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Canada near top of OECD list for hardest-working nations

By Jordan Chittley-  Daily Brew – Thu, 14 Apr, 2011

If you believe you work harder than many of your international counterparts, you would be mostly right, unless your counterparts live in Mexico.

Canadians work the fourth-longest hours out of the 29 countries surveyed, according to a study released by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

OECD's "Society at a Glance" shows when unpaid and paid work is combined, Mexicans top the list by devoting 10 hours a day to work. Belgians work the least, at only seven hours a day. Canadians work about eight hours and 20 minutes per day, which is about 20 minutes above the OECD average.

When dividing paid and unpaid work, the study shows Canadians work the fifth-most paid hours per day at just over five. People in Japan work the most paid hours per day at about six.

Most unpaid includes household chores such as cooking, cleaning, caretaking and shopping. Mexicans do the most unpaid work as well at more than three hours per day. Koreans do the least, working only one hour and 19 minutes unpaid.

Cooking is the unpaid work that takes up the highest percentage of most people's time. Turks spend the most time cooking at 74 minutes, while Americans spend the least time at 30 minutes. Americans also spend the third-lowest amount of time eating, but strangely enough have the highest obesity rate in the OECD.

If the total number of hours worked seems low compared to the average eight hours a day most Canadians spend at their offices, that is because it includes retirees and people on days off including weekends.

The average is lowered in countries with more generous holiday allowances and retirement ages.

The study is based on surveys conducted in 26 OECD member countries plus China, India and South Africa involving people between 15 and 64. Participants were required to say what they were doing every five minutes during the day.

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Building an Olympian Workforce

by Adecco Canada on February 6, 2014

With the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia revving up, people are not only marveling at the abilities of Canada’s athletes, but also at the level of resolve it took for them to make it there. It begs the question, however, about what qualities drive them to such success? And how can employers harness such qualities to go for gold in the arena of business?

What makes an Olympian employee?

Since 2005, Adecco’s Athlete Career Program has been there to support elite athletes transitioning from sport to work. In fact, Patrick Glennon, Senior Vice President and global leader at Adecco for the Athlete Career Program, has identified 10 specific qualities possessed by elite athletes that are highly desired by employers. They are:

1.       Adaptability

2.       Coachability

3.       Creativity

4.       Dedication

5.       Determination

6.       Focus

7.       Motivation

8.       Patience

9.       Steadfastness

10.    Cooperativeness.

Combined, these qualities amount to what is essentially a super employee: Loyal, goal-oriented, high-performing, and able to leverage those attributes to transform the destiny of whatever employer is lucky enough to have them.

But Olympian qualities are not only found in athletes. Many individuals possess the unique combination of qualities that drive Olympians; it’s just that those individuals have chosen to focus that energy in areas other than sport.

Signs of an Olympian applicant

The next time you’re sifting through resumes, keep a close eye on the hobbies and/or volunteer sections. As listed above, Olympian employees are cooperative, meaning they’re team players – and not just when they have to be. Rather, most of them seek the camaraderie inherent in team work and yearn to contribute to the success of a group. If you see a history of team sports or other activities, such as volunteer work with charities, you may have found your future champion.

How to attract Olympian employees

Of course, no employer should just sit back and expect Olympian employees to apply to their organizations. Such individuals are not only highly competitive amongst themselves, seeking those organizations that will present them with the greatest rewards, but they also spur competition among the organizations they apply to. In essence, to win an Olympian employee, employers must demonstrate their own Olympian qualities. Here are a couple of ways you can do that:

·         Promote your rewards and recognition program

It should come as no surprise that Olympian employees enjoy recognition – and that doesn’t just include individual recognition. As most of them are inherently team players, Olympian employees also enjoy when the groups they work in are rewarded too. On your job postings and especially on your website, be sure to include information about the rewards and benefits you offer.

·           Win industry awards

Amassing industry awards is a popular strategy for attracting the best talent. Just as Olympic athletes relish marching before the world draped in the colours of their homeland, Olympian employees take particular pride in talking about who they work for so long as that employer has made a name for themselves, not only as a financially successful business, but as an innovator regarding products and/or services as well as corporate culture. Reputation is key to attracting Olympian employees, so compete, defeat, and don’t be discreet about your victories. Have your employees list the wins in their email signatures, dedicate a page to the awards on your website, and proudly display them in all their glory in your reception area.

How to create Olympian employees

Even if someone on your team isn’t what you’d call an “Olympian” employee, that doesn’t mean they don’t have the potential to become one with the right coaching and motivation.

·         Establish clear goals

Regularly defining and reminding your employees of their individual goals and the overall goals of the organization gives everyone something to shoot for. With those goals constantly in mind, their work will become more focused.

·       Provide feedback – and data

No Olympian athlete can get to where they’re going without knowing where they’ve been and where they are. Why would it be different for an employee at work? Ensure that each individual receives regular, detailed feedback about their accomplishments and room for growth. This feedback should also include disclosing pertinent data. Would a coach clock a speed skater and then refuse to tell them how fast they went?

·         Award them

Just as it should help attract Olympian employees to you, your rewards and recognition program should motivate current employees to become more Olympian themselves. According to a 2013 study conducted by IBM, awards have a significant effect on employee motivation, primarily because they allow the winners to revel not simply in the fact that they won, but in knowing that all the non-winners know they won. This touch of schadenfreude may seem unsavoury, but it reinforces that the motivation to prove oneself the best at something is present in almost everyone – we all just need the opportunity. After all, how can someone own a podium if there isn’t one?

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How to develop that ‘dream’ career without losing focus on the day job

Submitted by: Eileen Chadnick

Globe and Mail -  Wednesday, Apr. 18, 2012

The question

I have a full-time job which covers a good portion of my financial needs but I’ve also got a second career that I work at part-time and would like to grow. This one is more of my passion and what I’d like to do more in the years ahead. I’m having a tough time, however, keeping it all together. Managing both can be tough. Every time I try to put the focus on one, the other seems to get in the way. Having two careers isn’t easy! Any suggestions on how to keep on top of it all? I’m not willing to give up, either.

The answer

Having two careers at once is indeed an ambitious proposition and yet not that unusual these days. For some people, a second career may be about creating an additional income stream. For others, such as yourself, it’s about a passion. Boomers, who are exploring new career frontiers, may take on a second career as part of their work-life transition strategy. Whichever the reason, having two careers at once has its challenges and its rewards.

First of all, you need to get focused and be clear on your goals. Being clear on what you want from your career and life at any given point will help you focus your plans and commitments to each career respectively. Your goals may likely shift over time so it’s important to check in regularly and ask yourself if your priorities have changed.

You wrote that you would like to develop your second career in the years ahead – and that you are not willing to give up the first career. To clarify this further, consider these questions: What do you get from the second career that is of most value to you? Is fulfilment the main driver? What else – in both work and life – will be important to you as you develop this career? How willing are you to give up time in the first career? How about giving up more of your weekend and evening hours? Is this a transition period with the goal of making the second career full-time eventually or will you try to keep the two indefinitely? If the latter, what proportion of time and effort will each take within your career portfolio?

The answers you come up with for yourself may add important clarity to your planning.

Whatever you decide, you must get organized and manage your time. You will need to be masterful at efficiency, focus and purposeful action. Pay attention to short and long-term planning, day-to-day scheduling; prioritizing, delegating and learning to say no. Also, think about how to allocate your time between the two careers.

At the same time, you must balance your passion with a dose of reality. You will want to do it all. Your passion career, in particular, may inspire a lot of ideas and possibilities, and while your vision of possibilities may seem infinite – remember your resources of time and energy is not. If you are committed to holding both careers then this can continue to be a source of tension for you. You may feel like you aren’t doing enough – in either area. You will need to make choices.

Your enthusiasm may create ambitions that may need to be occasionally right-sized to your part-time resources. Stretch yourself – yes, but know and respect your limits. Declare appropriate boundaries for what you can achieve and commit to within any particular time given your dual career focus. For example, when I started my coaching practice in 2003, I had another career that I was heavily involved in. I had to make the decision that I would not take appointments during evenings or weekends, otherwise I would be working 24/7 and would burn out. I recognized my tipping point where “more” would not necessarily be better – for my clients nor for myself.

It is imperative that you manage your mindset and fuel your well-being. You are stepping up to a big game. You will need the best of yourself to play it well. Do all you can to keep yourself physically and emotionally hearty and resilient. Don’t let long hours cut into ample quality sleep, good nutrition and exercise. Invest in your relationships and meaningful pursuits outside of work for balance.

Keep a positive mindset by recognizing what you can do and are accomplishing instead of dwelling on what you can’t get to – yet. Managing two careers is quite a feat – make sure you acknowledge your own success, tenacity and commitment along the way. Most importantly, keep learning, stay focused, have a plan, but leave some wiggle room to discover what’s right for you.

Eileen Chadnick is a career coach and principal of Big Cheese Coaching in Toronto