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UPFRONT
MEETING OF THE MINDS: CANADIAN
WORKERS AND EXECUTIVES DREAD
WASTED TIME, INTERRUPTIONS
Love ’em or hate ’em, meetings are an essential platform for shar-ing
information, brainstorming new ideas and collaborating as a
team. But are meetings always necessary? It doesn’t seem so, finds
new research from Accountemps. Professionals surveyed said they
spend 15 per cent of their work hours in meetings but feel a quar-ter
of that time is wasted.
Responses from finance leaders show slightly more of their time
(26 per cent) is spent in meetings and they feel 18 per cent of that
is unproductive. Additional findings include:
■■ Forty-nine per cent of workers admitted they’re less engaged
during remote meetings, while 60 per cent of finance leaders
said the same regarding their staff.
■■ Finance leaders said, on average, that 15 per cent of their
meetings are conducted through online meeting platforms.
“While meetings can be valuable opportunities for staff to
share insights and collaborate, issues like poor planning or lack of
focus often leads to drawn-out, repetitive and unproductive dis-cussions,”
said David King, Canadian president of Accountemps.
“It’s important that meeting managers establish clear objectives,
stick to a concise agenda and follow up with notes or next steps to
ensure an efficient and constructive use of everyone's time.”
BEYOND THE NUMBERS: FINANCIAL EXECUTIVES’
ROLES IN CANADA CONTINUE TO EXPAND
Financial leaders continue breaking the mold and expanding
their influence throughout their organizations. In a Robert Half
Management Resources survey, finance executives in Canada most
frequently reported their roles have grown over the past three
years to include more human resources (37 per cent) and informa-tion
technology (36 per cent) efforts.
“With business demands, budgets and revenue sources evolving,
firms increasingly look to their financial leaders for strategic anal-ysis
and comprehensive guidance,” said David King, president of
Robert Half Management Resources. “Company-wide initiatives
WITH BUSINESS DEMANDS,
BUDGETS AND REVENUE
SOURCES EVOLVING, FIRMS
INCREASINGLY LOOK TO THEIR
FINANCIAL LEADERS FOR
STRATEGIC ANALYSIS AND
COMPREHENSIVE GUIDANCE.
– DAVID KING,
ROBERT HALF MANAGEMENT RESOURCES
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HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ SEPTEMBER 2018 ❚ 9
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