Nivera Wallani

President & General Manager, KFC Canada

Armando Carrillo

Food Innovation Manager, KFC Canada

KFC’s commitment to sustainable packaging is setting an example for the industry and helping to protect our planet.

Protecting the planet is one of KFC’s core values, and over the last several years the company has made great strides in lessening its environmental footprint. A big part of this initiative has been the restaurant’s commitment to evolving its food packaging. Today, you won’t find a plastic straw in sight at a KFC restaurant, and the company has launched some truly innovative new products, like bamboo buckets and fibre based cutlery along with other sustainability-minded initiatives, including their recent commitment to move to 100 percent home compostable packaging by 2025.

A long history based on unique values

KFC’s leadership in making its food packaging more environmentally-friendly and sustainable has a big impact, especially as it’s one of the largest global restaurant chains.

Founded by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1952 down in Kentucky, KFC is now the world’s most popular chain of chicken restaurants. Today, KFC has more than 25,000 restaurants across 145 countries and territories around the world, including more than 600 locations right here in Canada. 

To this day, the Colonel’s proprietary blend of 11 herbs and spices is still used to season KFC’s world-famous chicken, and it remains a closely-guarded secret. Colonel Sanders, the visionary behind Kentucky Fried Chicken, is still an important part of KFC’s brand and values. Throughout everything the Colonel did, he espoused his own unique brand of values, famously saying, “A man’s life is written by the way he lives it.” Here in Canada, the team at KFC has been writing its own unique chapter in the KFC story — and embodying the Colonel’s integrity and spirit of hard work remains at the core.

Protecting the planet is one of KFC’s core values and over the last several years the company has made great strides in lessening its environmental footprint.

Sustainability that’s grounded in a sense of responsibility

Reducing plastic packaging and waste is essential for conserving resources and energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and decreasing pollution. KFC understands this imperative and is at the forefront of sustainable packaging and practices in the fast food industry.

KFC has been leading the industry in sustainable packaging since 2019, when it removed all plastic straws and bags from its restaurants, eliminating 50 million plastic straws and 10 million plastic bags across the country and replacing them with fibre-based alternatives. KFC also now sources 100 percent of its fibre-based packaging from recycled sources.

“We’re on a continuous journey to lessen our environmental footprint and believe that, as one of the largest global restaurant brands, we can make a tremendous impact not only in our local communities but our global footprint as well,” says Nivera Wallani, President and General Manager of KFC Canada.

A commitment to reusable, recyclable, and compostable packaging

The KFC bucket is an iconic part of the brand’s heritage, and evolving it into a bamboo version was a major step forward in achieving their goal to eliminate non-recoverable or non-reusable plastic-based packaging by 2025. Bamboo is fast-growing, anti-bacterial, and 100 percent biodegradable — the perfect solution. KFC has removed 12 million plastic poutine containers from its operations by transitioning to bamboo.

“We want KFC’s packaging to be forward-thinking and inspiring, and to champion functionality, food safety, and eco-friendly solutions,” says Armando Carrillo, Innovation Manager at KFC Canada. “We’ve continued to accelerate our efforts and push the boundaries to bring more environmentally-sustainable packaging solutions to market, including our move to bamboo poutine buckets.”

Inspiring change and constantly innovating

KFC has also been testing fibre-based cutlery. In November 2020, select restaurants began testing a new fibre-based spork made from bamboo, corn, and sugarcane. The new cutlery naturally decomposes at room temperature and requires no additional treatment, nor does it leave any toxic by-products. The process of decomposition takes approximately 18 months. Once fully introduced into the KFC restaurant system, the compostable cutlery will eliminate 40 million pieces of plastic cutlery annually.

KFC also recently announced that by 2025, all consumer-facing packaging will be fully home compostable, and the first home compostable bucket will begin piloting this year. KFC’s new eco-friendly sandwich bag, currently rolling out across all restaurants nationally, is an excellent new addition to the company’s home compostable initiatives. It’s made with 100 percent sustainably-sourced paper and coated with a plant-based, certified home compostable, marine-degradable coating. This bold commitment will divert nearly 200 million pieces of packaging from Canadian landfills each year.

“We hope it encourages our peers in the industry to follow suit,” says Wallani. “One of our leading principles at KFC Canada is feeding people, not landfills. The move to 100 percent home compostable consumer packaging is a bold and ambitious step we’re taking to inspire positive change in the communities we operate in.”

Giving back with the Harvest program

Alongside its packaging, KFC also takes food waste extremely seriously and donates its surplus chicken to charities within its local communities through its Harvest program. The team at KFC was inspired to create its prepared food donation program when it learned that there’s enough wasted food in the world to feed two billion people, as estimated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

KFC works with suppliers to purchase only as much fresh food as it expects to sell to customers based on its projections, and any surplus food is donated to food banks, soup kitchens, and other non-profits across Canada through Harvest. The restaurant donates an average of 85,000 pounds of food annually. Since 2016, KFC restaurants have donated over 260,000 pounds of food to 241 unique charities across the country.

“KFC Canada is committed to fighting food waste through our Harvest program while helping nourish those in need of high-quality protein — one of the most in-demand foods at relief shelters and food banks across the country,” says Wallani. “Colonel Sanders famously said, ‘I’m proud that I’ve helped bring good chicken to the tables of millions of people.’ Through Harvest, we’re building on that achievement beyond our restaurants while also ensuring it doesn’t end up in landfills.”

Fostering a sustainability culture

There’s no doubt that KFC is a major player in sustainability. The company’s strong voice and stance on sustainability demonstrates to its team members and franchisees that it has a stake in the game and that it cares. The KFC team lives and breathes a heart-led culture, giving its teams the permissibility to live these values every day.

KFC also works hard to ensure that its in-store initiatives make living this approach easy. For example, it’s on a mission to digitize all back-of-house operations, meaning no more paper and waste, and doing everything electronically (which also helps with supply chain management), allowing its team members to focus on delivering the best possible customer experience. KFC has also removed all financial barriers for its franchisees by paying the up-front costs for their restaurants to onboard onto the Harvest program.

KFC is working hard to inspire its industry peers and make a tremendous impact. And it’s working.

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Daniella Toledano

Partner, Cyber Risk Services, Deloitte Canada

Learn how Deloitte’s Women in Cyber campaign is building a community of women cyber professionals to help cultivate more diversity in an industry with millions of open jobs.

Cybersecurity is a booming industry with one big problem — there just aren’t enough qualified people to fulfill the industry’s demand for workers. According to an (ISC)² study, the industry expects to see an estimated 3.5 million vacant jobs globally in 2021.

To meet the demand, the industry needs to grow more than 145 percent. While the industry aims to attract more talent in general, it also faces a diversity gap — despite the millions of open jobs, there just aren’t enough candidates to fulfill these roles. And yet, according to Cybersecurity Ventures, only 25 percent of cybersecurity jobs this year will be held by women, despite women making up almost 47 percent of the general workforce.

“While there are many opportunities for young women in this profession, there’s a disconnect between what cyber professionals do and the skills needed to be one,” says Beth Dewitt, Partner and Board Member at Deloitte Canada and Women in Cyber Leader. “I don’t come from a traditional computer science or engineering program. Today, cybersecurity requires diverse perspectives and experiences to solve complex issues and threats. We need to include people with non-traditional and non-technical backgrounds so that this diversity of thought and experience can inform how we build and protect the very services and systems that help keep us connected and progressing as a society. Without this kind of diversity, we won’t be able to reflect our own social diversity or create more inclusive communities.”

Diverse backgrounds bring diverse perspectives

Dewitt, whose career started in international development and anthropology, came into the cybersecurity field through her work in health research and health privacy. She leads Deloitte’s global Women in Cyber campaign — which aims to showcase that behind every functioning society, there’s a woman in cyber. The campaign, which focuses on the stories of real women working in cybersecurity at Deloitte, aims to attract more women to the industry, while celebrating those who are currently making an impact.

“The more we get our own stories out there, the more young women and girls will see that there are opportunities for them,” says Dewitt. “Organizations need to position cyber as a career choice for all individuals with different backgrounds, degrees, and experience. Cyber is a risk profession, not just a technology profession. It’s a business enabler and it’s strategic, more so now than ever.”

In addition to breaking down misconceptions, Dewitt says that it’s important for organizations to be deliberate in how they’re recruiting and hiring for roles in cyber. Since the campaign started, Deloitte has seen a rise of over 30 percent in female applicants.

“This demonstrates early in our campaign that there are many women who are interested in working in this space and that through this campaign, and through seeing women like them who they can easily relate to, they better understand what opportunities are possible and accessible,” says Daniella Toledano, Partner, Cyber Risk Services at Deloitte Canada. “Diversity leads to a wider range of perspectives and voices, as well as experiences and skills, which together lead to interesting and innovative solutions to our cybersecurity threats.”

In addition to the digital component of the campaign — which will feature videos, articles, and podcasts — Deloitte is also developing a grade school program to introduce girls to cybersecurity earlier, and help improve their understanding of online safety. Deloitte’s Women in Cyber team has also designed a leadership development program aimed at uniquely supporting its own women cyber professionals.

What’s next for women in cyber: beyond landing the job

The campaign isn’t done, and Dewitt points out that it’s important to have continuous awareness opportunities to inspire growth, development, and to promote women into leadership roles. She suggests those interested in a career in cyber to “just go for it.”

“There are increasingly more professional and community groups focused specifically on women in cyber, and equally as many women professionals who are committed to helping other women start a career in cyber. I encourage those interested to reach out and get connected,” says Dewitt.

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The Presidents of CCCPE and ACE sit down to discuss good ergonomics and the human factors to lead a successful hybrid workplace

As we look to the potential for a return to the office, many companies are considering hybrid working models. Hybrid work typically refers to having employees working part-time in the office and part-time from home.

The subtext of hybrid working models is that for many, the office environment will look different. If only a portion of employees are in the office at any given time, companies can save money by reducing the square footage and, consequently, the number of computer workstations. While this concept makes sense for financial reasons and for the flexibility it provides employees, there are some real concerns from the point of view of ergonomics and human factors. 

Addressing potential pitfalls

When employees begin sharing workstations, employees’ workstations become less customized to their own abilities, needs, and preferences. This goes beyond the ability to keep a desk lamp on the table and favourite snacks in the drawer. We need to consider how we’re going to accommodate a 5’2” and 6’2” employee at the same workstation using the same equipment. As ergonomists, we’ve all taught employees how to optimize the fit of their office chairs, only to have them stick a “do not touch” post-it on the back of the chair. Employees aren’t confident in their ability to optimize their set-up on their own, and many won’t even bother to make these adjustments when they’re only going to be sitting at a workstation for a single day. Furthermore, prolonged work on a laptop isn’t recommended, because laptop screens are too low, resulting in the potential for neck strain. 

If employees are expected to dock their laptops with external keyboards and mice, will they have to carry this equipment back and forth with them each day? If they’re sharing equipment, how will it be sanitized? If we look beyond the physical workstation and consider that many jobs involve collaborative work efforts that have suffered from absences from shared workspaces, how is this work going to be promoted in an office where an employee might end up sitting in an available seat that isn’t next to their colleague’s? 

Working toward solutions

How do we go about designing these hybrid work environments to promote good ergonomics, good human factors, and, overall, a comfortable and productive workspace? Consider consulting with a Certified Ergonomist to ensure that you’ve selected equipment such as chairs and monitor arms that are easily adjustable and will fit a range of employees. Height-adjustable workstations are a great way to eliminate the need for things like footrests and keyboard trays. Ensure employees have access to external keyboards and mice. Finally, ensure that you train employees to use the equipment that you’ve provided in order to get all the benefit you can from your efforts. 

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Isabelle Côté

Vice-President, Corporate Development, Quantum Group

Carly Poole

Corporate Training Specialist, Quantum Group

How The Quantum Group is Helping Employers Find Solutions in this Candidate-Driven Market

Despite lifting restrictions and skyrocketing demand for goods and services, global economic recovery efforts have been hindered in recent months by a wide-scale labour shortage. Companies looking to staff up are having a difficult time finding quality applicants. And when they do find one, they face another new hurdle — the need for increased engagement at every step of the recruitment process, to secure their hire.

“It is taking much longer to find candidates,” says Michela Syrie-Paul, Ontario Vice-President at Quantum, a leading Canadian recruitment firm. “The pandemic has led to a talent-short market, tighter than we have ever seen in our 53-year history.”

Where there’s challenge, there’s opportunity

The bottom line is clear. If employers want to compete for talent in today’s landscape, they must adapt to the new realities of the market and rethink the way they interview and onboard candidates.

The strategic recruitment experts at Quantum have been doing just that—reimagining and reinventing their talent acquisition methods and helping employers do the same. Serving the greater Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City areas, the Quantum Group has been connecting organizations with permanent, contract, and temporary talent in a wide of range of fields since 1968.

Interviewing, Reinvented

The interview has undergone a dramatic transformation over the last 18 months. Multiple formal, in-person meetings have been replaced by virtual interviews, offering greater scheduling flexibility and convenience. The ability to move the process along faster has been a benefit in many cases, allowing employers to make a move quickly when they find the right profile. Hiring managers must be prepared to expedite decision-making and be willing to streamline the screening process, however, if they want to lock in a candidate.

“We are working with clients to change their interview strategy, refine their internal processes, and make them more agile,” says Isabelle Côté, Vice-President, Corporate Development, Quantum Group. This includes cutting down on the rounds of interviews and eliminating unnecessary tests and projects. “Having so many hoops to jump through hinders candidate engagement.” 

And while virtual interviews offer greater flexibility, they also have several important drawbacks. For one thing, it makes it more challenging to sell your company, according to Syrie-Paul. “Candidates are no longer being greeted by the warm smile of your receptionist. You can’t impress them with your offices or give them a taste of the culture,” she says. Working with clients to define their unique attraction factors and employer brand, Quantum provides organizations with innovative ideas on how to get candidates excited about their company without seeing it.  

Another disadvantage that employers may fail to recognize is that the convenience of virtual interviews means people can afford to window-shop for jobs. With very little time or effort required, candidates can easily slip in two or three interviews on their breaks to check out their options. Interviewers can no longer assume that the person on the other side is genuinely interested in making a move, and the onus to impress has been overturned.

The key to winning the virtual interview game is engagement. In today’s market, Côté says if you are interested in a candidate, you have to let them know. “You have to tell them. They need to see it and feel it and you need to sell your organization,” she says.

Connections are at the core of what we do, as recruitment experts,“ adds Syrie-Paul. “It’s all about connecting our clients with the ideal profile for each role and then helping them nurture those connections to ensure the success of each new hire and, ultimately, the growth of their business.

Onboarding, Reimagined

Have a great onboarding program in place when a new hire starts? That won’t cut it in the today’s market. Quantum is now coaching clients to start onboarding the moment an extended offer is accepted.

Part of the reason for this is the growing threat of counter offers. “Although it has always been a part of our business, it used to occur only a small percentage of the time. Today, it is not unusual for candidates to be approached multiple times by senior management offering more money,” Syrie-Paul says

“Employers understand how difficult it could be to fill that spot,” adds Carly Poole, Corporate Training Specialist at the Quantum Group. “If a job interview has been online, it is much easier for candidates to walk away from your offer having not actually met you in person,” says Poole. “So right away, you want to send them their laptop and get them involved in meetings or invite them to an online staff social or meet for lunch on a patio. These are steps that have made a world of difference for our clients.”

Employers might even want to consider going a step further. “Think about sending a surprise welcome package or flowers before their start date with a handwritten note,” suggests Côté. “It’s all about creating moments of connection, so that they remain committed to your opportunity and show up on day one, excited to contribute.”

Once the employee is in place, make sure to build in regular social interactions into their onboarding. “I think a lot of employers are still apprehensive to be training somebody remotely,” Poole says. “You can’t just pop by and check on your new employee. And a new hire is missing out on that learning by osmosis by overhearing colleagues or just talking to them at their cubicle.” To recreate traditional team synergy in a virtual environment, Quantum recommends various training games, teambuilding events, and ice breaker ideas to its clients. 

These ideas can also easily be integrated as long-term retention elements to keep staff engagement levels high. Without in-office celebrations like birthdays, baby showers, and holiday parties, it’s imperative to keep building connections virtually.

“Connections are at the core of what we do, as recruitment experts“ concludes Syrie-Paul. “It’s all about connecting our clients with the ideal profile for each role and then helping them nurture those connections to ensure the success of each new hire and, ultimately, the growth of their business.”

The post Winning Today’s Hiring Game appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Josie Larimer

Director of Business Development, Healthy Minds Innovation

Now more than ever, the future of work looks different as businesses prioritize the mental health and wellness of their employees.

The COVID-19 pandemic called attention to the many shortcomings in our societal infrastructure, where large issues were being swept under the rug. Perhaps one of the most significant of these is the mental and emotional well-being of employees. During the pandemic, the burnout rate skyrocketed and businesses across the world have seen enormous employee pushback. 

It’s a wake-up call for companies. Research supports that when workers feel stressed, dissatisfied, or a lack of support, their rates of productivity are lower, and turnover is higher. Data shows that 23 percent of people feel burnout very often or always, while 44 percent experience burnout sometimes – meaning almost two thirds of employees are currently burnt out at work. Additionally, scientists believe that high burnout rates may have detrimental long-term impacts that we’ve yet to realize.

What is burnout?

A person’s mental health can deteriorate with any feelings of imbalance – whether that is caused by a chaotic or monotonous environment – which can then cause burnout. Other major contributors include feeling out of control of one’s situation or schedule, and the existence of negative dynamics in the workplace.

Triggering a full body response, burnout can cause high blood pressure, insomnia, and impact your immune system. Some feel as though they’re caught in an endless cycle and don’t know how to better their circumstances. In fact, burnout can alter a person’s neural circuits, meaning brains physically change after experiencing burnout. 

The health and wellness industry is booming as businesses in every field are implementing support systems for their employees. For long term success, employers should provide their teams with a toolkit of resources to promote mental wellness with various burnout-prevention methods. Organizations like non-profit Healthy Minds Innovations (HMI) have developed various resources for companies to improve the mental wellbeing of employees.

Programs proven to improve well-being

HMI takes decades of scientific data collected at the world-renowned Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and turns these findings into incredibly successful programs – one of which is Healthy Minds @Work.

“Healthy Minds @Work is a workplace well-being program created by neuroscientists to train employees to be more focused, develop healthier relationships, gain perspective, and bring more meaning to their work,” explains Josie Larimer, HMI’s Director of Business Development. 

A comprehensible digital tool, the program is customized to suit a company’s unique needs. At the centre of the service is the Healthy Minds Program App, which includes hundreds of hours of guided meditation, podcast style lessons on the neuroscience behind the practices, and other self-help tools. “It provides employees with a step-by-step training plan to build skills for greater well-being, taking just five to seven minutes per day,” Josie adds. Matching the app is a workplace assessment that’s focused on an individual’s well-being.

Regain purpose and perspective

HMI then analyzes the data collected from both the app and assessments and returns it to the company to view their employee’s progress and to gain further insights. The program has seen a 25 percent reduction of burnout symptoms in participants, and their overall well-being increased by 33 percent.

“The outcome of this program has been so inspiring,” says Dr. Cortland Dahl, HMI’s Chief Contemplative Officer and Research Scientist at the Center for Healthy Minds. “Especially during the pandemic – we’ve heard from so many people that Healthy Minds @Work and the Healthy Minds app helped them get through.”

The Healthy Minds @Work program improves every aspect of a business. “Employee well-being is central to having a high-functioning workplace,” Dr. Cortland says. “Employers have seen higher employee satisfaction, less turnover and a growing culture of well-being – all of which supports the growth of the overall business.”

The post Happy and Healthy Employees Proven More Successful and Productive appeared first on HiveInnovates.

CMHA sits down to discuss the disruptions caused by the pandemic in the workplace and the resulted focus on employee’s mental health.

There is no denying the toll the pandemic has taken on individual and employee mental health. 

Workplaces around the world and across all industries have faced disruption. These disruptions brought on immense personal challenges, but organizations can use this time of disruption to rethink and redesign their workplaces. 

Many organizations have responded to the struggles their employees are facing by increasing benefits like flexibility, access to resources on mental well-being, and paid time off. Many are hosting safe and supportive conversations and education around mental health in the workplace, and some organizations have gone even further, like the Canadian Mental Health Association’s national office, which closed its doors for a week to allow employees time to rejuvenate.

We will likely continue to see disruption in the workplace, and no one can say for certain how the future of work will look. We do know that employees, now more than ever, are looking for flexibility in where, when, and how they work. 

Organizations need to realize that productivity is driven by how and why people work—not when and where they work. If we don’t care about our workers, then they won’t care about their work. 

Workplaces that successfully manage the post-pandemic environment will do so, at least in part, by making psychological health and safety a priority and putting their people first. 

The post The Future of Work appeared first on HiveInnovates.

The pandemic has underscored the need for businesses to listen to and engage employees to ensure success.

The COVID-19 pandemic has tested companies in unexpected ways. For many businesses, it underscored the importance of building and maintaining a culture of trust. Trust has always been a priority for Aviva Canada, but the pandemic accelerated it. The insurance company made a conscious decision at the very beginning of the pandemic to show employees that the organization wholeheartedly trusted them to get their work done, manage their schedules, and navigate this tricky time to the best of their abilities. This led to better communication, productivity, teamwork, and engagement. 

Creating that kind of environment doesn’t come automatically. It takes commitment, planning, and transparency at every level of management. 

Why honesty, active listening, and being real are essential to building a culture of trust

During these unprecedented times, nurturing trust has been challenging for companies as they’ve had to reconsider how they interact and communicate with employees in fully remote working environments. Successful ones shaped their corporate culture through honesty even when it was difficult. For example, companies and their leadership teams must be active listeners who allow employees to ask hard questions and voice their concerns. Next, they need to take tangible actions to resolve those concerns and to provide transparent answers.

Danny Davies, Chief People Officer at Aviva Canada says, “Our first all-employee call with our people at the beginning of the pandemic was honestly a bit chaotic. Dogs were barking in the background, people had babies babbling in their laps while asking questions, and senior leaders were dialled in from their kitchens — but all of that was helpful because it kept everything real. Plus, our CEO Jason admitted that his nine-year-old son had just cut his hair. This all really set the tone that it was alright for people to be themselves in this completely new way of working.”

Companies need to model the behaviours they desire in their team members, and to recognize their achievements. For employee communications, consistency is key. It’s as simple as following through with what you say every time. Keeping this at the forefront of any promise made will result in better outcomes. Where this can fall apart quickly is by saying one thing and doing another, which is also why accountability is so important. 

How we approach communication and engage with our employees now will live with us way beyond the pandemic,” notes Davies. “It’s a guiding principle behind how we work and that’s not going away.

When things don’t go according to plan, it’s essential to acknowledge it and to discuss how issues will be addressed in the future. It’s also necessary to have concrete steps to evaluate projects in an open, authentic manner. Sowing the seeds of building trust now will result in happier people, more productivity, and better decision-making over time.  

Aviva leads the way for employee engagement

While some companies mandated the number of hours employees working from home had to put in, Aviva Canada did things differently. It trusted its employees to do what they needed to do without any kind of contract. “We also told them to look after themselves first before doing anything for Aviva,” says Davies. “We were deliberate in saying that matters most. And not surprisingly, people gave us more than we could possibly imagine.” In fact, Aviva neither furloughed nor laid off anyone, nor did it have to take government money.

The result of increased trust bodes well for the future of work. Aviva found that employee attrition and rates of sickness went down, while company performance went up. As Davies points out, from its most recent employee engagement survey, Aviva found that it was 15 points above the top quartile of financial companies in Canada. And while it’s still a challenging time for some, Aviva’s staff members have said how much they appreciate being listened to and considered.

The post How Aviva Canada Built a Culture of Trust During COVID appeared first on HiveInnovates.

ECO Canada’s work and training programs ensure all Canadians have an opportunity to participate in the growing environmental sector.

Over the next decade, the demand for skilled talent in the environmental sector is expected to grow exponentially, with 173,000 job openings by 2025 alone. ECO Canada is the steward for Canada’s environmental workforce and is dedicated to helping to meet this demand by connecting environmental employers with skilled talent, providing workforce training programs, recognizing competencies with the only national environmental professional certification, and identifying workforce gaps within the industry through statistical research.

Funded by the federal government (as part of Canada’s Integrated Work Learning Strategy), ECO Canada has been offering wage subsidies to eligible employers for the past 20 years. In partnership with industry, academia, practitioners, and various other stakeholders, ECO Canada aims to support Canada as a global leader in innovative workforce solutions and job creation.

Ensuring Indigenous representation in Canada’s environmental sector

One of ECO Canada’s mandates is to nurture an inclusive workforce and ensure the representation of Canada’s Indigenous populations. “We work closely with Indigenous communities throughout Canada,” says Kyle Sims, Manager of Professional Services and ESG at ECO Canada.

One initiative is BEAHR Indigenous training programs for local workforce development. “Our BEAHR Indigenous training programs help break down barriers to employment and build job-ready skills through both field and classroom-based training programs that take a two-eyed seeing approach, braiding traditional knowledge with western science,” says Sims.

Since 2006, ECO Canada has delivered over 270 BEAHR training programs in partnership with over 220 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities across Canada. The courses are tailored to meet the needs and priorities of the respective communities as well as the local employment demands of that geographical area.

BEAHR students graduate ready to enter the environmental sector in junior roles and are eligible for wage funding through Canada’s Science and Technology Internship Program, where additional funding is available for those in remote areas to help with training, transportation and other costs. This program helps leverage graduates into environmental careers and is available to people aged 30 and under who are hired for full-time, permanent environmental positions related to natural resources.

Another of ECO Canada’s employment programs, the Science Horizons Youth Internship, offers wage subsidies up to 80 percent for employers who hire recent graduates for full-time roles in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines.

Making a valuable contribution to protecting Arctic habitat and wildlife

Chukita Gruben is one of the Science and Technology Internship’s participants. Since July 2020 she has been working for the Joint Secretariat in Inuvik, NT as a Junior Resource Coordinator, where she’s responsible for providing administrative, communications, and outreach support. She’s also helping to coordinate two active projects in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region — the Beluga Habitat Program and the Coastal Restoration Project, both funded by the Government of Canada.

“The communication, outreach activities, and projects I’m leading here have really helped me grow my network, and since I joined the Joint Secretariat, my role also includes assisting other resource people and helping to get youth more aware, engaged, and connected to the environmental issues we face,” says Gruben. “This wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for ECO Canada’s funding. Looking to the future, she hopes to continue in the environmental sector, working to protect and preserve Arctic wildlife.

ECO Canada would like to thank their funders for making these programs possible.

The post Ensuring Canada’s Environmental Sector Workforce Is Inclusive appeared first on HiveInnovates.

We all think and learn differently. Shouldn’t our workplace training reflect that?

We’ve all been there

You’re on day three of a four-day course, looking at the clock instead of focusing on the content. It’s not that you don’t care or that you don’t want to learn. Maybe you’re thinking about the pile of work that’s building in the background. Perhaps only half of the course content is relevant to your job. What you really need is a different approach to accessing this same information.

Training events, whether facilitated or online, are an essential part of a comprehensive solution that addresses many learning and business objectives, but they often aren’t flexible enough to accommodate the variety of demands we deal with daily. Can employees afford to rearrange their lives for a multi-day training session? And what happens once the training is over? Besides the fact that much of what’s learned will soon be forgotten, how can employees retrieve that one piece of information they really need? Traditional training events alone don’t deliver the results that today’s workplaces need.

What if we started thinking about the possibilities of achieving the same learning objectives in very different ways?

Adaptable training that fits

Adapting content to allow for more flexible learning should be at the top of your organization’s list.

This may mean using a responsive or mobile-first design, designing with accessibility in mind, applying microlearning strategies, or integrating a combination of knowledge transfer methods. Innovative digital learning tools not only make content more interesting and engaging for learners, the training is also more effective. That piece of information you forgot from the four-day session? Access it on your smartphone in mere seconds, exactly when you need it. Flexible learning options such as these will be increasingly important, especially as remote work and training become more prevalent.

As a leader in digital health and safety training, Public Services Health & Safety Association (PSHSA) is excited to take learning to the next level. PSHSA specializes in finding flexible and creative ways to meet your organization’s training needs, providing access to the right knowledge, at the right time, and in the right way while ultimately helping to keep your people informed, educated, healthy, and safe. Whether you’re looking to explore microlearning, digitize an exam, or tailor training content to your specific workplace, PSHSA’s efficient design and development process can help bring your vision to life.

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Virtually every worker involved in a hospital’s medication circuit is at risk of exposure to a hazardous class of drugs known as antineoplastics. These drugs — also known as chemotherapy drugs — pose serious risks when improperly handled, including reproductive, genetic and carcinogenic effects.

Despite regulations to provide training on safe handling, dangerous skills gaps plague the use of antineoplastic drugs in healthcare

“Not everyone at risk of exposure is getting the training they need,” says Dr. Chun-Yip Hon, associate professor at Ryerson University’s School of Occupational and Public Health (SOPHe). “Because of this, we wanted to develop a free online training module based on all the best practices available, and to provide accurate information for health care workers of different job categories, from shipping and receiving to pharmacy.”

The goal was not just to create a module that covered all the relevant information, but to draw on the technical capabilities available in today’s online landscape to make it interesting and engaging for learners. The future of learning, based on current trends, is digital — as remote work and training become increasingly relevant for employers, innovative digital training tools will be an increasingly crucial part of occupational health and safety.

Filling the training gap with a creative digital learning solution

To accomplish its ambitious training goals, Ryerson’s SOPHe partnered with Public Services Health & Safety Association (PSHSA) to develop a series of novel eLearning modules. PSHSA’s approach centres on clearly defining learning objectives and deeply understanding the needs of its target audience. In the case of the Ryerson project, for instance, the information had to target workers at different stages in the medication circuit.

PSHSA specializes in bringing learning content to life through creative training solutions that influence behaviour

One module focused on the correct use of an eye wash station as an emergency measure in case of exposure. “Instead of just asking a question like, ‘How long should you rinse your eyes?’ we developed a virtual interaction where the learner is asked to turn on the tap at a virtual eyewash station and turn it off after the appropriate amount of time,” explains Linda Lorenzetti, PSHSA’s senior eLearning developer, “the thought being that an activity mimicking a real-life situation would be more memorable than a multiple-choice question.”

The highly interactive learning modules resulted in measurably improved learning outcomes and have proven to be a valuable tool in transferring knowledge to the learner. In this instance, the creation of engaging, interactive modules addressed a gap that legislation and traditional learning couldn’t close.

One of PSHSA’s major differentiators is the breadth and depth of knowledge it possesses around health and safety issues, from ergonomics and workplace violence to occupational disease and infection prevention and control. “We have access to a wealth of knowledge that can support the development of virtually any health and safety-related training,” says Glenn Cullen, CEO and COO of PSHSA. “And on the technical and creative side, our learning experts have the skills to bring that to life.”

PSHSA’s range of specialties extends far beyond training in the health care sector to encompass education, government, public safety, small business and other areas. The organization’s pillars — audience analysis and creative and technical expertise — allow it to support clients’ digital learning and development initiatives in workplace health and safety and beyond.

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