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MANITOBA BEST
Service Excellence
Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Location: MTEC Learning Centre
100 - 1534 Gamble Place
Time: 8:30am - 4:30pm
Cost: $95.00 per person (plus GST)
Registration Deadline: June 5th, 2009
Please contact Vanessa Hernandez at 957-7437 or workshops@mtec.mb.ca to register
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Champions for emerit Certification!
Who is an emerit Champion?
emerit Champions are Tourism Supervisors/ Managers who believe in and promote emerit certification as a valuable human resource development tool. emerit Champions are certification ambassadors who take pride in their careers and encourage their staff to do the same!
emerit invites you to be a Champion!
All you need to do is…
Be 1 amongst 10 in your province/territory to start the process of becoming a certified emerit Champion
Register with MTEC anytime between May 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009*
Complete the occupational knowledge exam for FREE by March 31, 2010
Share your experience with others
Become eligible for future offers from emerit Tourism Training
* Subject to availability: please contact MTEC for information and registration.
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Canadian HR Reporter
5/4/2009
Manitoba boosts protection for foreign workers
New recruitment legislation requires registration, licensing
By Sarah Dobson
Manitoba’s new legislation governing the recruitment of foreign workers is a “bold step” and a “much better mousetrap” that should be adopted across the country, according to the chair of a national advocacy group for immigrants.
“It’s basically equalizing the playing field,” said Imran Qayyum, chair of the Toronto-based Canadian Migration Institute. “The biggest problem has been people working outside the system. What Manitoba has done, in essence, is shut that door down.”
The Worker Recruitment and Protection Act came into effect April 1 and requires all employers keen to recruit temporary foreign workers to register with the government’s employment standards division and include proof of this registration with applications for a Labour Market Opinion to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. Recruiters and employers will not be allowed to receive or collect fees from workers they assist in finding employment and must submit detailed records about the place of employment, up-to-date contact information and the workers’ duties and rate of pay.
Much of the impetus for the legislation is to eliminate “ghost” recruiters who work outside the system and, more often than not, are involved with instances of abuse, said Qayyum. The new rules will protect employers from ill-suited employees and protect the employees themselves. Many people, especially low-skilled immigrants and their families, are desperate to come to Canada and are willing to pay recruiters exorbitant fees for a job that, ultimately, might not come through.
“The whole idea is, in one sense, providing protection within Canada and, in the other, educating that employee… to make an informed decision,” he said.
Overall, the act enhances the integrity and reputation of the foreign worker recruitment process while bolstering an employer’s corporate social responsibility principles and practices — a developing trend in Canadian corporate governance best practices — by using licensed recruiters to find workers, said Qayyum.
Since employers will no longer be allowed to charge foreign workers for job placements, or take deductions from their salaries, they may face additional costs, though these should be considered an investment in the labour force, he said.
“In the long term, they’re going to get a better quality employee,” he said. “Often an employee would want to stay with the same employer so it’s an investment they’re making in the long-term future.”With the new rules, a recruiter can only work for and be paid by an employer, said David Dyson, executive director of Manitoba’s employment standards division. If an employer has been recruiting foreign workers and never paid a dime, there will be increased fees.
“They should not be a cheap source of labour, a cheap alternative to domestic labour,” he said.
Employers will also face more regulations and, consequently, more paperwork, said Stan Raper, Toronto-based national co-ordinator, agricultural workers, at United Food and Commercial Workers Canada.
“We’ve made it a little too easy for employers to get workers from anywhere in the world without any regulation or monitoring or enforcement,” he said. “Filling out a couple of forms is not going to cause too much problems, especially in the economic situation we’re in right now.”
With about 250,000 immigrants coming into Canada each year, the foreign worker programs have been lacking for a long time, said Raper.
“They’re basically at the employer’s whim, there’s no quotas, (employers) can bring in as many as they want,” he said. “Because of language barriers, because we’re not sure where these people are from and what they’re doing, we often wonder what happened to them, where are they — that’s a lot of people to let loose.”
Toronto alone has about 1,200 unlicensed brokers, said Raper, and Manitoba’s legislation will require recruiters to put down a $10,000 deposit to ensure, if there are problems, those funds can be directed to the people affected.
An employer that uses a licensed recruiter will not bear any liability in terms of any bad activities, while an employer that directly recruits is at greater risk, said Dyson.
“We certainly do know we’re changing the business model for the recruiter industry.”
But in consultations for the legislation, chambers of commerce and employers were very supportive, said Dyson. Recruiters might charge an employer anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 for a migrant worker, while workers could be charged from $10,000 to $60,000.
“The employers are just as much duped by unscrupulous recruiters as the workers,” he said. “We came to the conclusion most problems are because the recruiters are not working for the client.”
The greater enforcement will include an investigation unit with six officers devoted to ensuring compliance with the legislation, information-sharing agreements with government departments and proactively checking with workers to ensure all is above-board, said Dyson.
While some provinces have legislation around recruitment, Manitoba is unique in asking employers to register well before the whole process starts and designating those who can be licensed, said Qayyum.
“We see these abuses in Ontario and recommend (the government) look at the Manitoba model as a potential solution,” he said. “This not only affects the province’s reputation but Canada’s reputation in the international global market.”
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MTEC would like to congratulate all of the winners at the 2009 Manitoba Tourism Conference : Tourism. Be a part of it!
Award winners recognized for tourism excellence
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, April 28, 2009 - Winners were announced yesterday in the 2008 Manitoba Tourism Awards, which recognize outstanding contributions to the promotion and development of tourism in the province.
Created in 1998, the awards pay tribute to efforts that focus on promoting Manitoba as a quality year-round destination, ensuring exceptional visitor experiences and fostering a professional tourism industry.
Winners were announced in ten categories:
- Sustainable Tourism: Lieutenant Governor's Winter Festival
- Aboriginal Tourism: Wat'Chee Lodge
- Media: Mercury Publications
- Partnership: Haunted Winnipeg (A partnership of Heartland International Travel & Tours, Muddy Water Tours and St. Boniface Museum)
- Product Development: Hostelling International - Winnipeg Downtowner Hotel
- Aspiring Youth: Carmene Fiola
- Volunteer of the Year: Estelle Souloudre
- Service Excellence: Jacques Bourgeois, Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre
- Marketing Excellence: Narrows West Lodge & Narrows West Developments
- Travel Manitoba Award of Distinction: Falcon Trails Resort; Barbara Hamilton & Craig Christie
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The Skills Canada Manitoba Restaurant Service Competition
The Skills Canada Manitoba Restaurant Service Competition was held on April 19th in Brandon at Assiniboine Community College. Eight students in total were on hand to showcase their talents in tableside preparation and wine & coffee service. Each student had two tables of four in which they prepared and served Island Mussels, Scallops Pernod, and Strawberry Romanoff. Each course was served with a wine and dessert with coffee. The students were also tested on wine identification, professionalism and over all presentation.
The highlight of Skills Canada Manitoba is the Skills Competition. Students participate in challenges designed to test skills required in trades and technology careers. Over 475 high school, post secondary and apprentice students compete in 42 skilled trades and technology contests in six industry sectors.
The philosophy of the Skills Competition is to reward students for excellence, directly involve industry in evaluating student performance, and keep training programs relevant to employers' needs. Winners of the provincial competition may form Team Manitoba and compete against their peers at the Canadian Skills competition.
We would like to congratulate all the students whom performed in the restaurant competition this year.
We wish Kaely Wiebe the best of luck as this year’s Gold Medal winner in Restaurant service. Kaely will be part of Team Manitoba and will be heading to Charlottetown, P.E.I to compete in the Canadian Skills competition.
We would also like to thank the sponsors, committee, luncheon guest and all those whom volunteered their time.
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Reducing Work / Life Conflict
QNET is once again proud to bring to Winnipeg Dr. Linda Duxbury, one of Canada’s leading workplace health researchers. Dr. Duxbury is a professor at the Carleton University School of Business. In the last decade, a major focus of her research has been on work/family balance in public and private sectors, small business, and technology companies.
Reducing Work / Life Conflict
What Works? What Doesn’t?
Friday May 15 2009
8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. – Registration & Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. - Presentation
Delta Winnipeg
Dr. Duxbury explores the two most prevalent and harmful forms of work/life conflict: role overload and work interferes with family. Specifically, she will answer the questions: What is it? What causes it? Who is at risk? Why should organizations care? What can the key stakeholders (i.e. businesses, employees, families) do to reduce it?
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The good and the bad
Building the perfect boss
The top 10 sins of a boss are:
• trying too hard to be everyone’s friend
• micromanaging
• ignoring conflict
• being arrogant
• being wishy-washy
• being impulsive
• being unable to delegate
• being impatient
• being stubborn
• being unprofessional.
The traits most appreciated in a boss are:
• trust in one’s employees
• honesty/authenticity
• great team-building skills
• effective coaching skills
• the ability to say “no”
• a broader perspective
• patience
• decision-making skills.
Source: HR consulting firm Development Dimensions International and Badbossology.com, October 2006
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Canadian HR Reporter
5/4/2009
Kind bosses at heart of retention programs
3 traits help them retain employees in recession
By Marcia Rhodes
If an organization conducted an employee survey today, chances are it would find at least one-half of employees are satisfied with the performance of their bosses, about one-quarter will say they are neutral or indifferent, and the remaining one-quarter would fire their bosses if given the chance.
For any total rewards package to be truly effective, organizations would be smart to pay as much attention as possible to the non-monetary rewards valued by employees — and a kind boss is priceless.
At least 84 per cent of employees who report to a kind manager say they plan to work for their company for a long time, compared to only 47 per cent of employees who report to a bully, according to a 2008 survey of 660 workers by the American Management Association (AMA).
Many characteristics make up a good boss but there are three top traits necessary to retain talent in our current economic crisis.
A kind boss is someone who solves problems and manages conflict. Ninety per cent of 350 HR professionals rate the ability to handle conflict as either a very important or critical leadership skill, according to a February 2009 poll by Psychometrics Canada. And poorly managed conflict can bring serious problems to organizations.
A majority of HR professionals have seen conflict result in personal insults and attacks, 43 per cent have witnessed someone being fired, 81 per cent have seen conflict lead to someone leaving the organization and 77 per cent have seen conflict result in sickness or absence, found the poll.
Full-time employees spend nearly three hours per week dealing with conflict, according to studies. Instead of avoiding conflict, a good manager uses it as a means to produce a better solution to a workplace problem.
A kind boss is someone who practices direct, open communications. In this unstable job market, employees spend nearly three hours a day worrying about job security.
Management may be unwittingly fueling this fear by staying behind closed doors — 76 per cent of employees say a closed door triggers thoughts of being laid off, according to a national survey of 1,000 workers by Lynn Taylor Consulting in the United States. Proactively reassuring team members whenever possible will mitigate unnecessary panic and help them stay focused.
In addition to an open-door policy, kind bosses should encourage staff to speak openly and candidly. In the AMA survey, 73 per cent of employees with a kind boss say they can speak openly with their boss compared to 42 per cent of employees with a bully boss. And 84 per cent of employees with a kind boss say their boss really listens to what is said compared to 24 per cent of employees who report to a bully.
A kind boss is someone who invests in employees. A recession is the perfect time for managers to think of ways other than money to motivate employees. Eight out of 10 respondents to a 2008 survey of 200 U.S. workers by SkillSoft say they would have higher job satisfaction levels if they received more on-the-job training. Helping employees acquire new skills and assume greater responsibility to advance professionally is one of the most effective ways managers can promote loyalty, improve performance and build future leaders. Unfortunately, this type of training takes time and many managers are too consumed with trouble-shooting to offer staff members guidance or professional development.
Almost everyone has a “bad boss” story but let’s not be too quick to blame these leaders — chances are they never received the training they needed. Nearly one-half of companies do not have a new supervisor training program in place, according to a 2007 survey of 338 companies conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity. And even where the programs are in place, most companies don’t measure their effectiveness.
Examples of tasks that managers have been asked to undertake without proper training include managing people, leadership, team building, communication and problem-solving. And while there has been sufficient focus on onboarding new employees, there has not been enough attention paid to the need to train employees at all stages of their careers. Organizations ought to expand talent management efforts that look at an employee’s entire life cycle in an integrated way.
Marcia Rhodes is manager of organizational communications for WorldatWork, a global human resources association with offices in Washington and Scottsdale, Ariz. She can be reached at (480) 951-9191 or marcia.rhodes@worldatwork.org.
MTEC provides a free Employer of Choice Program for Tourism Businesses. Visit www.employersofchoice.ca
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"We are only what we do, not what we say we are." - Isador Sharp
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