Boss bashing is becoming an epidemic

“The average American spends fifteen hours a month criticizing or complaining about their boss.”

–Recent research from DDI

I learned this factoid from Marshall Goldsmith’s book Mojo: How to Get it, How to Keep it, How to Get it Back if You Lose it.  As Marshall explains:  “I initially chose to believe that this research was wrong, but when I conducted a similar study of two hundred employees, my results were exactly the same.”  He elaborates:

Many of us bash the boss at work, after work, even on weekends when our only audiences are our partners or captive family members.  That fifteen hours is more time than Americans devote to watching baseball which suggests that our real national pastime is bashing the boss.

A little bit of boss bashing may be understandable, in the same way that stepping outside to scream at the top of our lungs releases some of our pent-up frustrations.  But whatever therapeutic benefit we derive from this form of complaining is far outweighed by the negatives.

For one thing, it’s not particularly attractive.  Trashing the boss when he or she is not in the room to put up a defense makes even the most eloquent whiner appear small and cowardly.  People wonder why you don’t say it to the boss’s face.  They may also wonder what you are saying about them out of earshot.

It’s futile to critique people who aren’t even in the room.  They can’t hear you talking or respond to what you are saying (although trust me, through boss’s intuition, he or she senses your disdain).  Nothing constructive will come out of it.  You won’t build a better boss with your jibes.  You’ll only tarnish your own reputation, plus risk that the boss may hear about you through office gossip (or overhear you when you think no one’s listening).

More than anything, boss bashing is unproductive.  Imagine what you could accomplish if you dedicated those fifteen hours to something of consequence (like going to night school or being with your family)?

The next time you start to bash the boss, think about what you may be doing to yourself and those around you. If you really have a problem with your boss, talk to him or her about it.  If you feel that you cannot talk with the person, leave.  If you cannot talk with the person, and cannot leave, accept the situation and make the best of it.

Thanks, Marshall, for showing us how better to channel a common work frustration!  Read more on Marshall's website.

Bob Nelson, Ph.D.

President, Nelson Motivation Inc.

Multi-Million Copy Best-selling Author

1501 Ways to Reward Employees

(858) 673-0690 direct

www.drbobnelson.com

Based in San Diego, California USA
Named as a Top Thought Leader for 2013 by the Best Practice Institute

Emails do not create a fixed-term contract

With the increasing use of email during the recruitment process, it is possible that certain terms of an employment relationship will be first discussed, if not finalized, over email before they are ever (ideally!) put into an employment contract. So, can the items discussed over email constitute terms of employment if they do not make it into an employment contract?

This was the key question in a recent Ontario case.

The facts are brief: the plaintiff was appointed to a position that was understood by the company to be for a temporary period. Three months into the appointment, another individual was appointed to the position on a permanent basis and the plaintiff’s appointment was terminated. The plaintiff sued for, among other things, wrongful dismissal. During the trial, the plaintiff sought to present email evidence setting out pre-contract discussions leading up to the appointment in order to suggest that the contract between him and the company was for a fixed three-year term.  Specifically, he sought to enter into evidence emails in which he committed to a three-year engagement with the company. The company called into question the authenticity of the emails, and their witness, from whom the emails were purportedly sent, denied ever sending the emails to the plaintiff.

Faced with a “he said/she said” situation, the Court’s conclusions were based on credibility. The Court found the plaintiff’s late disclosure of these emails troubling and, coupled with the company’s evidence challenging inconsistencies and errors in the emails, held that the emails were inaccurate. Without the email evidence, the Court concluded that there was no discussion regarding a fixed-term for the contract and thus none existed.

The Court went on to assess the nature of the plaintiff’s services, which it found were contemplated and discussed to be of a temporary nature. The Court went further and held that, based on the fact that the plaintiff invoiced the company for his services, the relationship was that of an independent contractor, disentitling the plaintiff to any reasonable notice of termination.

Had the emails in this case been found to be accurate, they could have been read in as terms of the contract and provided the plaintiff with damages of $262,800 representing the three-year term the plaintiff was claiming. The Court was clear that “correspondence engaged between parties is admissible in evidence regarding the issue of formation of a contract” even where the correspondence is contrary to the employment terms set out in a subsequent contract.

While email correspondence can speed up the recruitment process, it can just as quickly be utilized as a written record against the interests of a company. For this reason, recruiters, human resources professionals and employers in general should exercise caution when relaying proposed terms of a contract to a potential employee online. It should not be assumed that discussions (verbal or via email) prior to the provision of a written employment or independent contractor agreement do not count in defining the relationship between the parties.

Byline:

Parisa Nikfarjam is an employment lawyer with Rubin Thomlinson LLP, a Toronto-based employment law firm. She supports both employee and employer clients with legal counsel in all areas of employment law and workplace human rights. http://www.rubinthomlinson.com/  pnikfarjam@rubinthomlinson.com

Bio:

Parisa Nikfarjam is an employment lawyer with the employment law firm Rubin Thomlinson LLP. Parisa assists clients with challenging workplace issues including: recruitment; accommodation; employee discipline; workplace human rights; workplace harassment and violence; and termination.

 

Register Now: Only 1 Week Remains until the Entrepreneurs Symposium

	Don't Miss your Chance to attend the 2014 Toronto Entrepreneurs Symposium & Tradeshow taking place Downtown Toronto on November 5th, 2014. Ticket Prices Starting at $15.00. This year's Symposium will feature an incredible day of networking, interactive seminars & presentations and a Tradeshow area featuring over 30 of the GTA's most innovative organizations. The Tradeshow area will be open to the general public from 7:30am - 4:00pm Meet our Speakers: Marc Belaiche, CPA, CA, President, TorontoJobs.ca Colin Sprake, President & CEO, Make your Mark Chris Hokansson, Managing Director, One Red Bird Marketing Inc. Jonathan Brindley, CPA, CA, President, Liquid Capital Ann Kaplan, CEO & President of iFinance Canada Inc. Andrew Peek, Technology Advisor / Investor, Big Tree Capital Partners, LLC Meet our Afternoon Panelists: MC / Host:  Mira Sirotic, Senior Advisor of Canada Entrepreneur Organization Josh Singer, President, Kognitive Marketing Ryan Austin, Founder & CEO, In.Acuity Susie Pan, Founder, Science Expo Hyunbin Lee, Co-Founder & President, DrawSplash Claudia Harvey, Successful Entrepreneur, Motivational Speaker and Strategic Advisor For more information visit us online at www.TorontoEntrepreneurs.ca

Top Five Businesses for Entrepreneuring Families

Top Five Businesses for Entrepreneuring Families

A “familypreneur” is an entrepreneur who designs and grows a business around his or her family. This means they are motivated primarily by their family's needs, and by considering how their business affects their loved ones. Familypreneurship comes from a deep consideration of the opportunities that are available and what limitations a business might impose on their lives. One thing is certain, they always put their family first.

The term "Familypreneuring" has been recently popularized by John and Michelle Humphrey of Familyprenuering.com. Based out of San Diego, CA. the couple have created a webinar and ebook on the subject.

Famous examples of entrepreneuring families we see on TV include the hit CBC TV show Heartland, which chronicles the adventures of a single mom managing a dude ranch where her teenage children have full time jobs. The series explores the challenges of raising teenagers, running a business and offers a glimpse at the extreme fulfillment found in both commercial and familial success.

The path to familyprenuership is always intriguing, and different in every single case. It usually comes as a solution to a life problem, for example, unemployment, the collapse of a marriage, or forced migration, but sometimes it’s born out of the decision makers in the family coming to the realization that the road they’re on may not be leading them to where they want to go in life. There are many paths leading to the decision to own a business, and to striking out on one’s own path to change their future.

Here are the five most successful familypreneur business models, measured in terms profitability, scalability and quality of life.

Become a Compact Refreshment Centre Operator

 

Families that stock their own compact refreshment centres in hockey arenas, office buildings and factories and who work together every day, enjoy great lives together with lots of personal freedom. They only have to work a few hours a day, yet they are probably more connected to each other than any of their neighbors, because of a shared responsibility and social interaction with the community.

The Compact Refreshment Centre program offers a simple, proven and sensible way to start and grow a business that you can enjoy for many years to come. But becoming a successful Compact Refreshment Centre Operator does not happen overnight; it takes perseverance, and passion for service and a personal plan for success, which Compact Refreshment Centre helps its operators develop and execute.

There are lots of jobs for family members of all ages in this business, including accounting, buying stock, stocking machines, collecting and sorting coins and rolling them up for the bank, marketing, finding new locations and growing customer bases around them.

Open a Frozen Yogurt Cafe, or a Family Restaurant

Whether the founders buy a restaurant franchise or start a concept from scratch often depends on the whole family’s passion and experience with a particular type of food. For example, does the chef have dozens of decades-old family recipes they 'd love to make and share with dinner patrons? For those who dream of being successful restaurateurs putting these recipes on the menu can be very gratifying and lucrative.

Creating and managing a popular restaurant can be a very prosperous affair, but with greater rewards comes greater risks and responsibilities. There is a much greater risk of robbery, theft, extortion and criminal prosecution for negligence in the restaurant game. And there are much greater expenses in marketing, insurance, training and the need to buy and take specialized courses for serving alcohol and for using propane, and other specialized kitchen equipment.

On the upside however, with restaurants there's always a job for everyone in the family; even the youngest children can distribute flyers, prep vegetables and wash dishes.

Operate an Organic Food Delivery Business

A rapidly expanding byproduct of the digital age is the grocery delivery business that delivers fresh food from the grocery store direct to the consumer, and a rapidly expanding niche of that sector is the organic food delivery business. The demand for organic food is higher because obtaining certified organic commodities is often only possible at organic markets or travelling farmer’s markets which are hard for working parents to find and access during the day or on weekends.

Organic’s Live was founded by a group of concerned dads with a shared belief that strong, prosperous communities can be fueled by good, clean food that has been produced with environmental, health and economic stewardship at the fore. They market food that has been grown free of chemicals and in harmony with its surroundings.

The Canadian organic industry has grown at a rate of 300% since 2006, making it one of the fastest growing segments of the economy. As more people become aware of the dangers of conventional farming practices, the demand for access to clean, safe, chemical free food has exploded.

Organic’s Live seeks passionate franchisees to join their team and expand their footprint across the country.

Open a Family Owned Retail Store

Buying retail stores and providing jobs for everyone in the family is actually the number one choice of new Canadians who become family entrepreneurs in order to better adjust to this society. In many cases the catalyst to business for them was highly disruptive, and now the rigours of buying and running a store in Canada seems like child’s play. They seek that passive environment for collective learning and a road to prosperity depending on the success or failure of the business which of course is a measure of the success or failure of the family’s integration into the community.

The passion and experience of the would-be retailer are two other factors that will decide which store concept they invest in, and how well they succeed.  A popular choice in franchises is dollar stores and Canadian dollar stores in particular and so are Bulk Barns, Party Max, and 7-11 stores.
 

These retail chains advertise to find applicants, and in their brochures they stress quality of life and employment for the whole family. The 7/11 store owner program in particular makes it very easy to manage this complicated retail venue by providing checklists to follow for daily, weekly and monthly guidance.

Niche Service Business, like Molly Maid

Starting a niche service business can be as imaginative as the founders.  Eavestrough cleaning, driveway sealing, snow removal and grass cutting are some of the more unimaginative examples.

Many house or office cleaning businesses are available as franchises now, and these offer significant advantages over building a business from scratch, including a list of ready customers and mechanisms to quickly and efficiently find more. An office cleaning business may not be exactly glamorous, but it can be very profitable.

This quote is from a testimonials on the Molly Maid website's franchise page,

"As my children were growing older, I felt it was time to return to the work force. I wasn't interested in working for someone else, so I started looking at the possibilities of buying a Franchise. I wasn't interested in working evenings and weekends, and wanted something I could operate out of my house."

That's a textbook example of a familypreneur at the starting point. In most cases, mom or dad don’t want to make a fortune, they just want more time to be around their loved ones, and seek the added lifestyle benefits of working from home. They want to be their own bosses and savor the thrill of making it, or breaking it in the real world, as a team.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rob Campbell

Robert Campbell is a business storyteller and start-up enthusiast, author and creator of rich media attractions like Birds of Toronto . com He submits stories to Newsvine and Digital Journal quite frequently and maintains http://SMOJoe.com/blog  .   Rob Campbell is a big proponent of people who walk away from 9 to 5 lifestyles in search of more freedom and new careers that let them spend more time with family, and or focus on artistic passions, unusual skills or incredible gifts.  Read Fuel Ghoul,  http://roberrific.typepad.com