Today’s workplace is full of complexity, particularly for organizational leaders. It can be difficult to find the right employee, it is challenging to motivate and lead staff, new legislation governing the workplace is changing operational models and more workers are facing mental health challenges.
It’s a lot for managers, supervisors and leaders to deal with in their day to day work. To help organizations cope with these challenges, Algonquin College’s annual Spring Business & Leadership Conference has targeted topics that are at the front of mind in today’s workforce.
Now into its fourth year, the May 24 conference has proven to be a great benefit to local businesses by providing affordable and meaningful professional development in a “big city” conference format. Registrants can choose to attend up to four workshops and also hear a keynote address. This year’s headliner focuses on community collaboration and will be delivered by Doug Griffiths, an economic development guru for rural communities and the author of 13 Ways to Kill Your Community.
The line-up of presentations includes Adapting to Bill 148-Ontario’s new Fair Workplaces and Better Jobs legislation. The bill introduced fundamental changes to employee working conditions that stretch far beyond the minimum wage increases that have captured most of the headlines since taking effect on January 1, 2018. The session will be led by Angela Hoyt, an experienced labour market consultant who has presented at hundreds of conferences across Canada.
Doctor Mike Condra will present on Mental Health in the Workplace. Dr. Condra worked extensively in health care and post-secondary education for more than 30 years and co-developed training workshops in crisis intervention skills, training more than 5,000 people. His workshop will focus on the misconceptions of mental health in the workplace and how this impacts the work environment.
Within every organization, there are people of all ages. This often leads to different ways of approaching work tasks and value systems that don’t match. Finding synergy among all working groups is the focus of Sylvie Rimbach’s workshop on the Generation Mix in Today’s Workplace. The session will help people better understand the differences between Veterans, baby boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and millennials.
Every company is looking for an advantage over its competition. Doctor Judy Laws’ workshop on Sparking Innovation to Unlock Your Organization’s Full Potential will introduce participants to new concepts to create a culture of creativity and entrepreneurialism. The College’s entrepreneur-in-resident, Chéla Breckon, will build on this session with a workshop entitled, Leading with Vision, Mission and Purpose, a how-to guide to strategic planning for organizations and businesses.
The final workshop focuses on marrying events and marketing. Led by entrepreneur, Katie Tollis-Flabbi, Creative Event Marketing Strategies is focused on small businesses who have to balance their budget with the need to promote their products and services.
Registration for the conference is now open with an early bird rate of $199, plus applicable taxes. The conference is expected to sell out and businesses are encouraged to register early. At a time when budgets are being stretched and training needs to be a focus to support employees, the conference offers very high value for a reasonable investment. The best part is this training is available here at home at Algonquin College’s Pembroke Waterfront Campus.
Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Manager of Community and Student Affairs
This winter, Algonquin College’s Pembroke Waterfront Campus has freshened up its 
I remember the first time I asked my mentor to mentor me. I was quite nervous and afraid she would say no. I didn’t realize at the time that I was being silly. Why would she say no to my request – she was one of the most engaging, encouraging and respectful people I had ever met and these were the traits that inspired me to ask that awkward question, “would you mentor me?”
I came into formalized mentoring later in life, and only after an abundance of work experiences and mistakes. I have to admit when I think back, there were mentors but they often took on the guise of teachers and coaches, picked not by me but by the activities I participated in. It was only into my 30s that I started to actively look for mentors. I started to make a list of people whom I held in high regard in the community and that I believed I could learn from.
For all these reasons and more, mentoring and giving back to the community through mentoring is one of my core values, and I believe I am lucky to be able to guide and help students reach their own goals and achieve their dreams.
Let’s start with former Prime Minister, 
A few days before the graduation ceremony, one of the Pembroke Campus’s most successful graduates was being celebrated. Country Music Artist, Jason Blaine, was honoured with a plaque on a computer lab at the campus for raising $100,000 towards the building costs of the Waterfront Campus, which opened in 2012. 
