Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER December 11, 2017 18 INSIGHT PAY PERILS TORONTO — A Toronto wom- an was apparently "terrifi ed" to receive a long-awaited payroll de- posit from her employer recently. Kuini Chuen, a Health Canada chemist, had been waiting three months for a paycheque after the federal government's disastrous Phoenix payroll system failed to deliver pay to hundreds of thou- sands of employees. But when it fi nally came, Chuen wasn't sure if she should touch the funds, ac- cording to the CBC. She knew the deposit was too large because it didn't take into account the over- payments she'd received while on medical leave. "Never did I think there would be a day when I look at money being deposited into my ac- count and feel terrifi ed," she said. A single mother of four, Chuen said she would search for a second job if the payroll issues aren't resolved by 2018. "I really enjoy working for the public service, but I can't do it for free, with no end in sight." IS IT A BIRD? IS IT A PLANE? O K A N O G A N C O U N T Y, WASH. — A United States Navy air crew was grounded recently after using an advanced fi ghter jet to draw an inappropriate image in the sky over the state of Wash- ington with the exhaust. The image? A penis. Pictures of the condensed air trail made by the Navy E/A-18 Growler warplane immediately went viral on social media, according to Reuters. e Navy soon issued a formal apol- ogy, calling the manoeuvre an "irresponsible and immature act," and said it would investigate the incident to get all the facts and act accordingly. "Sophomoric and immature antics of a sexual nature have no place in naval aviation to- day," said vice-admiral Mike Shoe- maker, commander of the Naval Air Forces. HIDING OUT HELSINKI — A government offi - cial got into trouble with the Finn- ish police recently after he appar- ently hid in the trunk of a car to conceal his meeting with Prime Minister Juha Sipila. While police did not name the man involved, he was reported to be state secretary Samuli Virtanen, also the deputy to foreign minister Timo Soini. Looking to keep his meeting se- cret, Virtanen climbed into the back of the car but failed to use a safety belt and was therefore cited for breaching the traffi c code, ac- cording to Reuters. However, the road he travelled on had little traf- fi c, so only the man was at risk of harm, according to police. " e given notifi cation is considered as a suffi cient sanction," said inspec- tor Pekka Seppala. TRENDY TRANSPORTATION SYDNEY — An Australian mari- time union is unhappy about the name of a new boat many of its members will be working on. e name? Ferry McFerryface. The label came about after the New South Wales state government asked the public to vote on a name for one of its six new ferries. "Boaty McBoatface" was the top choice, but that was also the most popular choice by the British public in 2016 when they were asked to name a polar research vessel (the govern- ment eventually overturned that vote). So Australia chose Ferry McFerryface for the harbour ferry. But the union failed to see the fun- ny side. " e transport minister is demonstrating here that he treats public transport as a joke," said Paul Garrett, spokesperson for the Maritime Union of Australia, noting that ferries traditionally are named after Sydney's beaches or successful Olympians. W EIRD ORKPLACE THE Vol. 30 No. 21 – December 11, 2017 PUBLISHED BY Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 ©Copyright 2017 by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. CANADIAN HR REPORTER is published 21 times a year. Publications Mail – Agreement # 40065782 Registration # 9496 – ISSN 0838-228X Director, Media Solutions, Canada: Karen Lorimer - (416) 649-9411 karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com EDITORIAL Publisher/Editor in Chief: Todd Humber - (416) 298-5196 todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com Editor/Supervisor: Sarah Dobson - (416) 649-7896 sarah.dobson@thomsonreuters.com News Editor Marcel Vander Wier - (416) 649-7837 marcel.vanderwier@thomsonreuters.com Employment Law Editor: Jeffrey R. 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Address changes and returns: Send changes and undeliverable Canadian addresses to: SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Canadian HR Reporter One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 CUSTOMER SERVICE Call: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5082 (Toronto) (877) 750-9041 (outside Toronto) Email: customersupport. legaltaxcanada@tr.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com CHRR reserves the right to edit for length and clarity. Todd Humber EDiTOR'S NOTeS A wake-up call from my own staff H ere's a fun fact for all the kids out there — you never stop getting report cards. Sure, you don't have to take them home to get signed by your parents. But once you're outside the hallowed halls, the judgment of your work never truly ends. It just goes by diff erent names — performance reviews, 360-feed- back, manager effectiveness surveys. Instead of an A+ (or maybe the odd C), you get scores. Instead of glowing comments from teach- ers, you get constructive feedback from peers and bosses. Instead of a gold star, you get a raise or per- haps a bonus. (OK, that part is better.) I'm fresh off completing my performance review self-assess- ment, and still digesting the re- sults of my Manager Eff ectiveness Survey. I always fi nd this process fascinating. But here's the rub for me in 2017 — my eff ectiveness as a manager declined from past years. It went down noticeably in a few areas — which I don't mind sharing: •removes obstacles that prevent the team from getting things done •creates an environment that supports experimentation and curiosity •delivers timely, candid and ac- tionable feedback •recognizes people for their con- tributions and performance ex- cellence •demonstrates a genuine inter- est in employees' career devel- opment. These ratings really struck a chord with me, and it raised a question: What do I do about this? My role has changed quite a bit in the past year. I spend less time on editorial issues and more time on short- and long-term strat- egy. In real terms, that means I'm spending less time with my employees and far more time with our customers. And while I wouldn't say I neglected my team, there are certainly more days than I can count where I never inter- acted with them. e areas where I regressed are signifi cant — core engagement items where I was letting my team down. Sure, I can point to numerous accomplishments for the business and a healthy bottom line. But that's not the only part of my job that matters, and it's why I'm thrilled we do these types of surveys. It's a reality check. So what did I do? I called my team in to my offi ce, one by one, for an informal, open and hon- est conversation. I told them my scores had slipped, I showed them the bar charts and highlighted the problem areas. I made it clear I had no interest in determining who gave me what score — that would be a disaster and com- pletely misses the point of these anonymous surveys. I asked each of them a very simple question: "What can I do to make you more successful?" The answers were not only genuine and honest, but also ex- tremely helpful. Here are a few things I learned that I agree with and take to heart: Sometimes, I am the obstacle. I get a lot of emails. Hundreds upon hundreds fl ood my inbox every day. Sometimes in that sea of information, I miss an item or two (or 10). Sometimes those items are internal emails that need review or signoff . If I'm not around, or if I miss the emails entirely, it causes de- lays. And then it causes people to go hunting for me, or someone on my team, to get an approval. I need a better system to track and address emails, whether it's block- ing off time in my calendar every day to read email or coming up with a new classifi cation system. I need to ask more questions. ere are quite a few introverts on my team (being led by my own introverted self ). ey're not likely to storm into my offi ce and tell me about a great new product idea or a new, more eff ective way to get the job done. I need to for- mally nurture that process, which means perhaps setting up a brain- storming session — giving lots of notice and ensuring each of them is called upon to speak. I need to call out good work. e team at Canadian HR Re- porter does phenomenal work. We have talented editors, writers, videographers, art directors, sales and marketing professionals. I've been here for nearly two decades, so it can be easy to take this for granted. When I read a particu- larly good story, or the team pulls off an exceptional event like the National HR Awards, I need to loudly brag about that internally. When I fi nished my work as the emcee of Canada's Safest Employ- ers, our CEO took time to come over, shake my hand and tell me I did a fantastic job. It meant a lot. As leaders, we all need to remem- ber to do that when warranted. I need to challenge my staff . It can be diffi cult, in a day and age where there is often not a lot of job movement, to discuss career devel- opment. If there is nowhere to go, then maybe it's better to not even open that can of worms. But that's a mistake — even if there is no ob- vious promotion opportunity in the next 12 months, you can still challenge staff to grow and learn new skills. is will keep them en- gaged, challenged and ready to step into any new opportunity. End of the year is is our last issue for 2017. On behalf of the staff at Canadian HR Reporter and omson Reuters, I wish you and your family a happy holidays. We will see you in the new year! TWITTERING TOMCAT AMMAN, JORDAN — Following in the tradition of government ministries in London, the British embassy in Jordan now has a "chief mouser" walking the halls, according to Reuters. e former rescue cat, Lawrence of Abdoun, is a fl uff y black-and-white Tom who reports directly to the Foreign Offi ce's Palmerston — a feline with 57,000 followers on Twitter who provided regular updates @DiploMog. Lawrence already has more than 6,400 followers on Twit- ter @LawrenceDipCat. "Apart from his mousing duties, he reaches out to followers on Twitter. What's quite interesting is the British public are seeing the U.K. embassy in Jordan in a diff erent light," said deputy ambassador Laura Dauban. " rough Lawrence's Twitter account, we're trying to show a diff erent side to Jordan, what it is really like — a peaceful, prosperous country that British tourists should come and visit." Credit: Twitter Palmerston — a feline with 57,000 followers on Twitter who provided regular updates @DiploMog. Lawrence already has more than 6,400 followers on Twit- ter @LawrenceDipCat. "Apart from his mousing duties, he reaches out to followers

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