Business Guide
How-To Guide for Business offers step-by-step instruction for preparing your workplace for a prosperous and sustainable future.
Download your free copy of the Tomorrow’s Workplace Guide for Business
TOMORROW’S WORKPLACE BUSINESS GUIDE
Community Guide
Enjoy a Community Guide of the project scope and context for your Community/Business project.
Learn how community services and business can collaborate to enhance the workplace and integrate diversity in a variety of contexts.
Download your Free copy of the Community Guide For Tomorrow’s Workplace.
Facilitators Guide
Chambers and HR Consultants: Enjoy a Power Point Presentation of the project scope and context for your Business/Community project.
Tomorrow’s Workplace projcet was driven by the needs of business owners and revealed:
- * the importance of addressing priorities identified by the business
- * levaraging workforce diversity
* the importance of partnership with community and employment service providers to improve the competitive edge
Diversity is the new competitive advangtage for sustainable business. Rethink, reshape and renew your business community.
Download your free Tomorrow’s Workplace Overview Presentation. Learn the scope of the project and what is needed to initiate your community/workplace/business collaborative model.
Research Guide
Enjoy an extensive Literature Review of the project scope and context for your Business/Community project.
Download your free copy of Tomorrow’s Workplace Literature Review
PRESS RELEASE – BUSINESS GUIDE TO BE LAUNCHED
AWARD WINNING BUSINESSES MODEL FOR TOMORROW’S WORKPLACE
A Party to Celebrate Collaboration, Community and Business Success
Following 18 months of research, consultation with business leaders, workshops, seminars, conferences and surveys, and in collaboration with leaders in HR, Best Business Practices, Diversity and Community Development, the Tomorrow’s Workplace team unveils the GUIDE FOR BUSINESS LEADERS: Business – People – Community – Diversity, at a launch event on May 20, 2010 at the Sheraton Hotel, Surrey, BC (Guildford). Festivities begin at 4:30 pm and conclude by 7:30 pm.
The Canadian workforce is changing significantly, with the gradual retirement of the Boomer generation. Baby Boomers represent 40% of the workforce in North America, and business leaders are now looking at a new workforce model that includes diversity of age, ethnicity, physical disability, and gender.
New expectations in the workplace will have a profound effect on the longevity and sustainability of Canadian small and medium sized business. Factors include:
• Workers in their forties are caring for aging parents,
• Adult children often still live at home,
• Boomers are increasingly caring for grandchildren.
• Cultural distinctions require flexibility in family care, benefit selections, meal provisions and holiday extensions.
• Educated and highly trained young adults are seeking employment that fits around individuality and personal goals.
Tomorrow’s Workplace has worked with businesses in the Surrey area to learn, educate and collaborate in an effort to identify changes that are needed to create a high performing workplace, and develop effective methods for managing change in our business culture.
The event includes: an early evening of networking, short educational presentations, brief informative stories from local business leaders, live music, complimentary appetizers (cash bar), exhibits from Community Employment Service Providers, door prizes and a gift copy of the Tomorrow’s Workplace Guide for Business for each guest.
Admission is complimentary, but pre-registration is required. Please call
Heather at the Surrey Board of Trade at 604.581.7130 – or register online
Learn more about the Tomorrow’s Workplace Project
CONTACT: Bill Beatty FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Telephone: 604.866.2203
Email: Bill Beatty [bill.seni2@telus.net]
Background Information:
Tomorrow’s Workplace; funded by the Canada – BC Labor Market Agreement, Western Economic Diversification Canada, and Coast Capital Savings, is the brainchild of S.U.C.C.E.S.S, a Vancouver based multicultural training and service organization. S.U.C.C.E.S.S. partnered with the Surrey Board of Trade, Simon Fraser University , and Kwantlen Polytechnic University to research, and document the face of employment in BC and its relationship to privately owned small enterprise in the next decade and beyond.
The project assists Greater Vancouver area businesses through a series of business analysis and constructive consultation exercises, including: a 360-degree view of operations, financial plans and marketing/sales structures, clarity of mission, vision and values, employee workplace design and human resources strategy, and community service connections and effectiveness. Finally, the process is video documented for future study by Simon Fraser University and Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Surrey Employment Service Providers Empowered
Have you been challenged to reach the decision makers in your Employer organizations?
- Do you find yourself frustrated when your calls aren’t returned?
- Find yourself hesitating or resisting picking up the phone to make a call because you are tired of hearing ‘no thanks’.
- Do you hear ” no thanks, we’re not hiring right now” or, ” we have our own process for handling that, but thanks – why don’t you just send me a brochure?”
- Has someone said….”Gee, don’t you people ever talk to each other? We just had a call from someone else today about exactly the same thing!”
Join Us and Learn How to Turn the Tables
If you answered ‘yes’ to more than one of these statements, then mark your calendar for next Tuesday, May 4th- because this session is for you!
Building Professional Skills: Sales, Messaging, Networking Consulting – How to Present Your Value to Business
May 4 2010 – SFU (Surrey Campus) Room 5100
Registration and Coffee 8:30 am – Workshop from 9am – 4pm (A light lunch will be provided.) Sponored by Tomorrow’s Workplace – The Workshop and refeshments are complimentary.
Learn More – Download Info Sheet: Surrey Employment Service Providers Professional Skills Workshop
Canadian Business Faces Workforce Challenge
Challenges to the Emerging Canadian Workforce
A recent article in the Toronto Star sketched an outline of the face(s) in Tomorrow’s Workplace. The labor force in this country is evolving, and with the changes come inherent challenges.
What happens when the boomers retire?
Baby boomers although working much longer than they had anticipated, will eventually retire. When the boomers go, who will replace the largest demographic in the labor market?
Don Drummond, chief economist for the TD Bank Financial and author of the latest Star article, lists several contributing factors and their implications for next decade. He suggests that although Canadian women, aboriginals and youth could assist this country’s labor transition, there remain significant obstacles.
Women outnumber the men
Recent statistics indicate that women, under and over 25, outnumber men in the Canadian workforce: 7.1 million compared to men at 6.9 million. Women remain under- compensated for their efforts and occupy the lowest wage paying jobs in the country.
Businesses will be forced to address the growing and insistent demand from the female demographic for their needs: for childcare considerations, elder care obligations, and pay equity and opportunity.
Aboriginal Opportunities
Aboriginal peoples continue to increase in the Canadian population, with over 50% living in the urban centers. Overall, they are younger than the non-aboriginal population, yet remain underutilized in the Canadian workforce. According to Drummond, it makes sense to empower the Aboriginal people to meet the employment demands, but again, there are challenges.
The cost of education for even entry-level employment has become out of reach for many Aboriginals. The same problem affects young high school graduates as they prepare to enter the Canadian workforce.
Tax benefits and subsidies for education- used by the wealthy
A striking level of grants, subsidies, scholarships and various forms of financial assistance and tax credits, eludes students in the most challenging situations and is typically awarded to the students taking advantage of the programs from wealthier families.
Aging Workforce Opportunities
The aging factor is not a Canadian phenomenon alone. The US faces the boomer retirement as does Europe. Currently there are 8 million in the EU from 60-65 preparing to retire. Given the decreasing birth rate over the past generation, nations face a shortage of younger applicants to fill positions in almost every industry sector.
Forward thinking businesses might consider how to help their aging workforce continue in the labor market through inventive transition strategies that respect their physical and circumstantial requirements..
Implementing a Business Strategy
The heart of a successful business strategy is people.
Too often organizational leaders think that, if they only find the right set of tools or the latest financial or marketing software, their dreams of building a successful business will pay off. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view, everyone else in the company also has their dreams for the future. In essence, a business strategy is a metaphor to describe the collective actions of individuals. To the extent that the individuals can find a way of expressing their dreams and meet their needs and aspirations, then the business will be successful.
Strategy implementation is fundamentally connected with organizational change.
Unfortunately, many change initiatives have lost sight of the need to integrate legitimate employee concerns with perceived organizational imperatives. There is sometimes a sentiment that individual employees have got to accept the changes or find a job somewhere else. At a time when the true value-added in organizations is the collective energy of the individual employees, adopting this view will be severely restrictive.
Marketing Embraces HR talked about the importance of employee involvement, and outlined some ways to address employee resistance. These cannot be over-emphasized.
Having said this, however, there are some steps that can be taken to increase the odds of successfully implementing a strategy.
Strategy Development
Setting the stage for successful implementation starts during the initial planning activities. You can:
- Involve the key staff in shaping the strategy helps create a sense of commitment and belonging
- Solicit input from all staff about the future direction of the enterprise
- Develop a proposed strategy
- Share and communicate it with staff and solicit feedback
- Remember that an unspectacular strategy brilliantly implemented will be better than a brilliant strategy poorly executed
- Identify the broad key performance indicators that will help you track success – financial markers, sales targets, cost of sales, customer satisfaction and complaints, etc. At this point, you don’t have to set specific targets, these can come during implementation
During Strategy Implementation
- Assign responsibility to each department/division/team to develop their own operational plan for how they will implement the business strategy in their area
- Review all operational plans to identify overlaps, redundancies, or inconsistencies and make appropriate adjustments
- Set specific targets for the key performance indicators – e.g., how many sales, in what time period? how much profit or ROI? what level of customer satisfaction?
- Monitor your performance indicators on an ongoing basis – there will be bumps in the road
- Diagnose your results with the staff responsible using constructive, non-judgmental approaches
- Adjust your operational activities to address the identified issues
There is really a three-step process necessary to successfully implement a business strategy.
- Involve! Involve! Involve!
- Communicate! Communicate! Communicate!
- Praise! Praise! Praise!
Author: Wayne Penney, Business Consultant and Team Member with Tomorrow’s Workplace
Canada’s Top Diversity Employers
Looking for Employment in Canada where Diversity is Valued and Practiced?
The BMO sponsored “Canada’s Best Diversity Employers” 2009 lists produced by Mediacorp may be a good place to start looking for your next job. These businesses were selected as “diversity friendly” based on “exceptional workplace diversity and inclusiveness programs” for the following employee groups:
- Women
- Members of visible minorities
- Disabled persons
- Aboriginal peoples
- LGBT peoples ( sexual orientation)
Is Your Business Eligible?
The size of the company or the sector, whether private or public was not limited. Applicants were chosen on their merits for ingenious and effective approaches to diversity practices in any one or more of the aforementioned groups.
2009 marked the third year for the competition and is fully sponsored by BMO, who withdrew their name from the competition.
Your business can apply if you meet the criteria. Learn more about the application process here.
You can find the list of business winners in 2009 here, with details of what they are doing to incorporate successfully the diversity principles and practices into their workplace.
Workplace Creativity on a Budget
Employee Ingenuity Needs Boost in Beleaguered Economy
In today’s economy with rising costs and struggling governments nursing it back to health, creativity and inventive imagination amongst employees is downsizing. However, this is one cost of doing business that can have long reaching effects as it permeates the workplace and slowly syphons the growth of the future.
In the Saturday edition of the Globe and Mail, February 19th, 2010, Jennifer Myers posted an article entitled: “Workplace creativity shrivels on the vine.”
You can access that article here, and we recommend that you do. Myers offers valuable ideas and suggestions as well as practical application of “creative ways” to innovate on a budget.
