At a Glance
FROM: MAR-APR 2007 ISSUE
“Sustainability matters. It must become one of the yardsticks against which we measure productivity.”
Janice Gross Stein in Mission Possible: Stellar Canadian Performance in the Global Economy, a Conference Board of Canada report.
Animal Instincts
If conflict in the workplace is taking a bite out of your productivity, you’re not alone. But according to Lynne Eisaguirre, author of The Power of a Good Fight: Executive Edition, you can harness that negative energy and use it to your advantage, all the while gaining the respect of your colleagues. Eisaguirre likens conflict coping styles to animal instincts – each has its own expression and result. So go ahead, growl like your inner pit bull, then channel that conflict into a collaborative work session.
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Succession for Seniorpreneurs
Canada’s small businesses are aging, but their owners don’t seem too concerned about who will take over when they retire. A CIBC World Markets survey shows “seniorpreneurs” – business owners aged 55 and over – account for a quarter of all self-employed people, but almost half of them have no succession plan in place. Experts are warning that, as the seniorpreneurs retire, Canada risks losing many of these businesses to foreign ownership.
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Greener “Courses” in China
It’s always been the unofficial sport for business networking, but universities in China are now making golf a more formal part of business training. Xiamen University has made golf lessons mandatory for students in management, law, economics, and software engineering programs in the hopes it will enhance their eventual careers.
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Working the Numbers
- 2006 saw the 14th consecutive year of employment increases in Canada, as the national unemployment rate hit a 30-year low in December at 6.1%.
- Albertans are working longer hours on average than anyone else in the country. They clocked in with 1,880 hours per year, with Manitoba and Saskatchewan a close second at 1,860. Quebec recorded the lowest hours at 1,750.
Source – Statistics Canada
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