizations are making their employee’s health a priority.

According to the survey results, work-related stress, mental health issues, and high blood pressure are the top three health risks affecting participating organizations. In 2006, the top three major health risks were work-related stress, stress outside the workplace, and smoking. Seeing a pattern?

Stress in the workplace can have a significant impact on productivity, employee engagement, and health-related costs.

The ideal result of a wellness initiative is an increase in employee health and morale, and a decrease in absenteeism and presenteeism.

Almost all insurers now offer employee and family assistance programs, and wellness plans that can include smoking or blood pressure clinics, 24 counseling hotlines, and nutrition/weight management assistance.

What is your workplace doing to encourage employee wellness? Let us know in the comments section.

Rachel von Sturmer

www.truebenefits.ca

Employees Crave Financial Advice

Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) have been growing in popularity over the past 10 years. They are a confidential 24 hour counselling service that employees can access for issues ranging from stress at work or home, to finding eldercare, legal difficulties, and also receiving financial advice.

Shepell•fgi, a large Canadian EAP provider, has released a report, Financial Distress Impacts Health and Productivity. They found that the number of requests for financial counselling and consultation are increasing at double the rate of all other EAP services.

In the latter half of 2008, there was a 13% jump in the rate of access for financial issues as compared with the same period in 2007.

According to the report, the top five financial issues for employees were:

• debt/credit (37.6%)

• financial planning (15.2%)

• divorce/finances (8.7%)

• financial stress (5.5%)

• bankruptcy (5.2%)

Most EAP programs will provide referrals to financial or credit specialists who can provide confidential and unbiased help to employees.

Rachel von Sturmer, GBA, CFP, Benefits Specialist

www.truebenefits.ca

Happy Employees Cost Less

The happy employee: less stressed, fewer sick days taken, lower rate of disability leaves, balanced workload.

The unhappy worker: unengaged, takes twice as many sick days, more inclined to presenteeism, overburdened with work.

The bottom line: having happy, engaged and health employees can save a company money. A work environment that promotes well being is not only good for employees, it's good for business.

These findings are from the latest Best Employers study by Hewitt.

Rachel von Sturmer, BA, GBA, CFP

www.truebenefits.ca

Outplacement and Workforce Reduction Survey

Employers considering their options when it comes to reducing staff, implementing a hiring freeze or outsourcing work should take a look at this recent survey from the BC Human Resources Management Association (BCHRMA).

It provides a good summary of the staffing options available, and information on how a variety of BC organizations plan to act in the face of a downturn.

Rachel von Sturmer, BA, GBA, CFP

www.truebenefits.ca

Employees and Smoking

I was recently at a seminar offered by a major Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) provider, and the topic of smoking came up. In their research, they found that smoking is an indicator for an increased occurrence of employee absence, illness and health insurance claims.

While you cannot force employees to quit smoking, an employer would be smart to increase awareness of the benefits of quitting, and make confidential support resources available.

Here are some ideas to get started:

• Post information in your lunch room or staff room about your Employee Assistance Program (a confidential 24 hour employee wellness concierge service)

• Order information on quitting from the Canadian Cancer Society

• Post the contact information for QuitNow 1.877.445.2233, which offers a free "quit smoking program"

• Talk to your benefits advisor to see if smoking cessation products are covered by your benefits plan; this can easily be added in conjunction with an employee wellness program

For more information, contact me at rachel@truebenefits.ca or 604.872.2866.

Rachel von Sturmer, BA, GBA, CFP

www.truebenefits.ca

Confict Management in the Office

Stress levels are running high for everyone right now, and that can impact how well we interact with co-workers. Here are some sage tips from Canadian Business on keeping the peace for both employees and managers:

1. Always meet an opponent face-to-face: E-mail and phone calls are the easy way out. Fritz argues that to understand an opponent’s opinion, you need to look them in the eye.
2. Don’t hide your views: Immediately table your opinion in the first meeting aimed at resolving the conflict. Reaffirming the relationship is key to an eventual agreement.
3. Minimize status differences: No conflict situation is aided by condescending attitudes. Opposing parties should be dealt with respectfully and on an equal footing.   
4. Don’t place blame: Pointing the finger at someone else only exacerbates the problem.
5. Deal with conflict at the lowest possible level: As a manager, avoid becoming involved in conflicts that should be resolved by your employees. Although there are times, writes Fritz, that the boss needs to weigh in, becoming the office referee is a waste of valuable time.
6. Delay commitments to specific solutions: Too long a delay could make matters worse, but a limited interval often allows participants the flexibility to find a solution to the problem.
7. Identify areas of mutual agreement: Approach any conflict with a list of issues you can all agree on and move towards a resolution. 
8. Emphasize mutual benefits: If both parties understand what’s at stake, they’ll have concrete reasons to cooperate.
9. Avoid judgmental language: The wrong choice of words can highlight inner feelings that could intensify the conflict.
10.  When errors cause a conflict, be specific: Avoid generalities and sweeping statements like “You always disagree with me!”
11. Build coalitions to handle future conflicts: Building on past success can help resolve future disagreements before they escalate out of control.
12. Examine your own biases first: Never let your own feelings interfere with your main goal—the satisfactory resolution of the conflict.

You can find the full article here.

Rachel

www.truebenefits.ca

Must Have Human Resource Policies

Here's a great article on HR policies, why your business needs them, what are the basics, and how to go about setting them up.

The top 10 HR policies to put into place at your business:

#1 Harassment

#2 Personal Information Privacy

#3 Technology Use

#4 Severance

#5 Disciplinary Process

#6 Attendance

#7 Overtime

#8 Conflict of Interest

#9 Code of Conduct

#10 Workplace Health and Safety

Are there any you're missing? As a business grows and hires staff, having an employee handbook that clearly summarizes HR policies and benefits becomes a must! Read through the full article here for some great information.

Rachel

www.truebenefits.ca

How To Attract New Talent

In a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers article, they state attracting new talent is the number one business challenge in 2008 for 61% of businesses. Keys to attracting key new talent are:

• Hire right. Have a very clear understanding of your culture and the type of people who best fit.
• Be clear with expectations. Companies that score high on employee satisfaction, have regular, formalized feedback processes in place.
• Be flexible. Flexible work arrangements including shorter work weeks and telecommuting are a business reality.
• Share the growth of the company. Go beyond cash bonuses-create a phantom stock plan, or allow employees to participate in the ownership of the company.
• Listen to your people. Create an environment that allows employees to enjoy what they do and to do what they do best.

Click here for the full article.

Rachel

www.truebenefits.ca

Employer Tool Kits

In response to the tight labour market, Work BC has created four free reports for BC employers:

How to Attract, Retain and Engage Employees
This foundation booklet provides a general overview of the resources and tools needed to help understand and deal with the labour and skills shortages in B.C.

It’s About Ability – The Mature Worker
This booklet provides practical tools for planning and implementing a strategy to include mature workers in your workforce. It includes techniques to uncover the potential in mature workers to ensure that they play a key role in strengthening your increasingly multigenerational workplace.

Under the Labour Radar – Aboriginal People, Women, Youth and People with Disabilities
There are several under-utilized pools of workers in B.C. which have an important role to play in addressing labour shortages. This booklet has information on the unique contributions and motivations of each group, as well as a selection of customized engagement and recruitment tools.

Diversity at Work - Recruiting and Retaining Immigrants
This booklet provides insight into the advantages that are created by consciously diversifying your workforce to include immigrants and temporary foreign workers. It offers resources, tips and ideas on attracting the applicants that you are seeking, as well as for preparing your work environment to enable you to retain new talent.

Let me know which you found to be of the most value for your business. Click here to access the articles.

Rachel

www.truebenefits.ca

Benefit Trend - Pets at Work!

According to a recent Globe and Mail article, a trendy way to appeal to employees is to allow pets at work. From the article:

"A recent poll by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association suggests nearly one in five companies permit pets. Benefits range from reduced employee absenteeism to workers agreeing to put in more hours because they're not fretting about racing home to walk the dog or feed the cat her vittles.

Not every workplace is ideal for animals, though. Health care, food service and factory settings are obvious no-go zones. But so are those where numerous employees are allergic, phobic or simply regard pets as pests."

Rachel

www.truebenefits.ca