Great Boss? Great Health! - Leaders Letters Summer 2009

Leaders Letters A Leadership Resource

Edition 8. Summer 2009

Great Boss? Great Health!

by Melanie Joy Douglas, Monster.ca study done by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health suggests that fair bosses have a beneficial effect on the health of their employees.

The results showed that employees who felt they were being treated fairly by their bosses took sick leave much less frequently than those who felt they were treated in an unfair manner. Moreover, the psychological stress of employees of “just” bosses was less than half of the stress reported by those working for an “unjust” boss.

The study further concluded that: The risk of psychological stress was 50-70% lower in workplaces managed in a just manner than in those that were not.

Long-term sick leaves were 20-30% lower at workplaces with fair treatment than at those that were experienced as unfair.

Fair bosses actually decreased a woman’s risk of long sick leaves by roughly a third, and those of men by about a fifth.

According to Mika Kivimaki, a Professor at the University of Helsinki, people do consider themselves more healthy at workplaces that are managed fairly However, the terms “fair” and “unfair,” “just” and “unjust” can be open to subjective interpretations. How can fairness be measured? In the study, the bosses’ fairness (in behavior and decision making) was gauged by the employees’ responses to questions assessing the bosses’: • Impartiality in their treatment of people • Ability to listen to their employees • Friendliness • Polite behavior • Trustworthiness

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• Respect for employees’ rights • Consistency of decision-making • Encouragement of employee expression and individual opinions • Effort to back up decisions with accurate information • W illingness to cancel or change decisions which had proven unsuccessful

PAGH Supervisor Offers Employee’s Feedback

Program Supervisor Shirley MacQuaid (right) meets with Youth Worker Karrie MacDougall (left) both of the Provincial Adolescent Group Home. Shirley met her 2008/09 PDP target by creating a PDP schedule, sharing it with employees, and staying committed to it. A copy of the PDP tool and policy can be found in The Managers Toolbox or on the DSSS public shared drive.

Hats Off A Great Way to Motivate Luanne Gallant, Human Resource Manager The recently distributed Hats Off cards are a great way to recognize employees not only during Public Service Week but throughout the year.

Red, Green, Yellow or Blue...

Which Are You?

BACK (left to right): Stefani Arduini, Faye Martin, Kathryn Dickson, Luanne Gallant, Rhea Jenkins, Faye Campbell, Pat MacDonald, Vicki Francis, Catherine Freeze, Wendy McCourt, Lorne Clow, Sonya Cobb. FRONT (left to right): Jennifer Burgess, Vernon MacIntyre, Carrie Keizer, Albert Adegbemo, Sharon Cameron, Rona Brown.

ecently, some members of the Seniors Leaders Group (pictured above) had their Insights Discovery Color Profile completed and in the process, each learned more about their leadership style.

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“Awesome” and “powerful” is how Deputy Minister Sharon Cameron describes the group process. “It was as much fun as it was challenging. We were required to consider our leadership strengths and weaknesses and where we fit as a team. We learned a lot about ourselves and others that should make us better at adapting our leadership style to build strong teams, ” said Deputy Sharon.

Each profile is unique and offers in-depth analysis about each leader’s preferences. The profile assigns each person a dominant color energy, and three less dominant color energies. Common preferences are assigned to each color energy like Cool Blue (cautious, precise and deliberate), Fiery Red (competitive, demanding and determined), Sunshine Yellow (sociable, dynamic, and demonstrative) and Earth Green (caring, encouraging and sharing). The profiles are scientifically valid and are designed to provide participants with awareness of their work and decision making style as well as the best way to communicate, adapt and connect with others based on the color energy preferences of each.

Congratulations to Luanne Gallant, Human Resource Manager for Social Services and Seniors who completed an intensive training to receive her Insights Discovery Facilitator certificate.

Motivational Management Florence Stone, The Manager's Question & Answer Book he key to using recognition is in making it part of your daily routine. Good managers remember to recognize employees. Great managers do it every day. They maintain a "to do list" to which they add the names of the people who report to them who deserve recognition. They use voice mail not only to assign tasks but to leave employees messages praising them for a job well done. They keep a stack of note cards on their desk, where they can't ignore them. At the end of the day, they take a minute to write thank-you notes to any employee who made a difference that day.

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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.