Canadian HR Reporter

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Price subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. Visit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation Perfectbound Published December each year On subscription $77 One time purchase $80 L88804-677 Multiple copy discounts available. Plus applicable taxes and shipping & handling. (prices subject to change without notice) you have toxicity, where you have terminations that should not hap- pen, where you might have differ- ent incidents or issues on a sliding scale of a violence... continuum." e company takes a holistic approach by having programs and services available to employ- ees through its benefits programs and EAP services, in addition to its talent management strategy and learning and development culture, said Wright. "(is ensures) that we've got competent supervisors, compe- tent leaders so that we are not in a situation where we could be seen as negligent, in terms of pro- moting somebody into a position (they) might not understand and have good emotional intelligence as it relates to leading people." Leadership issues To convince the C-suite of the need for transformation, the data piece is absolutely important, said Klein. And then it's about layering in stories, connecting with people in their network. "rough experience in talk- ing about culture with the very senior leaders, depending on the organization, they just don't un- derstand what that is, so talking about 'changing culture' becomes this big fluffy thing," she said. "So the more tactical you can bring that definition down to your senior leaders, that would be great. And sometimes… (they) might actually be part of the prob- lem as well." You have to start at the top, said Klein. at means defining the de- sired behaviours that are essential to leaders. "And then, with that, start to bring that down into the orga- nization — so which leaders are demonstrating it, which ones are not, do we have time to build them up, to build their capability up to be the leader that we want them to be or is the time so toxic, we've got to pull them out and put someone else in?" she said. "So it's seek to understand and assessing your leadership, one by one, and starting to embed those into your talent processes, into your performance reviews, into your recruitment strategy, into your assessment tools that assess external talent, so any leaders that are coming in… whether they be people leaders or a person who's on your front line operating that equipment, are they demonstrat- ing those leadership values that are so important for us, those behaviours." Too often, leaders aren't trained properly, they don't gain the skills from the organization or previous jobs for dealing with issues like this, said Bar-David. Research has shown low-level behaviours such as bullying and incivility can affect productivity and inter-team col- laboration, and a lot of these be- haviours are demonstrated from the top, she said. ere's also human nature — people are complex and don't always want to see or deal with issues. "e other element is our own inner world and our inner psyche. We humans, whether we're man- agement or not, we try avoiding situations that have to do with conflict, anything that could po- tentially make us less likeable or enter conflict in general. In Cana- da, we have a culture of being nice so anything that goes against that is problematic," said Bar-David. "So even if you have built the competence organizationally, we still have all these internal barri- ers within us, as managers and leaders, to actually take the action that's necessary on the ground — fear of things backfiring, etcetera — and that I think is the emotional intelligence part that is crucial." ROuNDTabLe < pg. 6 Define desired behaviours essential to leaders Employee health is core to organizational success tHE Canadian HR Reporter roundtable on organizational health provided an excellent over- view of how important it is to have a healthy workplace environment, and how fragile that healthy bal- ance can be. Firstly, this panel of experts focused on what defines a great workplace — the culture, the people and the leadership — and how open communications and employee trust are critical to maintaining a healthy and pro- ductive organization. Secondly, they examined ele- ments that can erode even the best of workplaces, including "creeping culture" and micro-cultures that can develop on the peripheries of an organization and might not be visible to HR and leadership until serious issues arise. All agreed it can start with the smallest nega- tive action or incident and grow quickly from there. e panel discussed best prac- tices that really nourish a healthy work environment including: formal training for managers to recognize and be able to respond to red flags; the importance of communication with employees and providing a safe forum for feedback and reporting; engaging employees in processes to sup- port positive workplace culture; and ensuring everyone knows and understands the values of the or- ganization and keeps them front of mind in their day-to-day activi- ties. All confirmed that a healthy workplace starts at the top and leadership must be committed to walking the talk. e group then looked at what happens when the environment becomes toxic — who is likely to first notice issues, and how best to start the process of detoxifica- tion. ey also examined the toll a toxic environment can take on employee health and well-being. The collateral damage to both presenteeism and absenteeism was discussed, as well as costly consequences such as rising dis- ability claims. e panel concurred that it's the "how" that makes the difference —the right leadership decisions and commitments, a thoughtful- ly designed benefit program that includes an Employee Assistance Program to support employees, and the implementation of — and commitment to — strong, trans- parent strategies and policies . Sun Life sponsored this round- table because our vision is to create a healthy Canada — one organization, one employee at a time. We believe employee health is core to the foundation of es- tablishing a positive work culture and supporting optimal organiza- tional success. We are committed to organizational health, which means everything from the phys- ical and psychological well-being of employees to the employer's bottom line. And we connect the dots in between to ensure employers can measure and understand the val- ue of the investments they make in the health of their employees. Credit: Liam Sharp It's important to build pride in the organization around how great the corporate culture is and celebrate all the wonderful things that are going on with employees — and thank them, says Fallon.

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