The micro in microaggressions is a bit of a misnomer. Because when you experience one, it doesn’t feel very micro. In fact, it can feel like death by a thousand cuts. It might be one of the reasons an astonishingly low number of Black employees (3%) say they would want to return to the office full time. This session helps us understand where microaggressions come from, how to recognize when they are happening, how to speak up when you observe one, how to cope when you experience one and lastly, how to respond when you have committed one.

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Industry downturns and recessionary economies are critical times to ramp up authentic employer branding as a way to retain employees, job candidates and customers. In addition to ensuring that you maintain your stake in the market, economic slides may offer a unique opportunity for business growth when instinct may want to lean towards laying low in times of crisis. Sharing the vision of your organization and the unique values of your brand will help create the narrative on ‘why’ people will choose to work with and for you.

Takeaways:

• Strategies for building authentic and effective employer branding during an economic downturn
• Identifying and prioritizing target markets for retention
• How to pivot from recruitment to retention strategies with vision casting
• The value of incorporating L&D and wellness as part of your employer brand – and why this should not be cut in a down economy

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The only constant in the tech industry is change. Amidst volatility, the need for HR and leadership to steady the ship and prepare for all outcomes is a necessity – especially today when news can go viral almost instantly. The successful rollout of an organizational transformation relies heavily on how the change is communicated to employees and other stakeholders. Creating a compelling narrative is the first step. Developing a playbook to get buy-in and guide the dissemination of information at all levels can make all the difference. Learn the importance of a narrative in addressing the ‘what’ and ‘why’ to diverse stakeholders and how you can create a shared understanding amongst your team to guide you into the future. 

 Takeaways:

• How to develop your narrative and a play book to gain buy-in
• The Three T’s: Trust, transparency, timing 
• Coaching leaders to articulate change in a way everyone understands through storytelling and connecting the what and the why
• Be proactive and anticipate all outcomes

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Workplace cultures may have shifted to increase feelings of belonging and inclusion for many, but recruitment metrics on diversity of tech talent have not followed suit. Learn how you can approach talent acquisition differently to make a measurable difference and move the needle on your DEIB initiatives. It’s time to focus on diversity hiring by developing and implementing a strategy that corrects bias while attracting, and retaining, qualified candidates.

 Takeaways:

• Audit your systems: how to audit your recruitment process to ensure you are using inclusive practices throughout the hiring process; from preparing, sourcing, screening, selecting, hiring, and onboarding
• Reduce Bias in the hiring process: learn about practical ways to reduce bias that contribute to inequitable experiences for tech talent from underrepresented groups 
• Connect with diverse talent: gain strategies and tactics that will help you connect with and source talent coming from different (or underrepresented) social or cultural backgrounds
• What now? Ways to measure if your DEI hiring efforts are getting results you want

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Supporting employees from burnout and feelings of overwhelm is a huge challenge – particularly with the added barriers of leading remote teams.  Learn what companies can do to create the kinds of environments where employees can flourish – personally and professionally while reducing absenteeism, improving productivity, and increasing employee morale. To deliver scalable, sustainable results, it is critical to understand and care for the emotional and mental health of your talent. Hear how companies can address the misalignment between employee needs and expectations and the reality of what organization are offering in order to boost retention and overall wellbeing of their talent: 

• Mental Health in the workplace  
• How can CPOs improve their EQ skills in a remote work environment?
• What benefits can have a meaningful impact on employees’ circumstances?
• The latest demands related to hybrid and remote work—and the best ways to respond

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Since the start of 2023, over 300 tech companies have laid off 100,000+ workers. These decisions to layoff or furlough employees are not easy for the employers, laid-off workers, or the staff that remains. Maintaining and enhancing company culture after personnel cutbacks may be as challenging to a business as operational downsizing. The ‘new normal’ after layoffs are often littered with feelings of mistrust, burnout, ‘workplace survivors’ guilt, employee disengagement, and high staff turnover.  This session will explore tactical tips on what employers can do to reinforce their commitment to their remaining employees, boost morale, and capitalize the opportunity as a catalyst to improve company culture.

Takeaways:

• Boosting employee morale, trust and persuading your remaining employees to emotionally reinvest in your company after making workforce cuts
• Strategies to reduce employee turnover and retaining top employees during restructuring
• The importance of transparency, open communication, and commitment to your corporate values and purpose during restructuring
• How to ensure DEI measures and initiatives are not forgotten in the process and aftermath of layoffs

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Systemic change is needed to attract and retain more Indigenous employees in the tech sector to support diversity, equity, inclusion, innovation, and reconciliation. Organizations should be more authentic and intentional on how they foster and recruit tech talent amongst Indigenous peoples. This session will uncover how the existing frameworks and core values of most tech companies present fundamental conflicts that actively exclude underrepresented talent – and learn tactical tips on how you can remove barriers in both recruitment and retention. Gain insights on how to actively seek out Indigenous perspectives and go beyond simply inviting them to the table by providing them a culturally safe workplace.

Takeaways:  

• Benefits of integrating an Indigenous lens on mental health in the workplace (and the impact if you don’t)
• Key elements to building an inclusive workplace where Indigenous tech talent can thrive and succeed
• Advice for finding, hiring, supporting, leading and retaining Indigenous tech talent
• Get a copy of an EDIB mental health toolkit that you can start using today

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Hear Josh Nilson’s unconventional path from rural BC, to being a proud Metis co-founder and CEO of the $150M tech company, East Side Games. Josh breaks the myth that you need to go to college or university to work in tech – and shares his beliefs that formal education requirements can block DEI initiatives.  This candid conversation will discuss the industry’s power, privilege, and social responsibility to move the needle on drawing more diverse people into the tech sector – and how the industry can become a great equalizer by opening up jobs for everyone.

Takeaways:

• Josh’s lived experience and non-traditional path from working in a rural kitchen in northern BC, to founding a highly successful gaming company
• The opportunity to train and re skill workers from any demographic, geographic location or ethnicity into tech jobs
• Raised awareness of the work that still needs to be done to build culturally safe, inclusive and welcoming work environments for Inuit, Metis and First Nations Peoples
• How we can build towards drawing more diverse people into tech

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Chat GPT, layoffs, less investment funding … the only thing constant in tech is disruption. This inspirational and hands on session will explore the implications to our people and where people and culture leaders can build a practical talent strategy and roadmap to lead organizational change. Be a disruptor for change, learn how to put a change management plan in place and ensure you and your people are irreplaceable. 

Takeaways: 

• Tips to effectively implement change management at any scale 
• Optimize organizational design ‘to do more with less’ in recessionary times 
• Obtain a talent strategy canvas and framework tool and transition roadmap to increase productivity and workforce planning
• Create a pragmatic plan to prepare for changes in your P & C role to lead your organization through disruption and change 

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As the abundance of collaboration software and productivity tools continues to evolve, the challenge of managing and working in a hybrid workplace is becoming increasingly complex.  Many of the tools and systems adopted to increase productivity and engagement are proving to be ineffective, redundant, and underutilized.  If your workers are becoming overwhelmed, communication gaps are growing and organizational effectiveness is challenged, it may be time to audit your current communication and enterprise search strategies and get back to basics.

 Takeaways:

• The art of simplifying tools and communication channels
• Learn how to define your communication principles and identify redundancies or overlaps
• Optimize finding, accessing, and using cross-functional information efficiently across various portals, internal channels, and websites within your organization
• Tips for engaging hybrid workers to seek information and optimize communication tools

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Gone are the days when it was taboo for organizations to comment on social or political issues. Modern HR is facing a fundamental shift to manage activism and value expectations in the workplace. Taking a public stance on ESG and embracing activism is expected from employees, candidates and customers alike.  With all the chaos in the world this can be a sandpit if not managed effectively. People want to know if your corporate social responsibility, commitments and values on issues such as climate change, the war in Ukraine, reconciliation, BLM, LGBTQIA2S+ rights … and more. Learn how and where to take a stand in a polarized world.

Takeaways:

• What is HR’s responsibility around addressing hot political and social topics?
• How to set a framework for activism in the workplace, and the risk for not doing it
• Tips for getting C-suite buy in for ESG and making a public stance on social issues
• How to start managing activism, and the pit falls to avoid

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Enjoy a 10-minute mind-body break to reset your nervous system. Learn how to activate the Vagus nerve through gentle movement and breath to help increase your body’s ability to recover from stress quickly and return to more regulated states with increased physical, emotional, and mental health. Join us for gentle targeted movement, a simple rhythmic breathing exercise, and proven mindful self-compassion technique leaving you feeling energized yet calm as you wrap up your conference day.

Human values drive everything that people do, but in the tech industry right now values are out of alignment as personal and professional lives are disrupted, and colleagues are saying goodbye. In his conference-closing keynote, human values expert David Allison will reveal groundbreaking valuegraphic data from a custom study on technology industry talent based on 750,000 surveys. He will share statistically-sound tactical insights to help you attract the right people, keep people engaged and build a competitive talent advantage – all based on valuegraphics, the new scientific approach to human values.  Key takeaways include:

• New valuegraphic data on the shared values of tech talent
• How to use metrics to influence, motivate, and engage people
• How to augment the data to represent the core values of your organization

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