Author: Graham Lowe

Keynote presentation at the Health Authorities Conference 2004, "Beyond Boundaries: Leading Health Care in Alberta." Edmonton, Alberta. March 15 – 16, 2004.

Human resources are the weakest link in the health care system. That’s because inadequate attention has been given to the ‘soft’ people issues that matter most in providing quality health care – issues like morale, trust, respect, communication, learning and engagement. As the Mazankowski Report recommended, attracting and retaining health providers depends on improving staff morale and satisfaction. Yet, health human resource planning still narrowly targets labour shortages, leaving aside equally important work environment challenges. Now is the time to broaden the scope of our thinking about health human resources and create a comprehensive strategy for renewing health care workplaces and working relationships in Alberta. The long-term sustainability of the system rests on a simple principle: quality workplaces enable staff to provide quality care. So Alberta needs its own vision of what a high-quality health care workplace looks likes and an action plan for achieving and sustaining those conditions for all health providers. It is urgent that Health Authorities take leadership on this agenda.

Keynote talk at the What Works Alberta Conference 2004, Building a Skilled Labour Force. Edmonton, February 18, 2004.

Shaping the kind of workforce and workplaces Alberta will need in 2014 requires labour market stakeholders to collaborate on creative policies and programs. Dr. Lowe provides a starting point for this collaboration by outlining how major social, economic, demographic and organizational pressures require innovative approaches to workforce and workplace renewal. He will argue that building a skilled labour force in Alberta depends on having a compelling vision of the kind of workplace that will support high skills and high performance. Dr. Lowe will challenge you to create that vision and to think about how you can achieve it.
This conference is sponsored by Alberta Human Resources and Employment and Human Resources Development Canada.

Keynote presentation at "What Works: A Two-Day Forum of Employer Leading Practices," hosted by the York Region It’s All Here Initiative and the York South Simcoe Training & Adjustment Board. This 2-day forum focuses on sharing employer leading practices in recruiting, retaining and developing skilled workers. A variety of employer representatives will provide critical information on successful strategies. The forum features a series of panels and interactive sessions to encourage shared learning.
For further information contact Catherine Quattrin at 905-833-3333 / catherine.quattrin@senecac.on.ca.
Program information and registration form can be downloaded below.
Registration form

Centre for Executive and Management Development, School of Business, University of Alberta. Half-day workshop.
This workshop is designed to provide human resource professionals with the ideas and tools they need to lead workforce and workplace renewal. A convergence of global economic forces, workforce demographics and rapidly changing skill requirements provide a unique opportunity – especially in Alberta – for organizational renewal. For this to happen, HR professionals must play a more strategic role by assessing strengths and weaknesses in current work systems, diagnosing future skill and learning needs, and anticipating the implications of demographic trends for people practices and productivity. Rather than adopting ‘best practices’ from elsewhere, this workshop will outline the guiding principles for developing customized solutions that address an organization’s current and future human resource needs.
To Register: fill out the attached form or visit www.cemd.ca
For more information please contact Sharon at: 780-492-8502 or e-mail: sharon.cameron@ualberta.ca

Healthy Workplace Strategies: Creating Change and Achieving Results.
Healthy jobs and workplaces benefit workers and employers, customers and shareholders, citizens and society. This report focuses on the organizational change processes, strategies and tactics that can bring about healthier and more productive working conditions. The report offers an action model for achieving healthy organizations. The model highlights the importance of establishing enabling conditions in order to make the organization change-ready, then designing a process that engages all stakeholders in actively shaping a healthy workplace. The report offers practical ideas, examples and tools to help generate healthy workplace actions.
This report is available in both English and French.

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Workshop for the Centre for Executive and Management Development, University of Alberta. Edmonton. 1-4:30 pm.
To register visit www.cemd.ca.
For more information please contact Sharon at: 780-492-8502 or e-mail: sharon.cameron@ualberta.ca
The concept of a high performing organization is a powerful way of meeting workforce and workplace renewal challenges. Innovation, operational excellence, and exceptional service and product quality depend, more than anything, on a skilled and committed workforce. High-performing organizations treat employees as their core asset, investing in human resource management practices that leverage knowledge and skills in healthy ways. The culture, values, work relationships and leadership of high-performing organizations support learning, participation, work-life balance and wellness, linking these practices to overall business results. Participants will gain a clear understanding of the human resource practices and work systems that contribute to high performance, the documented benefits for employers and employees, and the actions needed to create this kind of organization.

Keynote presentation at the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, Labour Relations Conference, Edmonton.
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Closing keynote talk at THE BOTTOM LINE CONFERENCE: UNTREATED DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY DISORDERS IN THE WORKPLACE. Vancouver. Sponsored by the Canadian Mental Health Association.
Conference website: www.cmha-bc.org/bottomline/program
We know that healthy workplaces contribute to employees’ overall well-being and job performance. Why is it so difficult to put this knowledge into practice? Dr. Lowe’s plenary talk addresses this question, showing how implementing successful change requires a shift in our thinking from health as an employee outcome to a characteristic of the entire organization – a core value that guides how a business operates. He offers practical advice on change strategies, a topic that has been overlooked in research on workplace health promotion. Creating a healthy organization requires a commitment to individual and organizational outcomes, a reduction of work environment risk factors, and supports and incentives for action.

This article argues that healthy workplaces start with healthy work relationships. It also provides guiding principles for creating healthy workplaces.
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Keynote presentation at the annual meeting of the European Network of “Entreprise for Health”, Mondragon, Spain.
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