Agenda

Registration and Breakfast

Breakfast Session: The Power of Appreciation

Employee recognition is a crucial part of great workplace cultures. Leading employers today understand the importance of a customized, sustainable program that helps employees feel valued and appreciated and that reflects the needs and preferences of their diverse workforces. Impact Culture:

• Recognizing, inspiring, and connecting employees in their everyday work
• Inspiring leaders to prioritize recognition
• Sharing and celebrating success across the organization
• Building recognition into your workplace culture

David Sturt

Executive Vice President, O.C. Tanner Institute

Conference Welcome Remarks

Natasha Jeshani

Vice President, HR & Recruitment Consultant, Career Contacts

Opening Keynote: The Future of HR Leadership

We are in the middle of a seismic shift in terms of the way that organisations manage their people and HR leaders are at the centre of this transformation. The role of HR is shifting towards being at the centre of business strategy and a key component for pushing change forward. As technology advances, how can HR leaders deliver value to changing work environments? This session will provide insights into the key to strategic HR:

• Understanding the true role of HR in a fast-changing work environment
• Delivering value through HR automation and technological advances
• Building a vision for the future and delivering transformational change
• Providing leading-edge strategy and innovation to support and drive the business
• HR's credibility at the leadership level and how it affects a company’s bottom line

Kristen Rasmussen

Vice President, People & Culture, TELUS

Session TBA

Networking Coffee Break

Developing Better Leaders & Retaining Top Talent

Business is moving fast. Billions of dollars are being spent on leadership development each year. Are traditional methods of leadership training helping an organization’s continued success in today’s world? In this session, we’ll discus:

• Upskilling the organization and building the skills and organizational capabilities of the future
• Ensuring leadership development aligns with an organization’s corporate strategy
• Training leaders for multi-disciplinary and cross-functional solutions
• How to combat the increasing turnover rate and retain top talent

Moderator:

Renée Safrata

Owner & CIC, VIVO

Panelists:

Heidi Ferriman

Vice President, People & Communications, Save-On-Foods

Kristen MacLellan

Director, Talent, Best Buy Canada

Zuleika Sgro

Vice President, People, Saje Natural Wellness

Presentation by WELLO

Networking Lunch

Change Employee Behaviour & Create Employee Engagement Strategies

In order to create real breakthroughs, build meaningful collaboration, gain new clients and engage the best talent, it’s time to take a closer look at how we interact with our people. In this session we will discuss:

• What role does HR play in the management of change and supporting employee engagement?
• The role of communication – what you say and what is heard
• Coaching employees and reinforcing positive behaviours
• Creating collective team goals to increase engagement

Jodi Bains

Associate Vice President, People & Culture, Nature’s Path Foods

Paul Taylor

Vice President, People & Culture, Purdys Chocolatier

Angela Champ

Senior Vice President, People & Culture, Prospera Credit Union

Performance Management: Talent Activation that Works

Performance management is far from dead. Rather, it’s getting a new lease on life. When leading companies like Netflix, Deloitte and Microsoft abandoned their annual performance reviews, they set off a tidal wave, felt throughout the sea of talent activation. With the growing sentiment that this outdated HR practice is less effective, new performance management theories and practices are continually coming to light. But, exactly how do you identify the best solution for your organization? Presented by Laura Strickler, Director, Human Resources with ADP Canada, attendees will:

• Learn how performance management has evolved, leveraging input from both employee and manager;
• Review real-life case studies on the tools to achieve best-in-class employee engagement; and
• Be equipped with the research to return to the office with the beginnings of a business case for implementing a performance management system that best fits your organization.

Laura Strickler

Director, Human Resources, ADP Canada

Driving Effective Transformation through Better Change Management

The world of work is changing. Today’s leaders are responsible for overseeing various concurrent change initiatives. The ability to initiate, plan and implement change successfully is increasingly recognized as a core leadership competency. Modern HR leaders have a pivotal role to play in transforming their organizations and readying them to adapt to rapidly changing conditions. In this session, we’ll discuss:

• The case for change management as a practice
• Building a change culture through developing internal capabilities
• Lessons learned from our journey

Michael Weeks

HR Leader, Amazon Canada

Sherri Evans

Chief People Officer, Aviso Wealth

TJ Schmaltz

SVP, Human Resources & Corp. Communications & Chief Human Resources Officer, Westminster Savings Credit Union

Networking Coffee Break

Creating True Diversity & Inclusion

Delivering successful D&I programmes has become a strategic priority. What are the latest trends and innovations that help facilitate long-term inclusivity? And, most importantly, how can you utilize them? During this engaging session, we’ll discuss:

• Creating bias-free recruitment processes
• Securing leadership buy-in for diversity programs and measuring their impact on business performance
• Widening the diversity lens beyond gender issues
• Creating an inclusive culture where everyone is comfortable being who they are

Carolynn Ryan

Chief Human Resources Officer, BC Hydro

Sandra McDowell

Vice-President HR, First Credit Union & Founder, eLeadership Academy

Deborah Best

Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Raymond James Ltd

Closing Keynote: Managing Your Unique Culture Through Periods of Change

As organizations continue to scale, navigate digital disruption and respond to the varied requirements of the most age-diverse workforce in history, HR leaders must evolve their company culture to reflect the new business environment whilst retaining the organizations unique identity and core values. How do you walk the tightrope between driving successful change and maintaining culture?

• Evolve in positive ways and remain competitive while being able to maintain the identity and values of your company brand
• Create a positive organizational culture through inclusion and authenticity
• Foster a culture of accountability and learning through open communication
• Link organizational culture to traditional business measures of success
• Securing leadership buy-in for diversity programs and measuring their impact on business performance
• Addressing bias across the workplace, recruitment, selection and reward and recognition
• Creating strategies of how to lead a multigenerational workplace

Kate Parker

Vice President, People, Technical Safety BC

Conference Concludes and Drinks Reception