Keynotes
Monday, August 14 | 9:30-10:45 a.m.
Dan Pontefract
The Critical Importance Of Workplace Culture To Employee Engagement
Leadership Strategist & Culture Change Expert
Represented by National Speakers Bureau
Ever wonder why global levels of employee engagement in organizations continue to wane and remain so incredibly low? For leaders in any organization seeking to improve productivity and business results, they must first start with its own operating culture. To improve organizational culture is to build up and unleash behaviors that permit employees to connect and collaborate with one another effortlessly and full of goodwill. An employee only becomes engaged when the culture is open, transparent, communicative, collaborative and trustworthy.
These are just some of the behaviors that must define how an organization operates. Author Dan Pontefract implores organizations to rethink its workplace culture by instituting systemic-wide behaviors that encourage one another to work together versus in silos or competitively. Engagement of employees occurs as a result of how they feel about the organization’s culture and its purpose. There is a way to fix it, and Dan has a way to help you out.
Read Dan's Bio
In 2023, Dan Pontefract was named on the 2023 Power List of the Biggest Voices in Leadership by leadersHum. Dan is also honoured to be on the Thinkers50 Radar list. HR Weekly listed him as one of its 100 Most Influential People in HR and Inc. Magazine listed him as one of the top 100 leadership speakers.
Dan is the best-selling author of four books: LEAD. CARE. WIN. How to Become a Leader Who Matters, OPEN TO THINK: Slow Down, Think Creatively, and Make Better Decisions, THE PURPOSE EFFECT: Building Meaning in Yourself, Your Role and Your Organization and FLAT ARMY: Creating a Connected and Engaged Organization. Dan is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria, Gustavson School of Business.
Previously as Chief Envisioner of TELUS, he founded the Transformation Office to help organizations enhance their corporate culture, leadership, learning, work styles and collaboration practices. As the Chief Learning Officer, Dan was responsible for the overarching leadership, collaboration and learning strategy for the company. Dan championed the introduction of the TELUS Leadership Philosophy (TLP), a collaborative-based leadership framework for 50,000+ team members. In parallel to these actions he drove a philosophical and cultural shift in the way TELUS views and experiences learning called “Pervasive Learning” the shift to a social, informal and formal learning model. He further championed the use and deployment of collaborative technologies to complement both the leadership and learning frameworks.
During his time at TELUS, employee engagement soared from 53% to nearly 90%. Dan’s innovation also led to the introduction of the TELUS MBA—run in partnership with the University of Victoria—which allows TELUS team members the opportunity to garner an MBA over a two-year period. The program has won three international awards and delivered new revenues and savings in excess of $300 million.
Dan has been awarded with numerous awards throughout his career: CLO’s ‘Vanguard Award’ and ‘Learning in Practice Innovation Award’, a 2x recipient of the Corporate University Best-in-Class Award for Leader of the Year, and SkillSoft’s Learning Leader of the Year. He is also the recipient of the Brandon-Hall Gold Award in StrategyGovernance and the first-ever recipient of the ATD Hall of Fame distinction. Under his leadership, TELUS became a 10-time winner of the prestigious ‘ATD BEST’ award and placed in the top ten of the Learning! 100 Awards.
His career is interwoven with both corporate and academic experience, coupled with an MBA, B.Ed and multiple industry certifications and accreditations. Dan is also a renowned speaker and has been invited to deliver over 300 external keynotes and presentations, including four TED Talks. He appeared on the front cover of T+D Magazine and Chief Learning Officer Magazine and also writes for Forbes, Harvard Business Review and The Huffington Post.
Previous to his ten years at TELUS he held senior positions over twelve years with SAP, Business Objects, Crystal Decisions and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).
Monday, August 14 | 2:55-4:00 p.m.
Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe
All In: Mastering Life with Work Integration for Optimal Performance and Wellness
Expert on Resiliency and Workplace Wellness
Represented by Speakers Spotlight
Exploring the concept of self-identity and the many roles we hold both personally and professionally, this session examines how we can all successfully build life with work integration.
Using a value-based living approach to performance with purpose, this session will provide participants the tools and systems for striking the ever-elusive work-life balance. Participants will explore personal value identifiers and learn practices that promote healthy habits, so that they are well equipped to meaningfully show up in every facet of their lives. The information presented in this event is researched-informed, readily available and grounded in wise practices.
Read Dr. Robyne's Bio
Described as one of the most sought-after, engaging, thought-provoking and truly transformative international speakers and scholars in her field, Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe is a multi-award-winning education and psychology instructor. She specializes in resiliency, navigating stress and change, wellness in the workplace and optimal performance, both at home and work. Hanley-Dafoe’s keynotes offer accessible and practical strategies, grounded in global research, that help foster resiliency and wellness within ourselves and others.
Hanley-Dafoe’s work is inspired by personal experience. She learned resiliency from the ground up as someone who has experienced significant obstacles throughout her life. This, combined with more than 18 years of university teaching and research experience, makes Hanley-Dafoe’s work both accessible and relatable while providing realistic and sustainable strategies for understanding and practicing resiliency and wellness.
Hanley-Dafoe is the author of the award-winning and bestselling book, Calm Within the Storm, which outlines a powerful and achievable path to everyday resiliency. She joined a group of highly esteemed authors from around the globe when her book won a 2022 Silver Nautilus Award.