Human Resources 101

A study published in Canadian Social Trends found that workers in 1986 spent on average 4.2 hours, or 250 minutes, doing activities with their family members. In 2005, that time had dropped to 3.4 hours, or 205 minutes, a decline of 45 minutes.
“As work hours rise, family time falls.”
That’s the key conclusion of a [...]

Bert Webb has been one of my regular blog reads for some time. Back in September he seemed to slide off the face of the blogosphere without a word. Given the personal philosophy he has communicated in his writing, I figured some major upheaval was keeping him from posting. He’s back and his posts gives [...]

Canada’s New Government Appoints Expert Panel to Study Labour Market Conditions that Affect Older Workers
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, January 23, 2007—The Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, has announced the appointment of an expert panel to study labour market conditions affecting older workers. The Panel will look at potential measures to help older [...]

Last week, Fortune released its list of the 100 best companies to work for in the US. This week, Hewitt Associates’ listed the 50 Best Employers in Canada 2007:

1 Wellington West Capital Inc.2 EllisDon Corporation3 Edward Jones Canada4 Bennett Jones LLP5 PCL Constructors Inc.6 Sleep Country Canada7 Envision Financial8 Farm Credit Canada9 JTI-Macdonald Corp.10 [...]

Bad boy pastry chef Duff Goldman describes his employees and work environment

Here’s a piece from NPR looking at some of the things the LAPD Call Centre is doing to help their operators cope with stress.
Job stress costs employers $300 billion a year — but how do you keep workers from hitting the burnout point? Apryl Lundsten looks at how emergency call centers help their operators cope.
Marketplace: [...]

So, how do you handle the metrics on this?
Nearly one in five small business managers read work-related e-mails and other documents while in the bathroom, and 49 percent say they work while driving, according to a new survey commissioned by Staples Inc., the office-supply retailer with headquarters in Framingham.
Survey: 1 in 5 managers [...]

I’ve taken these resolutions from Bryan’s post at the Monster Blog and tweaked them a little from my perspective.

Improve Your Working Relationship with Your Boss: Regardless of whether your boss is good or bad, there are always ways to improve that relationship. Make 2007 the year you do something to make your day-to-day interactions with [...]

A new report by Statistics Canada smashes the myth of the paperless office, finding instead that paper consumption has doubled over 20 years even as Canadians adopt new technologies.
Per capita consumption of paper for printing and writing from the years 1983 to 2003 rose 93.6 per cent to 91.4 kilograms — about 20,000 pages per [...]

Co-workers are an inescapable fact of work life. And thanks to things like e-mail, videoconferencing, and cell phones, the co-workers themselves can be inescapable. At times, too much of even a terrific colleague can be, well, too much, and small doses of less-than-ideal workmates can be a nightmare. In honor of Halloween, here’s a look [...]