Canadian HR Reporter

PM40065782 RO9496 December 14, 2015 Leaders fi nd role more challenging today: Survey Issues include technology, regulatory environment, staffi ng BY SARAH DOBSON A GOOD MAJORITY — 87 per cent — of business leaders today feel their role is more challenging now than it was fi ve years ago, ac- cording to a survey by Robert Half Management Resources of 270 CFOs in Canada. "Facing an ever-evolving corpo- rate landscape, executives have to deal with the pressures of emerg- ing trends that require them to continually reassess everything from technology and staffi ng chal- lenges to regulatory demands and compliance requirements," said David King, Canadian president of Robert Half Management Re- sources in Toronto. e results are not surprising, according to Vince Molinaro, global managing director of stra- tegic solutions at Lee Hecht Har- rison Knightsbridge in Toronto. "We're fi nding leaders at all lev- els really are feeling under greater pressure, greater scrutiny and I think that's a reality of leadership today," he said. "The world of business, our world as a whole, has become more complex and in complexity, there's a pace of change, and you put those two together and things are not as clear-cut as they used to be, so that's one of the challenges." Competition is also that much harder, according to King. "There was probably a time where you could have identi- fi ed, over the course of a decade, 'Take care of me' Majority of workers expect employers to take care of their physical, psychological health: Survey BY LIZ BERNIER THE NUMBERS are in and they paint a clear picture: Four in fi ve Canadian workers expect their employer to help support their physical and psychological health, according to a study by Sun Life Financial. Far from being a "nice to have," health and wellness initiatives are expected of employers — and they can be a competitive diff erentia- tor, said Lori Casselman, assistant vice-president of integrated health solutions at Sun Life Financial in Toronto. ose results, while perhaps not surprising, are certainly striking, said Kevin Dougherty, president of Sun Life. "Eighty-four per cent of Ca- nadians say that employers are responsible for supporting their employees' physical health and that 86 per cent feel the same way when asked about psychological health," he said. Generation Y or millennials in particular feel employers have a key role to play in supporting their health and wellness, found the study of 2,404 Canadians between the ages of 18 and 80. " e one age group that really stood out for us was gen Y — they really feel that there's a signifi cant role for the employer in support- ing their health," he said. at fi nding is particularly sig- nifi cant for employers that will face a workforce increasingly made up of millennial workers, said Casselman — and the qual- ity of health and wellness support will certainly impact recruitment and retention. In fact, nearly two in fi ve mil- lennials (38 per cent) feel em- ployers are responsible for sup- porting their physical health, while 37 per cent feel employers are responsible for supporting their psychological health. is was the highest proportion of any age group, said Casselman. And more than one-third of Ca- nadians, or 35 per cent, said their physical or mental health had neg- atively impacted their productiv- ity at work in the last six months, found the study. Gen Y respondents were most likely to report that experience: 47 per cent said their health had negatively impacted their work productivity in the last six months, compared with 30 per cent of late boomers and 26 per cent of early boomers. " ere's also a huge connec- tion between employee engage- ment and wellness programs in the workplace. We're seeing em- ployers across the country em- bracing wellness because of the connection to employee engage- ment," said Dougherty. Employer responsibilities Wellness is recognized more and more as a diff erentiator for employers. It's not just some- thing nice to off er, it's a benefi t INSIDE EMPLOYERS > pg. 8 COMPETITIVE > pg. 2 EMPLOYER'S > pg. 6 Dealing with the aftermath Incidents like Paris attack can unsettle employees far and wide BY LIZ BERNIER TERROR attacks, tragedies and natural disasters can take a signifi - cant toll on the workplace — even if they occur thousands of kilome- tres away. e November attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and injured hundreds more have caused a great deal of distress, both for employees in France and around the world, said Bill Wilkerson, co-founder and CEO of Mental Health International in Toronto. And it's important that employers be aware of the potential mental health impacts on the workforce. "We are clearly entering into a drawn-out period where terror- ism in the form of public attacks and public threats is on all of our doorsteps — emotionally, if not in a practical, physical sense. e presence of the 24-hour news cy- cle is placing it there," he said. " ese are events which destroy individual lives and take normal places and turn them into a de- struction site in the blink of an eye. And that invariably intrudes on a person's own sense of safety and French police officers stand guard in Paris days after a series of deadly attacks in the French capital. Employees can be distracted — and distressed — by such events. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard WINTER BLUES Seasonal affective disorder can cast a pall on employees Too quali ed A growing number of grads are too good for their jobs page 3 Pocket dial Lies get Alberta employee in hot water page 5 Charlie Sheen Accommodating HIV, despite the stigma page 7 page 13 The CANADIAN OUTPLACEMENT COMPANY Since 1981

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