The Nexus

In a recent article, author and organizational psychologist Adam Grant called languishing "the neglected middle child of mental health" – an emotional state between depression and burnout that doesn't get as much attention but has the potential to create as just as many challenges for organizations – especially if the languishing person in question happens to be your boss. Leadership consultant, best-selling author and friend of the Nexus podcast Dr. Vince Molinaro returns to tell us what we can do for and about languishing leaders BEFORE they drag us down with them.

If you're an employer you may be facing a looming crisis – Global News has called it "The Great Resignation" and New York Magazine named it "The Clock-Out Cure" but they're both describing the same thing: after a year of accumulating, pandemic-induced work stresses, many talented high performers are quitting work for the sake of their well-being. The circumstances behind these radical acts of self-care may vary but they have origins in something many of us have complained about but few take action to fix (until now): a culture of overwork, where employers demand (either implicitly or explicitly) that their people put their job ahead of all other considerations. Overwork and our shifting attitudes about it are just one of many trends that our guest on this episode happens to be following. Her name is Kathy Woods, and she's a partner at Deloitte specializing in workforce transformation.

The worker you hired yesterday isn't the same worker you need today. The rapid pace of change places a premium on an employee's ability to learn and adapt, collaborate and innovate. "New skilling" employees and aligning hearts and minds with organizational purpose and values is now mission critical. On this episode of The Nexus, Nexus Learning Practice Leader Rob Pearson discusses how the enterprise learning function is evolving to meet these challenges.

Long before there was a pandemic, there was a slow-motion revolution happening in the workplace – automation and low-cost technologies were poised to change not just how we did our jobs, but whether those jobs existed at all. But COVID-19 has had profound impacts on that revolution, and in ways you might not expect. Workplace transformation expert Stephen Harrington joins us to talk about these new twists in the plot.

The First World faces a serious problem: It's not making enough babies. Birth rates in developed nations are plunging, so in places like Canada, robust immigration policies are considered necessary if we're to sustain our populations. But despite the promise of wondrous opportunities, many who choose to emigrate discover it can take years before they find careers in their chosen field, if at all. On this episode, we speak to Adwoa K. Buahene, CEO of TRIEC (Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council) about missing out on immigrant talent pools, how to hire for diversity and how to win the war for international talent.

UPDATED EPISODE: We here are the Nexus podcast factory are working furiously to produce more pods for your listening enjoyment, and we hope to have new ones for you very soon. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this repeat of one of our favorites from 2020.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Antiracism has become a conversation at the forefront of workplace culture. But what do you do if you haven't done this type of work before? How do you prepare to move your organization into this new future? We talk to DE&I consultant, Kim Crowder, on what you need to do to get started on transforming your organization into the workplace culture of your dreams.

The year 2020 will forever be remembered as a year of profound change and in the midst of all the shocks and stress, it gave us all a reason to pause and think about our values. For businesses, it was about what was important and how they showed integrity, whether it was through Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, employee engagement, or assessing the mental health of employees. Kevin Burtt, CEO of Nexus, joins us this week to talk about how to define and activate your organization's values and use them to pursue your workplace purpose.

UPDATED EPISODE: Following the incident at the Washington Capitol, we think this episode is relevant now more than ever. Here's one of our favourite podcasts from 2020. Stephen Liptrap, President & CEO of Morneau Shepell, a leading provider of technology-based HR wellness services joins us to discuss mental health. We look at Morneau Shepell's Mental Health Index research and tips on how to keep a pulse on employee mental health, prevent productivity loss, and engage with your employees during periods of great stress.

In our last episode, we told you why organizational purpose is important. In this episode, we're going to show you by talking to a leader in one of the industries hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sharon Cohen, Vice President Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, joins us to tell us how a clear, shared purpose among leaders and their teams is helping her people strengthen their sense of community and thrive in this challenging time.

This week, it's time for something a little different. As we near the end of a whirlwind year, we talk with our very own President and CEO, Kevin Burtt from Nexus Communications, a leading provider of talent communications solutions. We discuss how to create a sense of purpose in the workplace, why purpose culture matters, the Nexus origin story and how we connect people with purpose.