Author: Graham Lowe

Post-conference workshop. Health, Work and Wellness Conference, October 30, 2004, Vancouver.
Workshop leader: Graham S. Lowe, Ph.D.
This workshop will provide participants with a firm grasp of effective strategies for building and sustaining healthy work environments. Our starting point is the recognition that achieving the goal of a truly healthy work environment requires transformational change in workplace cultures and systems. Changes must occur at many levels, including values, behaviours and operating strategy. This hands-on workshop uses a new ‘action model’, based on organizational change principles, to guide participants through the process of designing and implementing a healthy work environment plan that fits their organization.
For more information visit the conference website: www.healthworkandwellness.com
Workshop overview

90-minute session at the Health, Work and Wellness Conference, October 29, 2004, Vancouver. For more information visit the conference website: www.healthworkandwellness.com
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Nachemson Lecture, Institute for Work & Health, 21 June 2004, Toronto
What would it take to make healthy work environments a top national priority? For this to happen, employers, employees, unions and professional associations, and governments must find common ground. The goal of a healthy work environment must be energized by a shared vision. The elements of that vision can be found in today’s parallel discourses. Employers want efficiency, productivity and adaptability. Employees want decent jobs that offer dignity, respect, personal development and economic security. Communities and citizens want ethical corporate behaviour. Unions want equity and fairness. Governments are promoting innovation and skills as the route to a better quality of life. And not least, researchers want the best evidence on healthy workplace determinants translated into practice. While now separate, these discourses actually are highly complementary. They converge in a composite picture of what a healthy, productive and responsible organization looks like. This vision points the way to positive workplace change and can be a rallying point for a societal project – the Next Big Idea that, over time, can shift how we think and act at work.
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Underlying workplace conditions have a much greater impact on employees’ productivity and health than individual behaviour. Employee assistance professionals can help redefine workplace health as a strategic issue that affects corporate costs and organizational results. This article examines how EA professionals can expand their role in this way.
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Keynote presentation at the "Comprehensive Workplace Health Promotion: Supporting Local Initiatives" conference, Toronto, 9 June 2004, BMO Learning Centre. For more information see conference website (www.thcu.ca/workplace/)
Keynote Description:
“STRATEGIES FOR CREATING A HEALTHY WORKPLACE”
Dr. Lowe’s talk answers the question, “How can we design effective strategies to change workplaces so they become healthier and more productive?” Healthy workplaces obviously benefit employees, but they also have big pay-offs for employers – lower accident rates, reduced absenteeism and turnover, lower health benefit costs and higher productivity. Yet traditional workplace health promotion programs have failed to deliver these individual and organizational results because they don’t address root causes. Creating a healthy and productive organization requires ‘transformational change’ in jobs, workplace culture, organizational systems and management practices. Dr. Lowe provides the guiding principles and tools that will help organizational stakeholders design and implement a successful healthy workplace strategy.
Workshop Description:
“CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS OF A HEALTHY WORKPLACE”
This workshop will actively engage participants in identifying the actions they can take to create and sustain a healthy environment, assessing both opportunities and barriers. Dr. Lowe will draw on the latest theories, research and case studies, as well as participants’ experiences, to identify change barriers and success factors, with an emphasis on the cultural foundations – values, relationships and leadership.

Keynote presentation at the International Personnel Management Association – Canada, 2004 National Training Conference. St. John’s, Newfoundland. 31 May 2004.
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Keynote at the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators annual conference, “The Leadership Safari: Building Trust and Relationships.” May 24-26, Shaw Conference Centre, Edmonton. See www.camacam.ca for more information.
Visionary leadership and decisive action—that’s what it takes for an organization to become truly healthy and productive. This session will help leaders to:
•choose from the bewildering array of organizational change style safaris
•plan what’s best for their organizations
•rally others to join them for the adventure
Gain insights into the journey. Follow an itinerary for success and watch for potential pitfalls. Obtain a clearer understanding of how you can provide quality leadership, a compelling vision, and opportunities for your team to learn and participate. Explore how creating a productive organization depends most of all on healthy relationships that enable us to work together effectively.

Opening keynote talk at the 11th Annual Occupational Hazards to Health Care Workers conference, Vancouver, May 18-20.

The key to a better workplace is achieving balance between the structural and cultural forces at play.
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Keynote presentation at the Canadian College of Health Service Executives(CCHSE)Health Care Middle Management Conference. April 22-23, Mississauga, ON.
Middle managers are the drivers of organizational success. Their efforts in creating supportive work environments in which all staff can thrive are what make health care organizations highly effective. But linking people and results is not easy, so it is important that managers have their own model for how to do this and their own compelling vision of why it matters.