President's Message

Desiree Bombenon
Education Committee Update
Respectfully submitted by Gloria Tonne
Committee Chair
Hello Everyone,
What a month it has been.
In the spirit of moving forward-not looking back, the Education Committee continues to work hard to reach out and keep the lines of communication open through our open panel discussions, webinars, and listserve.
The Committee this past month strived to host webinars that provide workable tools for your training team that they can implement immediately, an open discussion about what you want in a certification program for your agents and Supervisors, and shared some videos with the Supervisor listserve about why using this resource is so powerful.
The Education Committee is looking forward to the COACH U Leadership Training this April and we are focused on bringing new education, speakers, and opportunities that inspire and motivate your people to step outside their comfort zone and expand their network of resources.
When I think of the gifts of change, I realize that without the discomfort of trying something new I will never have the opportunity to develop new skills and more importantly, learn things about myself.
In the spirit of this, Robin Sharma said, “Change is scary in the beginning, messy in the middle but beautiful in the end.” And I respectfully invite everyone to join us at COACH U as we step into discomfort together and lean into new learnings.
As a final thought, I’d like to remind you that we are always looking for fresh perspectives in the Education Committee and if you are interested in learning more, please reach out to Linda at linda@camx.ca.

Gloria Tonne
Member Spotlight
Ann Legault with T.A.S. Communications in Bellville, ON
CAM-X UPDATE
Respectfully submitted by Linda Osip, Executive Director
NEW INITIATIVE
Mentoring Leadership Development Program
Ten sessions in a 5 week period
Start Date to be announced soon
Watch for the application launch!
Speakers and Topics:
Barbara Bradbury Understanding and loving our differences
Pat Vos Leadership vs Management
Gail Smit Treat your people better than you want your people to treat your
clients and their callers
Holvie Senosier Emotional Intelligence
Cindy Roma Life-Long Learning
Deborah Anders Be the Change You Want to See
Trish McMaster Personal Responsibility
Nadine Sans-Cartier Building Relationships
Gloria Tonne GSD, (the book title is Get Stuff Done) + compassion
Pat Vos Power Thinking, building new neural pathways
COACH U Registration Open!
Line up of Hot Topics
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Irate callers / de-escalation
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Mental Health and well being / helping staff to better themselves
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Harassment
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Networking sessions (facilitated)
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Managing remotes / QA
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Engagement panel
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Coaching and constructive criticism
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Employee needs, creating growth & fostering a culture of understanding
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Multi generations – a panel with different age groups discussing 'listening to each other and respect'
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Train the trainer
Would you like to become more involved with CAM-X?
We are looking for committee members for all committees and we would love to see new faces involved in webinars and COACH U as a speaker or panelist. This is an opportunity to GROW yourself. There are some pretty cool people who are waiting to meet you and help in your career evolution. Email me and I'll hook you up! linda@camx.ca
Schedule of Events for the 1st Quarter
March 9 Remembering Your Roots
March 23 Why do we do this? Who’s the expert? with Leisa McDonald
April 12-14 COACH U
*Subject to change
*Registration details for all to follow
*Recordings of all webinars are available email linda@camx.ca
Pre Employment Software Update:
We are actively working to add Personality Profiling as an option

Show your staff they are worthy:
CSR and Supervisor Certification

Pre Employment Testing Demo Available
Contact linda@camx.ca for instructions

Two Grey Suits
The Key to Success

This article is part of the TwoGreySuits Managing Employee Performance Series and is offered by our partner, TwoGreySuits as a service to our members.
The right person in the right job is the key to success for both the employer and employee. When employees are motivated to do excellent work, the organization reaps the rewards. When employees are provided feedback on their work, they will strive to continue excellent performance or improve current performance. In the absence of feedback, employees may think you don't appreciate or care about them or their work, or worse, their perhaps poor performance gets unofficially endorsed.
Recruiting quality employees is just the first step in building a great team. The bigger challenge is keeping them on board. Here are four steps you can take to recruit and retain top performers.
HIRING AND KEEPING THE BEST
Of course, you want to attract and keep great people. The hiring process can be costly and time-consuming, so once you’ve selected your top candidate, you want them to stay with you! Here are four steps you can take to recruit and retain the best:
1. Define What Your New Hire Needs To Do
Before you start the hiring process, take the time to define what you need the person to accomplish. Surprisingly, this critical step is often overlooked. By first defining exactly what you need accomplished and then hiring to those requirements, you may well discover an ideal candidate you would not have considered otherwise. To illustrate, a client we worked with typically hired salespeople from within their industry. But the company’s two top salespeople previously sold in completely unrelated industries. We defined what made these two successful -- their ability to open doors and be hands-on in the delivery of solutions – as the key requirement to hire more similar salespeople. Industry experience was helpful, but not as important as these two fundamental skills.
2. Let the Candidate Talk about Themselves
Here is a simple but powerful rule that will reduce your hiring mistakes: Focus on understanding the candidate’s individual accomplishments. Ask all candidates to give details in the first person (“I did this”) on what they have accomplished in past roles and jobs. Specifically look for person, place and time; specifically, who else worked with them on the accomplishment, where was this done and what time was this in (month and year). Their answers will also be easier to verify in a detailed reference check.
Many people want to describe things in the plural, saying, “We did this; we did that.” An experienced interviewer will ask what their specific role was in the accomplishment. If a person cannot describe in detail how they accomplished something, they may be overstating their involvement in the accomplishment. By using the right interviewing techniques, you can uncover the best fit for your company.
3. Ask Your Top Candidates What They Want
If you are genuinely interested in hiring an individual, communicate that interest by asking the candidate what they seek in their next role. Ask questions related to the candidates background before you tell the candidate exactly what you are looking for in skills and behavior. Take the time to ask questions that will help you learn about the person’s goals and desires. Listen very carefully to the answers and ask follow-up questions.
What you learn may even help you shape the job description for the people you ultimately hire. You’ll also convey a genuine interest in these people, and few managers do that during the interview process. As a result, you will stand out in their minds. If your interest is sincere, this is one of the most effective recruiting tools at your disposal.
4. You Are the Key to Keeping the Best
The best people want opportunities to work on the best projects and with the best clients or customers. They also want to develop personally and professionally. These people can always get a job (even in a down economy), but they often have a hard time finding an organization (and a boss) that takes an interest in helping them develop and achieve. Simply put, good people want good bosses. The number one reason, supported by significant and varied research, of why employees leave their job is directly related to their immediate manager. So, if you want good people to stay, ensure your managers are properly trained, that they know how to give feedback (positive and constructive) and that they are capable of helping people become more competent in their jobs. This is the key.
To prove the point…write down the name of the best boss you ever had. Why did you enjoy working for this person? Chances are it wasn’t their intelligence or technical ability. More likely, the key was their confidence in themselves and you. The best bosses believe in themselves and their people, and this translates into a work environment that entices a talented person to take a job and stay with it.
TwoGreySuits is a leading-edge provider of on-line human resource management information, processes, tools and forms servicing the North American market. They have integrated the HR practices associated with the key drivers of Employee Engagement within the well-organized information on the website.
To login as a user: camx.twogreysuits.com
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Enter your email address and Password CAMX01
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If you are not currently signed up, please email me directly linda@camx.ca
The TGS System is a one-of-a-kind product that includes:
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The HR Power Centre for dealing with the day-to-day people management issues that inevitably arise
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24/7 HR Hot Line
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Topical regular Blogs suitable for reprinting by the Association members
Convention Committee Report
Convention 2022
Respectfully submitted by Brad French, Convention Chair
No looking back, forward we go!
I look forward to hosting you at this year’s CAM-X convention which will be held in Kingston Ontario from September 26th-29th. Don’t forget that COACH U will be held just before convention allowing our supervisors to learn from our keynote speaker and attend the awards luncheon.
Unfortunately, due to Covid rescheduling our convention falls on Rosh Hashanah. We usually plan around holidays but could not move the dates as we had to reschedule our convention for the past two years. Our sincere apologies for this. On the bright side apparently National Drink Beer Day is the 28th. I know some of our attendees will take advantage of this!
While the agenda is not finalized yet, we have some incredible content, and the hardest part will be figuring out what to remove from the agenda. A great problem to have.
So far, we have topics on:
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Motivating your team
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Mental Health
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Employee Engagement
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Agent / Supervisor panel
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Cyber security
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Future think speakers
We are also looking forward to planning the social events of convention. We have a cruise of the 1000 Islands, a tour of Kingston’s oldest and recently closed penitentiary as well as a pub crawl through Kingston’s downtown tourism region. Let’s just say there is no shortage of good restaurants and pubs within walking distance of our hotel.
I look forward to seeing everyone! Mark your calendars now!

Brad French

Beautiful
Kingston, Ontario
