There is an old saying that goes something like this……….."Respond in haste, regret in sorrow." Staying the course and providing strong leadership during turbulent times has never been more important. The ability to weather the storm by developing viable sustainable long term solutions is clearly the hallmark of a resilient leader, but don't do it alone. Involve staff at all levels to brainstorm creative long term strategies. Tap the collective brainpower that exists within your organization. You'll be surprised at the depth and scope of ideas generated by individuals wanting to be part of the solution.

Town hall meetings, blogs, employee surveys, newsletters, workshops are all good vehicles for updating and sharing information with employees. It is typically out of challenges such as these that the greatest opportunities emerge. In the words of the American essayist, John Burroughs, "the lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are."

We hope you enjoy the spring issue of our newsletter. Bringing articles which are of interest to you is important to us. As always, we welcome your comments and feedback so pick up the phone or fire off an email, we'd love to hear from you.

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." (Edith Lovejoy Pierce.) On behalf of us here at Kinnear & Associates Consulting, we would like to extend our very best wishes for a healthy and inspiring 2012. With this brand new year, come other new beginnings. Our quarterly newsletter, HR MATTERS has a new look which we are pretty excited about. We are about ready to launch our new website kinnearandassociates.com the second week in January. As always, your input is invaluable to us and we look forward to hearing how you like the new format of the newsletter and website. Maybe it goes back to childhood, but I have always felt that September and January are pretty serious months. Nose to the proverbial grindstone, kind of months. A time to knuckle down; get back to business; another chance to get it right!

As we, at Kinnear & Associates gear up for the year ahead, we remain resolute in our commitment to provide you with timely, relevant and provocative information which we hope will help you to make good HR decisions for your organization. For those of you whom we'vealready worked with, we thank you for allowing us into your workplaces and we hope to have the opportunity to work with you once again. For those of you whom we have not yet met, we welcome the opportunity of working with you in 2012.

Brenda Kinnear,
President Kinnear & Associates Consulting

- by Brenda Kinnear -

As managers, most of us would like to think that we're indispensible. The truth of the matter is that we aren't. Planning for leadership continuity long before you hand over the keys to the executive washroom is not only a wise thing to do, it is essential to the ongoing success of your business.

Many organizations fail miserably at succession planning, waiting until it is far too late to adopt a systematic and strategic approach to filling key positions within their organization.

Jack Welch the eminent CEO of General Electric up until 2000 stated in 1991, nine years before his retirement that "from now on, choosing my successor is the most important decision I'll make. It occupies a considerable amount of thought almost every day." A pretty compelling statement from a man who increased the value of General Electric from $13 billion to $410 billion during his tenure.

- by Brenda Kinnear -

As the last vestiges of fall slip away, we turn our attention to the upcoming holiday season and the close of yet another year. Predictably we ask ourselves "where has the time gone?" The fact of the matter is that we have been busy - real busy. Technology has transformed us - not exactly a revelation but it has changed every aspect of our being. We work faster; we accomplish more, our 24/7 connectivity means that there is virtually no separation between work and play. Our Blackberry keeps buzzing, the emails and text messages keep flying and oh those irritating meeting notification reminders that go off in the middle of the night. Thanks to technology we can reach and be reached anytime, anywhere.

Let's face it; this hyper-connected world that we live in isn't going away anytime soon so we need to find a way to co-exist in harmony with it.

Now back to the question of "where has the time gone?" Step away from the computer, set your blackberry on vibrate and forward your telephone. A moment or two of quiet time to reflect on all that was in 2010.

I'm sure you've read this quote before "The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates said that at his trial for heresy. The sad thing is that most people don't examine their lives. The notion of reflection and self examination is inconsistent, with the high-tech wired world in which we live and conflicts with our entrenched cycle of work week after week. Reflection enables us to remember the past, plan for the future and consider the consequences of our relationship with ourselves and with others. It is a way of checking in and answering the question of how we are doing.

- by Brenda Kinnear -

In December of last year, Bill 168 - an Act to amend the Occupational Health & Safety Act (OHSA) with respect to violence and harassment in the workplace was passed. Effective June 15, 2010, this bill came into effect. This bill imposed new and onerous obligations on employers with five or more regularly scheduled employees.

We are now more than a month in, and organizations and HR professionals in particular, are living with the impact of the extensive amendments to the OHSA.

The following bullet points represent the most substantive employer obligations associated with Bill 168:

Risk Assessments:

• Employers must conduct a risk assessment in order to identify potential sources of harassment and violence within the workplace.
• The results of the risk assessment is to be shared with either the joint health and safety committee or the health and safety representative or the employee group whichever is relevant within your organization.
• Employers are required to share information with employees, necessary to protect them from physical injury when there is a risk of exposure to individuals within the workplace with a history of violence.

- by Brenda Kinnear -

Effective June 15, 2010 Bill 168, the new Occupational Health & Safety Act created to prevent workplace violence and harassment will come into force.

In our January 30, 2010 Employment Update, we detailed extensively the new and onerous employer obligations associated with Bill 168.
Employers are well advised to focus their attention on the following to ensure compliance by June 15th:

RISK ASSESSMENTS: Employers must conduct a risk assessment in order to identify potential sources of harassment and violence within the workplace.

Recommendations

1. Employees are one of the best sources for soliciting input regarding potential risks of violence or harassment in the workplace. Information may be solicited via questionnaire, e-mail or collected formally during departmental meetings.
2. Check out what other similar organizations have done.
3. If you are a member of an association speak with them. They may be able to assist you in identifying risks inherent with certain positions (i.e. nurses, mental health workers etc.)
4. Review the history of complaints, incidents of harassment and violence and allegations within your organization.
5. Identify the specific risk factors inherent in certain positions within your organization (i.e. working alone or in secluded or remote locations; working with volatile individuals; working with persons with a history of violence, substance abuse or who have had interaction with the criminal justice system; working with individuals who have a history of mental illness; and individuals who are responsible for handling money or other valuables.

- by Brenda Kinnear -

This is an archived article which was originally written by Brenda Kinnear in 2005. With the approaching holiday season, we thought that you might find it worthy of a re-read.

It is the annual staff Christmas party and tradition and budget dictate that it be held at the office. Being the benevolent employer, you announce that food and drink are on the house, and that operations for the day will cease as of 2:00 to allow the festivities to begin. Other than telephone coverage and dire emergencies staff are free to set up and begin the party.

Around 4:30, it becomes evident that one of your employees has become particularly loud and boisterous, which is out of character for her. Your hunch is that she has had too much to drink. You discretely approach her, offer to call her spouse to pick her up or alternatively, call a taxi to take her home. She responds that she is fine and doesn't require either. Shortly afterwards, she leaves the party and is involved in a car accident whereby injuries are sustained. Were your actions as the employer prior to the employee's departure from the workplace sufficient to safeguard her against potential harm? The short answer is "no."

Case law is very clear on the matter. The duty to safeguard employees from harm extends beyond the employer's premises, In this example, the employer had a duty to ensure that the employee did not become intoxicated while in the workplace so as to ensure her safe arrival home.

- by Brenda Kinnear -

As a business concept, CSR emerged in the late 20th century as an increasing number of organizations began to consider the impacts that corporate decisions had on society and the environment. This in part was fueled by the fact that stakeholders were becoming far more knowledgeable about corporate activities and demanding more ethical business practices and actions.

Essentially, CSR is a business model built on the concept that business needs to take greater responsibility for the economic, social and environmental impacts of their operation on customers, employees, suppliers, the broader community and the environment- stakeholders. It is about going beyond what is legislated and required to being responsible for actions, attitudes and values.

CSR embraces two main concepts – accountability and transparency. In addition to being held accountable for their financial performance and profitability, organizations are being held accountable by their stakeholders for their behaviour relative to human rights, business ethics, environmental policies, corporate governance, diversity, community development and workplace issues. Stakeholders are demanding disclosure about the organization's policies and practices which impact employees, communities and the environment.

- by Brenda Kinnear -

Jack Welch, the infamous former CEO of General Electric (G.E.), stated that "an organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage." There is virtually no other company on the planet, who has demonstrated the degree of investment and commitment to learning that G.E. has with an annual training and education budget of well over a billion dollars.

In this fast paced, global economy, organizations need to be more resilient and adaptable in order to meet changing markets, client and customer expectations and environmental conditions.

The term "learning organization" was first coined in the 1980's to describe organizations that experimented with new ways of conducting business in order to survive in turbulent, highly competitive markets. The widely held belief is that Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline, 1990) is considered to be the father of "organizational learning. While theorists and practitioners may differ in the language that they use, the following represents common principles held by some leading thinkers relative to a learning organization:

• creates continuous learning opportunities;
• promotes inquiry and dialogue;
• encourages collaboration and team learning;
• establishes systems to capture and share learning;
• empowers people toward collective vision; and
• connects the organization to its environment.