February 9, 2009
- Morley Gunderson Prize Winner 2009
- Industrial Relations Outlook, 2009
- The InsideEdge, Winter 2009
- UnionBook
- International Credential Evaluation
- Labour Market Flexibility vs. Employment Security
- The Value of Canadian Polytechnics
- The High Cost of Dropping Out
- Rethinking Retirement
- Retirement Income Security
- Low Income and Psychological Distress
- Employee Engagement & Valentine’s Day… by the numbers
- SHRM Labor Market Outlook Survey
- Global Competition for Talent
- Book of the Week
Morley Gunderson Prize Winner 2009
John Mastoras is the 2009 Winner of the Morley Gunderson Prize in Industrial Relations. Congratulations John! The purpose of the Morley Gunderson Prize is to recognize and honour current students or graduates who combine outstanding professional achievement with significant service to the Centre. The prize will be given at the 27th Annual Sefton Lecture presented by Woodsworth College & The Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources.
John Mastoras is the 2009 Winner of the Morley Gunderson Prize
27th Annual Sefton Lecture, Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. University of Toronto Multi-Faith Centre, 569 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, ON.
Industrial Relations Outlook, 2009
Conference Board of Canada has released the publication, Industrial Relations Outlook: Managing Expectations in Uncertain Times, by David K. Shepherdson. According to the report management and labour will be bargaining in a weakened state in 2009, real wage gains are unlikely, and issues related to the aging workforce, accessibility and funding of pensions, and labour shortages need to be addressed.
Industrial Relations Outlook, Conference Board of Canada, February 2009 (32 pages, PDF) is available free to the University of Toronto academic community through the Conference Board of Canada’s e-library by signing up for an account using your University of Toronto email address.
Globe and Mail, February 6, 2009: Thaw foreseen for chilly labour relations
The InsideEdge, Winter 2009
The Conference Board of Canada has released its quarterly publication titled The InsideEdge, which looks at emerging economic, public policy and organizational performance issues. Funded by the Conference Board this publication is free to the public. Articles included are: “Obama and Canada: How Long Will the Love Affair Last?”; “A Budget in Synch with the Times”; “Knowing Yourself: The Key to Effective Leadership”; “Dirty Oil or Open Door?”; “Canada, Obama, and Climate Change”; “Surest Way to Boost Productivity: Invest in Physical and Human Capital”.
Inside Edge website, February 2009
UnionBook
UnionBook is a project of LabourStart, the news and campaigning website of the international trade union movement edited by Eric Lee. UnionBook is a social networking site for trade unionists. Unlike other social networks such as MySpace, FaceBook and Bebo, UnionBook is advertising-free, respects your privacy and is specifically designed to serve the trade union movement. You can use it to meet up with friends online, post comments to discussion forums, create a blog, upload photos and so on.
UnionBook: A Social Network for Labor by Mike Hall, Feb 8, 2009
International Credential Evaluation
The Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials has announced the release of a report titled, Pan-Canadian Quality Standards in International Credential Evaluation. The goal of the research report was to harmonize the practice of credential recognition in Canada by laying the groundwork for a set of pan-Canadian policy and practice standards to guide the work of credential assessing bodies.
Report, released February 2009 (62 pages, PDF)
Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials website
Labour Market Flexibility vs. Employment Security
Canadian Policy Research Networks has released a paper titled, Flexibility/Security Policies and the Labour Market Trajectories of IT Workers, by Martin Cooke and Kerry Platman. The report uses case study data collected in Canada and the United Kingdom of employees of small- and mid-sized information technology firms to assess their capacity to respond to rapid technological changes and changing economic conditions.
Report, February 5, 2009 (33 pages, PDF)
The Value of Canadian Polytechnics
Polytechnics Canada has released a report titled, 2008 Solutions Report: how industry-driven research at polytechnics helps Canada compete. The report assesses the value of applied research activities developed at Canada’s polytechnics in 2008 and illustrates how small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across the country are realizing returns on their investment in polytechnic students and professors.
Report, February 3, 2009 (24 pages, PDF)
News release, February 3, 2009
The High Cost of Dropping Out
The Canadian Council on Learning has released a commissioned report titled, Cost Estimates of Dropping Out of High School in Canada. The goal of the study was to present a portrait of economic costs to both the state and the individual associated with not completing high school in Canada. According to the study a high school dropout would experience an income loss of over $3,000 per year, compared to individuals with a high school diploma and no post-secondary education.
Access to report resources: overview, full report, summary, technical report, and article: “Lesson in Learning: No 'drop' in the bucket: The high costs of dropping out”
Rethinking Retirement
Desjardin Financials offers the Rethink Retirement 2008 Survey of Canadian’s Preparedness for Life After Work on its website.
Rethink Retirement Information Centre
Retirement Income Security
The National Bureau of Economic Research paper titled, Retirement Income Security and Well-Being in Canada, by Michael Baker, Jonathan Gruber and Kevin S. Milligan is available online. “A large international literature has documented the labor market distortions associated with social security benefits for near-retirees. In this paper [the authors] investigate the ‘other side’ of social security programs, seeking to document improvements in wellbeing arising from the provision of public pensions.
NBER Working Paper, January 2009 (46 pages, PDF)
Low Income and Psychological Distress
Statistics Canada’s Health Reports, March 2009, features an article titled, “Income and psychological distress: The role of the social environment,” by Heather M. Orpana, Louise Lemyre and Ronald Gravel. This article examines the relationship between lower income and the risk of experiencing high psychological distress. Data from the first 12 years of the longitudinal National Population Health Survey (1994 – 2007) were analyzed. The paper found that low income was an important risk factor for becoming psychologically distressed.
Employee Engagement & Valentine’s Day… by the numbers
Watson Wyatt’s Strategy@Work website features an article titled, “Engaging Employees Through Periods of Layoffs,” which offers seven lessons in managing restructuring based upon findings from its 2008/2009 Watson Wyatt WorkUSA Study .
Valentine’s Day… by the numbers 2009, Statistics Canada
SHRM Labor Market Outlook Survey
Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has released its first Labor Market Outlook Survey, which explores hiring trends across a six-month spectrum. Nearly 75 percent of HR professionals surveyed across the United States expected deep job cuts to continue throughout the first quarter of 2009.
Labour Market Outlook, January – March 2009, February 4, 2009 (8 pages, PDF)
News release, February 4, 2009
Global Competition for Talent
The OECD Policy Brief titled, “The Global Competition for Talent”, looks at how countries have a growing need for highly skilled workers who are able to access, understand, and use knowledge for technological and economic development. The paper identifies the global competition for talent particularly in science and technology, and its implications for government policy.
Policy Brief, February 2009 (8 pages, PDF)
Book of the Week
The Leadership Code: Five Rules to Lead By, by Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood and Kate Sweetman. Boston, Mass. : Harvard Business Press, 2008. 190 p. ISBN 978-1-4221-1907-3
What makes a great leader? It's a question that has been tackled by thousands. In fact, there are literally tens of thousands of leadership studies, theories, frameworks, models, and recommended best practices. But where are the clear, simple answers we need for our daily work lives? Are there any? Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood, and Kate Sweetman set out to answer these questions--to crack the code of leadership. Drawing on decades of research experience, the authors conducted extensive interviews with a variety of respected CEOs, academics, experienced executives, and seasoned consultants -- and heard the same five essentials repeated again and again. These five rules became The Leadership Code. In The Leadership Code, the authors break down great leadership into day-to-day actions, so that you know what to do Monday morning. Crack the leadership code--and take your leadership to the next level.
About the Authors: Dave Ulrich is Professor of Business at the University of Michigan and a partner at The RBL Group. He has published fifteen books and has worked with over half of the Fortune 200. Last year, Fast Company named him as one of the ten most innovative and creative business management thinkers. Norm Smallwood is cofounder of The RBL Group and coauthor of five books, including Results-Based Leadership. He is also on the faculty of the Executive Education Center at the University of Michigan Business School. Kate Sweetman is leadership development consultant and a former editor at Harvard Business Review.
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