#EDGETalks: Actively Engaged - Leadership and Innovation in Building Employee Engagement

On June 4th, join The Burnie Group for a thought-provoking examination of employee engagement, why it matters, and how it can have more impact on an organization’s success than you might think.

Kicking the night off with a keynote by Norman Bacal, whom, in his best-selling novel, Breakdown: The Inside Story of the Rise and Fall of Heenan Blaikie, recounts the cautionary tale of the perils of ignoring a firm’s culture and vision, and the danger of hiring as CEOs individuals with little to no management experience. After Norm's keynote, we will open the floor to a panel of industry thought-leaders and practitioners to share their stories, triumphs, and failures in addressing employee engagement through building culturally-strong organizations.

With extensive research showing that organizations face a radically shifting context in the workplace, an engaged workforce should be a top priority for senior management. Converging issues such as flatter hierarchies leaving less 1:1 time with direct managers, accelerated career development expectations, and a technology-driven 24/7 work environment are driving the need to rewrite the rules of employee engagement. With so much on the line, what does it take for an organization to really understand its culture and create an inclusive and engaging corporate environment?

The rewards for doing so can be enormous – as companies that have addressed these challenges have seen a 17% increase in productivity, 41% less absenteeism, and a 19% increase in operating income*.

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KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY:

Norman Bacal - Former Managing Partner, Heenan Blaikie, Best-Selling Author, Breakdown: The inside story of the rise and fall of Heenan Blaikie

PANEL OF SPEAKERS:

Richard Anton - Senior Vice-President, Chief Operations Officer, CIBC Mellon

Cathie Brow - Senior Vice-President, Human Resources & Communications, Revera

Christina McClung - Vice-President, Human Resources, Capital One Canada

Rob Lokinger - Chief Operating Officer, AppCentrica

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AGENDA:

5:30PM: Registration, Networking, & Refreshments

6:00PM: Keynote Presentation

6:30PM: Panel Discussion & Q&A

7:30PM: Networking & Refreshments

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SPEAKER BIOS:

Norman Bacal - Former Managing Partner, Heenan Blaikie, Best-Selling Author, Breakdown: The inside story of the rise and fall of Heenan Blaikie

For over thirty years, Mr. Bacal has been well known in Canada and in Hollywood, as among Canada’s leading tax attorneys in the entertainment business, having been involved in the financing of countless Canadian films and television shows and many Hollywood studio pictures that were filmed in Canada. He served as an advisor to many Canadian studios and producers and represented the Canadian industry before Canadian government committees on tax issues over the course of his career. He has acted as a Canadian advisor to studios such as Warner Bros and MGM and was a member of the Board of Directors of mini-major Lions Gate Entertainment for almost ten years.

Mr. Bacal was the founder of Heenan Blaikie’s Toronto office in 1989 and grew it from a start up to an office of over 200 lawyers over a twenty five year span. In 1997 he became the national co-managing partner of the firm and over the course of the next sixteen years led the growth of the firm into one of Canada’s best known law firms, which was home to Canadian Prime Ministers Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Jean Chretien after they retired from politics. At the end of 2012 Mr. Bacal retired as managing partner and fourteen months later the firm tragically collapsed. His first book examines the essence of what made the firm great, and the lessons that can be learned from its success, as well as its failure.

Richard Anton - Senior Vice-President, Chief Operations Officer, CIBC Mellon

Richard is responsible for the direction of the Operations department at CIBC Mellon including client and advisor services, institutional and pension accounting, custody operations, business initiatives and support, cash management, reconciliation and compliance, and pension benefits. He also oversees CIBC Mellon’s client integration activities and online client information delivery systems.

Prior to joining CIBC Mellon, Richard served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for State Street Cayman Trust Company and State Street Alternative Investments (Toronto), where he oversaw trustee, accounting, custody and administration services for offshore funds and other collective investment vehicles. His additional responsibilities included client relationship management and aligning the division’s strategic objectives with product development.

Cathie Brow - Senior Vice-President, Human Resources & Communications, Revera

Cathie Brow, Senior Vice President Human Resources & Communications, is an accomplished HR professional with over 25 years in both the public and private sectors. Before joining Revera Living in 2008, Ms. Brow held managerial and executive positions in the health care and hospitality sectors. That included leadership roles with Humber River Hospital in Toronto, and Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

Ms. Brow has extensive experience overseeing human resources across North America and Europe and currently leads all strategic human resources functions that ensure the organization’s capability to meet aggressive employee engagement, customer satisfaction and financial objectives. Most recently Ms. Brow has also assumed oversight and responsibility for the company’s Communications function, both internal and external.

Ms. Brow has a passion for helping to create respectful and rewarding workplaces, where people can reach their potential, provide exceptional service, and meet their goals and those of the company.

Christina McClung - Vice-President, Human Resources, Capital One Canada

As the VP, Human Resources at Capital One Canada Christina McClung is persistently delivering against business goals and delivering new and innovative ways to bring game-changing talent to the company. In her current role Christina is responsible for all HR functions at Capital One Canada.

Revered as a strong and passionate leader, Christina is constantly inspiring her teams to go above and beyond for the associates that they work with and the talent that they are recruiting. Christina’s open and honest approach to every aspect of human resources reverberates through the entire department encouraging her teams to constantly strive for greatness and deliver outstanding results.

In her previous role she led the US and International Card Recruiting team which was responsible for delivering an exceptional candidate experience to the more than 6,000 associates it recruits annually to Capital One’s Credit Card business in the US, Canada and UK. Christina joined Capital One in 2010 to lead the Centralized Recruiting team and worked with a number of clients across the company before moving to the Card Recruiting team in 2012.

Rob Lokinger - Chief Operating Officer, AppCentrica

Rob Lokinger is co-founder and COO of AppCentrica, a Toronto-based technology services company. AppCentrica was recently named one of the 10 Best Workplaces in Canada by Great Places to Work and in PROFIT 500: Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies.

*Towers Perrin, 2008; OfficeVibe, 2017; Harvard Business Review, 2013