Episode 31: Coming Back Stronger Part IV: What Can Companies Do to Craft a Resilient Workplace?

Can an organization actively build a a resilient workforce? Are there ways to create resilient workers? It would seem to be to our advantage to do that: according to a study published by PwC, programs that foster a resilient and mentally healthy workplace returned $2.30 for every dollar spent, with the returns coming in the […]

Episode 22: How Should Companies be Preparing for the World Post-Pandemic?

We are getting close to a vaccine for Covid-19 and a return to something approaching normal in the workforce. But will normal look like for companies? And how should companies plan for the post-pandemic future of work? Our guest today is Cathryn Barnard a Partner at ‘Working the Future’ which is UK based consultancy firm […]

Virtual Speaking is Kind of Cool

  Yes I miss in-person presentations, a lot actually, but cool that we can still keep the conversations going. Here I am on someone’s laptop (you can see his coffee mug to the right) as I speak to the Ontario Municipal Human Resources Association fall conference about the #futureofwork. Great to have been able to present from […]

Episode 18: How Can We Handle Pandemic Work Stress?

  Six months into the pandemic and with  more months to come, most workers are coping but not without difficulty. Whether it is stress about being home and isolated, or stress about going back to work and possibly getting sick, a lot of people are under strain, and there are indications that that strain could […]

Episode 16: How Do You Set Work-Life Boundaries in a World of Remote Work?

What does flexible work mean to you? It might mean leaving a few minutes early to catch your kid’s soccer game, or it might mean totally restructuring your job so you can travelfor a few months. In both cases, however, employers have traditionally been hesitant to open up the floodgates and embrace too much of […]

Episode 14: How Do You Create an Environment for Innovation?

It is something you hear about a lot  – the need to be innovative. We hear that innovation is the key to economic growth, or the companies need to encourage innovation – but what does that really mean?  Our guest on today’s episode is Anders Haugeto who is the founder of a company called Iterate […]

Episode 11: Is This the Time for Leadership from the Heart?

When we think about the words that go with ‘leadership’, ‘heart’ is rarely among them but perhaps it should be. The pandemic has shown us that business as usual is no longer going to get the job done, and as well we are all acutely aware that we are indeed fighting a global pandemic together, […]

Episode 10: Are We Headed to the Age of Portfolio Careers?

Why choose one career when you can do more than one at the same time? In these days of gig jobs and the need to pivot as the economy change, maybe we should thinking hard about ‘portfolio careers’ or doing several things at the same time. That could happen in the context of one organization […]

What Do Workers Want, Really?

When I speak to employer groups about the future of work, they are often keen to know what they should do to both attract and hold on to workers. In tight markets, that often means attract anyone, anyone at all, they are not fussy. Still, even in markets where unemployment rates are relatively high there […]