We are delighted that Greg is going to be joining our Leadership Panel in Calgary “Driving Performance in a Changing World: From Wellbeing to Workforce Advantage”. The panel will be exploring:
Which leadership behaviours and cultural signals sustain wellbeing and performance in hybrid, AI-enabled workplaces?
How can wellbeing be embedded as a seamless, data-informed experience across the entire employee lifecycle?
How do organizations shift from wellbeing provision to building workforce capability, adaptability, and growth?
How can wellbeing be leveraged as a strategic driver of resilience, retention, and innovation in times of rapid change?
It promises to be a fascinating discussion. We caught up with Greg to see how he’s feeling in the run up to the summit:
Hi Greg, we are thrilled that you are joining us at the Wellbeing at Work Summit in Calgary this October. Our first and most important question is, how are you doing today?
I’m doing well, thank you. I am fortunate to live in a place where nature is very accessible. I had one of those rare opportunities to work from home today, which means that I could take walk in the woods at lunch. This really helps me put things in perspective and gives me balance.
As a leader based in the region, what are the main challenges you are facing when it comes to employee wellbeing and mental health?
I think we sometimes focus too much on the stresses at work, always blaming the employer. I feel we forget that employers are also impacted by things beyond their control, like the political environment or changing technology. Employee wellness is also influenced by society, personal relationships and other things outside of work which are sometimes even more impactful than anything happening in the workplace. Our polarized political environment, the rising cost of living, emerging technologies, economic uncertainty and other similar things are causing an underlying sense of stress across the whole population. Of course employers should still care about these factors external to the work environment because they are so impactful to the engagement and productivity of the workforce.
What strategies have you seen developing over the past 6 months, both internally and externally, that are moving the dial on wellbeing in the workplace?
The wellness issue which has been very prevalent lately, and which is within the employer’s control, has been workload. Employees at all levels, including very senior leaders, have been exhibiting exhaustion and stress that is related to the inability to control their own workload. Expectations of the public we serve seem to be growing and driving burnout amongst our workforce. The City recently launched a new Corporate Strategy, which in part is intended to help us focus on what matters most to Calgarians. It will allow us to do a better job of prioritizing (and deprioritizing) our work, so that employees have a reasonable workload.
Why is employee wellbeing so important to you personally?
Wellbeing is important to me because I have lost people close to me, both to physical and mental wellbeing challenges. There is nothing more important that your health.
What impact is AI having in your organization and how are you managing that?
Artificial intelligence is one of those worries hanging over the heads of employees, which cause them stress and impact their wellbeing. While our organization is still at the early stages of AI adoption, and it hasn’t had a measurable impact on our workforce so far, employees are concerned for the future. I personally doubt that in a growing city we see the total number of jobs decline due to AI, but we could see some individual employees left behind who are unable to change, upskill, and find new places in the organization. There is a saying that “AI won’t take your job, but someone who knows how to use it may”.
Other than AI, are there any challenges that you are seeing for the first time and how are you addressing them?
One of the newer issues I’ve encountered is how perceptions of safety have begun to impact employee wellness. Public perception of people who work for the City and other public sector organizations has declined over the years. For political purposes, politicians have promoted the idea that public servants are not in their jobs because they want to serve the public good, but rather to be lazy and wasteful of taxpayer dollars. This perception has increased so much across society that we have employees who fear to come to work each day, after seeing their colleagues harassed and even assaulted. There isn’t an easy solution to protect them, and their wellness suffers.
What areas do you think employers should be focused on over the next 12 months?
Employers need to have two areas of focus. First, do what you can to create a desirable work environment which fosters employee wellness in the office. And second, support employee wellness related to factors which are outside of the employer’s control. Both of these are equally important.
Do you feel that investment in employee wellbeing in the region is increasing or decreasing and is that a direct reflection on HR leaders’ increasing ability to demonstrate effective returns of their strategies to leadership?
I think many employers are still dedicated to employee wellbeing, but the political environment is changing how they invest. There has certainly been divestment in matters directly related to equity, diversity and inclusion. But employers will often move those resources to another program which is intended to create a respectful workplace or a sense of belonging, because they know an engaged workforce is critical to productivity. Of course, it is still incumbent on HR leaders to help identify and quantify the return on investment.
How has your organization been leading the way?
This year our organization launched its new Corporate Strategy, which is supported by five pillars. The first of those pillars is “People First”. This is intended to acknowledge that The City delivers services to Calgarians through its people, and we need to support City employees, including their wellness. In order to give life to this pillar we have launched Our People Strategy, which is a future-focused document looking at what we need our workforce to be to meet demands a decade from now. Many of the necessary initiatives identified in this strategy are intended to give employees a good experience at work and support their wellness.
Greg will be speaking in Calgary this October as part of our Wellbeing at Work Summit Canada which take place in both Toronto and Calgary. Click the links below to find out more and book your tickets:
Toronto Summit October 20: Find out more and Book Your Toronto Tickets Here
Calgary Summit October 22: Find out more and Book Your Calgary Tickets Here
