I have the utmost respect for Supervisors, Leaders and Managers – (for simplicity sake, I will refer to the entire spectrum as “Managers” for the remainder of this blog.) We ask them for so much, yet at times, provide them with so little. What am I referring to? Please let me elaborate. First of all, …
Salopek HR Blog
Forbidden Love: Office Romance and HR
With Valentine’s Day upon us, love is in the air! Candy hearts and red roses abound. Great if you’re in a relationship, but not so awesome if you are single and looking for love. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the office is one of the most common places to find that someone special. This is not overly …
The Opportunity of Accommodation
As human resources professionals, the backbone that surrounds of much of the work that you do is the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. You are all familiar with your duty to accommodate and what that means for your employers. Accommodation is deeply ingrained in the human resources profession and is part of something we …
Recruiting All-Star Candidates
Recruitment is one human resources process in which there is never a dull moment. People are unpredictable and organizations are so dynamic, and often there are at least a couple quick changes throughout the process that force us recruiters to scramble and reorganize. As a recruitment specialist, I am often tasked by my clients to …
Launch: 2017 Training Workshop Program
As we plan for the year ahead, and respond to an economy that is beginning to rebound, many companies are focusing their HR efforts on maximizing employee engagement and developing strategies for retaining top talent. Employers are recognizing that culture, learning opportunity and skills development are increasingly important to employees today, and for many, it …
Onboarding Contract and Temporary Workers
In December my colleague, Leah Fochuk, wrote an excellent article about best practices in HR. (Definitely worth a read if you haven’t seen it). In her article she mentioned onboarding of employees. Today, I would like to look at this from a slightly different point of view – Onboarding Contract and Temporary Workers. In our …
Managers – Not Always Overtime Exempt
I recently had a client whose management team was feeling increasingly frustrated by the large amounts of additional hours they were being expected to work on a regular basis. They were told that they were managers and therefore, not entitled to overtime. Which, may or may not be true. Just because you give someone a …
Recruiting in a Down Economy
It is no secret that in Alberta, and more specifically in Calgary, we are experiencing a very challenging economic time and job market. Thousands of Calgarians have lost their jobs and are seeking employment, many of them unemployed for an extended period of time. The latest unemployment rate in November 2016 has Alberta’s largest city …
You’ve Hired Em’, Now How Do You Keep Em’?
As Alberta still struggles with the economic downturn, we are starting to see more stability. According to results of the most recent Alberta HR Trends Report conducted by HRIA, fewer organizations are expecting further layoffs, with about 45% of Alberta companies surveyed expecting their staffing numbers to stay the same. In fact, about 25% of …
Removing Fear Of The ‘A’ Word
Duty to Accommodate. These 3 words can bring about fear in even seasoned human resource professionals. And why wouldn’t you be scared of it? When you typically think of accommodation, extra costs, extra effort and great difficulty and complexity probably come to mind. Human Resources is a field where there is not always a right …