Latest news with #workplaceculture
CTV News
21 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Which major companies in Canada have asked staff to return to the office?
A woman walks in the financial district in Toronto on Sept. 20, 2022. (Alex Lupul / The Canadian Press) A few years after the COVID-19 pandemic, more employers are focusing on in-person collaboration, with one workplace culture expert saying some are asking workers to return to the office. 'We're seeing a shift in employer priorities because organizations coming back from (COVID-19) are emphasizing more collaboration, culture and oversight, especially in jobs or in roles where teamwork and client engagement are emphasized,' Candy Ho, a consultant for HR departments from different companies, said in a video interview with on Friday. While more companies have moved away from fully remote work since the days of lockdowns and COVID-19 concerns, Ho, a professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University near Vancouver, expects the trend to 'stabilize' rather than continue to accelerate. 'It resides with individual employers ... when they look at their profitability, for instance, and productivity levels of employees, and whether or not they're working from home and in person, there are two sides of the coin.' Ho, a board member of the Canadian National Career Development Association, says employees may be more productive when they have more control and flexibility working from home. On the flip side, people with jobs that require more collaboration may find it makes more sense to be in the office. With news this week of Royal Bank of Canada shifting away from fully remote work, here are some of the major companies in the country that have made similar moves: Royal Bank of Canada RBC asked some employees to be in the office four times a week beginning in September, Reuters reported Thursday. Memos were sent by business leaders from the Toronto-based bank on Thursday, following the announcement of its second-quarter earnings, which were lower than analysts' expectations. The policy doesn't apply for fully remote workers and those who are already working in the office full-time, according to Reuters. A spokesperson was quoted as saying that RBC 'is a relationship-driven bank and in-person, human connection is core to our winning culture.' Some staff complained about the move during conversations in internal chat groups, noting the extra travel time and expenses, Reuters reported. RBC didn't immediately respond to request for comments. National Bank of Canada When asked about Montreal-based National Bank's back-to-office policy in Canada, a spokesperson said it varies. 'At National Bank, each team defines its way of working based on its specific needs and those of our clients,' a spokesperson wrote in an email to on Friday. 'Some teams work entirely on-site, while others follow a hybrid model that combines in-person and remote work.' The spokesperson didn't respond to request for more details. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CIBC began asking staff from its global corporate and investment-banking unit to return to the office five days a week, Bloomberg reported in January 2025. The news outlet cited people with knowledge of the situation. CIBC didn't immediately respond to questions from about its current policy. 'At CIBC, the amount of time employees spend in the office depends on their role, taking into consideration things like the nature of their work and where they'll best meet our clients' needs,' spokesperson Andrew McGrath was quoted as saying in the Bloomberg report in January. 'For some teams, that may mean more days in the office, and for others, it may mean more days working remotely.' CIBC had asked staff in Canada to work remotely amid growing concerns about COVID-19 in December 2021, Reuters reported at the time. In 2021, the Toronto-based bank said staff who had returned on-site were asked to work remotely again. JPMorgan Chase Hybrid workers from New York-based bank JPMorgan Chase, which has more than 600 workers in Canada, have been asked to work in the office for five days a week since March, Reuters reported. JPMorgan Chase didn't immediately respond to question about whether its Canadian staff was affected. Facebook Meta Platforms Inc., parent company of Facebook, was a strong advocate of remote work during the pandemic, but Bloomberg reported in March 2023 the company encouraged staff to return to the office. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement at the time that some early analysis suggests 'engineers who either joined Meta in-person and then transferred to remote or remained in-person performed better on average than people who joined remotely,' according to the news report. Meta had created a policy in 2021 to allow all staff to work remotely if they could work outside the office, even after the pandemic. When asked what is Meta's current back-to-office policy in Canada, a spokesperson said in an email to on Friday that its policy currently allows employees to work three days a week in office, and those who've been with the company for more than 18 months are eligible to apply for remote work. The spokesperson did not immediately provide more information when asked for more details. Amazon Amazon has decided in-office work is best for employees. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy shared guidelines about its policy, which also applies to staff in Canada, in a message in September 2024. In the letter addressed to all staff, Jassy said the advantages of being together in the office 'are significant' after the company observed the situation with those working in the office at least three days a week over the past 15 months. Jassy said this policy will allow people to be 'better set up to invent, collaborate, and be connected enough to each other and our culture to deliver the absolute best for customers and the business.' Still, Jassy said it will continue to allow people to work remotely, as it did in some cases even before the pandemic, for 'extenuating circumstances,' such as family emergencies like a sick child, or if staff are approved to work outside the office. With files from Reuters and Bloomberg
News.com.au
4 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
‘Wine into you': Muslim Senator Fatima Payman's shock claim about older, male MP
Independent Senator Fatima Payman has revealed the older male MP who allegedly made sexually suggestive comments to her at work 'wasn't Labor'. Ms Payman, who is Muslim and does not drink alcohol, claimed an older, male colleague told her 'let's get some wine into you and see you dance on the table'. She alleged she was targeted at work when attending a social event as part of official parliamentary business. 'It wasn't Labor. I reported it to PWSS and they dealt with it,'' she told She hasn't explained if the man in question was from the Coalition or another party grouping such as an independent. PWSS is the Parliamentary Workplace Support Scheme that was set up in the wake of Brittany Higgins' allegations that Parliament did not have a standalone HR department to make complaints about workplace behaviour. 'I don't drink and I don't need to be made... to feel left out because you do,' she told ABC's Triple J radio station. 'I told this colleague, 'Hey, I'm drawing a line, mate', and moved on to making a formal complaint.' Senator Payman has argued that calling out inappropriate behaviour could help others. 'Being clear is being kind,' she said. 'You actually are helping somebody understand what your boundaries are by speaking up.' Payman slams 'big blokes' in Labor Party Senator Payman quit the ALP in July slamming Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his chief of staff as 'two big blokes' who hauled her into a disciplinary meeting at the Lodge to suspend her from the ALP caucus without allowing her to bring a support person. She then joined forces with so-called preference whisperer Glenn Druery, bringing him in as her chief of staff in August last year. She was suspended indefinitely by the Prime Minister after she vowed to cross the floor again if necessary on the ABC Insiders program. 'It felt quite intimidating to be there with the Prime Minister and his chief of staff, you know, two big blokes, I guess, and just me,' she told ABC Radio National at the time. Unionists have long campaigned for the right of workers to bring a support person to employment meetings, but Senator Payman said this was not offered to her at the meeting despite Mr Albanese organising his own witness in the form of chief of staff Tim Gartrell. 'And at that meeting, he gave me the decision of being suspended indefinitely,' she said. 'And suggested that, you know, if I do not want to follow corporate solidarity and come back inside the tent, then I must consider giving up the position that the late that I got elected because the ALP was in front of my name, and that was his suggestion. 'And after leaving that meeting, I had to start thinking about my future and what's to come.'
News.com.au
4 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
Fatima Payman alleges older colleague made sexually suggestive remark toward her at work event
Fatima Payman has alleged an older male parliamentary colleague targeted her with sexually suggestive and racial comments toward during a work-related social function. The Labor-turned-independent senator said the colleague 'had too many drinks' and made comments such as 'let's get some wine into you and see you dance on the table.' In addition to being sexually suggestive, Senator Payman said the comments made her feel 'left out' as a Muslim. 'I don't drink and I don't need to be made … to feel left out because you do,' she told the ABC, referring to the colleague. 'It definitely wasn't appropriate.' Senator Payman said she 'told this colleague, 'Hey, I'm drawing a line, mate,'' before going on to lodge a formal complaint with the Parliamentary Workplace Support System. 'Being clear is being kind,' she said. 'You actually are helping somebody understand what your boundaries are by speaking up.' She did not reveal the outcome of that complaint but said she was happy with PWSS' 'swift' handling of the matter. 'Being looked after and taken care of by the Parliamentary Workplace (Support) Service was really, really good,' Senator Payman said.
Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
How Curiosity Culture Turns Neurodiversity Into an Advantage
What's needed is a shift from workplace cultures of compliance to curiosity, where cognitive ... More differences are met with genuine interest and inquiry rather than standardized accommodation protocols. Some organizations approach neurodiversity like they approach fire safety—as a compliance issue requiring basic accommodations to avoid problems. They offer noise-canceling headphones, adjust lighting, create flexible work arrangements and then consider the job done. This kind of compliance culture is a defensive posture focused on risk mitigation rather than opportunity optimization. It's also a lamentable waste of talent and opportunity for both people who are neurodiverse and organizations that employ them, or who could be their employers. According to data from McKinsey, about 20% of the population exhibits neurodivergent traits—for example, autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia. But people who are neurodiverse face an 80% unemployment and underemployment rate despite possessing advanced qualifications in analytical and creative thinking: the very skills the World Economic Forum identifies as most critical for organizational success. What's needed is a shift from workplace cultures of compliance to curiosity, where cognitive differences are met with genuine interest and inquiry rather than standardized accommodation protocols. Here's what usually happens when a manager learns they have a neurodivergent team member. HR provides an accommodation checklist, perhaps offers brief training on "working with differences," and the manager dutifully implements prescribed adjustments. Well meaning as it can be, this compliance-driven approach often overlooks potential and reinforces stigma. The individual's neurodivergent traits are now a formality in the system — an issue to be addressed and a potential liability to be avoided. This dynamic can provoke shame in the employee and fear in the employer, stifling opportunities for dialogue and missing a transformative opportunity. In an interview with McKinsey, Dr. Lawrence Fung, director of Stanford University's Neurodiversity Project, said that approximately half of neurodivergent professionals choose not to disclose their conditions precisely because of these well-meaning but limiting accommodation-focused approaches. They've learned that disclosure often leads to being managed as an exception rather than valued for unique contributions. But when SAP launched its Autism at Work program, the company discovered something remarkable about their applicant pool. These weren't individuals seeking help or accommodation—they were accomplished professionals with master's degrees in electrical engineering, biostatistics, and economic statistics, many graduating with honors or holding patents. The problem wasn't their capability; it was that traditional hiring and management practices had systematically excluded exceptional talent. The most successful neuro-inclusive organizations have discovered that practices enabling neurodivergent employees to thrive happen to be the same practices that help to unlock potential in all employees. According to Harvard Business Review, a team of neurodiverse software testers at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) helped a client to re-engineer its project launch process after 'strenuously questioning' why the client was tolerant of chaotic deployments. The questions of the HPE team, intolerant of apparent disorder, was met with a culture of curiosity. Again, according to research published in Harvard Business Review, 'At SAP, a neurodiverse customer-support analyst spotted an opportunity to let customers help solve a common problem themselves; thousands of them subsequently used the resources he created.' The key was organizational curiosity about his different way of processing information rather than simply accommodating his social interaction style. The shift from compliance to curiosity becomes practical through what I call everyday development—integrating growth-oriented conversations into regular work interactions rather than creating separate accommodation discussions. This approach transforms how leaders engage with all cognitive differences. The foundation is learning to get curious and be dynamic. Effective leaders learn to observe engagement patterns and ask "What conditions help you do your best work?" or "When do you feel most energized in your role?" This shift from deficit-focused accommodation to strength-based optimization changes everything. Take the practice of noticing sparks of engagement and points of friction. Effective leaders learn to observe when team members light up during certain types of work and when they seem to struggle, then get curious about those patterns rather than applying standard performance management approaches. We also need to deal with what Dr Fung calls, the Hidden Curriculum—the million-and-one norms of workplace life that everyone takes for granted that might need to be explained. As Dr Fung says in his interview with McKinsey: 'A hidden curriculum, for example, is that most people would expect the leader of a meeting to sit at the top of a 30-person conference room table, with the more junior people sitting in more peripheral positions. But there's usually no book talking about this, and no one verbalizes where people should be sitting. People with autism need a heads-up about those types of things. Another example is if you're planning to call upon an autistic person to give a report or share comments, spontaneously, it's usually not going to go well. But if they're told ahead of time what they are supposed to do, what their responsibilities may be, they can really shine.' Finally, effective neuro-inclusive leaders foster ongoing dialogue about working styles and encourage personalization. In our executive coach training, our refrain is ABC (always be contracting). In this case, that means regular conversations about optimal working conditions that evolve with projects, stress levels, and team compositions. This amounts to ongoing and fluid accommodation, which allows everyone a say in how they work best together. Organizations implementing curiosity-driven approaches report benefits that extend far beyond the neurodivergent employees they initially sought to support. Employee engagement increases across teams that include neurodivergent colleagues, as neurotypical employees report finding their work more meaningful and challenging. The perfectionist tendencies that some neurodivergent employees bring to projects have pushed entire client organizations to raise their standards and stop accepting certain problems as inevitable. Perhaps most significantly, these organizations develop greater agility in recognizing and leveraging diverse forms of talent across all employees. SAP uses a powerful metaphor to describe this evolution: people are like puzzle pieces with irregular shapes. Traditional organizations ask employees to trim their irregularities to fit standard rectangles. But innovation comes from the unique edges, from capabilities that can't be standardized or replicated. Then, of course, there's what we never speak about. Neurodiversity in leadership. Up to 25% of CEOs may be dyslexic, according to former Cisco CEO John Chambers, yet few feel confident enough to publicly acknowledge neurodivergent traits. The question facing leaders is not whether to accommodate neurodivergent employees, but whether they possess the cultural sophistication to transform organizational responses to cognitive difference from compliance to curiosity. In an economy increasingly dependent on analytical thinking and creative problem-solving, organizations that learn to optimize for cognitive diversity will substantially outperform those that continue optimizing for conformity. Are we ready to replace accommodation checklists with curiosity practices, transforming cognitive differences into opportunities for organizational learning and capability enhancement? The most successful organizations of the future may well be those that master this shift from managing differences to maximizing diverse capabilities.
Zawya
4 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Cavendish Maxwell earns Great Place to Work Certification™
Dubai, UAE. Dubai based leading real estate advisory and property consultant Cavendish Maxwell has been named a Great Place To Work® by the global authority on workplace culture and employee experience. Based entirely on what current employees say about their working experience, the prestigious accolade is awarded only to companies that stand out as a top flight organisation when it comes to leadership behaviours, employee retention, innovation and a favourable working environment. More than 90% of Cavendish Maxwell employees surveyed in the UAE and regional offices in the GCC said the company is great place to work. Jessica Taylor, Group Chief Operating Officer, Cavendish Maxwell, said: 'We are honoured and proud to become Great Place To Work-Certified™. As with any thriving organisation, our people are key to our continued growth and success. The award comes as Cavendish Maxwell embarks on a new and exciting phase in its regional expansion and growth strategy. Our team members' skills, experience, dedication and loyalty are pivotal to our ongoing success in 2025 and beyond, and I am ever-grateful for their unwavering drive and support. The accolade is also crucial for our recruitment and team member growth, as top talent will be drawn to our Great Place To Work status.' Sarah Lewis-Kulin, Vice President of Global Recognition at Great Place To Work, added: '"Great Place To Work Certification is a highly coveted achievement that requires consistent and intentional dedication to the overall employee experience. Certification is the sole official recognition earned by the real-time feedback of employees regarding their company culture and by successfully earning this recognition, Cavendish Maxwell stands out as a top company to work at, providing a great environment for its people." Cavendish Maxwell provides a wide range of benefits, attractions and enhancements for its 120+-strong team. Among them: hybrid working, flexible hours, personal and professional development schemes and monthly initiatives to build inter-office and inter-departmental relationships. Events include employee awards, townhall updates, health and wellbeing initiatives, celebrations for Ramadan, Eid, Diwali and the festive season to reflect the cultural diversity at the company, and the ever-popular Cavendish Maxwell Beach Olympics, which brings together all team members from across the region. According to Great Place To Work research, job seekers are 4.5 times more likely to find a great boss at a Certified great workplace. Additionally, employees at Certified workplaces are 93% more likely to look forward to coming to work, and are twice as likely to be paid fairly, earn a fair share of the company's profits and have a fair chance at promotion. About Cavendish Maxwell Cavendish Maxwell is one of the Middle East's leading real estate advisory groups and property consultants, with offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Kuwait City, Muscat and Riyadh. The company is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and offers a full range of property-related services, including valuation, strategic advisory, research, project and building consultancy and investment and commercial agency expertise. With a team of experienced professionals and a commitment to delivering exceptional service, Cavendish Maxwell has established itself as a trusted advisor in the regional real estate market. About Great Place to Work Certification™ Great Place To Work® Certification™ is the most definitive 'employer-of-choice' recognition that companies aspire to achieve. It is the only recognition based entirely on what employees report about their workplace experience – specifically, how consistently they experience a high-trust workplace. Great Place to Work Certification is recognized worldwide by employees and employers alike and is the global benchmark for identifying and recognizing outstanding employee experience. Every year, more than 10,000 companies across 60 countries apply to get Great Place To Work-Certified. About Great Place To Work ® As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work® brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Their proprietary platform and For All™ Model helps companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified™ or receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces™ List.
