Paul Martin's Business Update - September 5th, 2014

This province has a tight labor market and we often hear that employers have no choice but to be innovative in their personnel policies if the hope to attract or, more importantly, retain talent. But, a new survey from BMO Bank of Montreal suggests we may not be all that innovative after all.

The survey examined policies companies use to hold on to workers. The most popular vehicle among employers is flex hours, affording employees the opportunity to set their own schedules. Other ideas include opportunities for training or education, enhanced health and dental benefits, extra paid vacation, tele-commuting or paid tuition.

But here on the Prairies, the survey found employers were behind the national average on most of these categories. We trailed the rest of the country on flex hours, telecommuting, training opportunities and tuition support. The only ones we were above the national average were enhanced medical benefits and increased paid vacation.

Because Saskatchewan is lumped in with Manitoba, our numbers might actually be a bit better or a bit worse but the overall message is clear…we might not be quite as inventive as we think.

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