It's the penultimate episode of this season on workplace wellbeing, so we wanted to talk about what's going on in real-time. Companies are cutting their DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) budgets left, right and center. We'll talk a little bit about why that's happening, but also why it's the biggest mistake an organization can make. DEI and your wellbeing in the workplace are intricately connected, which is why I wanted to have this conversation today with Sr DEI Consultant, Janelle St Omer.  In this episode we talk about: the many ways DEI shows up at work that you may not even realize how it correlates positively or negatively to stress and retention why companies are cutting their DEI budgets why that is an EPIC mistake what individuals, teams and leaders can do about it what gives us hope  Connect with Janelle on LinkedIn Connect with Victoria on LinkedIn If you enjoy this episode, please share it on LinkedIn or with someone who will find value in the content.

Engagement surveys. Love them or hate them, they're an incredibly useful tool to understand where an organization is at, and where their people feel they need to go. They're also a useful tool to understand workplace wellbeing. But how do we use them to their maximum effect so they don't become something that organizations dread?  We dive into this and more with Denise Lloyd, the Founder and CEO of Engaged, an award-winning, Victoria based human resource consulting firm that provides leading-edge HR services to organizations across Canada. Denise is a leader that brings new ideas and innovation to the way HR contributes to an organization and is known for transforming workplaces. Denise has over 25 years of HR leadership experience, has a Master of Arts in Leadership, and holds the prestigious designation of Fellow Chartered Human Resources Professional (FCPHR).   In this episode we talk about: the core differences between engagement, pulse and engagement surveys, when to do them and why the criticality of organizational readiness to seeing improvements to workplace engagement the key elements to effectively rolling out and communicating an engagement survey and its results how to diagnose stress and burnout using engagement surveys as a tool, and how to get to the root cause of a complex issue and much more! Connect with Denise on LinkedIn Find out more about Engaged and their course offerings

Job hunting consistently ranks as one of the most stressful experiences. It triggers feelings around self-esteem, financial security, worth and purpose, all massively important areas of our lives. That's why this week I wanted to bring Career Coach and Financial Recruiter Darci Smith to the microphone.  In this episode we talk about: current state of the job market tips to be successful in your job search the importance in finding clarity in your needs and fine-tuning your search how to keep your spirits up and maintain momentum job hunting myth-busting! navigating internal job moves and much more! Follow Darci on Instagram Connect with Darci on LinkedIn Darci's Recruitment Firm - Roklyn  

We've talked a couple of times now about the connection between purpose, volunteerism and wellbeing... but where is the evidence? I'm all for evidence-based decision-making, so today on the podcast we're joined by Ryan Adams, the head of Strategic Partnerships at Benevity. Benevity is a corporate purpose software that provides charitable donation-management, volunteer-management and grant-management solutions for corporations. It also happens to be my former workplace, and one of my favourite parts of the job was the data that was produced from the 1000+ clients and millions of participants. In March 2024, Benevity produced its most recent State of Corporate Volunteering Report and the data is fascinating, and for me, I couldn't help but see the connections between corporate purpose programs and an employee's wellbeing. Ryan has a deep background in all things social impact, which we discuss in the podcast, and we also talk about: turning implicit understandings about volunteerism into explicit findings the push-pull between high participation and the quality of volunteer activities the fine line between being courageous and cautious in your social impact program the individual search for purpose in the workplace and how it ties to stress the connection (to be studied!) between psychological safety and acts of kindness in volunteer programs why hard economic times are NOT the time to pull back on corporate purpose programs and so much more! Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn Connect with Victoria on LinkedIn The Book: Stress Less in 90 Days: Your Guide to Beat Burnout, Build Resilience and Actually Enjoy Your Daily Life    

Multiple studies have shown that most workplace wellness features don't actually make a difference to employee wellbeing. But there is one that has been proven to work at retaining people, giving them a sense of purpose and improving their wellbeing - employee volunteerism. Today I am joined by social impact leader, Jerome Tennille, to talk about why employee volunteer programs make such a difference to our wellbeing, how to thoughtfully develop your own program, how we can better measure impact and much more.    Check out our Less Stressed Leaders Training  Follow Jerome on LinkedIn   

This week on the podcast I'm very excited to bring Michelle Berg to the mic. Michelle is the Chief Visionary Officer of Elevated HR, a fractional HR services firm that believe fiercely that work shouldn't suck.  To continue our conversation on workplace wellbeing and organizational stress, I wanted to have a frank conversation about what is the role HR can and/or should play in supporting organizations to reduce stress and burnout. In this conversation we talk about: How the motto work shouldn't suck is their north star and what organizations should aim for Whether or not engagement surveys should exist Workplace trends regarding stress and burnout Tips for transitioning employees back to the office after stress leave (and tips for leaders to see early warning signs in the first place) Why HR may not be the team to teach leaders about psychological safety, and the role HR play vs department leads in building psychological safety Why more part-time professional roles don't exist and how we can get to a more flexible workplace And much more!  To check out the Less Stressed Leaders training go to impactfulengagement.com/training    

If you work for a corporation, your company website likely has some values listed on it. We believe in x, y and z. You might even have your performance assessed against it. And corporate values can't be bad, right?  In this short episode I dive into where corporate values can go wrong, and what you as a leader need to do to make sure your team are on the same page. Less Stressed Teams training launches April 17th https://www.impactfulengagement.com/training  Hub Spot Culture Code https://www.hubspot.com/culture-code/the-hubspot-culture-code 

We're back for Part 2 with Jen Singhal. Last week we dove into what it takes to move a team from low engagement to a highly engaged and high performing team. We talked tangible practices to build team morale and in this episode we dive even deeper into the practices to develop psychologically safe teams. It's far more than a buzzword, and we can talk psychological safety in theory for ages, but Jen breaks down tangible tools to put it into action.    Check out Less Stressed Leaders training at impactfulengagement.com/training  Follow Jen on LinkedIn  

There's a common misconception that certain industries or roles are simply high-stress and that's "the way it is and the way it's always been." I don't buy it. Today we're joined by Jen Singhal, a leader who knows what it means to build a team's performance while sustaining (in fact measurably improving!) their wellbeing. She's proven both are possible, and in this episode she graciously breaks down what it took, the tools and practices, that got her team there. Her coaching leadership style is fascinating and you'll have so many takeaways that you can implement immediately.  In part one of this episode we talk about: What Jen’s leadership career trajectory has looked like (10:15) How her background in sports impacts her leadership style  (15:43) The unique features of leadership and goal setting  as a result of team sports (18:29) How fun can and should be part of team dynamics (21:20) Balancing your teams limits (self-imposed or otherwise)   (22:20) The importance of safety given uncertain times (25:03) Building high performance while sustaining wellbeing  (27:02) Reducing barriers that were holding the team back  (30:04) The practice that changed the game for her team (33:03)  The rules of gratitude and celebration (36:30) The lived experience of psychological safety (41:00) Coaching through discomfort (45:30) Purpose in the workplace (47:40) If you’d like to connect with Jen to learn more, find her on LinkedIn   Don’t miss our Less Stressed Leaders program on our spring training calendar at impactfulengagement.com/training

An intentional employee resource group (ERG) has the ability to not only build awareness, but to create systemic change in organizations, build allyship, improve belonging, engagement and psychological safety. And all of those things... decrease workplace stress! This week on the podcast we're joined by Johann Shudlick from Golden, a volunteer software that helps organizations (and ERGs!) to grow their programs efficiently and effectively, to save costs so they can focus on the impactful work they are doing and to make compliance easy.  In his time at Goldman Sachs, Johann took on a leadership role in the LGBTQ+ network and it was life-changing. In this episode he shares the one big thing that was a critical focus for their ERG. We also talk about: The career path that led him to employee resource groups (07:05) How ERGs boost your feeling of belonging (11:43)  Advice for ERGs shifting from awareness building to systemic org change (14:00)  How to achieve goals which operate in an intangible space (17:13)  Testing hypotheses and having an experimentation mindset (19:49) The impact that belonging can have within an organization (25:01) How your people surveys can indicate intersections between belonging and engagement (29:31) The culture of thoughtful disagreement (36:37) Getting in the reps when seeking to understand (42:04) How Johann ended up at Golden and what they’re up to (43:37) The value in intentional volunteerism for ERGs (48:47) Trends in volunteerism (51:06) To check out Impactful Engagement's spring training go to impactfulengagement.com/training    Resources Golden https://www.goldenvolunteer.com/  Download the Golden App on Apple or Android The Principles https://www.principles.com/   

Welcome to our brand new season of Stop Stressing Me Out, a podcast where we investigate the many ways we can decrease stress, at the root. This season we are focused on Workplace Wellbeing. To kick it off, we have to start with… what even is workplace wellbeing? Where did it originate? How has the workplace evolved as a result of wellbeing practices? What does modern workplace wellbeing look like and have we altered the definition of it?    It’s a short episode but gets to the heart of things as we kick off a 12-week season where we dive into some of the root issues of workplace wellbeing and speak to experts from around the world about strategies to improve how we experience work. It’s going to be an incredible ride, so make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast player of your choice so you don’t miss an episode. Want to dive deeper as an individual leader? Check out Impactful Engagements Spring 2024 training schedule at www.impactfulengagement.com/training

In times that are as divisive as ever, let’s learn how to have important conversations with those we disagree with so that we can find common ground and compromise.

Shulamit Ber Levtov, or @the_entrepreneurs_therapist as she's better known online, is a therapist who works primarily with entrepreneurs. She helps them to navigate the emotional ups and downs of running a business, and over the past couple of years I couldn't help but feel that the gig economy is bringing those same ups and downs to many in the traditional workplace.  In this episode we talk about: workplace trauma that's not so easy to recognize pandemic exhaustion and how it's still affecting us scarcity mindset for any kind of worker the relentlessness of tasks and how to help yourself to focus what traditional workers can learn from entrepreneurs and vice versa Resources: Shulamit's website: https://www.shula.ca/  The Canadian Institute of Workplace Bullying: https://instituteofworkplacebullyingresources.ca/  Shulamit's 3 Principles https://entrepreneurstherapist.click/principleshandout 

We may be in 2023, but I feel like so many of us parents are still a little traumatized by what it took to parent throughout a pandemic and the after effects we're still seeing, so I needed to chat this week with author and parenting expert, Julie Freedman Smith. We talk about the different challenges parents are facing post pandemic, how to problem solve with your kids and help them problem solve between each other, how to communicate with your kids and so much more.  Check out Julie's free community Parent Break here ---> https://www.parent-break.com/join  Follow Julie on Instagram @juliefs  Check out Julie's book, A Year of Intentional Parenting ---> https://www.amazon.ca/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B00QOPCTUY 

Over 70% of us are moderately or extremely stressed at work. But whose responsibility is it for remedying that horrifying stat? This week we'll dive into what elements of workplace engagement both employees and leaders need to take ownership for if we want to feel more engaged and less stressed in our 9-5.  To book a free discovery call to join the Stress Less at Work program, find a time here: https://calendly.com/stresslessladies/discovery-call

Over 65% of us say that money is a significant source of stress, and in times like these with rising costs and stagnant wages, it's easy to see why. Today, I'm joined by Alyssa Davies, money expert, founder of Mixed Up Money and two-time author, to discuss how we can: shift our money mindset tangible changes we can make today habits we can build to ease financial stress what it takes to hit COAST Fire living a rich life regardless of what's in your bank account  and more! Head over to my Instagram @stresslessladies for the chance to win a copy of Alyssa's second book Financial First Aid.  Check out Alyssa's new course on easing your financial anxiety, Bills and Chills.     

We’re kicking off this summer 12-episode season of the Stop Stressing Me Out Podcast with one heck of a topic. What do you do WHEN you are laid off. Roughly 50% of us will be laid off at least once in our lives, and it seems that layoffs are happening more and more.  The strategies we talk about this week will help you process sooner and build your resilience through what is one of the most challenging experiences we can go through.  If you’re not already, find me on Instagram @stresslessladies

Today we’re kicking off 2023 with something a little bit new. I’m joined by Tara Scott, podcast host of Queerly Recommended, to talk about the Netflix documentary, Stutz, by Jonah Hill.  Stutz is a documentary about therapist, Phil Stutz, and his various tools that he’s honed as a therapist. As we’ll discuss in the episode, the documentary shifts not only to share these tools, but also the dynamic between Jonah Hill and Phil, and we see the use of tools in real-time.

Nobody wants to be laid off, but over 40% of North Americans will be laid off at least once in their careers. This week I'm joined by employment lawyer, Heather Tyminski, to help us understand what are our rights when we are laid off, how to consider your severance and in what situations to reach out to an employment lawyer. She shares so many nuggets of wisdom that I wish I had known before I was laid off - it's a good one! If you're in Alberta and in search of an employment lawyer, you can find Heather at https://www.tjworkplacelaw.com/  WEBINAR! Sign up for the free webinar on 3 Tips to Stress Less Now https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/3-tips-to-stress-less-now-tickets-449681578707 Limited space!

What does Fat Bear Week have to do with our topic this week? Just you wait to find out! Today we're talking about how to reduce the overwhelm by getting chunky.