Author: Graham Lowe

Workplace expert, Graham Lowe presents a workshop in June at UPEI, “Building Healthy Organizations that Inspire Success.”
The University of Prince Edward Island is pleased to host Graham Lowe president of the Graham Lowe Group Inc., a workplace consulting and research firm. In an interactive workshop, Mr. Lowe will draw from his new book, Creating Healthy Organizations, to challenge participants to think about organizational success in sustainable human terms.
Participants will achieve the following objectives by the end of the workshop:
1.Understand the building blocks of a healthy organization and how to put them in place.
2.Find ways to strengthen your workplace culture.
3.Identify opportunities for designing workplaces that inspire employees.
4.Foster shared leadership for workplace improvements.
5.Use tools for assessing progress toward healthy organizational goals.
This promises to be an inspirational event for managers and those responsible for leading in organizations.
The session will be held on the UPEI campus on
Thursday, June 16, 2011
9 am 4 pm
Charlottetown
Registration
Registration is limited and cost is $185.00 + gst.
$150/person for companies sending four or more participants.
REGISTER ONLINE
For more information:
UPEI Centre for Life-Long Learning
Contact: Lisa MacKinnon-Laybolt
Email: lmmackinnon@upei.ca
Tel: (902) 566-0336
http://lifelonglearning.upei.ca

Presentation by Graham Lowe sponsored by NovaKnowledge.
Tuesday, June 14th, 11:30am for 12:00pm
The Neptune Theatre, Studio Theatre,
1593 Argyle Street, Halifax, NS
Cost:
$40 for members and $60 for non-members
– Light lunch included
Registration:
Please contact Stacy Barnes at:
902-494-1510 ext. 10 or by email at: sbarnes@novaknowledge.ns.ca

In a society that is rapidly aging, the ideal future workplace would be designed to meet the physical and psychological needs of an older workforce. Yet this remains an ideal, with few organizations actively going down this path. Nonetheless, there are prominent examples of what an older-worker friendly workplace would look like.

Perhaps the best-documented case is BMW’s redesigned factory for workers age 50 and older. BMW recognized that the average age of its production workers would increase to 47 by 2017. This demographic trend threatened the company’s competitiveness. Its older workers were absent more and worked harder just to keep up, yet their experience and skills are essential for productivity. ‘Project 2017’, as it is called, recruited a team of 50-plus production workers (supported by engineers and health professionals) to help redesign all aspects of assembly line work to reduce physical strains and the chance of errors. In all, 70 worker-suggested changes were made. Most were simple and inexpensive, such as wood flooring, orthopedic footwear, magnifying lenses, adjustable work tables, large-handled tools, larger fonts on computer screens, rest breaks, and ergonomically optimal job rotation.

Follow-up projects have been launched in other BMW plants. An entire new BMW factory has been built, based on Project 2017 and employing only workers over age 50. Beyond ergonomic design, the company’s goal of retaining older workers is achieved through its approach to training, employee health, knowledge management, and personalized retirement transitions. BMW’s solution for its aging workforce aside, there is little evidence that other employers are ergonomically redesigning jobs and work environments. Interestingly, few award-winning best employers for older workers in the US or Canada focus on ergonomic accommodation.

More common than full-scale work redesign, however, is adjusting HR policies and practices to an aging workforce. Three areas stand out in this regard: recruitment, training and employee relations.

See: Loch, C. H., Sting, F. J., Bauer, N., & Mauermann, H. (2010). How BMW is defusing the demographic time bomb. Harvard Business Review, 99-102. Also see: http://www.impactlab.net/2011/02/19/bmw-opens-new-car-plant-where-the-workforce-is-all-aged-over-50/

Graham Lowe will be speaking at the Minding the Workplace Symposium, Friday, May 6, 2011, 7:30 am – 12:00 pm. Edmonton. His talk is titled: “How Healthy Organizations Support Wellbeing and Performance.” Also speaking at the Symposium are:
Dr. Martin Shain: “The Psychologically Safe Workplace: Risks and Opportunities.”
Dr. Joti Samra: “Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace: Evidence-Informed, Practical Employer Approaches and Resources.”
For more information: http://www.research4children.com/admin/contentx/default.cfm?PageId=89516

Graham Lowe’s video on workplace change is available from LifeSpeak as part of their LifeSpeak On Demand video series. See: www.lifespeak.com

Keynote presentation by Graham Lowe at the Heart and Stroke Foundation Annual Workplace Wellness Conference, April 12, 2011, Moncton, NB

Presentation at the Strategic Capability Network, Toronto, 24 February, 2011. For details and to register: http://www.scnetwork.ca/default.asp?id=1271&event_id=262
Workplace consultant Graham Lowe draws on his new book, Creating Healthy Organizations, to challenge you to think about business success in sustainable human terms. Graham will describe how healthy organizations take a holistic, integrated and long-term perspective to forge stronger links between people and performance.
Following his presentation, Graham will interview Mary C. Quinn, a Learning & Organizational Effectiveness Consultant at Trillium, to reveal how these changes were implemented and to capture general lessons about what contributes to sustainable success.

Wellness is in the executive spotlight. The Harvard Business Review (HBR) recently featured an article on the return on investment from employee wellness programs. While wellness ROI has been well-documented, this evidence has been confined mainly to the health promotion and occupational epidemiology literature. What’s new in the HBR article is less the case that’s being made – wellness pays off – but rather that it is being made in a flagship management publication.

The article draws on case studies of SAS Institute, Johnson & Johnson, Chevron and 7 other organizations, some familiar to workplace health promotion practitioners. The authors’ research generated this definition of workplace wellness: “an organized, employer-sponsored program that is designed to support employees (and, sometimes, their families) as they adopt and sustain behaviors that reduce health risks, improve quality of life, enhance personal effectiveness, and benefit the organization’s bottom line.”  This compact definition neatly combines individual and corporate outcomes, encouraging us to look beyond an individual employee’s health risks and status.

The key ingredient of highly effective wellness programs is their integration within the organization’s overall strategy. One of the 6 pillars of an effective wellness program is leadership at all levels. Interestingly, this is framed as a success factor, not a prerequisite for launching a wellness program. Indeed, the companies in the study introduced wellness programs because “it was the right thing to do”   and they track ROI to be sure that they are making the best use of wellness dollars and being responsive to employees’ needs.

Also evident in the article, at least reading between the lines, is that successful wellness programs are embedded into corporate culture. They contribute to workforce well-being and performance. Employees who feel engaged in wellness program activities are more engaged in their jobs and in the life of the workplace. So it comes as no surprise that companies championing wellness actually are championing their employees. It’s the total cultural experience, not the wellness program, which matters most in the eyes of employees. That’s why SAS Institute was ranked #1 on Fortune magazine’s 2011 list of Best Companies to Work For in America.

See: L. Berry, A. Mirabito, and W. Baun. What’s the hard return on employee wellness programs?” Harvard Business Review, December 2010, pages 104-112.

This article describes 5 principles HR professionals can follow to build the foundations for sustainable success. A sustainable organization succeeds by renewing and replenishing its human and social capital.
Article PDF

 I use the term “sustainable success” to link operational, people, and ethical goals. This revises the “triple bottom line” view of “people, planet, profit” by highlighting how organizations can renew themselves. Basically, organizations need to renew the capabilities of their workforce and they need to renew their relationships with clients and communities.

An organization puts its future success at risk if it burns out employees, runs deficits, alienates clients, acts unethically, and is irresponsible towards the environment. By contrast, organizations that thrive are constantly regenerating their resources. Leaders in such organizations think long-term and holistically. Organizations are like fragile ecosystems. Continued success depends on renewing the fine balance needed between culture, people practices, systems, and structures.

Healthy organizations generate benefits for the communities in which they operate. For example, healthier employees are less likely to use health care services. This has important implications for the public health system and employer-provided health benefit costs. The supportive environment of a healthy organization helps employees enjoy a fulfilling personal and family life. Employees have more time and energy to raise their children, assist their aging parents, and volunteer in community activities that matter to them. The latter surely is relevant to health care organizations given their increasing reliance on community fundraising and volunteers.

Employees now hold employers to higher ethical standards. While corporate social responsibility comes in many forms, what’s needed for “walking the talk” is having a strong connection with human resource goals and practices. Branding an organization as community-minded—essential in health care—signals to prospective employees that it is an employer that cares, treats others well, and reflects their personal values.

Sustainable success also requires employers to cultivate people capabilities for the future. Capability is a person’s actual and potential ability to do something and, at an organizational level, collective capabilities are greater than the sum of individual capabilities. In today’s uncertain economic environment, any organization’s future depends more than ever on its capabilities to adapt, learn, lead, innovate, and be resilient.