Are you communicating the benefits of your benefits plan?

October 11, 2017

The benefit plan you offer employees is a crucial addition to your employee compensation package.  For most businesses, it is a necessary offering for attracting and retaining employees.

But a great benefits plan is only great if your employees understand it, know how to effectively use it and appreciate its value. If employees feel confused or overwhelmed because they don’t understand the healthcare and related industry terminology, for example, they will overlook benefits available to them and lose an appreciation of the value it offers.

Developing an effective year-round benefits communications strategy helps ensure that employees understand their options and have the information they need to make educated choices. This in turn means employees develop a deeper appreciation for the…

What Millennials Look for in a Career

October 11, 2017

What’s the biggest incentive you can offer a millennial to come work for you instead of your competition? If you answered more money”, you need to rethink your strategy. For the generation that will soon become the majority of the Canadian workforce, they value other aspects of their career rather than a bigger pay-cheque.

Millennials are tech-savvy, innovative, and have ambitious desires that some businesses may not be used to. As baby boomers retire and millennials replace them, an understanding of what the millennial generation wants in a job is essential to attracting, landing and retaining quality talent.

Work-Life Balance:

Today’s high-performing companies implement flexibility into their corporate culture. They give employees the opportunity to set their own schedules as long as…

How to mitigate Surprise Expenses

October 11, 2017

Leases are complex documents with many clauses that, unless negotiated properly, can allow your landlord to charge you more rent during your lease term. The following is an example of such a clause and how to negotiate it upfront to avoid unexpected costs:

THE MEASUREMENT CLAUSE: In North America, the most common standard of measuring commercial space is the Building Owners and Managers Association standard (“BOMA”). This measurement standard has been revised over the years, and with BOMA being a “landlord centric”
organization, each revision becomes less tenant friendly. In the simplest terms, the most tenant friendly version is the 1980 BOMA standard which is now rarely used. The most common version is the 1996 BOMA standard. BOMA recently introduced the…

How small businesses can benefit from hiring interns

September 13, 2017

Students are always on the lookout for work experience. They seek out internships and skill-building opportunities in an attempt to broaden their horizon and expand their knowledge. You may be interested in hiring interns, but aren’t sure if they’re a better choice than some of your other options, like hiring a part-time or temporary employee. Contrary to the belief that hiring interns is just for the bigger companies, smaller and startup companies can really benefit from hiring interns, here’s why:

Fresh Ideas and Vision

When you hire an intern, they bring new ideas to the table. They will bring a fresh perspective into your business. These young, talented individuals are vibrant, eager to learn, and ready to bring in fresh and…

Do your wellness benefits promote community?

September 13, 2017

Introducing wellness programs is about engaging employees and boosting company morale, not about simply ticking the wellness box. A well designed and executed workplace wellness program will lead to better productivity, less absence and disability, lower benefit costs and happier employees, all of which is better for your company’s bottom line.

But, health and wellness initiatives in the workplace can fall short of expectations for a number of reasons (see the three most common mistakes employers make when introducing a wellness program). Here are a few more errors to avoid if you want your wellness initiatives in the workplace to be a success.

4 reasons your employee wellness benefits aren’t living up to expectations

1. Your wellness program is voluntary.

It isn’t…

The need for speed

September 13, 2017

In hiring circles, one topic that is often discussed is the impact of speed on the hiring process. This can come up in a variety of ways. No one wants to risk making a bad hiring decision because they rushed. At the same time, no one wants to lose a great candidate because they were too slow!

To some extent, the importance of speed varies with the state of the hiring market. Is it a “buyer’s market”, where there are lots of great candidates floating around for every job? Or have things shifted to a “seller’s market”, where great candidates are fielding multiple job offers?

MRI Network, a large US recruiting agency, conducts a survey twice a year* in which they…

You are so smart!

September 13, 2017

It never ceases to amaze me how highly qualified many candidates are from outside Canada. They have excellent education from abroad. Many have immigrated to Canada for a better life for their family and they are willing to start their lives over again, knowing they will be living in a peaceful country. To assist in their endeavors the Canadian Government has a list of companies who can assist with the evaluation of international credentials.

There is a fee for the service which varies within each organization. It is well worth the investment for newcomers to Canada, it helps to get them on the fast track to employment sooner.

The following is a list of organizations who can evaluate education as well…

Resume Killers – What mistakes to avoid on your resume

August 14, 2017

The resume is the primary document job seekers use to get a job. It really is the first impression any recruiter, HR professional or hiring manager has of you. The average resume will get anywhere from 5-12 seconds (YES SECONDS) of a recruiter’s time. So if this is so important, why do so many people overlook these common resume killers?

1) Typos
Candidates will claim to have excellent attention to detail, yet on a quick glance of the resume, typos!! This is by far the easiest mistake to avoid, yet every day candidates get rejected for a simple typo. There is really no excuse for this when every software program used to write the resume has spell check. If English is…

Twist and Shout… and work VERY HARD.

August 14, 2017

The Beatles will always be the Greatest band in history.

Their music, their lyrics, their incomparable discography, will forever mark the start of modern music (sorry fans of Elvis and Chuck Berry) and probably modern culture as we know it.

Those of us who grew-up in the post-Beatles era, can’t even imagine (no pun intended) what the world would be like without their indelible footprint; it would be like trying to picture life on earth without one of the Natural Elements.

For musicians, songwriters, composers and music lovers in general, their legacy has biblical proportions.

It’s been almost 47 years since the band ceased to exist, still like a fine wine that reveals its fullest expression of complexity and excellence, their music catalogue…

Millennials Marketplace

August 14, 2017

A common conversation in the media as of late has been focused on
the Millennial Generation. They are now officially the largest generation,
in population, and much of this conversation is centered around
their attitudes and how to attract this young talent to companies.

Individuals outside of the Millennial age group have made careers
informing companies what they believe it is that Millennials want, and why.
Instead of listening to third parties and their ideas about what attracts
these young professionals to companies and how to keep their loyalty,
Ellington reached out to three individuals in the described age bracket for
their input. Below are the three most impactful insights from that discussion:

1. Contrary to the new “hotel” desk trend, Millennial staff prefer to have their own dedicated…

Everyone Makes Mistakes

August 14, 2017

One of the questions I like to ask applicants I am interviewing for my firm is ‘have you ever made a mistake?’ Many struggle to come up with an answer. They hem and they haw. That can be a deal breaker for me. I need to know that you know that you are not perfect. I also need to know that when things happen – and things always do – you are going to be able to handle it professionally. Hubris and ego are not conducive to healthy client or colleague relationships.

I can think of 5 mistakes I made this week alone. Making mistakes is natural…to err is human and all that. But it’s what we do with our…

Why Leasing Expansion Space May Not Always Be a Good Idea

July 13, 2017

In general we are seeing our clients businesses doing well and in many cases expanding their operations. With growth often comes the need to accommodate more people. With that comes the prospect of having to lease more space. We would strongly recommend that before leasing more space you check to see if a furniture solution to intensify your existing space may work. In the long run it could save you money compared to leasing more space.

Today a typical target rentable square foot per employee is approximately 180 square feet. This would be for primarily open concept space. That means for every approximate 10,000 square feet of expansion you could accommodate approximately 55 people. If average gross rental rates range…

Choose Your Lawyer Like You Choose a Restaurant!

July 13, 2017

If you’re like me, you use social media to pick a great restaurant. My social media tool of choice is TripAdvisor. I find the crowd rarely steers you in the wrong direction. If a restaurant has a significant number of reviews, and is in the top 10% of restaurants in the area, it’s a winner.

In addition to the ranking data, the customer reviews are a wealth of valuable, reliable feedback. The stories written by regular people out for an evening tell you right away whether the place is for you.

What are the key ingredients for a great restaurant? In my experience, it always comes down to three key questions. First, do they have amazing food? Second, how’s the value?…

Think You’re Cut Out for Social Selling? Let’s find out.

July 13, 2017

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” – Dale Carnegie

So, you’ve heard about this thing called “Social Selling” and you want to immediately drop what you are doing and put it into play. It’s going to be great… you’re going to get active on various social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook and you’re going to light up the skies with your sales efforts. You’ve found the answer to your sales woes and this latest and greatest strategy is going to have you rock your way to the top!

This is great, right? Not so fast. Let’s break…

Sexy Tech Tools – Look below the Surface

July 13, 2017

Everyone should keep an eye on new technology tools that can improve an employee experience and hopefully make our lives easier. In industries where services have been delivered the same way for decades, it makes sense that we will see innovation and disruption.

Within the employee benefits and wellness space there is a lot happening. Insurance and healthcare industries are a prime target for change. Group insurance has been around a long time and the relative experience for a plan member has not changed much over the years. You incur a claim, submit the receipt and get reimbursed – sometimes in real time or with a few taps on a smart phone. The convenience of that experience can start to…