National Adult Literacy Database

New numbers from the Corporate Executive Board’s quarterly study of 20,000 employees over the second half of 2011 took a look at the biggest drivers of employee retention – that is, the reasons people choose to stay loyal to their company – and found that it’s not about the money in the post-recession workforce.

Newfoundland and Labrador is in the midst of an unprecedented energy and resources boom that is straining the province’s ability to keep up. Finding enough workers to complete some $43-billion worth of major projects under way and planned is proving to be a monumental challenge.

How can you help support hunger and literacy at the same time? Turn your Family Literacy Day event into a food drive. Encourage families that attend your event to bring a non-perishable food item that you can then donate to your local food bank.

The Canadian Retirement Income Calculator will provide you with retirement income information, including OAS and CPP benefits. You will need to work through a series of modules in order to estimate your retirement incomes and compare them to the 70 per cent income replacement rate often recommended by retirement planners. It also allows you to see the impact of increased savings.

Young people in Manitoba will continue to have access to a resource that allows them to learn about career and education options, thanks to support from the federal and provincial governments.

As part of 'Canada Starts Here: The B.C. Jobs Plan', over 50 skills training programs are being delivered by 20 post-secondary institutions throughout the province under the government's Employment Skills Access Initiative (ESA). This project is funded within government's existing fiscal plan.

Lee Gray, senior manager, RBC Recruitment, says a military resume should not be a barrier to working in corporate Canada. "Organizations should recognize the talents of ex-military individuals and give them the opportunity to add value in today's civilian workplace."

Successful onboarding reduces the time new hires take to get up to speed, increases productivity by improving employee engagement, and lowers new hire turnover. In short, onboarding is a welcoming experience that helps people feel comfortable in and connected to the organization. A Conference Board of Canada report, Bringing New Hires Up to Speed: How Structured Onboarding Can Help, identifies five objectives for an onboarding program.

Despite higher education levels, Canadian immigrants experience higher unemployment rates and lower incomes than workers born in the country, according to a new report issued by RBC Economics.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission welcomes the Government of Canada's move to repeal sections of the Canadian Human Rights Act and Canada Labour Code that permit employers to force employees to retire once they reach a certain age, regardless of their ability to do the job.

“’Pragmatic’ is a word that describes a kind of quality that people value in themselves but also look for in others, and look for in policymakers and the activities of people around them,” says John Morse, president and publisher of Merriam-Webster.

The study finds that people who work outside Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. — especially evenings or weekends — spend less time speaking with others face-to-face or enjoying time socializing. Those who work evenings spend 6 hours 45 minutes doing social activities, and weekend workers spend just over five hours compared to eight hours for those who work normal hours.

Ten federally and provincially funded projects will support unemployed older workers in small communities in Manitoba by helping them develop their skills and get back into the labour market.

How you handle the results of a performance review is far more important than what you received. Absorb, understand and act. Take time to let the results sink in. Pay attention to good feedback, too. Reflect on the information with curiosity and compassion rather than self-judgment.

Scientists claim that the hyperlinked, text-messaging screen shapes the mind quite differently from the book. “It pulls attention with such rapidity it doesn’t allow the kind of deep, focused attention that reading a book 10 years ago invited,” says Maryanne Wolf, director of the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University in Massachusetts. “It invites constant change of attention, it invites multitasking. It invites, in other words, a kind of triage of attention.”