Author: Graham Lowe

Workshop by Graham Lowe at the 15th Annual Health & Safety Conference Society of Alberta. Edmonton, Alberta. November 9, 2016

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Workshop description:
This day-long workshop will help participants apply the ideas, tools and leading examples in Graham Lowe’s book, Creating Healthy Organizations: How Vibrant Workplaces Inspire Employees to Achieve Sustainable Success.
The workshop provides a forum for learning and action planning, enabling you to build the foundations for sustainable success. Is your organization nurturing the employee capabilities it will need to thrive in 2025? How can you better support employees to achieve health, safety and performance goals? What are the most cost-effective ways to promote employee wellbeing? By addressing these questions, participants will achieve the following objectives by the end of the day:
– Understand the business case for a healthy organization.
– Learn about the building blocks of a healthy organization.
– Identify opportunities for strengthening these building blocks.
– Find ways to strengthen their workplace culture.
– Leverage existing initiatives to more fully engage employees.
– Define the critical behaviours for wellbeing and performance.
– Assess progress toward healthy organization goals.
– Identify the best metrics for tracking workplace improvements.
The workshop will develop participants’ capacity for effective change. Participants will be encouraged to identify actions they can take in their day-to-day work that will contribute to a more positive, productive and healthy work environment. Participants also will identify cost-effective ways to better leverage and integrate OH&S, HR, learning, wellness, quality improvement, and social / environmental responsibility initiatives.

Presentation by Graham Lowe at the Petroleum Safety Conference, Banff, Thursday, May 5, 9:00 – 10:00am

Resilience is an old concept that is finding new resonance today. Decades ago, psychologists studied the sources of personal resilience among children who overcame significant disadvantages to succeed in school and life. This early research showed that resilience is an individual’s capacity to thrive despite adversity.

Now, the concept of resilience is being applied to leaders and organizations. The Harvard Business Review calls resilience the new leadership skill. A growing number of cities around the world – including Calgary after its 2013 flood – recognize the importance of cultivating resilience within the community and its organizational ecosystem in order to prepare for future disasters. And the need for greater resilience within the workforce was amplified by the 2008-2009 global financial crisis and Great Recession and now in Alberta, plummeting oil prices.

We know that resilience involves psychological traits and personal behaviours that can be learned – a crucial insight for leadership development. Resilient people don’t bounce back; they bounce forward, finding new strength and equilibrium. They move to a new normal that enables them to keep progressing toward a better future. Resilient people don’t just adapt to change, they find opportunities and renewed strength as they confront it.

Furthermore, people need a supportive environment to be resilient. That’s why it is so important for leaders today to cultivate resilience, both personally and among their employees, in order to effectively manage the constant challenges, changes and pressures of organizational life.

Resilient leaders skillfully – and proactively – respond to stressors, learning from failure, develop renewed strengths and show others how it is possible to thrive in the face of adversity. By fostering resilience traits among their employees, resilient leaders set the stage for higher levels of performance, support and well-being. In short, they foster a resilient workforce that is better prepared to deal with the unexpected.

Resilience also can be viewed as an outcome of a psychologically healthy workplace. This is the organizational context needed to cultivate a resilient workforce.

The Mental Health Commission of Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Standards Association, has championed psychologically healthy and safe workplaces. The National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace, launched in 2013, provides a guiding framework and resources that employers can use to reduce risks to psychological health, remove the stigma associated with mental health issues, and in general foster employees’ psychological well-being as a route to enhanced organizational performance.

The Standard’s key workplace enablers of psychological health provide the organizational conditions required to foster a more resilient workforce. These workplace factors include:

• Supportive managers and co-workers
• A culture that values individuals’ well-being
• Skilled people leadership
• Respectful working relationships
• Support for employee’s personal growth and development
• The resources needed to manage workloads and job demands
• Employee involvement in decisions
• Recognition for contributions
• The flexibility needed to achieve work-life balance

All these factors are essential for a resilient workforce and a humanly sustainable organization.

Research shows that a manager’s capacity to be resilient is closely associated with a transformational (as opposed to a transactional) leadership style, higher work engagement, and positive well-being. Resilience can be learned and, increasingly, is being incorporated into leadership training. These are the traits that resilient leaders must acquire:

• A sense of confidence and optimism about the future
• Knowing how to respond to their own work pressures and helping others do the same
• The self-care skills needed to look after their own physical and psychological health
• Emotional intelligence skills that cultivate self-awareness of the impact of their actions and decisions on others and empathy for how others are struggling with change
• The ability to learn from failures and see these as a source for new strengths
• And the skills needed to show others how to thrive as they grapple with challenges in their jobs and lives

In sum, resilience is a 21st century organizational survival skill. Any organization can apply the above insights to develop the kind of leaders and workforce it will need to thrive in an uncertain future.

Plenary talk by Graham Lowe at the 14th Annual Conference, Health & Safety Conference Society of Alberta. Banff Springs Hotel, Banff, Alberta. October 30, 2015.

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TALK DESCRIPTION: Employers in Canada and many other countries face mounting pressures to find better ways to reduce employee health and safety risks – and costs. These challenges are best addressed by viewing healthy and safe employees as a strategic advantage. This positive approach to risk reduction is guided by a workplace vision that sets mental and physical wellbeing as corporate goals. Evidence-based best practices point to four actions that OHS professionals can take to move their organization in this direction. First, expand occupational health and safety management systems to promote psychological safety. Second, collaborate with wellness and HR professionals to develop integrated approaches to employee wellbeing. Third, make full use of OHS and HR metrics to demonstrate connections between health, safety and performance. And fourth, never lose sight of fact that your organization’s culture – the value it places on people – is the foundation for healthy, safe and high-performing workplace.

Graham Lowe will give a keynote talk at the The Organizational Health and Wellness Summit, OCT 22-23, 2015, KELOWNA, BC at the FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON HOTEL.
Overview:
The Organizational Health and Wellness Summit will explore new frontiers of workplace health promotion and prevention. The Summit provides a unique opportunity for business leaders, union representatives, OH&S, frontline practitioners, HR professionals and researchers, to learn about the latest strategies for improving mental and physical health in Canadian workplaces.
Canadian employers are facing relentless pressures to reduce absenteeism, presenteeism, disability costs and to improve productivity and corporate bottom line. The speakers and their interactive sessions will focus on how these challenges are interconnected and that the best way forward is to “connect the dots”. The speakers and participants will work together towards developing an integrated, comprehensive and cost-effective framework that can be implemented in their organizations to address top-of-mind concerns that include the following:
– Reducing absenteeism and presenteeism;
– Reducing risks to psychological health and safety in workplaces;
– Improving employee engagement in existing wellness initiatives;
– Enabling employer-union collaboration to achieve health and wellness goals;
– Implementing best practices for work disability prevention;
– Taking a collaborative approach to return-to-work;
– Aligning health, safety and wellness initiatives with corporate strategy;
– Making a leadership commitment to creating healthier and safer workplaces;
– Encouraging a culture of wellness by engaging employees and employers.
Set in a beautiful Okanagan Valley with its abundance of top-rated wineries, the Summit is also an ideal place for networking and learning from other participants. The Summit reception and dinner will be held at Summerhill Winery, featuring Chef Jonas Stadtlander and organic, award-winning wines.
The Summit is sponsored by Diversified Rehabilitation Group
For more info and to register: http://www.diversifiedrehab.ca/dmc/

Plenary talk by Graham Lowe at the Better Workplace Conference 2015, October 16. Gatineau, QC
Conference website: http://www.conferenceboard.ca/conf/betterworkplace/agenda.aspx

I’m speaking at The Better Workplace Conference 2015 at the Hilton Lac Leamy Conference Centre in Gatineau this October 14 to 16. All speakers have been asked to respond to 4 questions that amplify conference themes.

The questions, and my responses, are below:

• Q: What do you think is getting in the way of progress towards achieving a positive workplace culture in organizations today?   A: We’ve heard lots about how a lack of leadership, no clear return-on-investment, time-scarcity, organizational silos, or the intangibles of culture being significant barriers. What I think can help break through these barriers is a compelling vision of what a positive culture looks and feels like for your organization, clearly articulated by champions at all levels — not just from the top. This vision expresses the ideal future and gives change agents a rallying point for their efforts.
• Q: What is the one ‘leadership decision do-over’ you wish you could have that could have impacted your organization in a more positive way?   A: None – I’m a self-employed consultant. But to put a slightly different and positive spin on the question, the one ‘do-again’ decision that shifted my career trajectory was to leave a university professorship for the world of independent consulting. That was 12 years ago. As a result of that decision to leave the confines of a university, I think I have been better able to help others become effective change leaders in their own organizations.
• Q: What leader do you most admire and why?   A: Innovative collaboration has become a critical survival skill for people and organizations. Cultivating these capabilities requires inspired leadership. I find useful insights on how to do this by listening to  great orchestras. Two favourite examples: Wynton Marsalis (Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra) and Jeanne Lamon (Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra) have inspired groups of talented musicians, all soloists in their own right, to work together to create uniquely beautiful music. The process is an inspired collective effort, with a light touch from the conductor, and no two performances sound exactly alike.
• Q: Words to live by…for a better workplace?  A: Isadore Sharp, founding CEO of the luxury Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, attributes his corporate success to the pursuit of a simple business philosophy: treat other people how you want to be treated (The Golden Rule). This ethos has made Four Seasons an exceptional place to work and ensures consistently outstanding experiences for guests. Simple, yet so powerful.

Graham Lowe will be a keynote speaker at the Southwest Region Workplace Health Network Workshop, May 27, 2015 in Stratford, Ontario. He also will facilitate an interactive session that engages participants in identifying healthy organization actions they can take to move forward.

‘Joan Burton Memorial’Comprehensive Workplace Health Leadership Symposium
Tuesday April 21 2015
From 8:30 a.m. to Noon
Mississauga ON
Featuring Keynote Speaker – Graham Lowe
Your Future Wellness Dividend: How Healthy Organizations Maximize Employee Health and Safety for Sustainable Success
Managers and health and safety practitioners in Canada and many other countries face mounting pressures to find better ways to reduce employee health and safety risks and, at the same time, achieve higher levels of performance. These challenges are best addressed by viewing employee wellbeing as a strategic human capital advantage. This positive approach to workplace improvement is guided by a healthy organization vision. A healthy organization forges strong links between wellness, key human resource goals, and performance. Wellbeing is viewed as a leading indicator of employees’ capabilities and, equally critical, sustainable business success in the future. Evidence-based insights from current research support this approach and provide principles that can help employers reap a significant ‘wellness dividend’.
Can’t make it in person? Join us from 8:30-12noon via WEBINAR
For questions or additional information about the event please contact the OWHC at contact@owhc.ca or go to: www.owhc.ca

I’ve just returned from the Vermont Worksite Wellness Conference, held in Burlington, where I had the honour of giving the keynote talk and facilitating a workshop on creating healthier organizations. The conference featured the annual Worksite Wellness Awards, presented by the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. My big take-away is that the State of Vermont has figured out how well-crafted public policy can foster healthier workplaces, businesses and communities.

Vermont was an early leader in promoting healthier workplaces. The Awards are in their twentieth year. Clear signs of progress are that this year, the conference had 430 participants and 92 employers were recognized for excellence in promoting a culture of physical, social, intellectual, emotional and occupational wellbeing.   These employers are small and large, in all sectors of the economy.

What has enabled this success?

First, there is strong leadership from public policy makers. Governor Peter Shumlin told the conference that nothing is more important than empowering employees to be healthy and well at work. Actions to promote worksite wellness are critical to larger healthcare reform goals, he went on to emphasize, particularly reducing the high cost of healthcare in the US. And the Governor made it very clear that Vermont’s success in healthcare reform — it has embraced Obamacare — depends on grass-roots efforts by employees in workplaces around the state.

Second, business leaders also walk the talk. A good example is Don George, President and CEO of Blue Cross Blue and Shield of Vermont, which provides health benefits to about 80 percent of Vermonters. Don received the 2015 Vermont Business Leadership Award for worksite wellness given out at the conference. He and his team have developed a wide range of resources that employers can use to take a more preventative and holistic approach to employee health. As Don pointed out, future progress requires ‘building tighter cultures’ in every organization in the state so that employee wellness and business performance are seen as twined goals.

And third, when political and business leaders show genuine and sustained commitment to achieving worksite health promotion goals, more and more employees get involved. The level of employee-led fitness activities is impressive. So too are other innovative initiatives, helped by modest government support, for workplace gardens and on-site breastfeeding facilities. Above all, the combined impact of these activities spills into the community and everyone benefits.