Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER CANADIAN HR REPORTER April 7, 2014 April 7, 2014 18 18 INSIGHT INSIGHT HANGMAN WANTED, FOREIGNERS NEED NOT APPLY COLOMBO, SRI LANKA — Two Australians have applied in vain for Sri Lanka's hangman job after the island nation's offi cial execu- tioner got upset and quit upon seeing the gallows for the first time. "Two Australians have sent emails to one of our departments saying that they are interested," Chandrarathna Pallegama, com- missioner general of prisons, told Reuters. "One is a system adminis- trator and the other had not men- tioned what job he is doing. We have not called the applications, moreover we do not have any provisions to recruit foreigners." e hangman who resigned was the third most qualifi ed among 176 applicants — the first two chosen for the job failed to show up for work. e country has not executed anyone since 1976 but there are at least 405 convicts on death row and there have been in- creased calls for the death penalty due to a rise in child abuse, rape, murder and drug traffi cking. HEADING TO CHINA? PACK YOUR SMOG INSURANCE BEIJING — China's notorious smog is making it diffi cult for foreign fi rms to convince top executives to work in the country, according to the American Chamber of Com- merce in Beijing. Nearly one-half (48 per cent) of foreign fi rms said air quality concerns were turning senior executives away, according to Reuters. Panasonic recently told its union it will review the hardship allowance paid to expatriates in China because of air quality. And a state-owned insurer unveiled a plan to off er Beijing residents insurance to cover against health risks caused by air pollution. It will pay out 1,500 yuan ($270 Cdn) to policyholders hospitalized by smog. HANDSOME MEN WIN OVER INVESTORS BOSTON — Looking for that secret ingredient to getting investors to fork over money for a business startup? Just hire a handsome man. at's because investors are more likely to put money into a business idea pitched by a man than a woman — and even more so if the man is good-looking, ac- cording to study from researchers at MIT, Harvard and the Wharton School. A good idea and an expe- rienced presenter aren't always enough to win fi nancial backing, it found. APPLEBEE'S COULDN'T MAKE CHANGE SUMTER, S.C. — When Michael Williams' debit card was declined after eating lunch at a South Car- olina Applebee's, he didn't panic. He simply opened his wallet and handed over a $1-trillion bill. e restaurant — which didn't quite have enough cash in the till to give him change — called police. Williams, 53, was arrested on an unrelated charge of contempt of magistrate's court, according to WIS-TV. He was also ordered to pay $262 in court fees. W EIRD ORKPLACE THE CANADA'S LEAST COMMON OCCUPATION OTTAWA — e fur trade may have helped found and build Can- A ada, but there are not many people manning the paddles in birchbark canoes these days. Just 455 Canadians listed hunting and trapping as their occu- pation in the most recent Statistics Canada household survey, making it the least common occupation in the country. But not everyone is shedding a tear over the trade's demise. Dan Matthews, senior vice-president of campaigns at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in Norfolk, Va., told the Toronto Star that trapping has "questionable ethics" and "you don't have to kill animals to r survive and in fact it's bad business at this point." Vol. 27 No. 7 – April 7, 2014 PUBLISHED BY PUBLISHED BY Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 ©Copyright 2014 by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. CANADIAN HR REPORTER CANADIAN HR REPORTER is published 22 times a year. Publications Mail – Agreement # 40065782 Registration # 9496 – ISSN 0838-228X Director, Carswell Media: Karen Lorimer - (416) 649-9411 karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com Publisher and Editor: John Hobel - (416) 298-5197 john.hobel@thomsonreuters.com EDITORIAL EDITORIAL Managing Editor: Todd Humber - (416) 298-5196 todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com Senior Editor: Sarah Dobson - (416) 649-7896 sarah.dobson@thomsonreuters.com News Editor: Liz Bernier - (416) 649-7837 liz.bernier@thomsonreuters.com Employment Law Editor: Jeffrey R. Smith - (416) 649-7881 jeffrey.r.smith@thomsonreuters.com Videographer: Zachary Pedersen - (416) 649-9584 zachary.pedersen@thomsonreuters.com Labour Relations News Editor: Sabrina Nanji - (416) 649-9348 sabrina.nanji@thomsonreuters.com Labour Relations News Editor: Liz Foster - (416) 298-5129 liz.foster@thomsonreuters.com Website and Online Co-ordinator: Mina Patel - (416) 649-7879 mina.patel@thomsonreuters.com ADVERTISING ADVERTISING Account Executive: Stephen Hill - (416) 298-5090 stephen.hill@thomsonreuters.com Account Executive: Kathy Liotta - (416) 649-9920 kathy.liotta@thomsonreuters.com Production Co-ordinator: Pamela Menezes - (416) 649-9298 pamela.menezes@thomsonreuters.com MARKETING AND CIRCULATION MARKETING AND CIRCULATION Marketing Manager: Mohammad Ali - (416) 609-5866 mm.ali@thomsonreuters.com Circulation Co-ordinator: Ellen Alstein - (416) 649-9926 ellen.alstein@thomsonreuters.com PRODUCTION PRODUCTION Manager, Media Production: Lisa Drummond - (416) 649-9415 lisa.drummond@thomsonreuters.com Art Director: John Kieffer SUBSCRIPTIONS SUBSCRIPTIONS Annual subscription: $169 (plus GST) GST#: 897 176 350 RT To subscribe, call one of the customer service numbers listed above or visit www.hrreporter.com. Address changes and returns: Send changes and undeliverable Canadian addresses to: SUBSCRIBER SERVICES SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Canadian HR Reporter One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 ❑ From time to time, we make our subscriber list available to companies and organizations whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you do not want your name to be made available, please check here and return with your mailing label. CUSTOMER SERVICE CUSTOMER SERVICE Call: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5082 (Toronto) (877) 750-9041 (outside Toronto) Email: carswell.customerrelations@ thomsonreuters.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR LETTERS TO THE EDITOR todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com CHRR reserves the right to edit for length and clarity. Todd Humber Editor's Notes Is money still a taboo topic? Is money still a taboo topic? ere are three well-worn taboos when it comes to the workplace: money, religion and politics. So when you hear of organiza- tions adopting transparent com- pensation philosophies — liter- ally opening up the books so ev- ery employee can see how much their co-workers make — it can be a shock to the system. As outlined in one of this issue's cover stories (see "You make how much?" on page 1), grocery chain Whole Foods has embraced the notion that being transparent is a best HR practice. SumAll sums it up Whole Foods isn't the only com- pany to take this stance. Last year, in the pages of Canadian Payroll Reporter, (see www.payroll-re- porter.com), we told the story of SumAll, a small company with 30 employees that puts all of its sal- ary information — including the CEO's pay — in an open, shared document on its internal network. Dan Atkinson, SumAll's New York City-based CEO, said the benefits for the company have been notable — "a lot less time lost to games, bureaucracy, nego- tiations — all the drama that goes along with salary." He called the structure a "mer- itocracy" and said it has helped people push themselves because they could see that higher-per- forming employees truly were being rewarded. Whole Foods thinks along the same lines, and it's easy to be drawn into that siren song — it's not hard to come up with a list of the benefi ts of everyone knowing how much their colleagues make, including their bosses. But an organization consider- ing that approach would have to ensure its compensation ducks are defi nitely in a row be- cause revealing salaries could be opening Pandora's box if salary structures are inconsistent or un- fair. It may be motivating to see that a high-performing manager is earning $10,000 more per year than her peers, but if nobody re- ally thinks that person is a high performer, it can have the reverse eff ect. e same is true if there are no clear links between performance and pay, or if the diff erence is negligible — why go the extra mile time and again for a measly couple hundred bucks extra per year? It may be comforting to know the person in the cubicle next to you is making the same amount as you, but it could be devastat- ing to morale to fi nd out a junior staff er with half your responsibil- ity is carting around a fatter wallet than you. at's why so few organizations have adopted this tactic — as ap- pealing as it may be, it is fraught with landmines that could be en- gagement and productivity killers that feed jealousy and turnover. And then there are the privacy concerns — for many people, money is very personal and they would be horrifi ed if everyone could see their salary. Lessons to be learned Not adopting the philosophy, though, doesn't mean you can't learn from it. Here's an exercise that could go a long way to im- proving compensation at any or- ganization: Pretend the books are open to everyone. Compensation reviews hap- pen all the time at organizations, but not necessarily in this light. If there is gross inequity in pay for similar positions, it's worth fi nding out why. It could be performance-based, and that would be a good thing. Or it could be that a manager has — either accidentally or sub- consciously — been giving larger raises to men than women. Or giving larger increases to Cau- casians versus minorities, which could raise pay equity and human rights issues. e decision to open the books is an extreme step that only a handful of organizations are will- ing to take at this point. But the underlying reason for doing so — fairness, equity and ensuring performance is truly rewarded — is worth emulating. Compensation will only be- come more open as time goes on. Of late, we've seen shareholders clamouring for a vote on how executives are paid through "say on pay" initiatives, and younger workers seem more inclined to talk money than their parents' generation. But just don't talk about religion or politics in the process. Some things have to remain taboo. It may be comforting to know the person in the next cubicle is making the same amount as you, but it could be devastating to fi nd out a junior staff er is earning more. "While I accept the need for fair treatment in many areas, I feel that to regard 'engineering licensing' as a human right is perhaps a step too far. Licensing is not required in order to be employed within engineering — licensing is only required where an engineer is taking responsibility. "Please do not underestimate the regional differences in engi- neering practices that our geography and climate introduce. Some- one from outside Canada unfamiliar with local conditions will not therefore know these matters and should not therefore be given a li- cence to take full responsibility for the design and safety of a project. "Speaking personally, as an engineer 'licensed' overseas, I did not regard myself as qualified to become a licensed engineer in Canada until I had significantly more local experience than one year. We foreign-trained engineers should not expect to be discriminated against in the job market, but when it comes to professional licens- ing, we should expect to be required to demonstrate our compe- tence to Canadian standards." — Eurlng Ashworth, commenting on Jeffrey R. Smith's blog "Not far enough." Join the conversation online. Comment freely on any blog on www.hrreporter.com. READER COMMENTS Credit: George W. Bailey/Shutterstock

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