At Core Elements we pride ourselves on being a part of our communities, of remembering others during the entire year, and of doing nice things for others and in our neighborhoods.  One of our most precious charities is Burns Bog – it is the largest raised peat bog on the west coast of the Americas and is in danger of being developed.  This Christmas you can attend the Bog Solstice Walk on Thursday, December 22, at 3pm.  It costs $5 per person, plus a gift item for the “Think Generously” Christmas Gift Hamper.  This month you can also find a note from David Suzuki on their web site, addressing the question of real vs. artificial Christmas trees, “Speaking of trees, I’m often asked whether it’s better to use real or artificial Christmas trees. A life-cycle assessment study conducted by sustainability research firm Ellipsos Inc. found that real trees are better for the environment overall than fake trees. In Vancouver, the CarbonSync™ organization will even rent you a potted tree that they will deliver and pick up after Christmas and plant, with some of the proceeds going to the Burns Bog Conservation Society.”

Another of our favorite charities is the Western Wilderness Committee.  They are Canada’s largest membership-based, citizen-funded wilderness protection group.  They are united in their mission to protect Canada’s biodiversity through strategic research and grassroots public education.

The Christmas Bureau is another fantastic place to give this Christmas.  They will ship over 100,000 toys to the lower mainland this year.  They will also supply clothes and over $100,000 in food vouchers to over 1,800 families living in Vancouver this holiday season.

This year my boys and I will be visiting our local Food Bank.   We will spend the day working in the back, stocking food, and will get a chance to hand out food to those in need.  I think it is so important to teach our children the value of giving back, that not everyone is as fortunate as we are, and that they need to be aware and support those less fortunate.

We often have good intentions to give, serve, and volunteer during the holidays. But the season sneaks up on us, and before we realize it, we haven’t made the plans or set aside the time – and those good intentions remain just that.  So this year, let us all remember to take some time to remember those around us who need support and charity during the Christmas season, and all through the year!

Here in our own small community at Core Elements HR we have made some very positive changes in recent months.  Maybe they won’t go down in the history books, that’s ok with us, but they have changed our company and the way we do business.   And to you our clients, you will derive the benefit of these changes.

We have moved from a sole proprietorship operation to an incorporated organization (Core Elements HR Consulting & Outsourcing Inc. ) withour losing any of the quality or “hands on” service that has built our success to this point.  We have grown the business by adding a second technician as well as a dedicated trainer/facilitator and a specialized head hunter.

We plan to continue developing our procedures and services around our team concept and hold fast to our mandates which are:

• To solve workplace problems better than anyone else
• To build capacity and career progression
• To improve morale and satisfaction
• To enhance production and efficiency
• To create lasting infrastructure

So whilst change for change’s sake is most often a useless exercise, change for a reason can be life altering.

We welcome the opportunity to work with these organizations and the communities they serve and so whilst it was not our intent from the outset to specialize in this arena, over the last 8 years we have come to have extensive knowledge and interest in First Nations HR structures and the sometimes complex concerns and issues that arise.

In our perfect world, we would take this opportunity and say thank you to our First Nation clients in their native languages. We realize though, that there are at least seven different major First Nations language families in BC alone and within those there are at least 30 known regional dialects. So, whilst we consider ourselves to be specialists within the First Nation HR field we obviously, cannot in anyway say we are First Nation linguists.

This, then will have to suffice – thank you to our clients for your continued belief in us and the services that we provide and may we continue to learn from each other.

What we thought would take a month, give or take, has taken several, we have been through numerous design changes – what colour background, which pictures to choose, should we increase the size of the headings and on and on! Working with great people on the project helped immensely and we recommend if you ever go down this route to do the same. Not only did we overhaul our website but also our letterhead, business cards and envelopes which will unify our whole look and move us forward to the next 15 years of business. So, while our external look may have changed our commitment to our clients is still our number one priority. Thanks to Becky and Sherwin at Pinksheepmedia.com for their guidance, design expertise and patience throughout all of this.

Our expectation with this blog is to always be interesting, sometimes funny, sometimes provocative. As they say (who are they?) WATCH THIS SPACE ……