Agenda

The fastest way to get your customers to love your brand, is to get your employees to love their jobs. In this session you will hear from Tiffani Bova, Global Growth Evangelist at Salesforce and WSJ bestselling author of Growth IQ, on the impact of aligning these two key areas. Tiffani discusses changing employee expectations, how companies can design effective EX- and CX-centered growth strategies and what executives need to consider when designing collaboration. Discover how employee first, customer-centric organization will help ignite more focused growth.

Stephen Friedman, Adjunct Professor of Organizational Studies at the Schulich School of Business at York University, specializes in teaching about interpersonal communication and leadership. Stephen is teaching leaders how to rethink their thinking through complex problems and increase their agility to respond with ease. Leave this session feeling empowered to manage change and with new ideas to better equip your teams to get comfy with the uncontrollable change that is retail.

Fast Five Highlight

Canada’s competition laws will soon prohibit wage fixing and no poaching agreements among employers. Learn more about this important development and the Competition Bureau’s resources designed to help businesses understand the law.

Ghosting is not only a modern dating term, but employers are similarly getting left in the dust after with candidates going silent on communication, skipping interviews, or simply not showing up to the first day of work. This session looks at how retailers are navigating the roadblocks of talent attraction to build better connections with discussions on employer branding, the varied needs of in-store and hybrid team members, and the expectations of a values driven workforce. Leave this session with new ideas you can take back to the team for immediate and long-term impact.

Creating meaningful programs for improved overall employee wellness has incredible value but how are retailers who have had success and growth ensuring strong, sustainable engagement? In this session, Ardene’s Chief Leadership and Mindfulness Officer, Fil D’Urbano, is joined by two colleagues, Marie-Laurence Godon, CHRP, Manager, Culture and Engagement, and Martine Lamoureux, Head of Talent and Culture, to discuss the implementation of their innovative and strongly adopted mindfulness program. The Ardene team shares how employee feedback has driven success and the impact it has had on engagement and leadership development. Hear actionable tips for developing engaging employee programs to ensure high value and impact and how they monitor and measure success.

Building diverse dream teams has never been more critical to your hiring and business needs. Attracting and hiring highly engaged employees drive a company’s success. In this session, Leigh Mitchell and Sara Bibb of Bee Happy HR and Marketing Co. and Associate, Hilda Gan of People Bright Consulting share strategies and an action plan to build inclusivity in your workforce and know how to hire and retain highly engaged employees to drive the success of your retail business. Leigh, Sara and Hilda will talk about how to attract top talent through uplifting your job ads and creating ideal candidate avatar, fostering inclusivity in the workplace through REVUP Your Potential™, and understanding why diversity is essential in your business needs and how you can level up best practices in your workplace.

Generative AI, Augmented/Virtual Reality, Bots and Facial-Recognition are just a few of the technology disruptors on the retail horizon. Leaders are facing a pivotal revolution of future-ready skills, ways of working and re-defining what your workforce means. In this session we’ll look at leading edge examples of disruptors and discover the implications on the work, workplace and the workforce in the retail sector. Many orgs are experimenting with how to use technology to automate and augment the work done by humans, but also enhance human and team performance. Joined by leaders who are exploring new ways of working, we’ll prioritize critical next steps as you re-think your talent strategy.

The relentless and rapid pace of work experienced by the retail sector is taking a heavy toll on workers and leaders alike. Now more than ever, retail businesses need to focus on preventing mental harm to attract, retain and support workers. Join this session to learn about psychological health and safety and steps you can take today to move towards a culture of carefulness including how to identify psychosocial hazards, tips to incorporate psychological health and safety into existing safety programs and the importance of moving beyond a reactive approach to supporting workers.

Cultivating a connected culture in today’s hybrid work environment has become more challenging than ever before as retailers look to build an equitable and inclusive employee experience and drives employee engagement in a hybrid work environment by leveraging the power of technology.
In this session, Courtney Elling, Hybrid Work Leader with Cisco Canada will discuss new data from the Cisco Canada Hybrid Work Study that highlights tension points between the expectations of employees and the challenges for employers. We will provide valuable takeaways, solutions and best practices that you can implement now to attract and retain top talent while also helping your company fulfill its purpose.

Creating a sense of belonging in the workplace can have a wide range of advantages for both employees and the organisation as a whole. Employees who feel a sense of belonging are more likely to be engaged, motivated, and productive, and organisations that foster a sense of belonging tend to be more innovative and collaborative. Eamon Leonard, Manager, Learning and Knowledge Solutions with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion will share the keys to help retailers understand how they can bring this to life within their own organization for the benefit of better employee and customer experiences.

There are many factors that impact employee retention, from generational expectations to erosion of trust. With estimates that a lost employee can cost 6-9 months average salary, the cost can be staggering. This panel discussion responds to these challenges with tangible strategies including how they are overcoming the erosion of trust, identifying and developing competencies, and how to navigate sweeping changes in the workplace.

For many years HR leaders have found themselves navigating challenges like optimizing labour costs, meeting recruitment goals, and facilitating learning and development. In moving from crisis mode back to creative and collaborative management, modern leaders are eager to move towards people-centric strategies to create a more dynamic talent and work model. In this session Tanja Fratangeli, Chief People Officer with IKEA Canada and Alex Snelling, Chief People Officer with McDonalds Canada sit down to chat about the new priorities they’re focused on, the role for technology, and the skills sets that are now critical for HR executives.