À¦°óSMÉçÇø

On September 28th almost 300 À¦°óSMÉçÇø professionals and managers gathered for a stimulating day-long leadership conference, entitled ‘Our Conscious Community @ Work: Leading, Learning & Growing Together’.

The event kicked off with words of welcome from Diana Dutton, AVP Human Resources and Interim VP Administration & Finance, who emphasized the importance of this first large scale in person event, post-pandemic. She reflected upon the importance of continuous learning together, and of being a welcoming and healthy workplace for all.

Attendees really appreciated a warm and welcoming address by Principal Deep Saini, who reinforced his commitment to leading a healthy and engaging workplace. He recognized the more than 200 people who contributed to My Healthy Workplace Phase I earning Silver Healthy Workplace Certification for À¦°óSMÉçÇø by Excellence Canada. MHW Phase II is revving up with a commitment to Go for Gold with more opportunities for us to get involved in shaping a conscious workplace for all.

We enjoyed a star-studded line-up – world-renown thinkers engaged us with their transformational and timely ideas, their compassion and their humility. À¦°óSMÉçÇø’s own icon, Professor Henry Mintzberg engaged in a fireside chat, sharing his thoughts about building communities within our organizations, reflecting on iterative strategic initiatives, and recognizing the unique experience of being administrators in an academic institution such as À¦°óSMÉçÇø.

Mintzberg’s co-founder of Coaching Ourselves, Phil Lenir, was on hand to co-lead the fireside chat and facilitate a breakout session in the afternoon on Building Community. This chat generated new ideas from staff and reinforced the importance of having opportunities for staff to have their voices heard across the University.

Keynote, Dan Pontefract wore three different hats throughout the day (perhaps to match his colorful shoes) and kept the community humming. The À¦°óSMÉçÇø alumnus shared highlights of his latest (5th) book, to become likely another bestseller, Work-Life Bloom. Dan co-interviewed Henry Mintzberg in the fireside chat and worked with À¦°óSMÉçÇø senior leaders in the afternoon. Two other concurrent sessions captivated our participants, ‘Building Inclusive Teams’ with former À¦°óSMÉçÇøian, Melissa Neverson, and ‘Becoming the CEO of Your Career’ with Tania Chomyk and Jessica Scittarelli (Organizational Development).

There is nothing like moving from theory to ‘boots on the ground experience’. After breakout sessions, five highly diverse and dynamic panelists shared their views on our Hybrid Workplace @ À¦°óSMÉçÇø: Demetra Kafantaris, Executive Director, Administration and Operations, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Diana Dutton, Interim Vice-Principal (Administration and Finance) and Associate Vice-Principal (Human Resources),

Johnny Martuccio, Student Records Manager, School of Continuing Studies,

Lisa Boyle, Vice-President of the Board, La Passerelle Career Transition Centre; Former Associate Director, New Models of Work, À¦°óSMÉçÇø, and Dr. Tina Montreuil, Associate Professor, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, À¦°óSMÉçÇø. 

A few shared conclusions from our Panelists: While we don’t know what the future holds, Hybrid IS here to stay. We are still learning and adjusting to the evolving needs of our community. We must be purposeful in how we come together – both online and onsite; both tasks AND relationships matter.

The day wrapped up on a high note with extraordinary giveaways from local and internal sponsors, and an engaging session on Purposeful Empathy by À¦°óSMÉçÇø Award Winning Instructor from the Desautels Faculty of Management, Dr.Anita Nowak. If you want to explore how to tap into this critical competence in support of personal, organizational and social change, don’t miss Anita’s book on Purposeful Empathy.

We thank all the participants for their enthusiasm, engagement and contributions to co-creating the healthy workplace we most desire. We look forward to more inclusive events in the months to come and hope that you will get involved. By all accounts, we still find great strength and connection in learning in community, as À¦°óSMÉçÇø administrative and support staff.

A big shout out to Conference Organizers under the Umbrella of My Healthy Workplace: M-Forum, and Organizational Development, and Tabling Partners: the Office of Sustainability, the Equity Office, the Office of Mediation, and the À¦°óSMÉçÇø Bookstore.