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Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc. | |
WORKFORCE
Easy come, easy go
As recently as springtime, Ontario was a pretty happy place to work. Now, not so much
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ADP CANADA’S LATEST Happiness@Work Index has been released, and it seems that beautiful beaches, cottage country and the ocean coastlines aren’t helping Ontarians and Maritimers be less miserable at work this summer. While every province was somewhat close in ranking, the workplace wellness of Atlantic Canada and Ontario both slipped, with workers in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta all shooting up the list. Both Ontario and the Maritimes notched a decidedly not-great 6.7 out of 10.
For Ontario specifically, it seems workplace unhappiness is less related to pay these days and more about opportunity. Ontario was no more or less happy about compensation than the national average (6.3 out of 10, so some room to grow there) but was dead last in opportunity scores ― something ADP Canada is calling a “career advancement crisis” in Ontario.
“From stalled career growth to lacklustre recognition, Ontario workers are sounding the alarm on what’s not working at work,” the report stated.
The report suggested that Ontario might be a bellwether for developing trends elsewhere in the country. Ontarians reported feeling overlooked and under-appreciated, and half of them felt like they were stuck in dead-end careers or weren’t seeing opportunities. Another theory might be that with a higher concentration of civil servant workers, talk of hiring freezes and cuts has put people on edge.
“While other provinces are seeing a summer boost in employee sentiment thanks to perks like flexible hours and time to disconnect,” ADP Canada said, “Ontario’s continued slide suggests deeper issues are at play.”
Overall, the happiness index ADP publishes seems to have stalled after a spring that saw some promise. We had written previously about the optimistic mood that had come over Canadians, despite economic challenges and developments such as the tariff disputes. “Almost half of workers in Canada feel satisfied,” ADP wrote last month, in a release noting that “happiness blossoms through May.”
Perhaps, then, workers are coming back down to earth ― or have a little bit of the summer blues.
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COMMUNICATIONS
The robots have come for your em dashes
Grammar nerds, assemble. Em dashes have been derided as the “ChatGPT Hyphen” ― a punctuation mark overused by artificial intelligence
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IF YOU, LIKE us at London Inc. HQ, are fond of the em dash ― a beautiful and multifunctional punctuation point ― then you’ll be sorry to know that your fave keystroke might make your colleagues think you’re using AI.
“In recent months, commenters on social media have zeroed in on the humble punctuation mark ― or its overuse ― as a sign that writing is produced by generative AI tools,” wrote the Washington Post’s Daniel Wu.
The theory is that the em dash, like the word “delve” before it, is a gen-AI giveaway. “Conjecture about ChatGPT’s apparent addiction to the em dash has been percolating online for months,” wrote Salon’s Andi Zeisler. “Second- and third-hand stories about professors accusing well-punctuated assignments of AI assistance spread like urban legends. Tech-business headlines have warned against the telltale sign that you used ChatGPT.”
It’s true that ChatGPT and other models will make very liberal use of the em dash ― but as techie folks note, that’s only because humans use the em dash just as much. “It’s baked into their DNA. Em dashes are absolutely everywhere in the training data,” noted Brent Csutorias. “In books, articles, essays, human used them so often that AIs learned them as a default natural flow.”
Yet it seems inevitable that nervous office workers will now be hesitating to use an em dash in their next email to the boss, fearing it might get flagged as AI and what that might mean. Freelance writers will be taking them out of their copy, so that they don’t get accused of passing off AI material as original work. It is, in other words, changing the way professionals write by injecting a new anxiety around humanity and AI.
Some professional writers are pushing back, trying to protect their em dashes. “We’re living through a moment when the question of how something was made threatens to eclipse what it’s trying to say,” wrote Every magazine’s Rhea Purohit. “Why are we so quick to judge writing based on superficial signs of AI? Instead of asking how something was made, perhaps we should ask whether it’s good ― and how we might learn to tell.”
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Terry Talk: AI won’t wait for fall. HR shouldn’t either
| AI is transforming HR faster than ever: 84 per cent of teams are exploring new tools. But the real challenge? Keeping humanity at the core. This summer, while others hit pause, forward-thinking leaders are reimagining strategy, upskilling teams and preparing for a more human future. In his latest Terry Talk, Ahria Consulting president & CEO Terry Gillis offers tips on how to turn your summer slowdown into a reset for fall ― and how Ahria can help. | | | |
WELLBEING
Why you should treat your weekend like a vacation
Research suggests that simply treating your weekend like a vacation can make you happier
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WE HATE TO tell you, but capital-S Summer is well and truly underway, and well, clock’s ticking. Labour day is only seven weekends away.
So, it is perhaps crucial, extremely time sensitive, that we revisit the trusty “how to have a good weekend” advice well, in which most experts agree on one thing: your weekend should be treated like a sacred vacation, every week.
This is no mere platitude either, but the findings of rigorous scientific study. A few years ago, scientists split a group of workers into one group, who were told to “think in ways and behave in ways as though you were on vacation,” and another who were told to “treat this weekend like a regular weekend.” The results will not surprise you: “Treating the weekend like a vacation increased people’s happiness when they returned to work on Monday.”
The study also found that getting into vacay mode was remarkably simple, as easy as telling yourself to “treat the weekend like a vacation,” as it approaches. The first time the scientists did the experiment, they said the results “seemed too good to be true,” and ran it again, with the same results.
In practice, the difference wasn’t even huge. “The vacationers behaved somewhat differently: doing less housework and work for their jobs, staying in bed a little longer with their partner, and eating a bit more,” wrote one of the authors, Cassie Mogilner Holmes.
You might be wondering if this means spending a boatload more money ― no, it turns out. The vacationers only spend about $26 more per weekend. (The effect, Molinger Homes noted, also “held when we controlled for the amount of money” they spent.)
“When used judiciously, however, this simple reframing allows you to enjoy some of the happiness from a vacation without taking additional time off,” Molinger Holmes concluded. “Your mindset is more important than the activities you take part in, or the amount of money you spend, when you’re not at work. So, between weekend errands, soccer practices, and birthday parties, try to notice and appreciate the time you do have.”
Like I said ― seven weekends ‘til Labour Day.
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WORKPLACE
The willingness to evolve
As a company culture changes, is it the job of a business to adapt to its employees, or the other way around?
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HERE’S A PHILOSOPHICAL question: As workplaces evolve and adapt and company cultures change, who is most responsible for shifting toward the other side? That was the question put recently to Canadian employers by Express and The Harris Poll, and workplaces are evenly split on the question.
Fifty-five per cent of employers said it’s up to workers to adapt to company culture, while 45 per cent believe it’s time for company cultures to adapt to their employees — a fairly even split, suggesting that workplace leaders are split into two philosophical camps on the evolution of work. The answers were nearly identically split when employees were asked. Fifty-six per cent said companies should adapt to employees, while 44 per cent said employees need to adapt.
“Success isn’t about one side yielding to the other,” said Express’ CEO Bob Funk Jr. “It’s about meeting in the middle to build a culture that supports business goals while also resonating with today’s workforce.”
There are some demographic trends in the various camps. Women and younger workers are more likely to expect companies to adapt. Older workers are more apt to want to see employees shifting views.
But whoever is responsible, the survey found that change is happening regardless.
“A strong majority of hiring managers said their organization is open to changing its culture to meet business needs,” the survey found. In general, most see that the evolving culture of work is among the top driving trends in recruitment and retention right now.
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