GO, HR, GO!!!
With scenic views of Lake Rosseau in the heart of Muskoka’s pristine natural beauty as the backdrop, the JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort & Spa served as a cozy and comfortable gathering of HR Executives at the Spring iteration of the HR Management Institute. In addition to experiencing thought-provoking panels, exemplar case studies, interactive Think Tanks and roundtables, and informative Business Meetings, the attendees were able to bond over two Round 1 NHL playoff games both of which the Toronto Maple Leafs won in overtime – stellar moments that will remain in the memory bank for months to come!
The Institute provided a great deal of insight and inspiration around the theme of “Reset, Reinvigorate and Recalibrate: Employee Engagement and Workforce Strategies to Ensure Ongoing Organizational Success”. Over the course of the 2 ½ day program, several key ideas emerged and wove their way through presentations, vendor showcases, and panels:
Enhancing Strategic Alignment: HR departments have become a key lever for survival, sustainability, and success. Human capital is firmly acknowledged as a strategic source of value creation for all types of organizations in today's knowledge-based economy. Attending HR Executives explored how to leverage human capital and link human capital strategy to the organization’s corporate strategy, as well as the critical relationship between the CHRO and the CEO.
Optimizing Talent Management: Executives explored mastering talent acquisition through opportunities like targeting newly arrived immigrants and currently underrepresented and marginalized prospective employees; increasing talent retention by developing the skills and capabilities needed to grow careers of personal purpose and fulfillment; and leveraging personalised coaching and development opportunities, all of which offer paths to differentiating organizations and enhancing their employee value proposition.
Building Cultures of Meaning: In the context of the workforce, organizations face unprecedented challenges, leaving many workers with fundamental questions about why, where, and how they work. Culture is one of the top levers that leaders can use to maintain and optimize organizational viability and effectiveness. The theme of culture ran throughout most sessions, with one of the highlights being a session on growing a great culture by taking stock of yourself as a leader, measuring current engagement levels, and rethinking and enriching employees’ experiences.
Emotional Experiences at Work Matter: There has been a significant shift in the employer-employee relationship; employees are craving human-centred experiences that will determine how supported they feel when they show up for work every day. HR Leaders can lead the way by leveraging and caretaking emotions that span joy, curiosity, resilience, courage, anger, frustration and more. This will become even more important as inclusive leadership, EDI initiatives, and the changing world of work take hold. Recognizing and managing employee stress and cultivating a flourishing environment where employees can experience and leverage their emotions will be a key driver of performance.
A common thread running through the discussions in Muskoka were the importance of trust – between peers, team members, leaders, and employees; the value of showing vulnerability; honing your emotional intelligence (EI) skills; and to keep growing. It was a fulfilling 2 ½ days, as executives shared their experiences, tested their ideas, crowd sourced solutions, built connections, expanded their networks, and gleaned valuable takeaways to enhance their roles and relationships. We are grateful for the time, enthusiasm, and engagement of the attending HR executives, the speakers, and the service providers – thank you for spending time with us and thank you for all that you do.
To contribute to the Fall 2023/Spring 2024 HR Management Institutes, whether sharing some insights and experiences as a member of the Speaker Faculty, suggesting topic areas for the agenda, or joining the waiting list for attendance, please contact Nas Panwar at npanwar@ipmionline.com
"I thoroughly enjoyed this conference. Thank you and congratulations on a flawless event!"
"Great networking opportunities. The content gets better and better each year!"
"The networking opportunity is second to none!"
"I appreciated the level/experience of participants and the intimacy of the event that allowed for better learning and networking than a typical conference. Thank you!"
"The event was fantastic by far one of the better conferences I have been to given the intimate size and focus on HR for HR. Appreciated the blend of sessions, think tanks, round tables and business mtgs. Food and venue were fantastic."
"It was so seamless and the team at IPMI were masters at creating such an engaging and very organized experience. It was flawless."
"Loved it. It was so nice to share time with professionals that are living through so many of the same challenges."
"The event was fantastic. The audience, quality of conversations and meetings were high and purposeful. I found there was a good blend of thought leadership style sessions in addition to more functional presentations."
