ICBA’s VP-Regional Mike Davis stops by the new studio to talk with Jordan Bateman about the latest developments in oil and gas, the Taylor Bridge, what’s happening across BC, wildfires, and much more.
Author: ICBA Blog
TRAINING THURSDAY: Understanding Anger Webinar and Negotiation Skills Workshop
Kerry and Jordan discuss two upcoming ICBA Training courses–Understanding Anger, and Negotiation Skills: You don’t get what you want, need or deserve (You get what you negotiate).
Understanding Anger (Live Online Training)
Thursday, August 26th, 2021 11AM – 1PM
https://icba.simplesignup.ca/en/7789/index.php?m=eventSummary
Anger is a universal experience. You don’t have to be a psychologist to know that managing anger productively is something few individuals, organizations, and societies do well. Yet research tells us that those who do manage their anger at work are much more successful than those who don’t. The co-worker who can productively confront his teammate about his negative attitude increases his team’s chance of success as well as minimizes destructive conflicts. The customer service agent who can defuse the angry customer not only keeps her customers loyal but makes her own day less troublesome. This webinar is designed to help give you and your organization that edge.
What Will Participants Learn?
- Recognize how anger affects your body, your mind, and your behaviour.
- Use the five-step method to break old patterns and replace them with a model for assertive anger.
- Control your own emotions when faced with other peoples’ anger.
- Identify ways to help other people safely manage some of their repressed or expressed anger.
- Communicate with others in a constructive, assertive manner.
What Topics are Covered?
- What is anger?
- Costs and pay-offs
- The anger process
- How does anger affect our thinking?
- Understanding behaviour types
- Managing anger
- Communication tips and tricks
Presenter: Pamela Bragg – Sarkany Management Inc.
Pamela Bragg is the owner of Sarkany Management Inc., a Human Resources Consulting firm, which offers a broad range of HR services. Pamela has a comprehensive background in executive level human resources and holds a Masters Certificate in Strategic Human Resources & Organizational Change.
https://icba.simplesignup.ca/en/7789/index.php?m=eventSummary
or see all ICBA courses at ICBA.ca/courses
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Negotiation Skills Workshop: You don’t get what you want, need or deserve – you get what you negotiate. (Live Online Training)
Thursday, September 9th and Friday, September 10th, 2021 8:30AM to 12:30PM both days
https://icba.simplesignup.ca/en/7355/index.php?m=eventSummary
Set up in 2 – 1/2-day live instructor lead online training sessions (8:30am – 12:30pm each day) this seminar will cover the same content as the in-person seminar. There is no opportunity to re-schedule or request for a partial refund if a student cannot attend both sessions. Please plan to be fully engaged in the class and clear your work schedule just as you would for the in-class program.
The truth is that in our professional lives we don’t get what we deserve – we get what we negotiate. Are you finding your customers, clients, employees or boss or employers increasingly demanding, wanting more for less? Do you ever feel that you are being taken advantage of?
Many individuals often fail in negotiation not because they are unable to get an agreement, but because they walk away from the table when they could have done much better. In this seminar you will learn a proven, practical step-by-step approach to win-win negotiations and how to protect yourself from “hardball” negotiators.
Topics to be covered:
- The most common negotiating mistakes people make and how to avoid them
- Understanding the difference between Collaborative “win-win” and Competitive “hardball” negotiations and how to know what game you are playing
- The characteristics of highly effective negotiators
- Understanding the different sources of negotiating power
- How to strengthen your bargaining position
- How to create an open communication flow that allows you to deeply understand the other party
- The 5 steps process to quickly and effectively plan and prepare for your negotiations
- How to determine your “walk-away point”
- How to defend yourself against “hardball’ negotiators
- How to counter the 5 common manipulative strategies being used against you
- How to create win – win outcomes that ensure the other party lives up to their end of the bargain
Instructor Greg Campeau has delivered over 2400 presentations and workshops throughout North America providing strategies and solutions that support both personal and organizational success. He has established a client list that includes organizations like Finning, Lafarge, NHL Coaches Association, BC Hydro, Rogers Wireless, APEG BC, SNC Lavalin, Klohn Crippen Berger and many more.
What previous participants said:
- “Found it productive and informative.”
- “A great course for personal and business relationships.”
- “Very informative. I learned a lot about my current habits and weaknesses to overcome.”
- “Great catalyst for a lot more than negotiating.”
https://icba.simplesignup.ca/en/7355/index.php?m=eventSummary
All courses at ICBA.ca/courses
ICBA IN THE NEWS: Chris Gardner on Need for More Training Options
The following is an excerpt of a piece that ran in Building Magazine on August 23, 2021:
The key will be to get more of these immigrants into the skilled trades, like construction, which is facing a shortage of more than 300,000 workers by 2030 due to retirements and increased demand, according to a BuildForce Canada report.
“There’s no magic bullet here,” said Chris Gardner, president of the Surrey, B.C.-based Independent Contractors and Business Association (ICBA), which represents more than 3,300 members in the construction sector. “Immigration is a fundamental part of the long-term solution to this challenge.”
Gardner believes the big infrastructure projects will still get built, but the worker shortage is having other ancillary effects such as scheduling issues, with contractors turning down smaller projects as well as soaring wages.
“In B.C., the average construction trade worker (salary) outpaced the rate of inflation two times in the last five years,” confessed Gardner, who added that even during the pandemic wages merely flatlined instead of declining due to the demand for workers.
#BCPOLI HOTSTOVE: The Beare Necessities
ICBA’s Jordan Bateman joins TheOrca.ca’s Maclean Kay to talk about the Speaker’s decision on the Lisa Beare FOI affair, the Falcon effect, COVID rules, and the government’s 1970s view of construction.
TRAINING THURSDAY: Cyber Risk Webinar (& Compulsory Trades)
Kerry and Jordan discuss ICBA Training’s free upcoming Cyber Risk and Your Business webinar — and react to the BC Government’s compulsory trades legislation.
Cyber Risk and your Business – What you need to know! (FREE Webinar)
March 4 1PM
Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/4816443703885/WN_blgJRlNNSlaCGRp-tNPVzA
Missed this one? Check out icba.ca/courses for more options
On average a Canadian business sees 40 cyber-attacks each year. When cyber attacks like data breaches and hacks occur, they can result in devastating damage. That type of event could mean the loss of your database, your contracts, your proposals, or your business operations; meaning business disruptions, lost revenue and litigation. With the increasing reliance on technology, the risks you expose your business to increase as well!
Cyber exposures aren’t going away and, in fact, continue to escalate. It is important to remember that no organization is immune to the impact of cyber crime. Protecting your digital assets should be a number one priority. Businesses need to be prepared in the event that a cyber attack strikes. Join us and Nikki C. Keith, Principal at Wilson M. Beck Insurance Services Inc., to learn more about how you can plan and protect yourself.
Topics covered:
• Data breach coverage
• Business interruption loss reimbursement
• Cyber extortion defence
• Legal support
• Cyber liability insurance
Presenter: Nikki C. Keith, CAIB – Principal at Wilson M. Beck Insurance Services Inc.
Cyber Risk and your Business – What you need to know! (FREE Webinar)
March 4 1PM
Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/4816443703885/WN_blgJRlNNSlaCGRp-tNPVzA
Missed this one? Check out icba.ca/courses for more options
WELLNESS WEDNESDAY #37: Don’t Be a Silent Witness
Each week, ICBA’s Jordan Bateman reflects on what we’ve learned as we participate in ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program. This program is free for all ICBA members – check out icba.ca/wellness for details.
It makes sense that someone who is being harassed or mistreated at work would be more likely to say they have poor mental health (three times more likely for men, twice as likely for women, according to the materials we’re studying this week in our ICBA Wellness learnings).
But even the act of witnessing bullying affects people negatively. “Researchers from the UK have found that even without being direct victims of bullying themselves, staff who observed harassing behaviour had decreased work-related wellbeing, including feeling more depressed.”
This makes sense. We’ve all been in situations that made us uncomfortable or brought up feelings we had considered long-resolved. Humans, by nature, are empathetic creatures – we put ourselves into other people’s stories and consider how they feel.
Toxic workplaces are caused by toxic people; it stands to reason that respectful workplaces are therefore built by respectful people. This is a choice we all must make, every day, to look out for one another – and for our own mental health.
If you someone being mistreated, speak up, and reach out to the target.
ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program is helping more than 50 companies, and thousands of construction professionals, better understand mental health. The program is free for ICBA members — see icba.ca/wellness.
CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS: Shane Stirling of ICBA BC’s Epscan Industries
When Shane Stirling was a high school student working for his dad’s company in the late 1990s, he never thought that one day he would be running the whole business with his brother. But then, when opportunity knocks and you love what you do, you don’t say no.
Shane’s father, Don Stirling, founded Epscan Industries in Fort St John in 1978. Epscan is an electrical instrumentation contractor company, focusing on natural gas production.
“I remember my father talked to me when I was thinking about what to do after high school, and he said to me: ‘You might as well take a trade. You’re working here in the summers anyways.’ Shane said.
So what was Shane’s response to his dad?
“I said “no way!” I wasn’t doing what dad was doing at all,” Shane says. “But a few years out of high school, I realized that, oh, there’s a career here. There’s a career in trades.”
And so, Shane jumped in and the rest, as they say, is history.
“I basically got into the business, got into the trades, and my brother followed me soon after. And now, he and I; we run the family business,” Shane says.
Now fully in charge of operations, Shane and his brother oversee Epscan with offices in Fort St John, Dawson Creek, and Grande Prairie, where they offer a wide range of services that work in part with natural gas. Epscan offers construction, maintenance, electrical, and instrumentation work. Each of these services coincides with one another, which allows Shane’s company to stand out.
The diversity of the work they do – from construction to maintenance – provides Epscan with a solid foundation and keeps them going consistently despite the ups and downs of the oil and gas industry.
That said, Shane knows running a business is not always easy. “Like any entrepreneur, I already signed up for stress and chaos,” he says. “Let’s be honest. It’s not an easy path to choose. You just learn to adapt and improvise, right? And review and say, “Okay well, all right, we can’t do this anymore. What are we going to do? All right, we’re going to go over here. Are we going to do this, this, this, this?” And then you get it done, right?”
Like so many industries across Canada, finding talent becomes a big challenge. Shane is involved in trade development with the Industry Training Authority federally. He believes there’s lots of work to be done. Smaller cities like Fort St John are perfect for someone new to Canada with trade experience.
One thing, Shane has a great deal of hope for the future of the natural gas industry and argues that it is a green fuel. “Having the opportunity to help the fight against climate change and make a difference in the world’s gas emissions is something people may not know that Epscan is a part of. But we are,” he says.
Shane also explains how important community is to him and Epscan. He’s most proud of their community involvement, engagement, and ability to support families in the area. And over the last couple of years, they expanded their support, and Shane loves it when people come up and recognize him and his team and thank them. Making a difference in the community is good for everyone.