Tag: Healthy Organizations

This report presents new findings from two national surveys, one of employers and the other of workers, on work-life balance and job stress. The report discusses the implications of these issues for employers and points to actions they can take to improve the quality of work life. Graham Lowe was commissioned by Wilson Banwell Human Solutions to write the report, and it is the first in a series of Human Solutions Reports.
Document Name

Keynote talk by Graham Lowe, UBC Okanagan Health Symposium, 8 February 2008.
Successful organizations have healthy cultures that all employees help to build. Graham’s keynote will outline the building blocks of healthy cultures. Drawing on wide-ranging research and practical experience, Graham will describe how healthy cultures are created and sustained. He will explore issues such as the role of values and the importance of living the organization’s values through every interaction you have with colleagues and students. He also will answer the question: “How does culture matter for employees’ quality of work life and organizational success?” Graham’s presentation will challenge the audience to reflect on their personal role in building a healthy culture that will energize UBC Okanagan for years to come.

Keynote talk by Graham Lowe, UBC Okanagan Health Symposium, 8 February 2008.
Successful organizations have healthy cultures that all employees help to build. Graham’s keynote will outline the building blocks of healthy cultures. Drawing on wide-ranging research and practical experience, Graham will describe how healthy cultures are created and sustained. He will explore issues such as the role of values and the importance of living the organization’s values through every interaction you have with colleagues and students. He also will answer the question: “How does culture matter for employees’ quality of work life and organizational success?” Graham’s presentation will challenge the audience to reflect on their personal role in building a healthy culture that will energize UBC Okanagan for years to come.

Creating Healthy Health Care Workplaces in British Columbia: Evidence for Action. A DISCUSSION PAPER
Prepared for the Provincial Health Services Authority.
KEY MESSAGES
There is a business case for investing in healthier work environments within health care. Furthermore, there are substantial costs to inaction.
Return on investment (ROI) analyses has been used to evaluate workplace health promotion programs in various settings, but rarely in health care.
Designing evaluation into healthy workplace interventions, and disseminating the findings, will go a long way to filling this information gap.
Workplace health promotion interventions that are comprehensive, well designed, and successfully implemented tend to have good ROI.
Decision-makers must be aware of the limitations of conducting ROI research on organizational interventions.
Research on the causes and consequences of healthy and unhealthy work environments also to indicates directions for change.
Further improvements in employee health and organizational performance will require changes in job design, organizational systems and structures, and work environments.
Healthy workplaces can contribute to the major strategic directions of health care system renewal.
Creating healthier workplaces requires a shift in leadership thinking and organizational culture so that human assets are highly valued.
Successful healthy workplace change requires strong commitment from top management that is reinforced in all their decisions and actions.
In healthy workplaces, all managers and supervisors have the time, encouragement, and training needed to be effective people leaders.
Measuring progress requires four categories of indicators: healthy workplace drivers, working conditions, employee outcomes, and organizational benefits.
Report text

Presentation at the 3rd annual Working Well in Halton symposium, designed for workplace decision makers, human resource professionals, and occupational health practitioners.
The presentation will cover:
• The Business Case for creating healthy organizations
• The link between healthy culture and healthy organizations
• Overcoming common barriers to healthy workplace change
• Practical steps to create and maintain healthy organizations
For information contact: melissa.graves@halton.ca

A workshop sponsored by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with its 2006 H.E.A.L.T.H. Award Luncheon. Calgary, October 24, 2006. 8:30 – 10:45 am.
Graham Lowe will lead an interactive workshop that will engage participants in designing a customized action plan for achieving higher levels of health and productivity in their organization. Dr Lowe will draw on leading-edge healthy workplace practices and research evidence to guide participants through the process of creating a blueprint for healthy workplace change that meets the needs of their employees, builds on current initiatives and strengths, and contributes to strategic goals. Participants also will be challenged to reflect on their role as healthy workplace change agents, taking personal responsibility for making change happen.
Graham also will deliver a keynote talk at H.E.A.L.T.H. Award Luncheon. The Calgary Chamber of Commerce is rewarding businesses that get healthy. To recognize businesses that create healthy work environments, The Chamber will present the second annual Helping Employees Achieve Life-Time (H.E.A.L.T.H) Awards.
The H.E.A.L.T.H. Award was created in 2005 to give recognition to businesses with superior and commendable Worksite Health Programs, especially those businesses who provide Calgary with workplace leadership to help their employees lead healthy and vibrant lives.
For information: www.calgarychamber.com

RNAO Creating Healthy Work Places Summer Institute, 2006.
Graham Lowe will be making presentations and facilitating workshops at the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario’s 2006 Summer Institute. Topics include: “Strategic planning framework for workplace revitalization” and “Creating Healthy Work Environments.”
Pinestone Inn, Haliburton, Ontario.
June 5 and 6, 2006.

PRACTICAL STEPS FOR CREATING HEALTHY ORGANIZATIONS:From Words to Action. This half-day workshop by Graham Lowe helps employers, managers, HR professionals, occupational health and EAP staff answer the question: "How can we design effective strategies to make organizations healthier and more productive?"
May 25, 2006. 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
(registration and continental breakfast at 7:30 a.m.)
Location: University of Ontario Institute of Technology
Business/IT Building, 2000 Simcoe Street North Oshawa, Ontario.
Registration fee $50.00 per person.
Registration fee includes a continental breakfast and workshop materials.
Call 905.666.6241 or 1.800.841.2729 or visit
www.region.durham.on
.ca by Thursday, May 11, 2006.
Workshop brochure

Creating a healthy and productive organization requires “transformational change” in jobs, workplace culture, organizational systems and management practices. Graham Lowe provides the guiding principles and tools that will help organizational stakeholders design and implement a successful healthy workplace strategy. He will draw on the latest theories, research and case studies to identify change barriers and success factors, with an emphasis on the cultural foundations, values, relationships, and leadership.
Presentation sponsored by the British Columbia Human Resource Management Association.
Kelowna, BC, 9:00-10:30 am. May 4, 2006.

Graham Lowe and Jen Sulkers will offer this interactive workshop at the Industrial Accident Prevention Association annual conference. Toronto Convention Centre.
A Great Place to Work® is one where employees trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do and enjoy the people with whom they work. Join us for this interactive workshop to explore innovative best practices used by organizations identified by Great Place to Work® Institute’s research for the 2006 Canadian Business list of Best Workplaces in Canada, and similar lists published in the US by Fortune magazine and the Society for Human Resource Management and in the UK by the Financial Times. You will gain an understanding of the transformational process required to create and sustain a trust-based workplace. Apply these principles to your own organization, you will identify the steps needed to build a culture that is high-trust, high-performing, and healthy.