Sunrise bulletin for the week of October 3, 2012
Posted by Rob Goodell
on Oct 3, 2012
There's a noticeable drop in the morning temperatures and the trees are starting to turn colour, especially the maples which are becoming bright crimson. Seems that summer might be almost over. Let's petition for a rerun.
Season after season, our Rotary club meetings continue every week. Today, we were ten members at the Coast Coal Harbour plus our speaker and two visiting Rotarians. Dean Roussow from the North Vancouver club was with us to video our speaker for PR uses for her business. Annica Jansson, from a club in Finland, is in town to promote the islands where she lives as a tourist destination. President Julie Mantle welcomed both and exchanged banners with Annica, resisting the temptation to do it in Swedish, the language spoken on Annica's islands in Finland.
Club and district news
This is the last week to register for Guess Who's Coming for Dinner, which will be on October 20. If you want to be part of this event, send an email before Sunday to asgoodell@shaw.ca.
The Government of Canada has agreed to match our donations to RI's Polio Eradication program, and the Gates Foundation will match, too. So, each person who donates $100 before next March, will cause a $300 increase in the funds available for polio innoculations. We are this close!
Our project to help the Strathcona Community Centre youth programs will be discussed at the October 17 meeting of the Chinatown club. If you'd like to be there, it's at the Floata Restaurant on Keefer Street at 12:15. Lunch is $20.
Lawrence and Bev Bicknell have again offered to host the club's Christmas party, to be held on Saturday, December 1 (the night before the West End Seniors event).
Personal items
Larry Belsito has advised the club that his wife, Tania, has had a heart attack during their visit in Ontario. Apparently, Tania is OK but their return to BC is delayed. Get well, Tania.
Lawrence reports that Bev is walking for the first time since her foot surgery. It seems she's sporting a very stylish boot as the latest addition to her wardrobe.
Abigail Turner tells us that Emma is participating in cross-country runnng at her elementary school. And Carlos Obregon's daughter just started in nursery school. Time flies, folks!
Today's program
Our speaker this morning was Sieglinde Malmberg, a Rotary member in Abbotsford, who has a business called HR in Your Pocket. She counsels entrepreneurs and small businesses in the areas of personnel policies, hiring and training of employees and other human resources issues. She says a business can be like a jungle if the human side of the company isn't managed well. The cost of mistakes in this area can be very expensive for small companies. She advises her clients to assess the human side of their businesses as they would any other area of the company.
One way to improve the human side is to start with better employment interviewing. Using us as guinea pigs, she compiled a collection of frequently-asked questions at job interviews and noted that most of them were opinion questions which don't identify whether or not the potential employee can or will do the job assigned. She prefers to ask behavioural questions that get at whether the person has had experiences similar to those that will be encountered in the new job. She urges employers to look for commitment and passion in new hires, rather than just personality traits.
Another way to improve the human side of a business is to weed out policies and procedures that limit creativity and get rid of them before they get in the way. Interesting idea.
Next week's meeting
On October 10, we'll welcome Alison MacLean back from Afghanistan where she just delivered the equipment we donated for the police women cadets. If you've been following the news from that part of the world, you'll know that her trip was exciting, to say the least. See you on Wednesday.
Rob
Season after season, our Rotary club meetings continue every week. Today, we were ten members at the Coast Coal Harbour plus our speaker and two visiting Rotarians. Dean Roussow from the North Vancouver club was with us to video our speaker for PR uses for her business. Annica Jansson, from a club in Finland, is in town to promote the islands where she lives as a tourist destination. President Julie Mantle welcomed both and exchanged banners with Annica, resisting the temptation to do it in Swedish, the language spoken on Annica's islands in Finland.
Club and district news
This is the last week to register for Guess Who's Coming for Dinner, which will be on October 20. If you want to be part of this event, send an email before Sunday to asgoodell@shaw.ca.
The Government of Canada has agreed to match our donations to RI's Polio Eradication program, and the Gates Foundation will match, too. So, each person who donates $100 before next March, will cause a $300 increase in the funds available for polio innoculations. We are this close!
Our project to help the Strathcona Community Centre youth programs will be discussed at the October 17 meeting of the Chinatown club. If you'd like to be there, it's at the Floata Restaurant on Keefer Street at 12:15. Lunch is $20.
Lawrence and Bev Bicknell have again offered to host the club's Christmas party, to be held on Saturday, December 1 (the night before the West End Seniors event).
Personal items
Larry Belsito has advised the club that his wife, Tania, has had a heart attack during their visit in Ontario. Apparently, Tania is OK but their return to BC is delayed. Get well, Tania.
Lawrence reports that Bev is walking for the first time since her foot surgery. It seems she's sporting a very stylish boot as the latest addition to her wardrobe.
Abigail Turner tells us that Emma is participating in cross-country runnng at her elementary school. And Carlos Obregon's daughter just started in nursery school. Time flies, folks!
Today's program
Our speaker this morning was Sieglinde Malmberg, a Rotary member in Abbotsford, who has a business called HR in Your Pocket. She counsels entrepreneurs and small businesses in the areas of personnel policies, hiring and training of employees and other human resources issues. She says a business can be like a jungle if the human side of the company isn't managed well. The cost of mistakes in this area can be very expensive for small companies. She advises her clients to assess the human side of their businesses as they would any other area of the company.
One way to improve the human side is to start with better employment interviewing. Using us as guinea pigs, she compiled a collection of frequently-asked questions at job interviews and noted that most of them were opinion questions which don't identify whether or not the potential employee can or will do the job assigned. She prefers to ask behavioural questions that get at whether the person has had experiences similar to those that will be encountered in the new job. She urges employers to look for commitment and passion in new hires, rather than just personality traits.
Another way to improve the human side of a business is to weed out policies and procedures that limit creativity and get rid of them before they get in the way. Interesting idea.
Next week's meeting
On October 10, we'll welcome Alison MacLean back from Afghanistan where she just delivered the equipment we donated for the police women cadets. If you've been following the news from that part of the world, you'll know that her trip was exciting, to say the least. See you on Wednesday.
Rob