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© Copyright 2000 Rogers Media. The following article first appeared in the July 2000 edition of
BENEFITS CANADA magazine.
Insights
Contrarian views, news and international intrigue
By Andrea Davis
Workplace rage
Training managers to deal with people is key to avoiding workplace aggression, says the author of a new
book on violence in the workplace.
"In my experience, managers in many organizations get into management because they're able to get things
done, rather than deal with people," says Gerry Smith, director, specialty services with Toronto-based
employee assistance provider Warren Shepell. He is also the author of Work Rage (Harper Collins).
"If [managers] really want to be successful at managing, they have to have the skills to deal with people
on a day-to-day basis," says Smith. "They have to be equipped to deal with conflict, how to deal with
stress in the workplace, how to negotiate and how to manage change well."
Smith notes in his book that workplace violence seems to be on the rise. When he first started working at
Warren Shepell six years ago, the trauma department serviced between 15 and 20 events a month. Today, that
figure is closer to 80 or 90. "Not only have the number of interventions increased but the type and
severity of incidents has become more acute," he writes.
A study by the International Labor Organization supports Smith's findings. It found that Canadians are more
likely to be assaulted in their workplace than Americans.
So what's an employer to do? Aside from better training managers to deal with people, Smith says employers
can help address aggression by not sweeping it under the carpet.
"Employers and employees cannot ignore any type of abuse that happens in the workplace. They have to
address it one way or another, either by directly confronting it themselves or by reporting it within the
organization," he says. "If you don't address it, the atmosphere in the workplace will continue to grow to
be more aggressive."
In the balance
Then given a choice between higher pay and increased benefits options, more plan members opt for greater
benefits, says a new study from Aon Consulting. More than half (53%) of 2,000 workers surveyed said they
would choose more benefits options while 47% said they'd take more money.
"What we can conclude from that is that benefits are important to employees but that one size is not going
to fit all," says Marilynne Madigan, senior vice-president with Aon Consulting Inc. in Toronto.
The survey also reveals that companies' recognition of employees' personal lives remains the strongest
reason to be committed to an organization. Almost 70% of respondents indicate their company has
demonstrated increased efforts over the past year to support work/life balance. However, few employees are
actually receiving help in the two areas cited most often as being important to work/life
balance--childcare and eldercare.
"Organizations understand the issue, but they're slow to make it happen. They're not walking the talk,"
says Madigan.
Stressed to the max
Workload, personal finances and work/life balance are the three most common sources of stress for Canadian
plan members. Just over 40% of plan members feel their employers don't do enough to help them cope with
stress.
SOURCE: The Canadian Consumer Survey on Healthcare 2000: Canadians and their Group Healthcare
Benefits, Aventis Pharma Inc.
Frequent trading syndrome
Providing lots of choice in a defined contribution plan may bring out market timing tendencies in your plan
members. One U.S. pension fund recently implemented a trading policy designed to discourage the practice.
The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund, which manages more than
US$250 billion for two million teachers and researchers, warns plan participants who make more than three
transfers in one month between stock and bond funds that their trading activity is too high. If plan
members ignore the warning, their Internet and phone transfer privileges are suspended, forcing them to
request trades the old-fashioned way--regular mail.
IN FACT
A recent study reveals that people over the age of 65 who smoke are almost four times more likely to suffer
dementia as those who don't. Some points of interest:
The same study, conducted by researchers at University College in London, also revealed that moderate
drinking may provide seniors with some protection against the decline in mental powers associated with
aging.
Number of Canadians over age 65 that have Alzheimer disease and related dementias:
316,500
Source: www.alzheimer.ca
Annual cost of treating people with Alzheimer disease and related dementias (includes nursing home care,
drugs, use of community support services by caregivers and unpaid caregiver time):
$3.9 billion
Source: www.alzheimer.ca
By 2031, number of Canadians over age 65 who will have Alzheimer disease and related dementias:
750,000
Source: www.alzheimer.ca
Aricept and Exelon are the only approved drug treatments available in Canada for the mild to moderate
stages of Alzheimer disease. Cost of the drugs:
$5 a day
Catching fraudsters
Canadian stock markets have seen their fair share of dubious business practices in recent years with YBM
Magnex, Livent and, more recently, Cinar. A recent worldwide survey of 10,000 organizations by Ernst &
Young reveals that 82% of the worst frauds are committed by company employees, of which almost a third were
carried out by management. In Canada, 80% of respondents reported themselves as fraud victims within the
past year and 43% believe it could happen again.
"Somebody has to be accountable for the management of this risk," says Nick Hodson, a partner in Ernst
& Young's fraud risk solutions group. "I can see the day coming when we have chief risk officers, who
actually have responsibility for risk management besides calling up the insurance broker and getting the
best deal on whatever insurance is offered."
Hodson says there are three factors that contribute to fraud: opportunity, motivation and rationalization.
Managing those three factors can help companies minimize the chances of being victims of fraud.
"Most of the motivation is [financial] need," he says. "Comprehensive compensation packages could include
financial planning to help people manage their personal financial lives and provide them a source to go to
if they have personal financial problems."
Surfing for health
Interested in finding out where employees are surfing on the Internet?
According to electronic business experts speaking at a recent healthcare management conference in Toronto,
health is one of the top three topics searched on the Net, with 72% of all Internet users saying they've
searched for health information.
Among specific health topics, most surfers are looking for information on depression.
Today, there are more than 20,000 health-related Web sites. The top three sites recommended by Canadian
doctors are www.canadian-health-network.ca, www.Intelihealth.com and www.mayohealth.org.
Draining brains
High tech firms and others are quick to jump on the brain drain bandwagon and bemoan the loss of skilled
workers to the U.S. But recent research from Statistics Canada shows that while the loss of highly skilled
workers to the U.S. increased during the last decade, so too did the influx of highly skilled workers into
Canada from abroad. In the 1990s, immigrants accounted for about one-third of the increase in employment
among computer engineers, systems analysts and computer programmers. The report estimates that annual
average emigration, both permanent and temporary, to the U.S. during the 1990s was between 22,000 and
35,000, representing a mere 0.1% of the Canadian population.
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