The 10 Worst Days For Driving

Regardless of where you live, what you do or how old you are, this survey is worth a read!

Sunday is the least common day for car accidents and the most dangerous day to be on the road is Friday, 18 January.

After analysing 1.8 million claims received over the past 15 years, a leading insurer has identified the days when accidents are most likely to occur.

Historically, more accidents happen on 18 January than any other date in the year, while Friday is the most common day of the week for crashes. Unsurprisingly, the date with the least reported incidents is 29 February.

'Long week'
According to the research, the next safest dates are 25 and 26 December, when the roads tend to be very quiet. For the same reason, the report highlights Sunday as the days of the week when accidents are least likely to occur, followed by Saturday. The vast majority of problems happen on weekdays when the roads are busier.

TEN WORST DAYS FOR DRIVING
1. 18 January
2. 20 December
3. 27 October
4. 22 March
5. 20 July
6. 1 October
7. 21 October
8. 1 November
9. 15 December
10. 20 October

It's not surprising to see that the worst day of the week for accidents is a Friday: people are tired after a long week at work and can easily get caught up thinking about their weekend plans instead of the road ahead.

It is less clear, however, why there was such a concentration of incidents on 18 January: it could be that people have a lot on their mind as they haven't been paid for a while, the bills are coming in, and the fun of the festive period is a long and distant memory.

How did you fare on 29 February this year, given that 2008 is a leap year?

TOXIC: When the Workplace Turns Sour

Question:

Many complain about poor workplace behaviors of others. Although not illegal, these behaviors are unhealthy and unproductive. Some of those that I work with do not seem capable of getting along with each other, and it’s harming our ability to work efficiently. What can I do to address these behaviors and improve this toxic work environment?

Answer:

The first step is to create a clear list of the exact behaviors you have in mind. Until people know what is and what isn’t OK at work, your workplace will continue to put up with employees’ differing standards.

For some, asking for a date is cute and flirtatious. For others, it’s awkward and insulting. For some, terms like “stupid” are playful, while others find it demeaning and unprofessional.

Your team should meet with people who had complained of a toxic work environment and ask them to share the details of what other's are saying and doing. From these interviews then develop a detailed list of inappropriate behaviors.

What may seem menial and rather obvious can produce spectacular results. After turning the list into a formal code of conduct, ask each team member to agree to the code and then start holding people accountable to the new standard. So, start by clarifying the new rules.

At the personal level, deal with each abusive interaction as it happens. Hold what we have come to call a “crucial conversation.” Start by assuming the other person isn’t fully aware of the impact of their actions. Instead of becoming upset, ask yourself: Why would a reasonable, rational and decent person do what they just did? Now you won’t be angry and won’t start the discussion on the wrong foot.

Next, describe the problem, starting with the facts: “Here’s what just happened” as opposed to what you want to see happen. For example: “You raised your voice and called me incompetent. I was hoping we could keep our conversations free from labels or a harsh tone.” Then stop and check for the other person’s point of view. “Is that what just happened, or did I miss something?”

If the person agrees but seems unaffected, explain the consequences of their actions—how it made you feel and the effects on your relationship. If they still remain unaffected, explain that you’ll have to call in an authority figure. Of course, this won’t be necessary as long as you start the discussion with a clear and unemotional description of the problem. When you keep a professional tone, the other person is likely to respond in kind and you’ll engage in a healthy discussion of the problem.

You are right to be concerned about a toxic work environment. Everybody deserves a workplace filled with civility and respect.

Christine Watson: christine@marquetteturner.com.au

No Act: Keeping the Cirque de Soleil Show on the Road

If the logistics of mounting Cirque du Soleil’s signature big tent productions seem daunting, so is the behind-the-scenes maneuvering to keep entertainers and other employees properly insured and protected.


That task continues to grow as the privately held Montreal entertainment enterprise adds to its eight touring troupes, five resident shows and related projects.



Coordinating benefits for Cirque du Soleil can be as complicated as the somersaults performed by acrobats in the troupe’s giant spinning German Wheel act.

How can an employer provide health insurance for workers who travel 100 percent of the time? How should it calculate risk for employees whose daily routines include fireworks, martial arts and hanging from ropes 50 feet off the ground?

It’s all in a day’s work for Hélène Thibault, a senior benefits manager for the avant-garde circus. Her background as an accredited actuary makes her especially well suited to the job. It’s not the usual career path for actuaries, the highly trained professionals who use math, statistics and finance theory to calculate the business impacts of risk. But it’s one Thibault, 30, enjoys. It brings imagination to a profession that’s typically black and white.

"Cirque du Soleil is a creative company, so working in benefits can’t be that straightforward," she says. "We need to be creative and adapt to everything the company is doing. We always work in the gray areas."


On the road
In her role as senior benefits manager, Thibault is responsible for planning health care coverage for a majority of Cirque du Soleil’s approximately 4,000 employees. She is one of 70 employees on Cirque du Soleil’s HR team in Montreal, and her charges include 1,600 employees in Montreal and 1,000 permanent expatriates—the performing artists and support personnel who travel continuously around the world. Thibault and her team of four assistants were also responsible for developing and financing a health insurance plan for Cirque du Soleil employees in Las Vegas and Orlando, Florida, where the company stages permanent shows at hotels. A stateside HR staff administers it, however.

With such a diverse global workforce, one-size-fits-all benefits are out of the question. Expats pose particular problems because they change addresses—and often countries—every six to eight weeks. One of the first things Thibault did after joining Cirque du Soleil in October 2006 was reorganize the company’s health insurance coverage. Until then, the company had used one carrier for its U.S. employees and a second for everyone else. But the setup caused problems.

For a venture as risky as a circus, Cirque du Soleil’s accident rate isn’t out of the norm, Thibault says. "For sure we have some accidents. Things happen, but probably not as much as people think," she says.

In one such case in mid-November 2007, two performers in the circus’ Zumanity show at the New York New York hotel in Las Vegas were hurt during an aerial performance and taken to a local hospital. One performer was released the next day and the other was still being treated for undisclosed injuries two weeks later. At the time, a spokeswoman said all company emergency procedures had been followed.

Cirque du Soleil’s workers’ comp program is partially self-insured. Each year, Thibault uses historical claims data and other factors to calculate how much the company will pay per workers’ comp claim, a number the company doesn’t disclose. Anything over that amount is covered by outside workers’ comp insurance, also from Cigna.

Cirque du Soleil hasn’t encountered a major disaster, but there have been scares. When Hurricane Katrina devastated Biloxi, Mississippi, in fall 2005, Cirque du Soleil was in the final stages of prepping for a six-month show that was to open there the following February. In a short time, the company came up with a Plan B and sent the show to South America instead, Thibault says.

In the event that a show can’t go on, the circus carries cancellation insurance. Since joining the company, Thibault has also begun planning for other catastrophes. For example, she has used computer models to calculate how many days of work the company’s employees would miss in the event of a worldwide outbreak of the flu or another pandemic. "I don’t think anyone else in the HR department could have built that," she says.

Repeat After Me: "I Can Do It"

According to psychologists, repeating the words “I Can Do It” is the way to overcome any fear of failure that may be holding you back from achieving your goals and dreams.

By repeatedly talking to yourself , enthusiastically saying the words, “I Can Do It, I Can Do It, I Can do It”, you will get the message into your subconscious mind, which will then lower any fears you may have and helps to build your self confidence. To motivate yourself, reaffirm what you want, and talk to yourself with positive, uplifting words – it makes you feel good!

Christine Watson christine@marquetteturner.com.au

When Writing is Wrong

Studies now show there is a glaring deficiency in reading and writing among new entrants in the workforce, and that is troubling employers who are being forced to invest in additional training—or simply look for skilled workers offshore—for one of the most fundamental job skills in the 21st century economy.

Studies are showing that today’s workforce is “woefully ill-prepared” for the demands of the workplace.

The decline in reading and writing skills has demonstrable social, economic, cultural, and civic implications. Workers who cannot read and write well earn less and have higher unemployment rates. Employers, meanwhile, must spend more time and money on what is considered a basic skill.

Even among recent graduates, new employees are frequently unable to write effectie business communication, read analytically or solve problems.

It’s nice that they are reading e-mails and reading comics, but if they can’t turn it into a communication tool, that is where the breakdown happens on the employer side.

Literacy levels today are similar to those in 1970, but the economy has changed drastically since then. Workers today need to be able to read and analyze complex, often very technical material, like manuals for car mechanics, to succeed in most jobs.

Jobs that don’t have much in the way of skills have moved out of the country or are not living-wage jobs. That means even jobs that are considered low skill, require workers to read at a reasonably high level.

Schools are not demanding students to read what the workforce is demanding them to read and the problems come down to basic errors in grammar, spelling and tone that can nonetheless be disastrous for a company and its image.

If you can’t make sure an e-mail is grammatically correct, what else are you cutting corners on? Companies invest millions of dollars in their image and it can be undone in a matter of minutes by one sloppy e-mail.

Christine Watson christine@marquetteturner.com.au

The Secret to Success

Success is connected with continuous action.

It's largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.

You're not finished when you're defeated, you're only finished when you quit.

The most important quality essential to success is perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.

You can have a fresh start any time you choose.

Failure is not in the falling down, but in the staying down.

It's not over until it's over.

If you've got the courage to stick it out, you'll attain your goal.

Winning isn't everything, but wanting to is. If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again.

How To Achieve Success

Action exercise for today:

Get out a shiny piece of blank paper. On that piece of paper write at the top "My Definition of Success". Write under that everything you will have achieved, everything you will possess (skills, belongings, everything) and everything that you will be when you’re a success.

Then get out another shiny piece of blank paper. At the top of this page write "Why I haven’t yet achieved success". On this page write every reason you can think of that spells out why you haven’t yet achieved your definition of success. If you’ve got nothing to write – because you’ve already achieved your idea of success – rock on! Go grab an ice cream.

For the rest of us (me included) get writing! If you’re actually going to do this exercise, don’t read further until you’ve completed writing both of these sheets. Done in one way this second sheet detailing the “Why” can be like an action plan for your life.

Examples of reasons why might be similar to these:
• I don’t read enough books
• I haven’t been associating with people who are achieving the level of success I want
• I haven’t gone out and done X
• I don’t have my goals clearly written outWhen this sheet is an action plan for your life – each one of these reasons will be items you can do, or change (if you choose to).

With this type of list – success is merely a matter of doing what’s on the list (if you’ve identified your “why” properly).

Done in another way, this sheet could turn out to be a litany of blame:
• I don’t get paid enough at work
• My parents didn’t have money when we were growing up
• I’m not tall / pretty / whatever enough

When done in this way – you’re saying that your success is determined by other people and by things you can’t change. I know for my way of thinking - I’d like to know that my personal success is determined by my actions, beliefs and associations. The books I read, the people I network with and model myself on and the choices I make determine my . I’ll let others play the blame game – but not me, what about you?


Reproduced with permission from the Kirsty Dunphey weekly email. To subscribe to Kirsty Dunphey's weekly email, go to www.kirstydunphey.com