Recognize Earth Day!

The environment is an issue that affects us all and today is particularly important as we celebrate “Earth Day 2010”. Here at Rideau, we are playing the extraordinary movie “Home” for all our employees.

“Home” was released on World Environment Day 2009. It is a beautiful picture with an amazing soundtrack. It takes us everywhere on the planet and traces the history of life, human-kind and our impact on the planet.

I’m proud of Rideau’s environmental initiatives. We are very fortunate to have Jay Whitehead on our Board of Directors. Jay has co-authored a book called the “Post Carbon Economy” and is at the epicenter of corporate social responsibility. His magazine CR is doing amazing work and Rideau is proud to sponsor the “100 Best Corporate Citizens Awards” in America. Today, Jay was the opening speaker at the Yale University – New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Earth Day 40th Anniversary CEO Summit! Jay was introduced by the CEO of the NYSE!

We are also lucky to have Valerie Duchesneau on our team. She is our resident “in-house” environmentalist. Thanks to her leadership Rideau has made significant strides in reducing our carbon footprint and more importantly, she has helped us design recognition programs that reduce environmental impact and actually give back to the planet.

Valerie Duchesneau on Earth Day

Helping the environment is the right thing to do and it also makes good business sense!

According to the Sirota Survey Intelligence organization, corporate social responsibility contributes positively to a company’s bottom line, as well as increases employees’ pride as well as their engagement.

The numbers are amazing. Sirota’s research found that of employees who are satisfied with their employer’s CSR commitment:

• 86% have higher levels of engagement
• 82% feel their organization is highly competitive in the marketplace
• 75% feel their employer is interested in their well-being
• 71% rate senior management as having high integrity
• 67% feel that senior management has a strong sense of direction

I urge you to watch “Home”! Hopefully, you too will be inspired by this phenomenal documentary!

RMI’s Barbara Ruddy Shares Recognition Program Secrets

My colleague, Barbara Ruddy, Senior Consultant and Trainer for the Recognition Management Institute, will be also be speaking (along with Arne Carlson) at this year's RPI conf at the end of April.

Her workshop, co-presented with Sarah Wuertz, CRP PHR, from the Arizona Department of Transportation, is entitled, “You're Spending our $'s on What?” It will show attendees the best way to get strategic about your recognition program to get full value for every dollar, so your program will stand up to public scrutiny.

Barbara is both the founder of STARS, and the first certified Recognition Professionals International (RPI) instructor authorized to teach all RPI Certified Recognition Professional® courses, in addition to the DEERS (Designing Effective Employee Recognition Strategies) curriculum. At the State of Arizona, Department of Economic Security, Barbara designed and implemented employee recognition systems for over 10,000 employees and her programs have served as models for both public and private sector organizations.

Both presenters are going to be sharing their experiences and are going to help attendees "design and implement a recognition strategy that is financially efficient and with positive perception."

Click here for more information and if you'd like to register.

Top 10 Socially Responsible Recognition Initiatives

My good friend and colleague Roy Saunderson, just wrote a great article about the Top Ten Socially Responsible Recognition Initiatives your company can do in the current issue of Incentive Magazine.

Research has shown there is a direct link between higher levels of employee engagement and corporate social responsibility.

I’m proud of the work Rideau’s EcoAction Team and the Recognition Management Institute are doing to help employers and employees become more socially responsible.

Recyc-Québec Certification!

We recently received the highest level of certification by Recyc-Québec for our recycling program.

Recyc-Québec's programme "ICI ON RECYCLE Level 3 Performance" requires a high standard of reducing, reusing and valuing waste. The level 3 certification especially entails a rigorous recycling procedure whereby 90.5% of the recyclable waste produced by Rideau is recycled.

There is still room for improvement but I am really happy our EcoAction team was recognized for all their efforts!

Marion Dulude heads up our EcoAction program and works with a dedicated team who meet regularly to pin point environmental initiatives that will make a difference.

Some of the projects we have completed:

• The complete elimination of water bottles at Rideau’s head office due to the installation of a complete water filtration system;
• The introduction of a Rideau garden at our corporate headquarters;
• The planting of trees with the support of local community initiatives;
• Introduction of Fair Trade coffee and sugar in the cafeteria as well as healthier fair trade snacks in vending machines;
• The complete elimination of styrofoam cups and plastic stir sticks throughout Rideau;
• The implementation of biodegradable cleaning products by the cleaning staff and use of ecologically friendly products in the washrooms;

It really is a team effort. One of the individuals who deserves special mention is Gilles Tittlit. Gilles works in Rideau's maintenance department and is responsible for our compacting machine. His efforts help keep Rideau tidy and green!

Every Tuesday EcoAction holds a lunch time seminar on different topics of interest. The last one was on gardening. Attendees not only learned how to start a conventional garden but those without a backyard learned how to start a balcony garden.

The idea of this program is to educate and make all of us more responsible citizens.

From my perspective, they bring employees together for great causes and make Rideau a better company.

Cristal Bordeleau – Rideau’s Great Unifier!

Cristal in the flesh!

The other day, Cristal Bordeleau brought our whole company together!

Cristal works in our Merchandising Department. Next July 11-12, 2009, she will be riding her bike from Montreal to Quebec City in the Ride to Conquer Cancer.

It will not be an easy ride… it’s a distance of over 200 kilometers! But this is very personal for Cristal… her foster Mom and Grandfather have both battled cancer.

A group of Cristal’s colleagues (Francine Bellomo, Isabelle Lavigne, Eva Gouskos, Jonathan Hart,

The line up for food wrapped around the building

Jennifer Freire, Mary Metaxas, Samra Zaman, Troy Cunningham, Sally Khouri, Eric Simoneau, Paula Cordisco and Lance Bannister) decided they would help Cristal by holding a BBQ fundraiser.

It was great - the entire company turned out to support Cristal on a gorgeous summer day. Sadly, I couldn’t attend because I had a commitment in Minneapolis but that was ok… I’m a terrible cook and my brother Stephen filled in for me!

It’s people like Cristal that make a difference in our company and our community at large.

I salute her and wish her well! Ride on Cristal… ride on!

Our smoothies were made with environmentally friendly human powered mixers. Pictured here is our designated pedaler, Alex Buchanan.

Our hungry crowd

Our cooks

I’m a Gopher Not a Golfer!

Serious damage was done to the golf course the last time I swung a club! That was several years ago.

Mind you, not as bad as my brother Stephen when his drive on the 18th hit a lady having a drink in the club house. Stephen got a lawyer’s letter on that one!

But I digress…

A couple of months ago I got a call from my Bank Manager asking if I would be willing to act as the Honorary President of RBC’s Annual Montreal West Island Golf Tournament which takes place on June 9th, 2009 and supports local West Island charities.

My first reaction was “do I have to play”? Sadly, the answer was “yes”! But the cause is good and the need is great so I’m playing golf for the first time in many, many years.

Learn more about the RBC tournament.
If you would like to support the cause, contact:
Christian Kokorian, RBC Royal Bank, 514 630-5274
Raymond Chouinard, RBC Royal Bank, 514-874-6556

BTW… if you see some gophers running across the Beaconsfield golf course on June 9th, you will know I was visiting!

Rideau’s Engagement With Earth Day!

Rideau believes in corporate social responsibility, in fact, we were the first recognition company to sign up for the United Nations Global Compact back in 2005.

The UN Global Compact helps businesses align their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. This alignment is especially important in today’s era of globalization. It’s objective is to try and ensure there is an even and just playing field all over the world.

Obviously, the environment plays a huge role and I’m proud of the efforts my Rideau colleagues undertook to celebrate Earth Day under the leadership of our own in-house environmentalist Marion Dulude and her team across the company.

In Canada, we had information kiosks on ecological footprints, fair trade and community supported agriculture, gardening and composting, eco-friendly home cleaning products and recycling. We also enjoyed some delicious fair trade chocolate and fruity treats… my favorite was the chocolate coated coffee beans! At the same time, employees could support Rideau’s fight against Cancer by purchasing a beautiful flower pot of daffodils!



Our US colleagues under the direction of team leader Rob Collier sent a crew down to the waterfront in Plattsburgh to help with the Earth Day clean up. At first, it was not looking good for Rideau USA as it was pouring rain. However, the rain moved through and it turned into a beautiful morning.


The Rideau team was amazing… they cleaned under bridges, in the woods, by the railroad tracks along the Lake Champlain waterfront. We were the only company that showed up and our help was very much appreciated by the members of the Adirondack Mountain Club who were responsible for the event.

Employee engagement is not just about the workplace. True engagement makes our planet a better place to live.