麻豆传媒

A former graduate of Pangman School is returning to Weyburn with her latest successful book. In her newly released book, "A Woman and Her Workplace: Building Healthy Relationships from 9-5," Rosemary Flaaten (nee Sheppard ) delves into the issues that wreak havoc on workplace relationships.

The Weyburn Public Library will host a reading and book signing event, open to the public, on Wednesday, Dec. 8, from 1:30-3 p.m. Books are available to purchase online through Indigo.ca and Amazon.ca. Locally they will be available to purchase at this event and at Weyburn Pharmasave.

Readers are provided with the help they need to develop and apply the principles of humility, integrity, forgiveness, grace, and celebration in the workplace.

"The roots of this book go back to the work ethic I saw in my parents, grandmother, teachers, and neighbours growing up in southern Saskatchewan. The people in our community worked hard to accomplish things, but they also worked hard to get along with each other. The farming community I grew up in was in effect a broader workplace. Everyone had their own job, and yet there was a healthy interdependence. If relationships within the community broke down, the effectiveness of the community suffered," stated Flaaten.

This is Rosemary Flaaten's second published book. Her first, "A Woman and Her Relationships", was listed as a best seller and won a Canadian Christian Literary award. "I am confounded and humbled when I receive e-mails or letters from people around the world, telling me how 'A Woman and Her Relationships' has helped them through relational difficulties."

"A Woman and Her Relationships" is being used by chaplains in women's prisons in the United States, in churches in Africa and as teaching curriculum in pregnancy care centres across North America. "I am simply amazed at how far reaching that book has gone," states Flaaten.

When asked what her hopes are for this latest book, she said she wrote "A Woman and Her Workplace" because there was such a vacuum of materials around the topic of how to have healthy workplace relationships, especially from a feminine and spiritual perspective.

"As I travelled across North America, speaking and working with professional women, I kept hearing about the relational struggles they were having in their workplace. People venting about the grumpy boss, the arrogant team member, the lazy co-worker who gets by doing nothing, and the undermining woman who makes life miserable. It's easy to blame the other person for our workplace woes, but real change can begin when we look within ourselves at what we have within our control to change."

Through discussion of relationships such as boss to staff, woman to man, woman to woman, and teamwork, Rosemary guides women to develop healthy interactions in their workplace. "It makes sense to invest some effort into the relationships where we spend the lion's share of our waking hours," said Flaaten. This book isn't just for women, though. Men find the book gives them insight into how to make the best of their working relationships with the opposite sex at their offices.