news
■■ Set goals and timelines. Make the
results you need to see from your staff
clear, with deadlines and expected
outcomes.
■■ Recognize your team. Different
people respond to varied motivational
techniques, but everyone likes to hear
when they’re doing a good job. Don’t
hold back on genuine praise.
■■ Evaluate your hiring strategy. In
addition to having the necessary skill
sets and fitting in with the corporate
culture, great employees share a few
qualities, including a can-do attitude,
right-sized ego and sense of humour.
Periodically refresh your recruiting
plan to ensure you’re attracting the
right people.
■■ Drive employee acquisition and
retention. Finding skilled professionals
when you need them can be stressful.
But if you nurture a talent pipeline
year-round, you’ll be better equipped
for the future.
GOVERNMENT OF CANADA
IMPROVES ACCESSIBILITY
FOR CANADIANS WITH
DISABILITIES WITHIN
THEIR WORKPLACES AND
COMMUNITIES
Recently, the Honourable Carla
Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and
Persons with Disabilities, visited the
Centre for Child Development of the
Lower Mainland in Surrey, B.C. to announce
the approval of 573 Enabling
Accessibility Fund (EAF) projects. The
Minister highlighted how these projects
will help strengthen the Government
of Canada’s commitment to ensuring
greater accessibility and opportunity for
Canadians with disabilities in their communities
and workplaces.
Canadians with disabilities face challenges
every day that prohibit them from
participating fully in their community and
workplace. The Government of Canada is
committed to reducing these accessibility
barriers and ensuring that everyone has
equal access and opportunity through programs
such as the EAF. This is why Budget
2016 provided an additional $4 million
over two years, starting in 2016–17, to
support the capital costs of construction
and renovation related to improving physical
accessibility and safety for Canadians
with disabilities in their communities.
On May 31st, 2016, the Government
of Canada invited businesses and community
organizations to apply for funding
through the 2016 Enabling Accessibility
Fund (EAF) call for proposals, which
closed on July 26, 2016. This call included
a Workplace and a Community
Accessibility funding stream.
The EAF Workplace Accessibility
Stream gives eligible businesses and other
employers across Canada – such as notfor
profit organizations, social enterprises,
small municipalities, Indigenous organizations
and territorial governments – the
opportunity to submit funding proposals
for projects that improve accessibility and
safety for people with disabilities through
renovations, retrofits or construction of
workplaces, including the provision of accessible
information and communication
technologies for work use.
The EAF Community Accessibility
Stream provides funding for projects
that help improve accessibility and safety
through renovations, retrofits or construction
of community facilities and venues so
that programs and services can be accessed
by people with disabilities. This includes the
provision of information and communication
technologies for community use that
eliminate systemic accessibility barriers.
Quick facts
The EAF has an annual budget of $15
million. Since the creation of the Enabling
Accessibility Fund, the Government of
Canada has funded over 2,890 projects,
helping thousands of Canadians gain access
to their communities’ programs,
services and workplaces.
In July 2016, the Accessible Canada
website (canada.ca/accessible-canada)
was launched in order to start the online
consultations to inform the development
of planned federal accessibility legislation.
From September 2016 to February 2017,
the Government of Canada conducted 18
public sessions and nine roundtables in 18
different cities across Canada. A national
youth forum was held in November 2016
to seek input from youth with disabilities
or youth with relevant work, education
and/or life experiences.
HOW DO GENERATIONS OF
CANADIAN WORKERS DIFFER?
In today’s multigenerational workforce,
most executives agree that each age demographic
exhibits its own styles and
approaches. Canadian CFOs in a Robert
Half Management Resources survey said
they see the greatest generational differences
in employees’ communication skills,
ability to adapt to change and technical
abilities.
Stephen Finn/Shutterstock.com
10 ❚ MARCH 2017 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
/accessible-canada)
/Shutterstock.com