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Locally produced in Humboldt, Saskatchewan
Cable Concrete is a fully
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Cable Concrete is flexible,
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Provides hard armoured drivable
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Providing Erosion Control Solutions Since 1984
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is that for the most part, the lack of niceness is
due to leadership (including supervisors and
managers) and their respective a!itudes toward
what constitutes acceptable “people treatment.”
In her public presentations, Colleen Munroe,
the president of Hugh Munroe Construction
Ltd., has spoken about an “old boys club” mentality
that still exists in the construction industry.
One example of this mentality is the belief
that employees should do their job because that
is what they are paid for – in other words, they
do not need to like it! "is a!itude impacts how
people are treated on the job.
“People treatment” is a term coined by Lewena
Bayer, the CEO of Civility Experts Inc. Bayer refers
to an overall a!itude about what constitutes
a fair and good way of interacting with people.
People treatment includes how you speak,
nonverbal gestures, the extent to which you are
empathetic and how you de#ne honesty and integrity.
An individual’s idea of positive people
treatment can vary from one context to another.
In order to navigate the interpersonal dynamics
of both the workplace and the world at
large, each of us – but especially those of us in
leadership positions – need to be able to both
convey positive people treatment and read cues
and behaviours of others so that we can encourage
civility in interactions. "e recommendation
for construction organizations, where
command-and-control management style and
the o$en-associated negative verbal and nonverbal
behaviours might be deeply ingrained,
is to focus on social intelligence training. In a
very short time, this strategic training can build
skills such that there is immediate, measurable
impact to the workplace culture – speci#cally to
the overall “tone” of communications.
According to Civility Experts Inc., “social intelligence”
is the ability to read and e%ectively
interpret verbal, nonverbal, tonal and contextual
cues. Social intelligence includes social radar
(being present and paying a!ention), social style
(ability to adapt your approach to interaction)
and social rules (knowledge of the unwri!en and
wri!en guidelines that vary with context).
Social intelligence teaches people the following
skills that can o%set communication skills
gaps, enable people who cannot problem-solve
on their own to ask questions and builds trust
such that people can collaborate more e%ectively.
Social intelligence training enables people to:
• Read verbal, nonverbal, contextual and
situational cues to interpret the mood,
motivation and needs of others
• Exhibit nonverbal, verbal and situational
cues appropriately
• Be present, e.g., pay a!ention to what is going
on around them
• Recognize when gestures, language,
behaviour or approach is grounded in culture,
generation or gender nuances
• Pick up on very subtle changes in tone and
behaviour, e.g., to sense when a mood shi$s
• Learn unwri!en rules, e.g., unspoken and
unwri!en expectations for how to live
in a certain environment, e.g., aspects of
workplace culture
• Learn wri!en and known rules, e.g., codes of
conduct, regulation, etc.
• Become self-aware, e.g., of one’s own social style
• Adapt one’s social style to what is appropriate
or required for a certain situation
• Adapt to change quickly, e.g., due to ability to
shi$ social gears when necessary
• Respond to events calmly, e.g., due to ability
to anticipate and/or monitor
• Recognize appropriate time to ask questions
42 Think BIG | Quarter 2 2021 | saskheavy.ca
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