Vancouver, BC CHRO Executive Summit

Governing Body members host this dinner for attendees to launch the event with an evening of peer networking.

Creating a strong workplace community is essential to meet the evolving challenges of 2023. Yet, new research from the O.C. Tanner Institute reveals how burnout and isolation among leaders and employees are threatening culture and organizational success. These challenges need fresh strategies to create a thriving workplace community.

Join this session to learn: 

• Insights from the perspectives of 38,000 leaders and employees worldwide
• Best practices for fortifying leaders and growing generalists in an era of change
• Ways symbolic, integrated recognition create a strong sense of community for all

Less than half of employees agree the learning their employer provides is relevant to them, according to Gartner research. CHROs must hone their approach, putting employee needs at the center of their learning and development efforts to cultivate essential skills and a motivated workforce.

Join this session to discuss:

• Assessing your organization’s current learning and development ecosystem
• Designing human-centric skill development programs
• Supporting employees’ whole-career growth to promote retention while filling urgent skill gaps

CHROs are continually asked to adjust to new workplace trends, reset business priorities and develop leaders. But a partial or mostly online culture has changed what it means to be a leader. Added to the fact that employee expectations, change fatigue and attrition remains high; how are CHROs building their current leaders while building a firm pipeline?

In this session CHROs will discuss:

• Alignment of leadership capability and employee expectations
• Trends impacting the workforce and shaping organizational priorities
• Current leadership challenges and necessary adjustments

In a people-powered economy, health and wellbeing are essential components of sustainable business strategies and critical to success. Employers hold a unique responsibility in supporting an individual’s health and wellbeing, spanning physical, mental and financial health. How are leaders prioritizing their people to ensure the longevity of their organizations?

Join this session to learn about:  

• Key issues impacting the total health and wellbeing of your workforce and how to address them
• Striking a balance between employee expectations and economic and social factors
• Diversifying, expanding and updating programs beyond the traditional view of wellness

Driving meaningful and sustainable action on diversity, equity and inclusion will require more than leadership buy-in. It calls for bold action and advocacy across the C-suite. Vancity's Chief Equity and People Officer Janelle Aaker is transforming culture by applying an equity lens to every aspect of the organization.

Join this session to hear examples of:

• How the CEO-CHRO relationship shapes attitudes and momentum on DEI priorities
• Disrupting traditional strategy with an equity-centered approach to all functions of HR
• Overhauling existing programs to address systemic bias

To survive economic turbulence, HR leaders need to stay up to date on the dynamic landscape and the talent implications resulting from changes in the global economy. With inflation and recessionary concerns still top of mind, it’s more important than ever to make informed decisions.

In this session, Dr. Henry Siu with the Vancouver School of Economics will address:

• Current market trends and the latest macroeconomic outlook
• Factors influencing ongoing economic uncertainty
• The impact of shifting attitudes and expectations of the labor force

The world of work as we know it is shifting as automation and artificial intelligence become more widely available and scalable. As organizations are pushed into change by technological innovations, how can CHROs maximize the opportunities for automation?

Join this session to discuss:

• Identifying opportunities and forming a technology adoption strategy for the HR function
• Communicating the business decision to adopt HR technologies
• Understanding how automated technology adoption will impact the workforce

As organizations adapt to remain competitive amidst rapid change, it is key to keep employee experience at the center of your HR strategy. With an abundance of new and innovative ways to elevate the worker experience, HR leaders must not only create and implement these; but also connect with their workforce on which styles reflect them best.

Join this session as CHROs discuss:

• How new technologies can transform employee experience
• The importance of evolving your HR strategy around workers’ wants and needs
• Addressing employee sentiment in the flow of work

Connect with like-minded peers in a one-on-one setting through Evanta’s Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

A high-turnover environment persists as CHROs also work to balance a hypercompetitive labor market, economic strain and permanent changes to work models. To hold onto valuable and scarce talent, it will take more targeted strategies to appeal to different subsets of employees.

Join this interactive session ready to:

• Share how you're identifying and acting on attrition risks
• Explore retention strategies beyond compensation
• Problem-solve with peers and consider new approaches to talent challenges

A recent survey shows workplace stress levels soared in 2022, with managers being a leading cause to the problem. How can HR leaders foster less stressful environments and support their employees while driving engagement, productivity and retention?

In this discussion, you’ll learn:

• The latest research on workplace stress and burnout
• Why training mindful managers is the first step to developing a mentally healthy workforce
• Actionable strategies to help leaders regulate their emotions and lead with empathy

With a patchwork of pay transparency and equity proposals in Canada and the United States, companies will need to ensure compliance, ready or not. CHROs can use these emerging regulations as an opportunity to proactively advance pay transparency strategies, improve their organization’s reputation and earn employee trust.

Join this session to discuss:

• Assessing current pay transparency policies and salary frameworks
• Communicating with employees and equipping managers to field compensation questions
• Identifying and evaluating pay inequities 

Today’s workforce demands leaders take a more human approach, seeing and respecting employees’ full selves while supporting their well-being. However, few employees believe their managers lead with authenticity, and fear of being vulnerable in a business environment persists. James Barnes, known as “The Trans Coach”, uses storytelling and practical insights to help you build an inclusive organizational culture through empathy and understanding.

In this session, gain insight into:

• Implementing small changes for a big impact on employee engagement, retention and DE&I goals
• Understanding employee needs and creating a psychologically safe work environment
• Developing human-centered leaders to ensure business success