Senior leaders have a critical role in business continuity planning - Leaders Letters December 2009

Leaders Letters Edition 10. December 2009

Senior leaders have a critical role in business continuity planning Submitted by: Carrie Keizer, Policy Analyst his fall, many senior leaders were involved in creating business continuity plans to outline how your most essential programs and services would respond to a potential loss of human resources resulting from the H1N1 pandemic. This activity has helped leaders to identify key areas where services were vulnerable to staffing shortages so that action could be taken to increase their resiliency.

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Business continuity planning is about much more than being ready for the potential impacts of H1N1.

It is about being ready for any type of disruption that could affect your ability to deliver your programs and services.

Government Departments and Agencies at all levels have the responsibility to plan for and respond to disruptions resulting from hazards that are known to threaten their jurisdiction.

Over the coming months, Senior Leaders will continue take part in planning responses to a variety of potentially disruptive situations that could impact your workplaces.

How would you continue to deliver your service if your IT systems were to become unavailable for a week?

Where would you work if your building was damaged by a fire? What would you do if a sprinkler system damaged your essential records? Anticipating and preparing for interruptions to your programs and services allows you to manage through these challenges more smoothly.

For more information about business continuity planning, contact Carrie Keizer at cakeizer@ihis.org or 368-6185.

Rhea Jenkins and Barry Chandler discuss business continuity plans for their program areas.

Leaders Letters are produced by the Human Resource Team of the Corporate and Finance Division. They are distributed to members of the Senior Leaders Group and posted to the DSSS public shared drive. For information and feedback contact 569-7568.

A Leadership Resource dedicated to improved communication within the department of Social Services and Seniors

Senior leaders receive thanks for their part in strategic plan

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enior leaders received kudos for their contribution and leadership towards the development of a three year department strategic plan. “We have created a strategic plan

that reflects the needs of our clients by ensuring our front line staff, the people who know our clients’ needs best, were fully involved in the process,” said Minister Doug Currie who met with seniors leaders and offered praise for the critical role they played in involving staff in the plan’s development. Lorne Clow was the lead Director on the plan’s development and he says the process involved meeting with hundreds of staff. “Pages of minutes were recorded, compiled, and provided to SMT for their review and input. Finally, the plan itself had to be written; ensuring that it properly reflected the goals that were put forward by Catherine Freeze, M inister Doug Currie and both front line staff and management,” says Lorne. The Minister Lorne Clow pictured at Novem ber 6 SLG presented souvenir appreciation certificates to members of SLG for their m eeting. role. The Strategic Plan is now posted on the Departments’ website.

Managing a culturally diverse staff

by Matt Krumrie

orkplaces are becoming more culturally diverse, which often requires managers and others to continually rethink the ways they work with people.

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“Cultural competencies are not something that you can learn in a four-hour diversity training,” says Lila Kelly, principal consultant and trainer of Lila Kelly Associates.

“They are developed through a lot of hard work, just like other skills and abilities. Diversity is the way of the future, and there’s no turning back. If you want to be successful as a manager, working to become culturally competent is one way to get ahead.”

“Managers should take the time to learn about the skills, knowledge and backgrounds of their staff,” says Caleb Fullhart, Area Manager for Ajilon Office, a national administrative staffing firm. “These conversations will allow managers to find out about the differences and similarities in the cultural values of their staff and build on those differences for the benefit of the group.”

“It’s important for managers of culturally diverse workplaces to dedicate time to bond as a team, including holding team sessions to discuss ideals or values, or where people can discuss their culture, heritage and history.”

Kelly says successful managers must provide and demonstrate open and non-judgmental communication with all staff members by demonstrating respect, knowledge and awareness of the differences that are present in their workplace “If the manager is uncomfortable with the differences, it will show and affect all employees,” says Kelly, who offers these tips: •

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Look for opportunities to learn. Be humble and ask yourself, “What and how can I learn from this diverse situation?”

Watch for opportunities to ask your employees about their culture. This will show them that you are interested, help you learn, and build rapport with that employee.

If you are working with a group of people from a particular culture, have a few reminders written down that would help you communicate better with them.

Fullhart says that managers should embrace the value of diversity, which helps employees to work collaboratively and in turn be more productive.

A Leadership Resource dedicated to improved communication within the department of Social Services and Seniors

Do You Know How Your Colleagues Celebrate the Season?

By Lisa Epstein, Monster.ca ave you been wishing everyone at work a Merry Christmas? Or perhaps the catch all “Happy Holidays”? Canada is comprised of a rich cultural mosaic and learning about our colleagues’ traditions goes along way in fostering harmonious working relationships.

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The Canadian workforce includes people who practice a myriad of traditions at this time of year. Christmas is perhaps the most recognized but only one of the many multicultural celebrations occurring in December. The holidays mentioned below occur in chronological order and are offered as a concise guide. id-al-Adha - December 7th Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice. Lasting 3 days, this holiday stems from Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son to God and is an extremely important holidays in Islam. Those who observe the holiday dress in their finest attire, pray at the Mosque and visit family to share meals and offer gifts to children. The word Eid is derived from the Arabic word Awdah which means return, the soul returns to its original state of inborn purity. Traditionally, a third of the feast is eaten by the family, a third to another family and a third to the poor.

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anukkah - December 22nd The festival of Hanukkah is celebrated in December by Jews. The holiday lasts for 8 days and commemorates the rededication of the temple in Israel after it was partially destroyed in 165 B.C.E. It’s a holiday of miracles - after the destruction, there was only enough oil in the temple’s candelabra to shed light for one night.

Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight. Jews light a candelabrum called a Menorah every evening for eight consecutive nights. Tradition is to consume foods prepared with oil, like potato pancakes and fried donuts. Families usually gather for evening meals and children are given small gifts each night of the festival.

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animals were slaughtered and families would feast. A tree would be chopped down and brought into the home to be decorated while a Yule log burned for 12 days. It’s a winter festival celebrated by the Danish, Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, Estonians and Wiccans. Each heritage celebrates a little differently depending on the region. For all but the Wiccans, Yule became Christianized and is an interchangeable term for Christmas. hristmas - December 25th Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25. The holiday began as a “mass for Christ” hence, Christmas. Just like the three wise men that brought gifts to baby Jesus, the tradition continues by exchanging gifts with friends and family. Santa Claus was named after a bishop named Saint Nicholas, who fed the poor, and the tradition of the Christmas feast continues.

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wanzaa - December 26th - January 1st The Swahili word for ‘first fruits’ is Kwanzaa. Of African origin, Kwanzaa is a non-religious holiday when families gather and share traditional foods with including dishes made with sweet potatoes, peanuts, collard greens, and spicy sauces. The festival surrounds seven symbols: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, a sense of purpose, creativity and faith. Traditional colors include green representing the land of Africa, black for the color of the people and red for blood lost while fighting for freedom.

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More Alike than Different Knowing a little about the religious and traditional celebrations of coworkers helps all of us gain a deeper understanding of the people around us. Traditions teach us about values and the many December celebrations teach us that we are all searching for peace and goodness.

ule - December 21-January 2nd Yule marks the turning season and pre-dates Christianity. At this time of year, traditionally

A Leadership Resource dedicated to improved communication within the department of Social Services and Seniors