We've Seen A Thing or Two

Dean welcomes and has a great conversation with Marc Spector, Deputy Registrar at the Home Construction Regulatory Authority (HCRA), and President of the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR). They discuss a number of topics, including what it is like to lead a group of international regulators, what the regulator of tomorrow might look like, and what relevant regulation means to them. Marc also shares a little guilty pleasure that some people might just be surprised to learn!

After a long break from production, we are back for Season 4. In this episode, your host, Dean Benard, takes the opportunity to share his thoughts on communicating during conflict. Most people deal with conflict in one of two ways, or sometimes a combination of both these ways: Avoidance and Defensiveness. Neither of these approaches will help, and the advice we got as children... you remember, "Just ignore them and they will stop", or "You just stand up to them and put them in their place"  was well-meaning but ineffective. We need to engage strategically, thoughtfully, respectfully, and with an open mind, to resolve conflict. This episode will help listeners with some clear advice, and practical tools to manage conflict and prevent it from escalating.  Dean also provides a sneak peek into the upcoming episodes planning over 2024. 

How do young people break through into the professional world of business? How do they grow and become leaders?  This episode features Madelyn Robbins. Who is Madelyn Robbins?  Well, to start with, she is the stepdaughter of the host (Yes, full disclosure here), but she is much more than that. You will learn more about her in the episode as she opens up about the unique challenges her generation faces, her methods of growing and learning what school can't teach, how she manages her mindset, and attitude, and more. This one will surprise you folks!

Ever wonder how you can improve your brand to attract the best employees?  Emma shows us ways to accomplish this, to build great teams and keep them.  Emma is the founder of Iris, an organization that focuses on deepening employee-employer relationships. For over a  decade, she has shared her experience and talents to assist organizations across a variety of sectors, including private, public, and not-for-profit organizations. 

In this episode we talk about a number of EDI issues with our two experts Manny Rego, who has been one of our most popular guests and is a thought leader in EDI, and Dr. Vidal Chavannes, who has worked with many public and private, and non-profit organizations helping to establish equity, diversity & inclusion (EDI) frameworks, and develop industry-specific EDI training and education programs and modules. We take on some interesting questions such as: What happened to the D in EDI?Has the energy around EDI started to dissipate? We hear a dissention and complaints from some people, voicing their concerns of losing "something". A real fear? Yes, but is it a real problem? 

Richard Steinecke is highly regarded as a leader, educator, mentor, and one of the Godfathers of professional regulation in Canada. Dean had the opportunity to sit down with Richard Steinecke upon his retirement, and discuss Richard's reflections on his amazing career and some of his thoughts on where professional regulation is headed in the years to come. 

With so much concern for employee retention, the need to maintain psychologically safe workspaces, and the desire to establish high functioning and happy workplace cultures, Amy Davies brings one more tool for the Management and HR toolbox - Stay Interviews. Learn how these work, what they can do and why it is important to utilize them. Amy is a delight to have on the show and this episode is one you won't want to miss.   

There have been a number of controversies and concerns raised about entry to practice examinations. Things like fairness, equity, and remote proctoring, to name a few. Chris Beauchamp enlightens us about developing and administering examinations, and he addresses some of the recent controversies such as massive failure rates in some cases, suggestions that exams are not inclusive and create barriers for some exam takers to be successful. 

In this episode of the podcast John Farren and Dean discuss hot topics in workplace investigations including: Investigation of the unwitnessed scenario - "One person's word against the other"Selecting external investigators - What to look for as we see a proliferation of “would be investigators”The importance of avoiding bias and staying open minded during an investigationDuring this conversation, John brings his wealth of experience and insightful perspectives to all these topics. What is shared in this conversation is helpful to investigators, and those who would be looking to engage investigators. 

The phrase quiet quitting has been making the rounds and is seen as a hot new trend, but is it really? Mani Rego Mani is a strategic HR and DEI thought leader with over 25 years of experience in HR, Leadership Development, Training, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Mani helps us understand this concept, what it is and what we can do to address it. 

We called this the "Podcast Takeover" - Dean goes from host to guest and Brenda takes over as the host. In this episode Dean talks about illegal practitioners, what they are, the dangers they pose, and how they are investigated. There are  some great insights, interesting stories and advice on how regulators can deal with these fraudsters and how members of the public can stay safe. 

In this very interesting episode, the Registrar and Vice President of Regulation for the Human Resources Professionals Association, Claude Balthazard discusses the journey from association to regulator, and the incredible story of how the HRPA accomplished and continues to manage the transition. Claude is an engaging speaker and very knowledgeable on regulatory matters. He not only tells the story of the HRPA but also highlights todays thinking about regulation, its association roots, and the path forward to meeting public expectations.     

In this episode Jill Zappitelli, owner of H2R Business Solutions, a human resources consulting firm, discusses the challenges and solutions to managing the remote and hybrid workplace. Jill talks about things such as how leaders adjust to managing remote workers, maintaining the culture within a team or organization with less face to face contact, dealing with performance issues in a remote work scenario, and several other practical issues that organizations need to consider as the landscape changes around our working environment.   

In this episode we have a great discussion with Paul Nicholson, Director of Workplace Solutions at Benard + Associates. Paul is a great resource and has exceptional insights into what is happening in the world of workplace investigations and workplace conflict. What are some of the trends we see in workplace conflict?  What are the reactions of people when they are informed of the outcome of a workplace investigation? How should employers handle delivering the news and helping people move on after an investigation? This episode covers these questions and more.   

In this episode of the podcast, Alyson Gaffney, Executive Director of the Canadian Network of Agencies for Regulation, otherwise known as CNAR, tells us about the organization, what it does for Canadian Regulators, and their plans for 2022 and beyond.    

In this episode there is no guest and Dean hogs the mic!  Dean gets 2022 and the second season of the podcast off to a start with some reflections on 2021 and his thoughts on neutrality, fairness, and empathy in investigations. He provides his opinion on social media activities that can affect how an investigator is seen, and he offers some thoughts on trauma informed practice.   

For our final episode of season 1 we have Josh Koziebrocki, who is an experienced litigation lawyer and advocate. Among other things, Josh represents professionals in regulatory investigations and disciplinary proceedings.  He works with professionals in difficult and challenging situations involving their license to practice. Josh is a strong advocate for the rights of professionals who are experiencing a complaint against them, and the investigation or potential discipline matter they could face.  In this episode Josh speaks to us about the defense perspective in regulatory investigations. Through his representation of clients facing these issues, Josh has the perspective of what it's like to be on the other side, and he shares with us some important insights that investigators, and regulators in general should know. 

A career in professional regulation can be challenging, rewarding, and eclectic. In this episode Melisse Willems talks about her career in professional regulation.  Melisse has held senior leadership positions with three different health profession regulators in Ontario and she understands the nuances of a regulator's role, as well as the importance of getting it right. She is also a  lawyer, and prior to working in-house for these regulators, she practiced law and worked with clients in the health regulatory sector.  If you have ever wondered about the role of regulators and how you can fit into, and pursue, opportunities in professional regulation, this podcast will be of interest.  

In this very special episode we speak to Syd Vanderpool, former professional boxer and owner of SydFIT Health Centre and Boxing by Syd. Syd talks about the benefits of body, mind, and spiritual health, as well as getting motivated to be and achieve your very best. 

Join us as we have a great chat with Julie Dupont on understanding and having difficult conversations. We all have had to face this at one time or another. Some avoid it, and others give it a try, but one common theme is that most of us are uncomfortable when these moments arise. Julie Dupont of Reimagine Leadership has over 17 years' experience in the leadership and learning field, she has worked with leaders around the world, and is all about helping “bosses become great leaders. Julie has taught over 1500 leaders and is here today to talk about how we can increase our effectiveness as leaders when we have to have a difficult conversation.

Robin Bailey is an expert advisor in group benefits, but he is much more than that, in terms of his ability to build relationships, nurture his business, leverage his communications, apply the lessons he has learned in life, and ultimately achieve success in all his endeavours. He discusses all these things and offers some great information on what employers can do in the group benefits area to create a happy and healthy workplace. How can businesses leverage their group benefits to the greatest advantage? How do you keep up in the race for talent and how do you keep the talent you have? Robin offers several insights around these questions, all while provided some interesting examples that are worth listening to. He points out some excellent programs such as Best Doctors, employee assistance plans, and low to no cost tools employers can obtain to benefit their employees. 

In this episode, Rebecca Durcan of the law firm Steinecke Maciura LeBlanc, discusses the unique aspects and challenges faced by professional regulators in dealing with the issue of off duty conduct. When is off duty conduct something regulators should be interested in? How do regulators decide how best to address this issue? Do regulators have a say in certain behaviours or activities that take place outside the actual practice of a profession?  Rebecca will address all these questions and more in this interesting conversation.  

In this episode of the podcast Leena Sharma Seth will help us learn about building inclusivity into our workplaces and organizations of all types.  Leena is the Founder & Principal Consultant of Mending the Chasm | Building Inclusive Cultures from the Inside Out. This episode offers a better understanding of what it means to be inclusive and how this important effort benefits all organizations who commit to it, both in terms of having happy and productive people, to the realities of the bottom line. 

Lara Kinkartz is a lawyer with Weir Foulds LLP and from 2017-2019, she was seconded from her firm to act as Associate Commission Counsel to the Public Inquiry into the Safety and Security of Residents in the Long-Term Care Homes System. Often casually referred to by some as the "Wettlaufer Inquiry", the Inquiry's mandate was to inquire into the events which led to the offences committed by Elizabeth Wettlaufer, the Ontario nurse who murdered numerous residents in long term care homes. Wettlaufer admitted to murdering 8 seniors and attempting to murder 6 others during the years of 2007 and 2016. She injected lethal doses of insulin into her victims.  What did the inquiry learn?  and what were the key recommendations that came out of the inquiry? Lara discusses this and more from her unique role and view of the inquiry. 

In this abbreviated episode of the We've Seen A Thing or Two Podcast Dean Benard and Brenda Benard will be talking about the podcast and explaining what it will be about, frequency, upcoming guests, and why you should tune in.