Anthem for the Small Business Owner

Its 6:30 am on the morning after my Executive Chef’s wedding. I can hear the partygoers slowly dying off as I’m slowly waking up for yet again another 14-hour workday. As I sit here sipping on my venti, non-fat, sugar free, no whip, caramel macchiato and watching the sunrise over the mountains, I find myself …

5 Workplace Group Costumes to Win Halloween

Trick or Treat?! No seriously, with Halloween falling on a Wednesday this year, professionals excited about dressing up will want to make sure their corporate costumes come across more festive than offensive. Which, depending on where you work and the dress code in place, may prove to be quite the tricky task! A great way …

Salopek Family Farewell- Leah Fochuk

Working with people you respect, enjoy spending time with, and can learn from are critical components to being happy at work, and also happier in life. There are numerous studies and stats that back this up, but I think we could all probably agree that the impact of working with people we like (or don’t) …

Salopek’s Hiring! Senior HR Consultant

It’s an exciting time at Salopek & Associates because we are currently looking for the next passionate professional to join our HR Family! It’s an opportunity for us to grow our team, onboard new expertise and strengthen our ability to wow clients with consistently exceptional HR support. So basically, finding the right fit for us …

The Simple Art of Effective Listening

“Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.” –Doug Larson Among the many keys to establishing and maintaining a strong relationship, there isn’t anything I value more than practising effective listening skills. In my own experience, I have always felt more confident and empowered leaving a …

The Cost of a Coffee

Every weekday my husband spends $1.77 at Tim Hortons on a coffee. Every day – without fail. At first I thought the cost, although minimal compared to my $4.99 Starbucks obsession, was wasteful and unnecessary considering his employer offers free coffee at the office. But, upon further consideration, I started to realize what that $1.77 …

Kill’em With Kindness

The loveliest thing happened to me a few weeks ago… I finished a gruesome workout at Orange Theory Fitness Kensington called “Unrest”, and with my legs shaking, I walked home, anticipating picking up a large coffee as a treat for surviving my first workout in far too long…I ordered my coffee at my local coffee …

Expect R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Isn’t it a given – we should all expect respect? Why is it then that we are spending considerable time and resources in our businesses ensuring everyone is aware of the importance of a respectful work place? I believe the answer is that if we don’t, we can’t be assured that everyone is on the …