Right Course 2013 by GLACIER MEDIA DIGITAL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP dba BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER

2013

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SWITCHING IT UP Enhance skills in a downturn

EQUINE ENGAGEMENT Horse play at work

PRIME SELECTIONS

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SUSTAINABLE CLASSES

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GOOD BEHAVIOUR

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DELIVERING CANADA’S UNIVERSITY ACCREDITED CHARTERED DIRECTOR* DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Why Choose The Directors College Chartered Director Program for Your Professional Director Education?

Enhance your governance capabilities Elevate your leadership contribution Ensure governance practices contribute to organizational effectiveness

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A university accredited education and certification program. The Chartered Director designation (C.Dir.) comes from McMaster University. A flexible residential and off-site learning experience. Our Chartered Director program is residential to encourage the learning that occurs among participants outside the classroom. Participants will appreciate the flexibility of choosing the modules in an order that suits their own schedule. A curriculum that goes beyond the “technical” side of directorship practices. Our five-module program covers the full range of formal rules and practices that directors need to know about in their role as stewards of corporations. As well,

the program examines the “behavioural” side of directorship—the human dynamics that influence a board and its decisions.

A board simulation that brings the curriculum to life. Our board simulation, as well as a final exam, results in a higher level of personal accountability and a deeper experience.

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TODAY’S TRENDS

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Downturn A turnaround

BY GLEN EDWARDS

Resource industry workers seek out graduate programs in tough times

fter the sub-prime storm battered the markets in 2008, geologist Neil Perk decided to fortify his career by enrolling in an MBA program. Credit calamity aside, the mining industry on its own can be more cyclical than a laundromat dryer – an endless bumpy ride of commodity booms and busts. However, industry professionals like Perk often use downturns to supplement their skill set. In addition, the growing job scope of geologists and mining engineers has underlined the appeal of graduate programs for filling in career blanks. Robert Holland, chief mining adviser of the BC Securities Commission, did MBA studies at UBC when the markets “went into the tank again” in the ’80s. “I really was at the point of my life where scrambling around up cliffs and rugged bush was not really as exciting as when I was younger,” says Holland. Wendy Ma, assistant dean of UBC’s Sauder School of Business, says it’s common to see an increase of interest in MBA programs during downturns. Ma ballparks that resource industry professionals make up a quarter of enrolment. Engineers, some of whom could contribute to resource-related construction and plant operation, account for slightly more. For Perk, the 2008 crash was an “eyeopener.” At that time, Perk was a project geologist at Equity Exploration Consultants, a Vancouver-based company that manages exploration programs from early grassroots through to more advanced prefeasibility stages. His job description was pretty straightforward. “My role before was the technical side of running projects: planning and executing the exploration work program, writing the report on it and then move onto the next project,” says Perk.

Equity Exploration Consultants vicepresident Neil Perk switched his field boots for financial-market fluency by enrolling in an MBA program in 2010 | DOMINIC SCHAEFER

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TODAYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TRENDS Typically, Equity can manage 10 to 20 projects per year, with budgets ranging in scale from $50,000 to $10 million. However, with investors fleeing to the sidelines, Equityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s project to-do list was cut significantly for 2009, so there were some layoffs and remaining staff like Perk were reduced to four-day work-weeks. Perk wanted to â&#x20AC;&#x153;do something to make himself more valuable to any employer.â&#x20AC;? At first, he considered a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s or PhD in his technical field, but when he canvassed mentors and senior people in industry, most recommended a different approach. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A lot of people said if they went back to school theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d probably choose something more finance- than geology-related,â&#x20AC;? says Perk. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Because the further you go up the management chain, the more your attention is focused on the business and the markets.â&#x20AC;? Brian Abraham decided to switch from geology to law in the late â&#x20AC;&#x2122;60s and is now national co-chair of the mining group for law firm Fraser Milner Casgrain. Over the last few decades, Abraham says the job scope for geologists has grown extensively

What my MBA gave me more than anything is confidence

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NEIL PERK

VICE-PRESIDENT, EQUITY EXPLORATION

from just knocking on rocks. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you look at what an exploration geologist does today, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to have to be financially literate, have an understanding of community values and social issues, be exposed to contracts and dealmaking, and deal with administrative type of things all the time. Whereas when I worked as a geologist virtually none of those things were issues,â&#x20AC;? says Abraham. Perk graduated from McGillâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s MBA program in April and returned to Equity with a new title: vice-president. He now helps Equity co-founder and chief operating officer Henry Awmack manage the dayto-day of the business. However, the real sizzle for Perk is driving forward business development. One of the most memorable educational experiences during his MBA was his internship with BMOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mining

group in Toronto. Working on M&A deals and equity financings got his appetite whetted for investment banking. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The more interesting side for me is business development: looking at deals being done, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s raising money, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s doing work where, and then looking for opportunities for Equity within that,â&#x20AC;? says Perk. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What my MBA gave me more than anything is confidence. I know enough about the financial markets I feel comfortable talking about it and approaching people experienced in investment banking.â&#x20AC;? Canadian universities are taking note of the growing list of geologists and mining engineers in need of an executive polish. This past September, York Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Schulich School of Business launched a new MBA specialization in global mining management. Laurentian University has also recently established a School of Mines, with plans to add an MBA component. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a natural fit for people with very strong technical expertise to supplement that with management and business knowledge,â&#x20AC;? says Ma. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It becomes a very power tool.â&#x20AC;? â&#x2013;

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Business in Vancouver Magazine Division

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Dollars and sense A new merger means accountants in B.C. will soon unite under a single professional designation BY NOA GLOUBERMAN

eeping the acronyms that represent various professional accounting designations straight can be a challenge. But a move to unify the individual national bodies that oversee chartered accountants (CAs), certified management accountants (CMAs) and certified general accountants (CGAs) in Canada could put an end to the confusion once and for all. “CAs, CMAs, CGAs – we’re all accountants,” says Vinetta Peek, president and CEO of the Certified Management Accountants Society of BC (CMA BC). “What we are aiming to do is to unify the profession by creating a single national accounting designation called the chartered professional accounting or CPA designation.” Peek believes the move to merge the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA), the Society of Management Accountants of Canada (CMA Canada) and the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA Canada) to create a new combined CPA Canada oversight body will be a boon to accounting professionals. “A common certification program and a single set of ethical and practice standards would enhance and protect the value of the accounting designation,” she says. “As far as being able to work on a world stage, having a single national designation makes us more recognizable and our members more valuable.” “The new CPA certification program … builds on the best of existing education programs, creating a challenging and rigorous certification process that best meets the needs of business, public practice and government,” adds Richard Rees, CEO of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC (ICABC). While CPA Canada will launch on January 1, 2013, accounting bodies in each province must agree to merge and create the new CPA title before it can be adopted

On October 18 (clockwise from top left) ICABC CEO Richard Rees, CMA BC president and CEO Vinetta Peek, CMA BC chair Pat Kennedy and ICABC president Gord Holloway signed an agreement to merge their two organizations to create the new Chartered Professional Accountants of BC

CAs, CMAs, CGAs – we’re all accountants

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VINETTA PEEK PRESIDENT AND CEO, CMA BC

in each jurisdiction, since accounting in this country is provincially regulated. In British Columbia, CMA BC and ICABC formally agreed to pursue a merger on October 18, 2012 (CGA BC did not participate). The two organizations will work together to become the Chartered Professional Accountants of BC, with a launch date set for September 2013. New students who complete the CPA program will be designated CPAs; accountants certified prior to the merge must use the new designation in conjunction with their old certification for at least 10 years. “Essentially I will be getting three more letters on my business cards,” says Peek, who will sport the CPA designation behind her previously earned CMA (she can choose to use the former on its own once a decade has passed). “I’m proud of my CMA, and [the new CPA designation] has been designed to let people like me hang on to their legacy designation.” ■

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OFF THE BEATEN PATH

Horse sense Equine exercises shed light on managers’ leadership style

Participants at the Spirit of Leadership program try to guide a horse backward through an L-shaped course

BY BAILA LAZARUS

n a bizarre twist of nature, across Europe, and now into Canada, a trend is growing where horses are used to train humans. Call it equine education, horse whispering or, as Ralf and Karina Holzapfel call it, the Spirit of Leadership. Adopting locations that are out of the ordinary is not unusual for many training associations. Climbing through rope courses, walking on coal beds and paddling in a dragon boat are just some of the out-of-the-boardroom locales. And now horse corral can be added to the list.

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“It’s common in Europe; it’s not anything you think twice about,” says Ralf Holzapfel. The training is based on the idea that the human-horse interaction will bring out the best and worst of a manager’s leadership style. “Horses are very intuitive,” says Holzapfel. “They will react to your energy. And they show very quickly whether they trust you.” At the Holzapfels’ ranch (currently near 100 Mile House, but they are looking at moving to the Lower Mainland in 2013),

| RALF HOLZAPFEL

participants in the Spirit of Leadership training watch as the Holzapfels run through a series of short exercises, such as getting a horse to run around them in a trot or canter. Participants enter an empty corral one at a time, standing in the centre as a horse is brought in and left to walk around the corral. Participants have to complete the exercises by themselves, with some coaching from the Holzapfels. “Sometimes the person in the middle ends up running around the horse to get it to do something,” Holzapfel explains.

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I thought I was able to be calm, but the horse didn’t slow down. So I learned I really have to show more that I’m cool and calm

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RALF SCHMIDT PRESIDENT AND CEO, MTU MAINTENANCE CANADA

Ralf Schmidt, president and CEO at engineering firm MTU Maintenance Canada: “I did need a little more patiences than I expected” | RALF HOLZAPFEL “Their colleagues are watching and thinking how they would do it differently, but then they get inside the corral and have the same problem. It can be because they are too aggressive or they are impatient.” An ideal size group is about six, says Holzapfel, so people don’t have to wait too long to take their turn. Ralf Schmidt, president and CEO of engineering firm MTU Maintenance Canada Ltd., took the workshop at the Holzapfels’ ranch. “I was right into it because I recognized that my dog was doing the same thing as the horses do, the way Ralf explained it,” says Schmidt. “I knew exactly what he was talking about. So I was caught right away.” Schmidt says it was clear that the exercises did, in fact, mimic what the employees did at work. And it was a source of amusement for them. “Watching our colleagues, we were joking that we saw exactly how it reflected what

he was doing in the job,” says Schmidt. “For example, we had our quality-control guy, who is usually calm and slow. He was trying to convince the horse to do something and the horse just lay down on the ground. “We laughed so hard, like we hadn’t laughed in years. But we weren’t laughing at people, but with people.” But Schmidt is quick to acknowledge that besides the enjoyment of connecting the dots between what happens in the corral and what happens at work, there is a serious side. The manner in which the horses behave could have a lesson for the way people react to employees at work. “Maybe when people are listening to details of quality control, they feel the same [as the horse],” Schmidt says. “So he recognized that he needs to be more energetic. Maybe that’s why on the shop floor, the [employees] aren’t understanding what he’s saying. … So I said, maybe you need a sales guy to help.”

Ralf and Karina Holzapfel: “horses are very intuitive. ... they show very quickly whether they trust you” | BAILA LAZARUS When Schmidt himself got into the corral, he had a few lessons to learn, as well. “I thought I was able to be calm, but the horse didn’t slow down,” he explains. “So I learned I really have to show more that I’m cool and calm. On the other hand, I thought I was pretty successful overall, so it reinforced what I knew. There was a trust and there was no fear. I did need a little more patience than expected.” Schmidt was so convinced of the value of the program, he sent 15 team leaders to complete it after the first group. Besides individual training, the Holzapfel have created exercises for work colleagues to do in small teams, such as having participants ride blindfolded while two colleagues guide their horses; in another, a group of three have to manoeuvre a horse backward through an L-shaped course. After the groups have completed the exercises, they head inside to debrief on the day’s activities. ■

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OFF THE BEATEN PATH

Ron Burnett, president and vice-chancellor, Emily Carr University of Art + Design: “a university education in art and design should no longer be underestimated” | DOMINIC SCHAEFER

State of the arts How a creative education can help business leaders succeed BY NOA GLOUBERMAN

reativity is establishing itself as a legitimate – and valuable – business commodity. Far from churning out starving artists, new findings show an education in the arts might just be “recession proof.” A recent survey by Vision Critical on behalf of the Emily Carr University of Art + Design found 92 per cent of the school’s graduates working and directly supporting growth in British Columbia’s creative sector (a six per cent increase over 2006). Of those, nearly a third own businesses, are self-employed or are themselves employers. “A university education in art and design should no longer be underestimated,” says Emily Carr president and vice-chancellor Ron Burnett. “We educate individuals to be entrepreneurial, multi-skilled professionals who are adept at contributing a critical 12 RIGHT COURSE—2013

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and creative perspective to the workplace.” Through equal emphasis on practice and critical thinking in the classroom, students in Emily Carr’s visual arts, design and media arts programs are trained to work on real-world problems, gaining skills that transfer directly to industry, and, ultimately, leadership roles. “It’s not just drawing and painting and designing stuff on a computer,” says Eric Karjaluoto, an Emily Carr alumnus who cofounded Vancouver-based creative agency smashLAB in 2000 with Eric Shelkie. “My fine arts degree taught me how to look at things from a less-linear standpoint – an experience that’s certainly contributed to any success I’ve achieved professionally.” Karjaluoto leads a team of strategists, designers and technologists in finding solutions to “murky, complex communication problems.” He describes his role

as akin to “a kind of mental gymnastics: not necessarily a production kind of thing, where you know how to do one particular application, but more a way of thinking.” Having a creative education, he says, helps. “Our strength lies in our ability to respond to each individual situation, no matter how ambiguous it might be,” he explains. “For every client that comes to us, we have to understand how they function, figure out what obstacles they have and propose a means of getting around those obstacles – and all of that needs to happen before we can even start thinking about executing any kind of end product, be it an advertising campaign, a brand strategy or a digital solution.” Though he studied painting at Emily Carr, Karjaluoto’s watercolour work is now limited to playtime with his son. Rather, he says, “my education, which had me thinking

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Students in arts programs are trained to work on real-world problems, gaining skills that transfer directly to industry and, ultimately, leadership roles about things that were seemingly impossible to solve and figuring out subjective situations, equipped me to examine issues in a particular way, try to understand them and then articulate an argument around them.” He adds that creative subjects “have this hellish kind of task of having to … systemize notions around dealing with ambiguous situations. It’s much different than something like accounting, which, if you get to the end of a problem and the numbers don’t reconcile, you know there’s something wrong with your application of the process.” Rosie Steeves, an expert on executive development and president of the Executive Works Leadership Group in Vancouver, agrees. “If we look at the environment in which leaders have to lead, that’s it: there is no simple solution,” she says. “They have to be comfortable with the fact that it could be anything, that it will likely change and morph, that the solution could be very dynamic.” The point was driven home in a recent discussion Steeves had with a frustrated

mining manager. “He said, ‘I wish my boss wouldn’t give me engineering solutions to people problems.’ Leaders with technical backgrounds can often make this mistake of making judgments, putting people in boxes and giving directions that are really little more than, ‘This is what’s wrong. Fix it like that.’ Unfortunately, that doesn’t work when it comes to people.” Had the man’s boss obtained more of a creative education, Steeves says, he’d likely be “more comfortable with ambiguity.” “In developing leaders I try to put them in a role where the issue and solution aren’t clear cut,” she explains. “Rather than having them sit in a classroom nodding their heads yes or no, good leadership programs force people to be in those kinds of shifting, ambiguous situations – and then have them reflect on their response.” The very best programs, she adds, are ones that “let leaders experience, develop and apply those kinds of critically informed problem-solving skills – they learn their reaction and, more importantly, they learn that it’s OK not to know the answers all the time; it’s OK to get creative and to shift.” ■

Creative coursework BCIT’s School of Business has a variety of diploma programs that train managers to “motivate people to work to the best of their ability while thinking creatively to solve business problems.” www.bcit.ca cTc TrainCanada, with branches in Vancouver and Victoria, offers a day-long Creativity and Innovation workshop that “teaches you and your team techniques and tools to help you unleash their creativity and come up with innovative, new solutions to problems.” www.traincanada.com UBC’s Sauder School of Business offers a Creativity and Innovation for Business course within its Executive Education program that’s suitable for mid-level and department managers. “Expand your horizons on what it means to be creative, develop your own creative skill set … and learn processes for facilitating creativity in your organization.” execed.sauder.ubc.ca Vancouver Community College’s Business Leadership & Management Certificate includes an elective Creative Thinking at Work course, where participants “use creative thinking to solve problems, save money and make do with less.”

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MANAGEMENT TRAINING

In the leader’s seat Finding the proper training program can mean the difference between doing an OK job and excelling in your industry

BY BENJAMIN YONG

sk established business owners how they successfully grew their companies and chances are they’ve engaged in leadership training at some point. While there are a myriad of reasons why executives would choose to engage in management education, two B.C. businesses – Santevia Water Systems and Misty Mountain Specialties – both agree that structure and taking their respective businesses to the next level were among the top objectives. Based in Delta, Santevia Water Systems CEO Yvonne Anderson started the company that sells water filtration and remineralization systems in 2007 out of her home in Tsawwassen. Starting with a staff of three people, she knew that she would need some direction early on. “There are so many options and opportunities for training you have to be focused on what will best suit your needs at the time, that’s why we’re doing different things at different stages of the business,” says Anderson. “When we first started, I used executive one-on-one coaching for 18 months that specifically helped with business launching – working on basic business processes and growth planning. Entrepreneurs run so fast they don’t plan, so executive coaches stop them and make them find direction in the company. Then we did a bunch of conference training to be more specific in our industry. We still continue to do that.” For example, this year Anderson and her executive team will be attending WQA

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Catherine Osler is the president of TEC Canada Aquatech USA, a three-day industry event held in Indianapolis providing training and networking opportunities for people in the water business. A strong proponent of lifelong learning for both her and her staff, she says besides benefiting the company, it also helps retain staff. At least once a year, managers and senior staff go to events like Aquatech to expand their knowledge. “It’s a win-win for both parties. Companies that don’t invest in employees have their employees leave or get stale. Whether it’s going to conferences or training sessions, it almost always inspires people to get to the next level.” Now with a staff of approximately 10, plans to move to a bigger facility next summer and poised to reach $2 million in sales this year, Anderson says Santevia is headed into the next phase of accelerated growth. She is bringing in a specialist who works with the team at BackPocket COO, founded by former 1-800-GOT-JUNK

COO Cameron Herold, to help formulate a three-year vision. About a decade before Santevia was created, next door in Richmond TrinidadianCanadian David Lee Kwen started Misty Mountain Specialties. A domestic and international wholesaler/retailer of wild mushrooms and other specialty forest products, the company now has a staff made up of about 18 full-timers and 10-15 part-time employees depending on the season. For the first 10 years of running the business, Kwen says, the only education he received was from “the school of hard knocks.” “I come from a family that has owned businesses since the day of my grandparents. I learn from experience, and I’m constantly reading newspaper articles and books.” That said, Kwen wanted to break out of the “ma and pa” feel of his organization. “I realized to move ahead, I had to have some strong structure. The business was growing too fast,” he says. About five years ago he got wind of the Executive Committee, also known as TEC Canada. Offering moderated peer mentoring where CEOs in non-competing fields meet monthly to talk – discussions can range from business strategy to formulating out-of-the-box solutions to problems – Kwen says he joined because he needed help assimilating all the information he learned on his own. “Sometimes your eyes may be closed to an answer that’s right in front of you, but by bringing together people who think

Business in Vancouver Magazine Division

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There are so many options and opportunities for training you have to be focused on what will best suit your needs at the time, that’s why we’re doing different things at different stages of the business

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YVONNE ANDERSON CEO, SANTEVIA WATER SYSTEMS

alike they can help bring that answer back to light,” says Kwen. As Misty Mountain continues to grow, Kwen says he is constantly travelling and felt it wasn’t fair to his TEC group to be missing meetings so he is currently on hiatus. In the meantime, he is developing his senior managers, using the services of Wardell Professional Development, a Vancouver business advisory company referred to him by his panel at TEC. So far, Misty Mountain has had four seminars held by associates from Wardell concentrating on different areas such as improving sales performance, streamlining warehouse management, and handling conflict resolution. Once a month, Kwen meets with someone from Wardell to reflect on how the seminars are progressing. “It’s shown us that we didn’t have some of the people in the right position. We made some changes and brought on more staff – we’re still tinkering. Before that we were multitasking and doing whatever jobs were lacking and that wasn’t the right way to go.” Catherine Osler, president of TEC Canada, says in an age where there is so much information available at people’s fingertips, business owners like Kwen are coming to her organization to prioritize and make sense of it all. “Our new members want some help making better decisions. They’re asking questions like ‘Do I focus on the bottom line, or do I focus on company engagement?’ There are so many levers to pull.” ■ Business in Vancouver Magazine Division RIGHT COURSE—2013 15

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MANAGEMENT TRAINING

Smart solutions for With its hand-on training program, Climate Smart teaches

BY STEPHEN SMYSNUIK

oing green doesn’t mean going broke. The first clients hear from Climate Smart, which provides sustainability training and tools for small and medium B.C. businesses, is that green practices can cut serious costs in the long run. Reducing paper usage to investing in fuel-efficient vehicles for their fleets can add to a company’s bottom line. “The initial impression is, ‘This is going to cost us money to green our operation,” says Michelle Bonner, Climate Smart’s vice-president and director, “but we’re finding lots of examples in the businesses we work with where it makes really good business sense to look at where we’re using our energy and how can we reduce it.” Bonner recommends businesses that want to go green simply start thinking about the amount of waste they’re producing. Something as simple as monitoring paper use can go a long way in initiating the necessary culture change for becoming more sustainable. Climate Smart began in 2007 as a program of Ecotrust Canada to test the viability of a training service that lowered financial and technical barriers in order that businesses become more sustainable. Since incorporating as a social enterprise in 2009, they’ve worked with hundreds of businesses, teaching them how to measure their greenhouse gas emissions and how to reduce them — while cutting costs in the process. “There’s a really practical side of it, where they come out of the program having completed their first greenhouse gas inventory and having developed a plan as to how they’re going to reduce, and where are our best opportunities to reduce emissions,” Bonner says.

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Business in Vancouver Magazine Division

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going green businesses to cut emissions – and costs

Michelle Bonner, vice president and director Climate Smart, says Michelle of Bonner, vice-president thatofsustainable business and director Climate Smart, says practices a sure way sustainable businessare practices are cutting costs a sure way of of managing costs in in any any organization. organization || DOMINIC DOMINICSCHAEFER SCHAEFER

Businesses will typically send two or three people to attend three training sessions, which are split over several months, at Climate Smart’s downtown Vancouver office. The first session focuses on how to measure a business’s carbon footprint by doing a “footprint inventory.” The second session focuses on the reduction strategy, while the third session focuses on carbon offsets, for companies that want to take the extra step to become carbon neutral. After every session, the businesses are given homework assignments. “You’re applying what you’ve learned with each session,” says Amanda Berry, buyer for BC Biomedical Laboratories, which completed the training session in September. “After the session where we learned how to measure our carbon footprints, that’s where we really went back to the table and had to start physically pulling our hydro bills, our Fortis bills, trying to calculate what our gas usage was.” The amount of time it takes to complete the training will vary from company to company. Berry estimated that BC Biomedical spent about 70 hours on the process, including time spent at the training sessions and all the time outside – roughly 30 hours – spent doing the homework. She noted that smaller companies could take far less time to complete the process. “I think a smaller company — one with one office compared to our 45 locations — could probably achieve that in much, much less time. I’d say closer to three hours after the training,” Berry says. Since many of these businesses lack the resources for full-time sustainability coordinators, Climate Smart focuses on establishing “green teams” – groups of

You think you’re making a difference but you have no way of measuring it. This gives you a yardstick to measure against

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PETER GASKILL PRESIDENT, PACIFIC ARBOR RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES

volunteers from within the organization that take on different roles to move forward with sustainable initiatives. These green teams will routinely meet to discuss, then introduce, programs that will work best for the company. “[Green teams] go a long way in keeping the employees engaged and informed,” Bonner says, noting that sustainable practices are important for attracting and retaining employees. Their research has found that people want to work for companies that align with their personal values. For Pacific Arbor Retirement Communities, which completed the program in 2009, president Peter Gaskill admits that it’s been “a bit of process” getting all 120 employees on board with their sustainability initiatives. It’s taken several years but their green team, made up of “key members” from various departments, has helped establish a sustainable culture across the entire company. Gaskill credits the construction of Climate Smart’s training program to ease the culture shift within his company. “Climate Smart has set it up in a way where it’s very easy to understand, really easy to learn and really easy to apply,” Gaskill says. “You go through things and you think you’re making a difference but you have no way of measuring it. This give you a yardstick to measure against.” ■

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MANAGEMENT TRAINING

Are you creating a business culture of respect? Leadership includes ensuring your workplace is clear for considerate communication

BY ERICA PINSKY

number of years ago I heard a story from a participant in a respectful workplace workshop. On her third or fourth day at work, she joined a table in the lunchroom with a few other members of her new team. A supervisor walked in, heated up her lunch, and left. When the supervisor left, everyone at the table began to talk about her in a very insulting and degrading manner. The new employee interrupted and told her colleagues that she was really uncomfortable with what she was hearing. She said that they all stopped talking and looked at her. They seemed completely taken aback by her comment. It was as if, she told me, they had no idea what they were saying. Speaking negatively, gossiping, maligning someone was a habit, what they routinely did, a “cultural norm” in that workplace. So the question I would like you to consider is this: Are you leading a workplace that has a culture of respect? Are you aware of how people in your

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workplace interact with each other? Are you aware of the conversational norms, the way they talk, the jokes they share, what I call the micro-behaviours that characterize our workplace relationships and shape our cultures? The fact is, our vernacular is sprinkled with conversational “norms” that have discriminatory roots that serve to perpetuate disrespect. Popular humour in particular often focuses on gender, religion or ethnicity. The subject of joking comes up a lot when I am doing respectful workplace training. What’s wrong with telling an off-colour joke if everyone is OK with it? The assumption is that if people laugh and don’t raise an objection to what they are hearing that means they are OK with it. My experience working with issues of workplace disrespect has proven otherwise. Most employees will not make the choice that the young woman made to speak up and object to what she was hearing. As a rule, most of us “put up and shut up” rather than speak up.

Business in Vancouver Magazine Division

As I share with my audiences, even if people laugh, or don’t object, that doesn’t mean that they are comfortable with the joke, or comment, or that they don’t find it offensive. It just might mean they’d rather laugh and be considered part of the group, than be the person who speaks up and spoils everyone’s fun. Or they’re worried that if they speak up, they’ll be the next one targeted. The passage of Bill 14, which amends the Workers Compensation Act of BC to allow for compensation for work-related mental disorders resulting from workplace bullying and harassment, has now expanded the issue of behavioural liability for employers. Practically translated, this means that employers need to understand what is really is going on in their workplaces. To find out, become proactive rather than reactive when it comes to workplace respect. Take steps to create a workplace culture that will support healthy, empowered relationships and ensure that the issue of liability becomes a non-issue in your workplace. Illustration: RCPillustration

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1. Shift from assumption to curiosity. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t assume that the fact that you are not hearing anything about problems means there arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t any. Instead, make a choice to get curious about your cultural norms, the characteristics of relationships, the status quo in your workplace. 2. Get the respect conversation started. Create a safe environment to talk about the micro-behaviours that can damage workplace relationships, productivity and teams. Start asking others to share their workplace reality with you: what itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like to work in the office, from their perspective. If no one seems willing to talk, it could be that people are fearful to speak up. 3. Take an honest look at the dynamic of power in your workplace: how it is expressed, how it is manifested and how it impacts workplace relationships. I frame harassment and bullying as power-based behaviours, because our ability to engage in those behaviours, how we respond to those behaviours, is directly related to the dynamic of power. When power-based behaviours are â&#x20AC;&#x153;cultural norms,â&#x20AC;? fear characterizes workplace

relationships. That is a problem for a number of reasons. Fear causes people to be silent about issues and problems that are affecting them at work. In addition, neuroscience has established that fear inhibits focus, productivity and creativity. There is a direct correlation between workplace disrespect and fear and the organizational bottom line. 4. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ignore disrespect â&#x20AC;&#x201C; deal with it. Make sure employees know that you want to hear about and are prepared to take action to deal with workplace disrespect. Taking action does not mean a direct path to termination. It means starting the conversation, normalizing conflict, and setting respectful behavioural expectations for everyone, in particular workplace leaders. Coach and support them to be able to demonstrate respectful behavioural norms and hold everyone, and I mean everyone, accountable for doing so. Look to HR to support, not own, the conversation. 5. Lead by example. As Albert Schweitzer wrote, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.â&#x20AC;?

Think about your belief systems, behavioural norms and leadership style. How do you express and manifest your power? What choice do you make if you hear an off-colour joke or gender-based comment or witness bullying behaviour? Model the respectful behaviour you want others to emulate. Build relationships and trust. Empower employees to make the choice that the session participant did â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to speak up and walk the talk of respect at work. â&#x2013; Erica Pinsky is a speaker, trainer, author and consultant on customized services to eliminate discrimination, harassment, bullying and destructive conflict in the workplace. She is the author of Road to Respect: Path to Profit, which offers engaging stories, powerful insights and concrete strategies for achieving sustainable success in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highly challenging and diverse business environment. Contact her at Erica@ericapinskyinc.ca.

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Business in Vancouver Magazine Division RIGHT COURSEâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;2013

Rightcourse 2013_ 12.14_1-48.indd 19

12/14/12 2:11:24 PM

LISTS

New-skills training directory HR TRAINING

BC Human Resources Management Association

Wallace Murray & Associates

1111 Hastings St W Suite 1101, Vancouver BC V6E 2J3 604-684-7228, e: info@bchrma.org www.bchrma.org

970 Burrard St Suite 248, Vancouver BC V6Z 2R4 778-885-4607, e: info@wmandassociates.ca www.wmandassociates.ca

IT TRAINING

University of the Fraser Valley

33844 King Rd, Abbotsford BC V2S 7M8 604-504-7441, e: info@ufv.ca www.ufv.ca

UBC Sauder School of Business Executive Education 800 Robson St Suite 1900, Vancouver BC V6Z 3B7 604-822-8263, e: exec.ed@sauder.ubc.ca www.sauder.ubc.ca/exec_ed 900 McGill Rd, Kamloops BC V2C 0C8 250-828-5000, e: recruitment@tru.ca www.tru.ca

Trainwest Management & Consulting Inc | Sandler Training 4170 Still Creek Dr Suite 110, Burnaby BC V5C 6C6 604-291-1272, e: trainwest@sandler.com www.trainwest.ca 2005 Sooke Rd, Victoria BC V9B 5Y2 250-391-2511, e: info@royalroads.ca www.royalroads.ca

5331 McConnell Ave, Terrace BC V8G 4X2 250-638-5470, e: psaunders@nwcc.bc.ca www.nwcc.ca

College of the Rockies 2700 College Way PO Box 8500, Cranbrook BC V1C 5L7 250-489-2751, e: info@cotr.bc.ca www.cotr.bc.ca 3330 22nd Ave, Prince George BC V2N 1P8 250-562-2131, e: askcnc@cnc.bc.ca www.cnc.bc.ca

Alandale Training Corp

Northwest Community College

6580 Bouchard Crt, Richmond BC V7C 5H4 604-839-8777, e: info@alandaletraining.com www.alandaletraining.com

5331 McConnell Ave, Terrace BC V8G 4X2 250-638-5470, e: psaunders@nwcc.bc.ca www.nwcc.ca

Kison Inc. & Growth Through Learning 10551 Shellbridge Way Suite 35, Richmond BC V6X 2W9 604-284-5133, e: contact@kison.com www.kison.com

Insights Learning & Development Vancouver 17 Fawcett Rd Suite 339, Coquitlam BC V3K 6V2 604-522-4229, e: info@insightsvancouver.com www.insightsvancouver.com

Hay Group Ltd 1140 Pender St W Suite 1390, Vancouver BC V6E 4G1 604-682-4269, e: mark.jackson@haygroup.com www.haygroup.com/ca

Creativity at Work 2181 38th Ave W Suite 804, Vancouver BC V6M 1R8 604-327-1565, www.creativityatwork.com

MANAGEMENT/ LEADERSHIP TRAINING Wallace Murray & Associates 970 Burrard St Suite 248, Vancouver BC V6Z 2R4 778-885-4607, e: info@wmandassociates.ca www.wmandassociates.ca

University of the Fraser Valley 33844 King Rd, Abbotsford BC V2S 7M8 604-504-7441, e: info@ufv.ca www.ufv.ca

UBC Sauder School of Business Executive Education 800 Robson St Suite 1900, Vancouver BC V6Z 3B7 604-822-8263, e: exec.ed@sauder.ubc.ca www.sauder.ubc.ca/exec_ed

Thompson Rivers University

College of the Rockies 2700 College Way PO Box 8500, Cranbrook BC V1C 5L7 250-489-2751, e: info@cotr.bc.ca www.cotr.bc.ca

College of New Caledonia 3330 22nd Ave, Prince George BC V2N 1P8 250-562-2131, e: askcnc@cnc.bc.ca www.cnc.bc.ca

Rightcourse 2013_ 12.14_1-48.indd 20

900 McGill Rd, Kamloops BC V2C 0C8 250-828-5000, e: recruitment@tru.ca www.tru.ca

College of New Caledonia

Royal Roads University

RIGHT COURSEâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;2013

Thompson Rivers University

Northwest Community College

Thompson Rivers University

33844 King Rd, Abbotsford BC V2S 7M8 604-504-7441, e: info@ufv.ca www.ufv.ca

900 McGill Rd, Kamloops BC V2C 0C8 250-828-5000, e: recruitment@tru.ca www.tru.ca

Trainwest Management & Consulting Inc | Sandler Training 4170 Still Creek Dr Suite 110, Burnaby BC V5C 6C6 604-291-1272, e: trainwest@sandler.com www.trainwest.ca

Royal Roads University 2005 Sooke Rd, Victoria BC V9B 5Y2

250-391-2511, e: info@royalroads.ca www.royalroads.ca

Northwest Community College 5331 McConnell Ave, Terrace BC V8G 4X2 250-638-5470, e: psaunders@nwcc.bc.ca www.nwcc.ca

MDA Training Inc 302 Water St Suite 300, Vancouver BC V6B 1B6 778-588-7230, e: spowell@mdatraining.com www.mdatraining.com

Kison Inc. & Growth Through Learning 10551 Shellbridge Way Suite 35, Richmond BC V6X 2W9 604-284-5133, e: contact@kison.com www.kison.com

Insights Learning & Development Vancouver 17 Fawcett Rd Suite 339, Coquitlam BC V3K 6V2 604-522-4229, e: info@insightsvancouver.com www.insightsvancouver.com

Hay Group Ltd 1140 Pender St W Suite 1390, Vancouver BC V6E 4G1 604-682-4269, e: mark.jackson@haygroup.com www.haygroup.com/ca

Dynamic Achievement 1296 Haywood Ave, West Vancouver BC V7T 1V1 604-926-6465, e: info@dynamicachievement.com www.dynamicachievement.com

Discovery Center for Entrepreneurship Vancouver & Fraser Valley BC 604-824-1460, e: tana@possibility.ca www.possibility.ca

Dale Carnegie Training of BC 4710 Kingsway Suite 1028, Burnaby BC V5H 4N2 604-299-5115, e: paul.sinkevich@dalecarnegie.com www.bc.dalecarnegie.com

Creativity at Work 2181 38th Ave W Suite 804, Vancouver BC V6M 1R8 604-327-1565, www.creativityatwork.com

College of the Rockies 2700 College Way PO Box 8500, Cranbrook BC V1C 5L7 250-489-2751, e: info@cotr.bc.ca www.cotr.bc.ca

College of New Caledonia 3330 22nd Ave, Prince George BC V2N 1P8 250-562-2131, e: askcnc@cnc.bc.ca www.cnc.bc.ca

Catalyst Training Services Inc 1200 73rd Ave W Suite 1100, Vancouver BC V6P 6G5 604-298-5505, e: info@catalysttraining.ca www.catalysttraining.ca

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SALES/MARKETING TRAINING Wallace Murray & Associates 970 Burrard St Suite 248, Vancouver BC V6Z 2R4 778-885-4607, e: info@wmandassociates.ca www.wmandassociates.ca

University of the Fraser Valley 33844 King Rd, Abbotsford BC V2S 7M8 604-504-7441, e: info@ufv.ca www.ufv.ca

UBC Sauder School of Business Executive Education 800 Robson St Suite 1900, Vancouver BC V6Z 3B7 604-822-8263, e: exec.ed@sauder.ubc.ca www.sauder.ubc.ca/exec_ed

Thompson Rivers University 900 McGill Rd, Kamloops BC V2C 0C8 250-828-5000, e: recruitment@tru.ca www.tru.ca