If managed effectively, Howatt asserts that investing in cognitive
hygiene has the ability to improve an organization’s bottom line by
reducing turnover, improving productivity and reducing the po-tential
for employee conflict, to name a few.
“Managing coping skills and resilience development are not
static – they continually need to be practiced to effectively take on
the stressors of everyday life,” said Howatt.
The full whitepaper, Why supporting employees to develop their
coping skills and resiliency is good business, can be downloaded in
full here.
SHOULD YOU “FRIEND” YOUR COWORKERS?
Do workers “like” the idea of office friendships crossing into so-cial
media? Nearly two-thirds of workers (62 per cent) polled
by staffing firm OfficeTeam said it’s appropriate to connect with
colleagues on Facebook. Slightly fewer feel it’s okay to follow co-workers
on Twitter (52 per cent), Instagram (45 per cent) and
Snapchat (33 per cent). In contrast, just over half of senior man-agers
interviewed think it’s fine to engage with fellow employees
on Facebook (54 per cent), followed by Twitter (34 per cent),
Instagram (34 per cent) and Snapchat (29 per cent).
According to the worker survey, those ages 18 to 34 find it more
acceptable to connect with coworkers on social media than their
counterparts.
“Your social media presence can impact how you’re per-ceived
offline – both personally and professionally,” said Koula
Vasilopoulos, a district president for OfficeTeam. “To establish
and maintain a favourable reputation, workers should be selective
about what is shared and with whom. Updating privacy settings
and creating separate groups for colleagues or business contacts al-lows
better control over what others can see.
“While engaging with colleagues on social networks can help
foster stronger relationships, it’s important to respect that not ev-eryone
is comfortable interacting online. When in doubt, wait for
a coworker to follow first.”
In the following table, OfficeTeam offers the “don’ts” when con-necting
with coworkers on social media, along with advice for
what to do instead.
Don’t Do This Instead
Add everyone you
work with to your
social networks
Be selective. If a
colleague’s connections
are limited to a
few office
buddies,
sending an invite could
be
overstepping your
boundaries.
Reject a coworker’s
friend request
Explain that you prefer
to keep your account
limited to personal
use and
suggest
connecting on a
professional
networking
site like LinkedIn. In
some
cases, it may be
best to accept the offer
so
you don’t offend the
person. Adjust
privacy
settings to control what
information he or she has
access to.
Post updates or
photos that reveal
too much
Use your best judgment
when sharing. Not
everyone needs to
know what you
did
last night, and certain
topics can
come across
as unprofessional.
Remove
questionable
images from your profiles.
Interact with people
in your network
only when you need
something
Pay it forward by helping
your online
contacts
and show support for
their
personal interests.
You may discover
things
in common you can
bond over.
OPEN VS. PRIVATE WORKSPACES
Canadian companies may want to consider mixing things up when
it comes to their office arrangements. While 81 per cent of work-ers
surveyed by Robert Half reported open arrangements help
collaboration, they also noted at least some privacy contributes
to a more productive, less stressful office environment; yet only
35 per cent of workers said their employer offers both options. A
news
12 ❚ OCTOBER 2017 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
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