Stephen Hammond - Motivational Keynote Speaker
never too late to start
 
human rights calendar
Today is:  Sat, 04 - Feb, 2012: 
This day in 1906...
Gladys Strum, pioneer in Saskatchewan and Canadian politics, was born  Read More...

Gladys Grace Mae Lamb was born on February 4, 1906 in Gladstone, Manitoba. At 16, she became a teacher in Saskatchewan, where she met her husband Warner Strum. Early in their marriage, Warner contracted tuberculosis and Gladys got an understanding of the deficiencies in Canada?s health care system. During travels to New Zealand, Strum gained an appreciation for that country?s progressive health care practices, which prompted her to get involved in the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) party in Canada. Although defeated in her bids for the legislature in 1938 and 1944 (the latter by six votes to Premier Patterson), Strum was actively involved in Canada?s first socialist government when Tommy Douglas became premier in the June 1944 election. The Saskatchewan CCF elected Strum president, making her the first woman president of a political party in Canada. The following year, she was elected the CCF Member of Parliament for Qu?Appelle, Saskatchewan, the only woman in the House of Commons during that session and the fifth woman MP elected to Ottawa. Among other achievements, Strum was successful in convincing the speaker of Parliament that women need no longer wear hats or handkerchiefs in the gallery. She was also famous for her line, ?No one has ever objected to women working; the only thing they have ever objected to is paying women for working.? Strum was defeated in 1949. However, she made her way back into politics in 1960 as a member of the Saskatchewan Legislature from Saskatoon. During that session she was proud to vote for the legislation that created Canada?s first socialized medical system. Strum died in Penticton, B.C. on August 15, 2005.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Managing human rights at work audio
Managing human rights at work

 

If we can have New Year’s Resolutions for going to the gym, eating smarter and improving our golf game, then we can certainly resolve to improve the workplace. Here are three suggestions for resolutions to help create a better environment when it comes to workplace human rights.

It’s never too late. When we slip up on regular work “stuff”, or when we lose our cool because we’re having a bad day, an apology goes a long way to correcting matters. However, if we make an unkind comment about a person’s race, sex, sexual orientation or religion for example, that’s tougher to correct. It might have slipped out by mistake, or perhaps we couldn’t help ourselves telling a joke to fit in with our colleagues.

Whatever the reason, when comments personally affect someone – something we can’t change, or aren’t expected to change – we’ve likely lost their trust and it will take extra effort to get it back.

If there is something outstanding, it’s never too late to go to someone and apologize. If you’ve already done so, then go out of your way to show you mean it. For example, speak up when someone else does the same thing, or talk to the person about things that matter to him or her.

My personal and professional experience tells me that people have long memories when it comes to comments that hurt. Help people replace hurtful comments with positive ones.

Audit your words. Over the holidays I had the pleasure of sitting with a relative (we’ll call “Bob”) who, when with the “guys” used words that would be referred to as colourful. Luckily Bob only used swear words (nothing I haven’t heard or used before - but perhaps not as often in one conversation) so I didn’t have to try to rescue anyone. But on the next day when a visit included older relatives, including Bob’s Mom, ole Bob was able to restrain himself and not use the colourful language, even though the story was the same.

If you’re like Bob and you change your language to suit your audience, when it comes to words related to human rights, be sure your audience wants to hear insensitive comments. Do we use the word “cripple” just because we can’t think of a word to describe a person with a disability? Will we insist on saying “kemosabe” when an Aboriginal person clearly doesn’t want to hear it? (Does it matter what the Supreme Court of Canada says about this?) Check your words and see what needs to be changed or updated.

Learn something new. According to the last census, the fastest growing religious groups in Canada are Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. While Canadians have just come off a huge Christian celebration, there are plenty of non-Christians who also have their celebrations. What do we know about them? I used to think Chanukah was a big deal for Jews, probably because it came so close to the celebration that was a big deal to me. However, it’s not when compared to other Jewish holy days.

I knew about fasting and praying for Ramadan, but I was surprised at how important Eid al-Fitr was to this important Muslim observance. Dawali is the Hindu Festival of Lights, but what are the origins?

Take the time to find out about one or more celebrations or observations of the people you work with or whom you do business. If you say to the appropriate people “happy Eid” or “light fast”, they’ll likely be surprised and impressed. And glad that you made the effort.

So, in addition to these three, take the time to think about others. If you can use just one resolution to improve your workplace, congratulations. It’s time to imagine a great place to work. If you have it, pass it on. If you don’t, then the New Year is as good a time as any to get started. Happy New Year.

Stephen

You are encouraged to forward or reprint the contents of this copyrighted article with the following notation attached:

Stephen Hammond, B.A, LL.B, CSP, is a speaker, trainer and author working in the field of workplace human rights. Articles, tips and his books Managing Human Rights At Work: 101 Practical Tips to Prevent Human Rights Disasters and Steps in the Rights Direction: 365 human rights celebrations and tragedies that inspired Canada and the world are available on his website www.stephenhammond.ca. Contact Stephen at 866-685-8338 or stephen@stephenhammond.ca

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