Canadian HR Reporter

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Productivity concerns A second concern, of course, is that of productivity, said Kuzz — how can employers strike a balance between maintaining a productive workplace without taking too hard a line against a little harmless fun? "at's where I think you have the balance of the workplace culture that you want to create and foster versus the productiv- ity challenge. I think it's a similar thing to what we saw many em- ployers face with Facebook," she said. "I don't think a lot of employ- ers have had a ton of success with completely prohibiting Facebook use. I think many have tried, and they found first of all if people weren't using it on their work- place computers, then they sim- ply had their personal phones on their desk and were doing it that way — or the workplace culture was adversely affected and people felt like they were subject to a Big Brother culture," said Kuzz. "You have to figure out where you as an employer want to strike a balance of the blending of the personal and the work-related." Obviously, from a productivity perspective, time-wasting on the job is a risk. Productivity will suf- fer, and perhaps attendance also, said Fochuk. "Employers may worry that em- ployees will be so wrapped up in the game, they will be coming in late or taking extra-long breaks or lunches," she said. ere's also the concern it could interfere with business in general — for instance, employees don't answer the phone or provide good customer service because they're so involved with the game. Best practices Augmented reality is impacting workplace reality, according to Ron Minken, partner at Minken Employment Lawyers in Union- ville, Ont. — and there are best practices employers can follow to minimize risk. Employers should account for augmented reality and mobile gaming in policies such as health and safety policies and employ- ment agreements, he said. "What's really important is that the employer consistently enforces these policies in terms of the employment agreement because, otherwise, they could be seen as condoning it or implicitly acknowledging that this conduct is being permitted." Those policies should state employees are prohibited from downloading games such as this on an employer device or the em- ployer network, he said. "at's also including off-site workers. What could that worker be doing? He could be wandering around the neighbourhood. He may get hit by a car, he may hit someone else, he may trespass — who knows?" said Minken. "e employer should do noth- ing to approve the behaviour — otherwise, they could be liable for injuries that are suffered by the player. "e company should instruct employees as to how to address (this), how to discipline." Also, employers must prepare employees with how to deal with trespassing in the workplace, he said. With games such as this, people may begin to trespass on the workplace property — it may even be prudent to consid- er installing signage to prevent trespassing. "I think we can expect to see a number of increases in a number of things, and one would be ac- cidents in the workplace — slips, trips, falls, et cetera; trespassing outside the workplace by employ- ees; trespassing at the workplace by non-employees; breach of con- fidentiality by employees because they may walk into a certain area, and confidential information may be visible to them while they're in that area... and also claims for damage or interference with land," he said. "All in all, it's something that employers should be very much on top of and address by way of their policies or their employment agreements." Employers should be realistic about what this game could mean for games of the future that are very interactive, that access differ- ent information from a personal phone, said Fochuk. "e whole key here is if you embrace it and really manage it well," she said. ere can be significant pluses for team-building and morale if managed well. "Let's think about what the positives are, and how we can use that to do things like encourage engagement or develop your em- ployer branding," said Fochuk. "Employers have a lot of differ- ent options here." Enforcement of social media policies necessary POKEMON < pg. 1 (movement) because it's a global phenomenon, it's about sharing knowledge and ideas." CERC partnership CCHRA has also signed a memo- randum of understanding with the Canadian Employee Relocation Council (CERC) to strengthen the HR profession globally and in Canada, and "promote the value of employee mobility in address- ing talent gaps." e agreement includes a framework of mutual cooperation — particularly in ar- eas of professional development and research. CERC has partnerships with several organizations that have similar goals and interests, to im- prove the membership value, both within Canada and international- ly, said Stephen Cryne, president and CEO of CERC in Toronto. "We have longstanding allianc- es with a number of the provincial HR associations and share many of the same members. It seems like a natural step to put some further structure around those alliances at a national level, that can deliver benefits to members." Employee mobility is a niche area within the HR management function so it makes sense to work with CCHRA to provide tools and education that can help to im- prove management and deliver successful outcomes for trans- ferred employees, he said. "It also opens up the door to HR professionals to learn more about an increasingly important aspect of talent development. Compa- nies today are looking for talent that have global savvy (and) inter- national mobility is a key develop- ment tool in meeting that need." CCHRA felt there was a lot of affinity between HR and what CERC does, said Ariganello. "When issues happen with re- spect to employees moving here and there, it always will fall on the HR person to take care of matters and not only logistics but there's personal issues." In today's economy, it's amazing how much HR work is involved, even still, in relocating and mov- ing people, said Peacock. "at has a very specific skill set associated with it… it's under- standing too that when you are re- locating people, it's not just a trans- actional piece of the business, it's also transforming people's lives, so we have to understand the human resources implications of that." CERC agreement CCHRA < pg. 2 "Employers may worry that employees will be so wrapped up in the game, they will be coming in late or taking extra-long breaks or lunches." Credit: Heather Shimmin (Shutterstock) Interactive games like Pokemon can be a distraction in the workplace — but employers should tread carefully when it comes to all-out bans.

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