The Residential & Commercial Division is offering a newly designed Active Attacker course. We will be scheduling courses at the new North York office and at specific sites. Stay tuned for more details. Please email Mike Moledzki, Training Coordinator (mmoledzki@security-asp.com) for a copy of the training calendars. Contact the Resource Planning Team at 416-481-0022 to schedule your attendance for a course, and be sure to obtain approval from your Supervisor or Manager before registering.
By Lisa Marsan, Employee Development Manager
With the new year rapidly approaching, 2020 training calendars for the Residential & Commercial Division are now available.
In addition to the usual course offerings, including Standard First Aid with CPR/AED, Use of Force and Customer Service, we’re now offering the one-day Emergency First Aid with CPR/AED, facilitated by our certified Rescue 7 instructors. All First Aid and CPR courses are available to both Security Guards and Crossing Guards. Several courses are scheduled on school holidays and PA days to allow more employees to attend.
Emergency First Aid with CPR & AED (1 day):
December 6th, 2019
February 14th, 2020
April 13th, 2020 (Easter Monday)
May 29th, 2020
June 5th, 2020
July 24th, 2020
Standard First Aid with CPR & AED Level ‘C’ (2 days):
January 3rd & 4th, 2020
March 19th & 20th, 2020 (March Break)
July 2nd & 3rd, 2020
July 29th & 30th, 2020
By Cliff Sampogna, Regional Manager, RES/CIC Division
I wanted to take the opportunity to thank one of my peers for all his help and support over the last several months. I wanted to say a huge thank you to Paul Parkinson.
Paul is an integral part of the organization and I can honestly say that he has been a big influence on me and has gone way above and beyond to support me and my needs, regardless if they are in his job scope or not. Paul is one of those people that will go beyond his own duties for the organization and will truly help an individual when needed.
Paul, I know I have said thank you many times for all the support and assistance, but I wanted to say it one more time, as it has been invaluable knowledge that you have provided me in many ways. So again, thank you!
By Natasha Stephenson-Belle, Manager, Resource Planning
Hardeep Khaneja joined the ASP family in 2007 as a security guard on the Residential contract – Ovation. His growth in this role was tremendous. He progressed into the supervision role because of his devotion to succeed, and most importantly, the support and guidance he offered his fellow colleagues.
In 2019, Hardeep continued his career progression into Resource Planning as a Scheduler. Within Hardeep’s current position of Resource Planner, we consistently see his drive to not give up until the open shifts are staffed.
From the moment he starts his commute to the office, Hardeep is often fully engaged with our front-line employees, asking them to deploy to locations that are short-staffed last minute, or to simply coach our guards on their duties for the day. For this reason, you will often find Hardeep on his cell phone with his earpiece in, only hearing small bits of his conversation as he walks by. There hasn’t been a moment when Hardeep has taken his break or lunch without scheduling guards or discussing a strategy for staffing. This is what he claims clears his head when he needs to regroup.
Every day, Hardeep comes into work to deliver. He is patient, respectful to all, and takes the time to listen to any concerns our guards might have. If he doesn’t have the answer for them, he will take it upon himself to have the correct subject matter expert advise on the next steps for a resolution.
Without hesitation, he sets the expectation for himself that ASP must exceed all client staffing needs daily. Although these are standards that he has set for himself, without realizing it, he has established a higher benchmark of scheduling success for his fellow colleagues. The rest of our team identifies this dedication in Hardeep, which we see as a benefit, as it drives our team to put in maximum efforts to cover shifts.
For 2019, Hardeep has been an outstanding employee who has been reliable due to his dedication to ASP’s success. He is proud of our company and the contracts we service. He has demonstrated great scheduling tactics last-minute, which has delivered us out of many challenging situations.
Thank you for all your help and commitment to ASP, Hardeep!! You are truly a great asset to our company.
By Darren Scott, Scheduling Coordinator
The concept of “scheduling” is not new; the pyramids are over 3000 years old, Sun Tzu wrote of scheduling strategies 2500 years ago, transcontinental railways have been built for 200 years, etc. None of these activities could have been accomplished without a form of scheduling.
Shift work has existed from ancient times, based on the need for watchmen of kingdoms and military. Our modern-day shiftwork traces back to the late 1800s. With the invention of the lightbulb and the increased costs of assets and start-up times, industries like steel mills, iron foundries, and textile mills were urged to run production 24/7.
At first, the schedule patterns split the workforce into a day and night crew that typically rotated. The first crew would work for 13 straight days on 12-hour shifts, followed by a continuous 24-hour shift. This exhausting day was immediately followed by 13 straight night shifts, with one day off at the end before starting this work pattern again.
This schedule resulted in high rates of accidents and injuries. With few regulations, employers had little incentive to consider a more humane design when running a 24/7 operation. Thankfully, this practice ended with the development of new and better-balanced schedule patterns designed to decrease workplace injuries. Two of these patterns have dominated all 24/7 industries.
The most popular used pattern is called the DuPont Rotation or Pitman Schedule. This pattern’s biggest advantage is “every other weekend off”, by setting up 12-hour shifts on a 2-on 3-off, 2-on 2-off, 3-on 2 off, 14-day rotation. An organization using this pattern will require four crews, consisting of two day crews and two night crews. The favourability of weekends off makes this pattern highly desirable by both workers and employers.
Scheduling has come a long way and is now automated through software. There are many patterns and algorithms available to balance the needs of the workers and employers.
By Michael Moledzki, Training Coordinator - Residential/Commercial Division
On Thursday November 14th 2019, I was lucky enough to attend a special event with our client, Shelter Movers. Shelter Movers is a National Organization that provides free moving and storage services to women and children fleeing abuse.
This is such a great non-profit organization that we are teaming with. ASP RES/CIC provides security guards for each move. Guards are there to ensure that the movers and the family moving are protected and secure during such a critical time.
The event was called A Moving Affair: Expanding Horizons, and was hosted at Arcadian Court in the heart of downtown Toronto. It was held for the people that have put in all the long hours, and hard work to make sure their company is helping people for many years to come. It was also a night that saw 52 donations of $200 (cost of 1 family move) for the next year. I got to enjoy a great event of live music, dinner and drinks with friends. I also met a few awesome people, including Lucy DeCoutere (Trailer Park Boys) and Dwayne De Rosario (Canadian Soccer Legend).
If you would like to make a donation or volunteer on a move, please visit www.sheltermovers.com.
By Noah Thompson, Senior Manager, Projects and Information Systems
ASP cares about the communities in which we operate. We have participated in numerous client charity events throughout our years of operation. This past September, ASP participated in ALS Canada Plane Pull to End ALS 2019 at Billy Bishop Toronto City Center Airport.
Pulling a plane is difficult, but it’s nothing compared to the weight that 3,000 Canadians and their families carry with them every day living with ALS. Participation and fundraising help to create a better reality and a brighter future for people living with ALS.
The turnout was phenomenal and assisted ALS Canada to set a record year for fundraising of over $170,000 in 2019.
We would like to thank Nieuport Aviation for inviting us to participate in this fantastic event!
By Noman Butt, Service Delivery Manager - Ad Hoc, Aviation Services Division
It gives me immense pleasure to announce that ASP was one of the proud sponsors for the 12th Annual Runway Run at Toronto Pearson International Airport. It was another exciting day for ASP employees and management. On September 21, 2019, 2200 spirited runners participated in a 2k walk or 5k run on a runway that was closed for the special occasion.
The iconic event raised $100,000 for the benefit of the community, with the help and cooperation of participants, sponsors and employee volunteers. All the funds raised went to the Propeller Project. This is one of the prestigious fundraising events undertaken by the Toronto Pearson Airport. Since its inception, the Propeller Project has raised a million dollars. All the proceeds went to support local charities and community-building initiatives.
I am extremely proud to announce that this year, ASP sponsored all our employees who participated in this event. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Margaret Bauman, Farhana Farrukh, Zirjana Haxhiaj, Kuldip Singh, Jasdeep Hayer, Javone Rowe and Sherrie Storimans, for their participation in this event.
On the day of the event, 12 employees and 1 supervisor were deployed around the runway. The Primary Security Line (PSL) was extended between 0430-1400 hours. ASP Managers Garinder Grewal and Noman Butt were also present to oversee the event. Once again, ASP rallied behind GTAA to make this event a big success.
By Ramakrishna Malkapuram, Training Coordinator
In all organizations, big and small, the challenge is to keep all the employees connected and engaged. A 2017 Gallup survey called “State of the Global Workforce” indicated that only 15% of workforce are engaged in the workplace.
What this means is a majority of the workforce are either viewing their workplace negatively or doing the bare minimum to get through their day. Employee engagement is more important than ever. It has a dramatic impact on the behaviors of the employees. For example, it would make an average employee exceed expectations and an employee with bad attendance become punctual. More importantly, it has a huge impact reducing the turnover in the organization. Let’s be honest – it is not easy to keep front-line workers happy and engaged all the time. However, it should not discourage organizations by not putting enough effort in this direction.
Changing jobs isn’t all about money. Younger employees may accept a lower wage as long as they get a chance to work at a place that engages them constantly. Employee engagement is not a one-time activity. It has to have a continuity that builds trust amongst the employees. A report shows 84% of the employees who are engaged or recognized tend to go over and beyond their expectations.
The following tips are just a few very important employee-engagement activities:
Help employees get to know each other. Creating a strong bond is critical. Organize a lunch with people in different departments. Encourage people to mingle.
Start a mentorship program. The most rewarding thing is to help others. Provide opportunities for employees to grow.
Encourage Health and Wellness. It’s tough to go to work when you aren’t feeling well. Provide funds for any activity that makes a person feel good for example Gym Membership, Massage therapist.
Onboarding. Engagement starts on day one, by making sure new hires have excellent experience during the onboarding process. Be clear about responsibilities and goals.
Recognize employees. Mention key employees in newsletters or press releases when appropriate.
Celebrate accomplishments. Broadcast achievements of employees to the entire organization.
Ask for employees’ engagement ideas.
Cross Training. Give the employees an opportunity to learn a new skill.
Promote within. Promoting employees from within keeps employees motivated. It sends a signal to others that there are opportunities to move up within the organization.
Employees are the most valuable resource for any company.
Employee engagement directly affects a company’s performance and productivity. Hence, it is very important to motivate and engage employees to improve the performance of a business.
By Neeru Panjwani, Human Resources Generalist
ASP believes that all employees should be treated fairly. We promote employment equity in the workplace to ensure that women, Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities are well represented at all levels of our organization. Our employment equity program ensures that our hiring and promotion practices are based on qualifications and ability.
As part of our employment equity program, the organization is also required to collect and submit information about our workforce that is covered under Canada Labour Code (Federal Employment Law) annually. Identification of our employees as a member of a designated group (Women, Aboriginal People, Persons with Disabilities and Visible Minorities) will help us create an accurate picture of our workforce and will assist in developing and implementing programs to support and celebrate our diversified workforce. The programs will be applicable to all our employees irrespective of whether they are covered under Federal or Provincial legislation.
In order to collect the information from our federally regulated employees, you will be contacted via email by the HR department and will be requested to complete a questionnaire. Please be advised that the completion of the questionnaire is voluntary, and you may select the “prefer not to answer” option. However, it will be mandatory to submit the signed form, even if you choose not to fill out any additional information.
The responses that you provide on the form will be retained for statistical purposes only; your confidentiality is protected. We encourage you to review, update and correct information about yourself at any time. Your information will not be used for unauthorized purposes.
The information you provide is collected under the authority of sections 18 and 42 of the Employment Equity Act to enable our organization to collect workforce data, comply with employment equity legislation and implement employment equity in the workplace.
Your information will be grouped with other employees’ data and shared with the Labour Program of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) for the purpose of complying with employment equity legislation under the Legislated Employment Equity Program. [Under the Legislated Employment Equity Program, the aggregate employee information will be shared with the Canadian Human Rights Commission and with the general public.]
The information you provide may be used and/or disclosed for policy analysis, research and/or evaluation purposes by ESDC. However, these additional uses and/or disclosures of your personal information will never result in an administrative decision being made about you.
Remember, your participation is appreciated and will help us create an accurate picture of our workforce and assist us in developing and implementing programs to support and celebrate our diversified workforce. Watch for an email from HR about where you can go to complete your questionnaire!
