Podcasts about engineering news record

What would it feel like to live in a world where our built environment was as elegant as nature's designs? What if our living and working spaces nurtured our human communities and quality of life? Architect and designer Jason F. McLennan takes the revolution from the heart of nature and the human heart into our built environment. He is shifting the fateful civilizational inflection point we face - from degradation to regeneration - from fear to love.  Featuring Jason F. McLennan, one of the world's most influential visionaries in contemporary architecture and green building, is a highly sought-out designer, consultant and thought leader. A winner of Engineering News Record's National Award of Excellence and of the prestigious Buckminster Fuller Prize (which was, during its 10-year trajectory, known as “the planet's top prize for socially responsible design”), Jason has been showered with such accolades as “the ‘Wayne Gretzky' of the green building industry and a “World Changer” (by GreenBiz magazine). Resources Jason McLennan Keynote Bioneers 2022 – From Reconciliation to Regeneration Deep Community Resilience: Preparing for the Coming Age, Place-By-Place | Jason F. McLennan Child-Centered Planning: A New Specialized Pattern Language Tool | Jason F. McLennan Visit the episode page for transcript and more information. This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to learn more.

Die nuwe Amerikaanse ambassade in Windhoek is deur Engineering News Record se Global Best Projects-kompetisie as die Beste Projek in die Regeringsgebou-kategorie bekroon. Hierdie hooggeagte erkenning beklemtoon die uitsonderlike ontwerp- en konstruksiepogings agter die ambassade. Die gebou is 'n voorbeeld van uitnemendheid in argitektuur, volhoubaarheid en innoverende konstruksiepraktyke. Kosmos 94.1 Nuus het gesels met die ambassade se skakelbeampte, Tiffany Miller, wat uitbrei.

For more than 25 years, Bill Wilhelm has played a pivotal role in helping shape R.D. Olson Construction to become one of the nation's leading general contractors, commemorating 40 years in business this year. Under Wilhelm's leadership, R.D. Olson Construction has earned an award-winning reputation across the Western U.S. and Hawaii for projects spanning hospitality, multi-unit, adaptive reuse, education and senior living. The firm has been repeatedly recognized by Engineering News-Record as a Top 400 Construction Company Nationwide and Top 40 General Contractor in California. Wilhelm has spearheaded some of R.D. Olson Construction's most iconic projects and continues to cultivate the company's nationwide reputation as a trusted, relationship-focused builder. Notable projects completed under his leadership include Lido House, Los Angeles' NoMad Hotel, Irvine Spectrum Marriott, Paséa Hotel and Spa, Chapman University's Reeves Hall and Atria Senior Living, among many others. Wilhelm's hands-on leadership approach and forward-thinking industry expertise has made him a highly sought-after speaker for events such as The Lodging Conference and Bisnow. He also frequently contributes his insights to Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, GlobeSt, Construction Today, Hotel Business Magazine and other prominent business and commercial real estate publications. In addition to leading R.D. Olson Construction, Wilhelm has dedicated his career to giving back to the local community by volunteering, fundraising and building homes alongside his employees for Habitat for Humanity, Olive Crest, HomeAid, Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation and OC United. His team-oriented leadership and civic-minded approach has helped garner the company numerous awards and recognitions, including “The Olive Crest Leadership Award,” Orange County Business Journal's “Best Places to Work” and OneOC's “Civic 50” – a coveted list of the top 50 philanthropic companies in Orange County. In 2019, Wilhelm was recognized by Boy Scouts of America, Orange County Council, as a Men of Character Honoree. Wilhelm graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering. He later went on to study at the University of Southern California, where he completed the university's Management Development Program followed by Harvard University's Executive Finance Program. He continues to strengthen the core of the company and attributes his leadership success to his ability to bring out the best in his associates, employees and project partners through a collaborative, team-oriented work environment. -- Critical Mass Business Talk Show is Orange County, CA's longest-running business talk show, focused on offering value and insight to middle-market business leaders in the OC and beyond. Hosted by Ric Franzi, business partner at REF Orange County. Learn more about Ric at www.ricfranzi.com. 

On this episode, we speak with Anne Pryor, the Vice President of Alumni Affairs that was founded in 1888 to support the College of Charleston and according to Ann Pryor, in the subsequent 136 years the mission has not changed one iota. The Alumni Association is an international organization of more than a 103,000 members worldwide. Pryor says there are many tangible benefits for members including free professional certificate courses through Coursera, a platform that was launched earlier this year. Pryor talks about the network of alumni clubs across the country, the pride alumni take in the College and much more.  Featured on this Episode:Ann Looper Pryor '83Vice President, Alumni AffairsIn November 2015, Ann Pryor returned to her alma mater to become Vice President, Alumni Affairs. Ann earned her BA degree in political science from the College in 1983 and moved to Washington, D.C., to begin her professional career on Capitol Hill. Prior to joining the College staff, Ann was Chief Operating Officer of The Cultural Landscape Foundation in Washington, D.C., and directed its business operations, communications, and marketing programs. She worked for the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) for 13 years. From 1998-2002, Ann served as Director of Regional Alliances for McGraw-Hill Construction, promoting Architectural Record and Engineering News-Record magazines, among other brands. She was Director of Government Affairs for the American Institute of Architects from 1989-1995, representing the architecture profession before Congress and the White House on issues including historic preservation, small business, and surface transportation.  Resources from this Episode:The Alumni Association's LinkedIn group: https://bit.ly/CofCAALIGroup Class Note Form: https://bit.ly/CofCCNA Charleston Affair tickets: https://bit.ly/ACAtickets2024

Episode 145: The Psychology of ArchitectureHow can we use architecture and design to address loneliness, promote well-being, and foster inclusive and supportive work environments in the field?On this episode of Practice Disrupted, I am joined by Erin Peavey, an architect with a background in psychology, to explore the importance of connection, the power of healing, and the role of mental health in the culture of architecture workspaces. Erin is the Health & Well-being Design Leader at HKS and believes in incorporating research on health, well-being, and community engagement into design initiatives. First, Erin shares her journey from studying social work to architecture and highlights key takeaways from her HKS report on loneliness, titled “Connecting in Strange Times: The Antidote to Loneliness.” Erin advocates for inclusivity and diversity in the field of architecture and addresses the lack of consideration for diverse perspectives in design while providing practical solutions. Then, Erin touches on the forgotten aspects of designing for people with disabilities and discusses how to prevent burnout and overwork in the field. Erin shares her hopes for a shift towards prioritizing well-being and support for co-workers over consistent productivity.I hope that in architecture, we recognize that because we are creating spaces for people outside of the norm, we need to embody those people in the profession. When you think about who is drawn to architecture, there are heavy feelers, sensors, and people with heightened perception. We need all of the variety to bring in those perspectives and that value. - Erin PeaveyTo wrap up the episode, Erin suggests that firm leaders need to encourage their teams to create healthy spaces. She also emphasizes the value of giving hype and praise to our co-workers. Plus, Erin invites you always to seek areas for self-improvement while giving grace for imperfection and failure. Tune in next week for an episode about design crises, past and future.Guest:Erin PeaveyErin Peavey is an Architect and a Health & Well-being Design Leader at HKS. Erin's passion forcreating environments that support health, happiness, and well-being drives her evidence-based, user-centered approach to design. In her leadership role at HKS, she helps integrate research and practice to advance design for health, combat loneliness, and foster resilience across the globe.Erin is dedicated to giving back to the design for health community as a Cornell Industry Scholar, an editorial board member of the Health Environments Research and Design Journal, a Fellow with the Centre for Conscious Design, and co-lead of the Foundation for Social Connection's taskforce on the built environment.Erin was named Best Under 40 in Architecture for Health by the American Institute for Architects (2015), 40 Under 40 by Building Design and Construction (2020), a Top Young Professional by Engineering News Record (2021), and a Rising Star by Healthcare Design Magazine (2019). She delights in sharing knowledge and makes insights accessible to a wide audience. Erin uses her platform and network to advance understanding of how to design places and lives that catalyze mental well-being and belonging. Erin's work focusing on the power of place to help us live happier, healthier, more connected lives is featured on BBC, NBC-Texas Today, Psychology Today, TEDx, SXSW, Metropolis, NPR/KERA, Architect Magazine, Healthline, her own podcast, Shared Space.

What would it feel like to live in a world where our built environment was as elegant as nature's designs? What if our living and working spaces nurtured our human communities and quality of life? Architect and designer Jason F. McLennan takes the revolution from the heart of nature and the human heart into our built environment. He is shifting the fateful civilizational inflection point we face - from degradation to regeneration - from fear to love.  Featuring Jason F. McLennan, one of the world's most influential visionaries in contemporary architecture and green building, is a highly sought-out designer, consultant and thought leader. A winner of Engineering News Record's National Award of Excellence and of the prestigious Buckminster Fuller Prize (which was, during its 10-year trajectory, known as “the planet's top prize for socially responsible design”), Jason has been showered with such accolades as “the ‘Wayne Gretzky' of the green building industry and a “World Changer” (by GreenBiz magazine). Resources Jason McLennan Keynote Bioneers 2022 – From Reconciliation to Regeneration Deep Community Resilience: Preparing for the Coming Age, Place-By-Place | Jason F. McLennan Child-Centered Planning: A New Specialized Pattern Language Tool | Jason F. McLennan Visit the episode page for transcript and more information. This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to learn more.

Over her impressive 16-year career, Kabri Lehrman-Schmid has established herself as a trailblazing superintendent for Hensel Phelps in the United States. She has set new standards for the influence of field leadership on her design-build teams, while passionately endorsing industry initiatives aimed at enhancing workforce well-being. Her $1.9B portfolio highlights her adept management across all phases of progressive delivery projects within the transportation and higher education sectors. Kabri's contributions have been acknowledged with multiple honors, including recognition as one of Engineering News-Record's 2023 National Top 20 Under 40 professionals, featured on Construction Business Owner's 2019 cover for 20 Outstanding Women in Construction, and as the inaugural recipient of AGC of Washington's 2022 Rising Star Award. Kabri advocates for the potential of field management in tackling biases and mental health stigmas within the construction industry and is a dedicated contributor to training programs aimed at elevating leadership skillsets among forepersons. Show notes: If you enjoyed this episode, and you've learnt something or it inspired you in some way, I'd love to hear about it and know your biggest takeaway. Take a screenshot of you listening on your device, and post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me, @elinormoshe_ or Elinor Moshe on LinkedIn.   Don't forget you can also join the free facebook community to discuss your journey in the building industry; https://www.facebook.com/groups/constructingyou/   Get a copy of my book: https://amzn.to/31ILAdv

Calling all soccer enthusiasts! In this episode, Amanda Hsieh immerses in an enlightening discussion with Jordan Enke, Senior Vice President of Stadium Operations at Austin FC in Austin, Texas. Jordan plays a pivotal role in the organization with a comprehensive scope that includes overseeing general operations, safety and security, event and guest services, parking and mobility, and sustainability initiatives. Having been a part of Austin FC since its early days in 2019, he was instrumental in various aspects, from site selection to the design and construction efforts of Q2 Stadium.  Q2 Stadium has garnered numerous accolades, including being certified as LEED Gold by the US Green Building Council. Its achievements also span receiving the Outstanding Construction Award from the Associated General Contractors (AGC) for the Austin Chapter in 2021, being recognized as a VenuesNow All-Star, securing the ULI Austin Impact Award for Most Influential Project in 2021, and earning a StadiumDB Nomination for Stadium of the Year in the same year. The stadium further received the Austin Business Journal Commercial Real Estate Award for Project of the Year in 2021 and the '21 Best Projects Award of Merit from Engineering News-Record in the Sports/Entertainment category for the Texas-Louisiana Region. In 2022, the MLSPA voted Q2 Stadium the Best Atmosphere and Best Field. Jordan's educational journey led him to a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management from West Virginia University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2010. In addition to his academic achievements, he was also recognized as a Facility Management Professional in 2015, showcasing his dedication to excellence. This is our first ESG Decoded episode to feature a professional sports team. However, instead of talking about players and stats, Amanda and Jordan take a fresh approach by exploring sustainability. Keeping with the theme of 'firsts,' Austin FC is the first major professional sports team in Austin, a city that has long boasted some of the most passionate college sports fans in the country. Tune in as they unravel the intricacies of building a stadium, with a spotlight on site selection being a pivotal factor for sustainability advancements.  Considering the climate, Q2 Stadium's design cleverly harnesses natural breezes and integrates inventive stormwater management and passive cooling systems. In line with an eco-friendly approach, the stadium's intentional limited parking promotes public transportation usage. The Austin FC organization extends its influence beyond the field, serving as a unifying force in the community with targets for financial and ticket donations to deserving causes.  This conversation will offer a new perspective and an appreciation for the blend of sustainability and sportsmanship. After listening to this episode, we hope you never look at sports stadiums the same again. Unlock the world of sustainability and join the ESG Decoded Podcast community! Make sure to subscribe to be notified of new episodes on your favorite streaming platforms, YouTube, and our social channels (linked below). Get ready for thrilling new episodes that will ignite your passion for positive change. Tune in, engage, and let's decode ESG together! Episode Resource Links Amanda's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahsieh1/ Jordan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-enke-04684145/  Austin FC LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/austin-fc/ Austin FC Website: https://www.austinfc.com/

Salas O'Brien is an engineering and technical services firm focused on advancing the human experience through the built environment. Their team is engineered for impact, helping clients achieve critical goals, advancing their team members through growth and opportunity, and operating at the center of important global issues, including sustainability and decarbonization. They are a top firm as ranked by Engineering News-Record and Consulting-Specifying Engineer, and we have appeared for the past ten years on the Inc. 5000 list of North America's fastest-growing private companies. If you haven't yet had the chance, make sure to register for our 2024 Real Leaders Impact Awards. Our Impact Award winners gain access to a values aligned community, credibility through Real Leaders, and access to our network of Impact capital sources. Reserve your entry free of charge before applications open using the link below! bit.ly/3Ktajcf Also, check out Outsource Access for all of your Virtual Staffing Needs. At an affordable rate you can outsource the work you need to get done at an extremely affordable rate. You can find more info about them here using this link. https://outsourceaccess.com/

Vatsal Shah, PE, PhD, D.GE Principal Engineer ANS Geo Inc.   A True Leader In Engineering In this episode, Vatsal Shah talks about his work as a principal engineer at ANS Geo Inc., his efforts to mentor future engineers, and being licensed in 44 states.  He has been nationally recognized by Engineering News-Record as one of the Top 20 under 40 for the New York Metropolitan Region, the American Society of Civil Engineers as the “Face of Civil Engineering”, and as “Young Engineer of the Year” by the National Society of Professional Engineers in 2019. Shah is a third-generation civil engineer, alongside his father and great-grandfather. He is an enthusiastic adjunct Professor at both NYU Tandon School of Engineering and New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is also a Past-President of the NJ Society of Professional Engineers and teaches PE and FE review courses in Civil (Geotechnical) Engineering across the US.

How has social media influenced what the world knows about the trades? How do we tackle the subject of miscommunication about—and within—the industry? Join host Todd and guest Sam Hamilton as they discuss the ups and downs of communication in the industry, how ego can easily lead to misunderstandings on projects, how to tell the “tried and true” from the “shiny and new,” the importance of “pushing the broom” above appearances, and much more.    Sam Hamilton is the director of prefabrication and virtual design construction (VDC) at Encore Electric. She leads two teams of more than 70 Colorado-based craftspeople in the prefabrication shop as well as VDC Coordinators. She was recognized as one the region's Top Young Professionals by Engineering News Record in 2018. Hamilton's prefabrication team was also awarded the “Building and Construction Manufacturer of the Year” in 2021.

Marketing Trends – Vulnerable and RelatableBrianna Nessler, Marketing Manager, has been with Small Giants since 2014. She creates a collaborative environment with each team member, which fosters successful client strategies and repeatedly translates into impactful marketing initiatives. She believes Small Giants' core value of “IMPACT” helps clients build brand worth and forge their own legacy.Brianna has eight years of industry experience, an OSHA 10-hour Construction Training certification, and she was the first person to receive a Section 333 Exemption-Drone pilot certification. Her dedicated involvement in the CRE industry through multiple board, association, and committee memberships lead to being named an Emerging Leader of the Year by the Phoenix Business Journal. Brianna was also included in the Engineering News-Record's ENR Southwest's 2018 Top Young Professionals list.Brianna's industry-related fun fact is that her grandmother and great-grandmother helped found the Arizona Masonry Guild Awards. She recalls how her family sat around her grandparents' kitchen table, handwriting the invitations. Brianna is proud to carry on her family's interest in the AEC industry.https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianna-nessler-565a9b84/Mac and Bleu is the hot new podcast dedicated to all things related to building Arizona. Topics discussed range from construction, economic development, supply chain, and market segments.Mac & Bleu also includes diversity in construction, local politics affecting construction, women in construction, construction technology, and more.The host JJ Levenske of Bleuwave have their finger on the pulse of the people building Arizona.The show brings in the brightest minds in their perspective positions and industries and JJ has the unique ability to touch on the subject matter that you want to hear.If you want to know who's building Arizona, tune in and subscribe to Mac and Bleu today!___________________________________________________________________________________JJ Levenske is a seasoned construction executive with over 30 years of experience in the commercial and industrial sectors.From pre-construction services to complex quality controls and close-outs, he brings a commitment to delivering the highest levels of professionalism and customer service.

✨Join the 2ND ROUND OF BLOOM - 6 weeks of starting to heal people pleasing patterns, grow your confidence & showing up for your life authentically & confident AF✨ ABOUT LAUREN // Lauren Ruth Martin is a licensed professional counselor, Speaker, and podcast host. Lauren's mission is to help overthinkers and overachievers audit their internal systems so they can move beyond burnout and into a life of flexibility, fulfillment, and creativity. She believes that many of us know what burnout is as a whole, but struggle to understand where they need to begin change. She speaks about the lessons learned through her burnout recovery journey to offer tangible solutions and mindset shifts. Lauren has worked with colleges and companies of all sizes including Belmont University, Dell, University of Florida, Engineering News Record, News Channel 5, and Axios. Her podcast, The 9toKind Podcast can be found on all platforms. CONNECT WITH LAUREN // IG: @laurenruthmartin Free Burnout 101 Recovery Guide: https://www.laurenruthmartin.com/burnout-101-packet 9toKind Self Care Starter Pack: https://www.laurenruthmartin.com/9tokindstarterpack CONNECT // Join our FB Community Connect on IG Get Monday Morning Journaling Prompts! THERAPY // Learn more about therapy with Devoney! ABOUT // Devoney is a therapist, life coach and hosts the Free & Well Podcast. She is obsessed with empowering & equipping women with simple, practical psychology AND spirituality based tools to heal their relationship with themselves & start feeling radically confident! She's here to help you stop second guessing yourself, stop comparing yourself, start being kinder to yourself, setting boundaries & feeling confident AF. DISCLAIMERS // Recommendations shared in this episode are based on my own personal opinion. No content provided by Free & Well and/or on this show is a substitute for medical or mental health treatment. It is all purely for educational purposes and is not a replacement for medical, legal, or mental health advice. Please call 911 if you are in an emergency, the Access & Crisis Line if you are in a crisis at 888-724-7240 or contact a licensed mental health provider for mental health support. See full disclaimer here. www.devoneytaylor.com/disclaimer

✨Join the 2ND ROUND OF BLOOM - 6 weeks of starting to heal people pleasing patterns, grow your confidence & showing up for your life authentically & confident AF✨ ABOUT LAUREN // Lauren Ruth Martin is a licensed professional counselor, Speaker, and podcast host. Lauren's mission is to help overthinkers and overachievers audit their internal systems so they can move beyond burnout and into a life of flexibility, fulfillment, and creativity. She believes that many of us know what burnout is as a whole, but struggle to understand where they need to begin change. She speaks about the lessons learned through her burnout recovery journey to offer tangible solutions and mindset shifts. Lauren has worked with colleges and companies of all sizes including Belmont University, Dell, University of Florida, Engineering News Record, News Channel 5, and Axios. Her podcast, The 9toKind Podcast can be found on all platforms. CONNECT WITH LAUREN // IG: @laurenruthmartin Free Burnout 101 Recovery Guide: https://www.laurenruthmartin.com/burnout-101-packet 9toKind Self Care Starter Pack: https://www.laurenruthmartin.com/9tokindstarterpack CONNECT // Join our FB Community Connect on IG Get Monday Morning Journaling Prompts! THERAPY // Learn more about therapy with Devoney! ABOUT // Devoney is a therapist, life coach and hosts the Free & Well Podcast. She is obsessed with empowering & equipping women with simple, practical psychology AND spirituality based tools to heal their relationship with themselves & start feeling radically confident! She's here to help you stop second guessing yourself, stop comparing yourself, start being kinder to yourself, setting boundaries & feeling confident AF. DISCLAIMERS // Recommendations shared in this episode are based on my own personal opinion. No content provided by Free & Well and/or on this show is a substitute for medical or mental health treatment. It is all purely for educational purposes and is not a replacement for medical, legal, or mental health advice. Please call 911 if you are in an emergency, the Access & Crisis Line if you are in a crisis at 888-724-7240 or contact a licensed mental health provider for mental health support. See full disclaimer here. www.devoneytaylor.com/disclaimer

What would it feel like to live in a world where our built environment was as elegant as nature's designs? What if our living and working spaces nurtured our human communities and quality of life? Architect and designer Jason F. McLennan takes the revolution from the heart of nature and the human heart into our built environment. He is shifting the fateful civilizational inflection point we face - from degradation to regeneration - from fear to love.  Featuring Jason F. McLennan, one of the world's most influential visionaries in contemporary architecture and green building, is a highly sought-out designer, consultant and thought leader. A winner of Engineering News Record's National Award of Excellence and of the prestigious Buckminster Fuller Prize (which was, during its 10-year trajectory, known as “the planet's top prize for socially responsible design”), Jason has been showered with such accolades as “the ‘Wayne Gretzky' of the green building industry and a “World Changer” (by GreenBiz magazine). Resources Jason McLennan Keynote Bioneers 2022 – From Reconciliation to Regeneration Deep Community Resilience: Preparing for the Coming Age, Place-By-Place | Jason F. McLennan Child-Centered Planning: A New Specialized Pattern Language Tool | Jason F. McLennan Visit the episode page for transcript and more information. This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to find out how to hear the program on your local station and how to subscribe to the podcast.

 An out-of-the-box thinker, Matt's passion is doing what others assume can't be done. He is an aggressive marketer who has helped construction, engineering, architectural, and real estate consulting firms realize tens of millions in fees from projects ranging from $500K to $2B. He has been quoted in Engineering News-Record, written about in Zweig White's Marketing NOW, is an award-winning speaker, and hosts HelpEverybodyEveryday.com, a blog authored by some of the brightest minds in the marketing field. Matt wrote the book, Proposal Development Secrets: Win More, Work Smarter, and Get Home on Time. He is also a co-author of the Marketing Handbook for the Design & Construction Professional and author of the Society for Marketing Professional Services' research white paper on “Marketing to the Mind.” His interest in reaching audiences stems from a lifelong obsession with music. His work in podcasting, social media, and website development was born from a love of exploring new technologies. And his competitive edge and drive to always improve the firms he works with can be traced to his past as a competitive runner. In this show we will discuss the following: 02:20 How have times changed for submitting proposals 08:24 Being a modern-day project manager 10:15 New hiring trends in the industry 14:53 Working smarter 16:48 Tips for helping marketing principals function around sales and marketing activities 21:25 The buyer's journey and cold proposals 25:21 The million-dollar question when submitting proposals 28:12 Never talk about the due date 30:10 What to take into account when publishing a production schedule 32:45 Resources for learning proposal writing 

Dr. McCoy is the Director of the Virginia Center for Housing Research at Virginia Tech, the Beliveau Professor of Building Construction, and the Associate Director of the Myers Lawson School of Construction… He has over 24 years of experience in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, including 8.5 years of fieldwork and 8 years of managing a firm that maintained a Class A Virginia contractor license. Dr. McCoy received undergraduate degrees in Architecture and Architectural History from the University of Virginia, and an MS in Building Construction and a Ph.D. in Environmental Design and Planning from Virginia Tech. He has authored of over 100 articles and has been a primary investigator on millions of dollars in funded projects, including ‘green' residential construction practices, building technologies, affordable housing and safety practices in the construction supply chain.  Notable funded endeavors include:  1) Virginia Housing's PACT 3D Concrete House Printing Innovation Grant, 2) The Commonwealth of Virginia's Executive Order 32 study "Addressing the Impact of Housing Affordability for Virginia Economy"; 3) HUD's " Impact of Market Behavior on the Adoption and Diffusion of Innovative Green Building Technologies," A Sustainable Communities Research grant; 4) CREATES, a Department of Labor grant to increase Southwest Virginia Constructors knowledge and application of green technologies; 5) ELECTRI Foundation's 2011 Early Career Award; 6) NIOSH's “The Case for a Whole Industry Approach to Safety,” a grant on safety across cultures and sectors of the construction industry and 7) Housing Virginia's "The Impact of Energy Efficient Construction for LIHTC Housing in Virginia." Another endeavor was the 2009 Department of Energy “Solar Decathlon” competition, in which university teams compete to design, build, manage and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house. Dr. McCoy's research won the 2015 Game Changer Award for the State of Virginia and Engineering News Record's 2014 "Top 20 under 40" for the Mid-Atlantic. Dr. McCoy's work also won ASCE's Journal of Architectural Engineering "Top Paper Award 2015" and the American Real Estate Society conference's "best paper prize for the topic of Sustainable Real Estate." Company Website: https://www.bc.vt.edu/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpmccoy/ Video: https://vtx.vt.edu/videos/k/2021/06/1_r5xrw3ha.html Article: https://vpm.org/news/articles/30733/can-3d-concrete-printing-solve-virginias-affordable-housing-crisis Thanks for listening! Please be sure to leave a rating or review and follow us on our social accounts! SUBSCRIBE! Like us on LinkedIn! Like us on Facebook! Follow us on Instagram! Eddie's LinkedIn Tyler's LinkedIn See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode, BJ interviewed Jan Tuchman. Executive Editor of Engineering News-Record. They discuss the many different projects Jan is involved with around the globe, her style of leadership, and the importance of collaboration in the construction industry.Resources mentioned:  Learn more about Engineering News Record at www.enr.comInspiring People and Places is brought to you by MCFA. Visit our website www.MCFAglobal.com and sign up for our weekly newsletter where we curate some of the top industry articles of the week and give you a dose of inspiration as you head into the weekend!   MCFA IS HIRING!!  If you or anyone you know are looking to work in the Planning, Project Development, Project Management, or Construction Management field, contact us through our website. Interns to Executives...we need great people to help us innovate and inspire, plan, develop and build our nation's infrastructure.  Check out our MUST FILL positions here https://mcfaglobal.com/careers/.  We reward the bold and the action oriented so if you don't see a position but think you are a fit...send us an email!   Learn more at www.MCFAGlobal.com

https://entrearchitect.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Headshot2020Square.jpeg ()How Small Firms Win Big Projects Matt Handal provides marketing and business development strategies that actually work. He has helped firms 10X their proposal results and realize significant growth. He is the author of Proposal Development Secrets, Former Contributing Editor of SMPS Marketer, and leads the Construction Owners Association of America's Communication Committee. He has appeared in Engineering News Record, The Architect’s Handbook for Professional Practice, and other industry publications. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, How Small Firms Win Big Projects with Matt Handal. Connect with Matt online at https://www.helpeverybodyeveryday.com (Help Everybody Everyday), and find him on https://twitter.com/matthandal (Twitter) and https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthandal (LinkedIn). Please visit Our Platform Sponsors Do you have ideas about how to improve the architecture profession? NCARB wants to hear from you! NCARB’s Analysis of Practice study will explore how architecture is evolving and help determine the licensing model of the future. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AoPPS (Sign up to be a part of the critical research today!) https://arcat.com (ARCAT) is the online resource delivering quality building material information, CAD details, BIM, Specs, and more… all for free. Visit ARCAT now and subscribe to http://arcat.com (ARCATECT Weekly and ARCATAlert). http://EntreArchitect.com/Freshbooks (Freshbooks) is the all in one bookkeeping software that can save your small architecture firm both time and money by simplifying the hard parts of running your own business. Try Freshbooks for 30 days for FREE at http://EntreArchitect.com/Freshbooks (EntreArchitect.com/Freshbooks). Visit our Platform Sponsors today and thank them for supporting YOU… The EntreArchitect Community of small firm architects. The post https://entrearchitect.com/podcast/entrearch/how-small-firms-win-big-projects/ (EA447: Matt Handal – How Small Firms Win Big Projects) appeared first on https://entrearchitect.com (EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects).

Thank you to KC Conway for sharing his insights on a variety of different commercial and industrial real estate topics! 0:00 - Introduction 1:48 - Interest rates & Inflation 9:27 - Cap rates & real estate values 12:00 - Where to invest going forward 16:40 - Port cities & supply chains 19:01 - Gas prices impacting industrial companies 22:20 - Oil prices & Russia 27:22 - Should the rest of the world be doing more? 30:25 - Woodstock 31:22 - Interest rates and the stock market 33:08 - Where to look for insights 37:03 - Oil price forecast for 2022 Links to recommendations: Engineering News Record: https://www.enr.com/ Site to Do Business / crepi: https://www.stdb.com/crepi Kastle Back to Work index: https://www.kastle.com/safety-wellness/getting-america-back-to-work/ -- About KC: Economist and Futurist Kiernan “KC” Conway, CCIM, CRE, MAI is the mind trust behind Red Shoe Economics, LLC, an independent economic forecasting and consulting firm furthering KC's mission as The Red Shoe Economist by providing organic research initiatives, reporting and insights on the impact of Economics within the commercial real estate industry. A proud graduate of Emory University with more than 30 years' experience as a lender, credit officer, appraiser, instructor, and economist; KC is recognized for accurately forecasting real estate trends and ever-changing influences on markets all across the United States. With credentials from the CCIM Institute, Counselors of Real Estate and the Appraisal Institute, KC currently serves as Chief Economist of the CCIM Institute and as an Independent Director for Monmouth REIT MNR. A gifted and prolific speaker KC has made more than 850 presentations to industry, regulatory and academic organizations in the last decade, and has been published in many national and regional newspapers and journals with frequent contributions to radio and television programming. -- Red Shoe Economics website: https://redshoeeconomics.com/ Connect with KC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kc-conway-mai-cre-10320812 --

With climate change threatening freshwater sources, water demand across the globe is likely to increase by 20 - 30% between now and 2050. In this episode, we're looking at two promising solutions to create clean drinking water from surprising places: our sewers and our oceans. We speak with General Manager of the Orange County Water District, Mike Markus, about debunking the “toilet to tap” fear and how turning our wastewater into clean drinking water can be a closed-loop solution to mounting water scarcity. We also hear from Dr. William Tarpeh about new research at Stanford University that could make desalination a more viable solution; one that's less costly and better for the environment. Biographical Notes: Michael (Mike) R. Markus is the general manager of the Orange County Water District (OCWD; the District), which manages the Orange County Groundwater Basin that supplies water to more than 2.5 million people in north and central Orange County, Calif. With more than 40 years of experience, Mike is well known for his expertise in large project implementation and water resource management. In September 2007, he became only the sixth general manager in the District's history.During his 33-year career at the District, Mike was responsible for managing the implementation of the $480 million Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) program. This project is the largest potable reuse project in the world and has won many awards including the 2008 Stockholm Industry Water Award, 2009 ASCE Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award, 2014 U.S. Water Prize and the 2014 Lee Kuan Yew Prize. In 2015, Mike oversaw the completion of the 30 MGD GWRS Initial Expansion. The expansion brought the total production capacity of the GWRS to 100 MGD of high-quality water, which is enough to serve 850,000 people annually. Mike was named the 2017 Pioneer in Groundwater by the Environmental & Water Resources Institute, one of the Top 25 Industry Leaders of 2014 by Water & Wastewater International, he received the international 2009 Säid Khoury Award for Engineering Construction Excellence, the 2007 American Society of Civil Engineers' Government Engineer of the Year award, and he was one of the Top 25 Newsmakers of 2007 by the Engineering News-Record.Mike currently serves on the board of directors of the Water Research Foundation, the National Water Research Institute, American Water Works Association and the California Section of the WateReuse Association. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and a Master of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Southern California. He is also a registered civil engineer in the state of California.Dr. William Tarpeh Dr. William Tarpeh is an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Stanford University. The Tarpeh Lab develops and evaluates novel approaches to resource recovery from “waste” waters at several synergistic scales: molecular mechanisms of chemical transport and transformation; novel unit processes that increase resource efficiency; and systems-level assessments that identify optimization opportunities. Will completed his B.S. in chemical engineering at Stanford and his M.S. and Ph.D. in environmental engineering at UC Berkeley, supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, and a UC Berkeley Chancellor's Fellowship. He conducted postdoctoral training at University of Michigan in environmental engineering. Will is a member of the Bouchet Honor Society, NBCBLK's "28 Under 28" African-American Innovators, and Forbes' "30 Under 30" 2019 Science List. Tarpeh's CV is available here.

  We recently sat down with Raouf S. Ghali, CEO of Hill International.  Raouf oversees one of the largest “pure-play” Construction and Project Management firms with a global reach.  Hill provides program, project, and construction management services in a wide variety of sectors. Their services include cost engineering and estimating, quality assurance, inspection, scheduling, risk management, and claims avoidance.     According to Hill International's website: “We are the 5th largest project and construction management firm in the U.S., as featured in Building Design + Construction magazine. Engineering News-Record magazine ranked Hill the 10th largest overall U.S. construction management firm (for fee-only).  Hill International has participated in over 10,000 project assignments with a total construction value of over $600 billion.” Hill International has been in business for 45 years. They have over 3,000 people in more than 100 offices across 39 countries. According to Raouf, the one key ingredient that sets Hill apart from its competitors is its people.   Hill is a publicly-traded company headquartered in Philadelphia, PA.  Listen to the whole episode to learn more about Raouf and Hill International.  All of this and more on this episode of The Zweig Letter podcast.  Hill International Website Hill International on LinkedIn Hill International on Twitter Hill International on Facebook Hill International on YouTube Hill International on Instagram Get your FREE Subscription to the Zweig Letter Newsletter.

Major General Gregg F. Martin, U.S. Army (retired) was the 48th Commandant of the United States Army War College. Prior to his arrival at Carlisle, MG Martin served in Kuwait as the Deputy Commanding General of Third Army and US Army Central during the simultaneous buildup in Afghanistan and responsible drawdown from Iraq. Before that, he served as Commanding General of the U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood, MO. Born in Massachusetts, MG Martin graduated from the U.S. Military Academy with a bachelor's degree and was commissioned in 1979 into the Army Corps of Engineers. He subsequently earned master's degrees in civil engineering and technology policy, as well as a Ph.D. in engineering management and public policy from MIT, with a dissertation on strategic leadership and organizational change. He is a graduate of the Naval and Army War Colleges, and holds master's degrees in strategic studies from both. Critical command and troop leadership positions include: Commandant of the US Army Engineer School and Regiment and Deputy Commanding General of the US Army Maneuver Support Center and Fort Leonard Wood; Commanding General and Division Engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwestern Division in Portland, OR (during which time he was also a Presidential appointee, confirmed by the Senate, to the Mississippi River Commission); and command of the 130th Engineer Brigade and service as the V Corps / CJTF-7 Engineer in Europe and the Middle East from June 2002 to July 2004, which included the ground assault to Baghdad, liberation of Iraq, and leading an expanded brigade of 13,000 soldiers conducting full-spectrum operations across Iraq in the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Other commands include the 5th Engineer Battalion at Fort Leonard Wood, MO (providing direct support to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment), and B Company, 79th Engineer Battalion in Karlsruhe, Germany. As a lieutenant, he was a Platoon Leader and Company Executive Officer with the 94th Engineer Battalion in Darmstadt, Germany. MG Martin's staff positions include: Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations and Plans) for U.S. Army Europe and 7th Army in Heidelberg, Germany; Task Force Engineer with Joint Task Force Bravo in Honduras; I Corps Engineer Operations Officer; Operations Officer and Executive Officer of the 864th Engineer Battalion at Fort Lewis, WA; and Project Engineer in the Corps of Engineers' Europe Division in Karlsruhe, Germany. MG Martin's leader development and education positions include: Instructor and Director of Senior Command and Leadership at the Army War College; Instructor and Assistant Professor of National Security Studies, International Relations and American Politics in the Department of Social Sciences, as well as Recruiting and Admissions Officer at the US Military Academy at West Point, NY. MG Martin's awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit (3 Awards), the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (8 Awards), the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (2 Awards), the Army Achievement Medal, Parachutist Badge, Ranger Tab, and Combat Action Badge. He was chosen by Engineering News Record for the 2003 “Award of Excellence” as the engineering profession's Person of the Year for his leadership role in Operation Iraqi Freedom, a testament to our magnificent Soldiers. MG Martin is married to Maggie, the former Margaret Ryan; the Martins have three sons, all Eagle Scouts, two of whom are active duty Soldiers, and one who is a college student. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mettle-of-honor/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mettle-of-honor/support

Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today's podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com PROVINCETOWN INCLINED ELEVATOR INSPECTION CONTINUES The newly constructed inclined elevator at the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum in Provincetown, Massachusetts, is still going through inspections after being declared fully functional in April, the Cape Cod Times reports. “We've learned elevator controllers and elevator safety is quite rigorous,” said K. David Weidner, executive director of the monument and museum. “'Safety first,' is our motto.” The elevator, known as the Bradford Access Project, is designed to use a 162-ft length of double rails to bring the 3000-lb glass cab, with up to 18 people at a time, up from Bradford Street to the top of High Pole Hill, which is approximately 85-ft high, in 2 min. This elevator is the first of its size and magnitude in the Commonwealth, the source reports. The project is going through a series of pre-inspections by the Massachusetts Board of Elevator Regulations. The board regulates the construction, installation and operation of all elevators in the state. Weidner told the Engineering News Record that the addition of the conveyance is expected to boost revenue by as much as 50%. The museum has averaged up to 100,000 visitors annually. Work began in 2020 and it was intended to be operational in May 2021. Image credit: by Michaela Chesin for the Provincetown Banner To read the full transcript of today's podcast, visit: elevatorworld.com/news Subscribe to the Podcast: iTunes │ Google Play | SoundCloud │ Stitcher │ TuneIn

SUMMARY While Part 1 of this podcast targets trailblazing research and regulatory approaches to workplace mental health, Part 2 chronicles the evolution of organizational policies, practices, and programs at two very different and unique organizations. Join Quentin Steen (CLAC Labour Relations Representative) and Trever Amendt (AECOM Site Safety Lead, Energy Operations & Maintenance in Lacombe, Alberta) as they share their personal mental health stories and their groups' commitments to building cultures of compassion with strong leadership, workplace-wide peer support, regular training, and ongoing employee communication and engagement. They also touch on the impacts of stigma and the challenges and opportunities presented by COVID-19. TAKEAWAYS This podcast will help you understand: The evolution of workplace mental health policies, practices, and programs in both union (CLAC) and engineering (AECOM) environments Union approach focused on cooperation rather than confrontation Corporate culture that cultivates employees' social and emotional well-being The importance of authentic peer support throughout organizations Types of training needed to optimize workplace mental health Impacts of COVID on workplace mental health What's been learned from COVID that will guide future polices, practices, and programs Return-on-investment for businesses that do workplace health and safety right Types of stigma existing in various workplaces   SPONSORS WorkSafeBC is a provincial agency in British Columbia, Canada that promotes safe and healthy workplaces for more than 2.3 million workers. Serving more than 230,000 employers, WorkSafeBC's services include education, prevention, compensation and support for injured workers, and no-fault insurance to protect employers and workers. WorkSafeBC is committed to creating a province free from workplace injury or illness. By partnering with workers and employers, WorkSafeBC helps British Columbians come home from work safe every day. CLAC is the largest independent, multisector, national union in Canada, representing more 60,000 workers in almost every sector of the economy including construction, education, emergency services, healthcare, retail, service, transportation, manufacturing, and more. CLAC has 14 member centres in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and BC, along with 25 active, independent, affiliated locals. Based on values of respect, dignity, and fairness, CLAC is committed to building better lives, better workplaces, and better communities.  AECOM is a global engineering firm whose infrastructure services for public- and private-sector clients include transportation, water, energy, and environmental projects. Employing about 87,000 people, AECOM was ranked #1 in Engineering News-Record's ‘2020 Top 200 Environmental Firms,' and named one of Fortune magazine's ‘World's Most Admired Companies' for the sixth consecutive year. Transforming the ways it works through technology and digital platforms, AECOM leads the engineering world in environmental, social, and governance solutions… leading to the Ethisphere Institute naming it one of ‘2021 World's Most Ethical Companies.'   RESOURCES National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace and the resulting Case Studies Research Report Addressing the mental health effects of COVID-19 in the workplace: A guide for workers Managing the mental health effects of COVID-19 in the workplace: A guide for employers    Guarding Minds@Work   Antidepressant Skills@Work    Psychological Health and Safety: An Action Guide for Employers    Mental Health Commission of Canada    Canada's Workplace Mental Health    Canadian Mental Health Association    Government of Canada/Mental health in the workplace      Wellness Works Canada        Wellness Together Canada: Mental Health and Substance Use Support provides free online resources, tools, apps, and connections to trained volunteers and qualified mental health professionals.      Workplace Mental Health Playbook for Business Leaders (CAMH)     Workplace Mental Health Research     Deloitte research reveals significant return on investment for workplace mental health programs.   GUESTS  Quentin Steen Quentin Steen is a Labour Relations Representative with the CLAC labour union, who works out of the Kelowna Member Centre and specializes in the transportation, manufacturing, and healthcare sectors. He is also the CLAC Provincial Member Education Coordinator for BC and facilitates numerous workshops for various signatory companies and shop stewards working in BC. Being a certified Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) instructor for the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Quentin is passionate about delivering the MHFA course because of his experience with mental health issues, personally and professionally. Quentin's personal life's mission is to educate others about mental health issues and provide them with the tools/skills they need to recognize changes (possible signs) to the mental well-being in self and others, to help those who may be in a mental heath crisis by offering comfort and support, and to reduce the stigma that surrounds mental health in our workplaces and society.  Phone: 250-868-9111 Email: qsteen@clac.ca Website: www.clac.ca Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clacunion Twitter: https://twitter.com/clacunion Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quentin-steen-23249326/ Trever Amendt Trever Amendt has been the Site Safety Lead for AECOM at the NOVA Joffre Plant in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada for five years. AECOM is the capital projects group on site and completes all project-based work, including pipefitting, electrical, iron work, insulation and scaffolding. AECOM made mental health its number one priority in 2020, and it became an even greater priority when COVID-19 hit in March of last year. To that end, Trever has an open door on site and is always ready to listen to what someone is going through to support them and build trust. The Mental Health First Aid course he took from CLAC in 2019, opened Trever's eyes and gave him a new desire to support and be there to help people when it comes to their mental health. Trever has a real passion for organizations that support people with addictions: the Dream Center in Calgary and Teen Challenge in Allan, Saskatchewan. Red Deer, Alberta is just raising money to redesign a building downtown to start a Dream Center. These centers address the physical, mental, and spiritual components of addiction.  Phone: 780-983-4966 Email: trever.amendt@aecom.com Website: www.aecom.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AecomTechnologyCorporation Twitter: https://twitter.com/aecom   HOST Jo de Vries is a community education and engagement specialist with 30 years of experience helping local governments in British Columbia connect with their citizens about important sustainability issues. In 2006, she established the Fresh Outlook Foundation (FOF) to “inspire community conversations for sustainable change.” FOF's highly acclaimed events include Building SustainABLE Communities conferences, Reel Change SustainAbility Film Fest, Eco-Blast Kids' Camps, CommUnity Innovation Lab, Breakfast of Champions, and Women 4 SustainAbility. FOF's newest ventures are the HEADS UP! Community Mental Health Summit and HEADS UP! Community Mental Health Podcast. Website: Fresh Outlook Foundation Phone: 250-300-8797   PLAY IT FORWARD The move toward optimal workplace mental health becomes possible as more people learn about the challenges, successes, and opportunities. To that end, please share this podcast with anyone who has an interest or stake in the future of workplace mental health and wellness. FOLLOW US For more information about the Fresh Outlook Foundation (FOF) and our programs and events, visit our website, sign up for our newsletter, and like us on Facebook and Twitter.   HELP US As a charity, FOF relies on support from grants, sponsors, and donors to continue its valuable work. If you benefited from the podcast, please help fund future episodes by making a one-time or monthly donation. Quentin Steen, Trever Amendt Interview Transcript You can download a pdf of the transcript here. The entire transcript is also found below: INTRO  0:10 Welcome to the HEADS UP! Community Mental Health Podcast. Join our host Jo de Vries with the Fresh Outlook Foundation as she combines science with storytelling to explore a variety of mental health issues with people from all walks of life. Stay tuned! JO  0:32 Hey, Jo here. Welcome to part two of our podcast on workplace mental health, where we'll build on what we learned in Part 1 about trailblazing research and regulatory approaches. This time around, we'll explore groundbreaking union and business solutions thanks to our co sponsors WorkSafe BC, CLAC, and AECOM. You'll meet Quentin Steen, Labor Relations Representative at CLAC, a Canadian labor union, and Trevor Amendt, Site Safety Lead for AECOM, Energy Operations & Maintenance at the Joffre chemical plant in Lacombe, Alberta. First, let's meet Quentin from CLAC, which represents more than 60,000 workers in almost every sector of the Canadian economy. Based on values of respect, dignity, and fairness, CLAC aims to build better lives, better workplaces, and better communities. The union also helps members reach their full potential by finding their own versions of everyday greatness. Hi, Quentin... thanks for joining us. QUENTIN  1:41 Thank you so much for the invite. It's my pleasure, Jo. JO  1:45 Can you give us an overview of CLAC's approach to mental wellness, and how that differs from that of other labor unions?  QUENTIN  1:56 I'm sure most of the unions out there are tracking some of the similar directions, but CLAC has been a labor union who's pretty proud of their progressive labor relations model, like a collaborative approach between the employer, employee, and the union. It's built on cooperative versus confrontational encounters... we've always believed that it's the most effective model when dealing with workplace issues. And among some of these issues, for sure, is the physical and mental safety and well-being of workers in the workplace. And it all sort of started with us in terms of the weight of this, about three-and-a-half or four years ago. It became a national mandate for the mental health of our CLAC staff and our shop stewards, where we made a huge investment into it. So, this mandate included things like working with our signatory companies in their management to address mental health safety of their employees at the workplace. In CLAC, we have a My Health & Wellness department where you can go to our CLAC website where our members can get the knowledge and tools they need to take charge of their own health and well-being by adopting good habits and a healthy lifestyle, and they can live a better and perhaps a longer life. This site is very interactive, and it's got like several health and wellness tools... like mental health is a specific area. Substance-use case managers are part of that, to financial wellness, workplace wellness. We also have EFAP programs like a lot of companies do, where we have an Employment and Family Assistance Program... that's what it stands for... where we have resources that are available to our members and their families to reach out for free. And they receive confidential help. If they or their loved ones are struggling, then we encourage them not to hesitate on that. We also have a quarterly magazine called The Guide that includes mental health articles and resources for our members and is really ramped up since the pandemic outbreak. Those are sort of our approach the some of the things that are kind of in our toolboxes that we provide for our members and how our organization looks at it. We're very aggressive with it. We think it's really important. We easily put it on par with the physical safety and wellness and well-being of employees at the workplace. Absolutely, one hundred percent. JO  4:14 Quentin... you're a labour relations representative with CLAC. Tell us about the mental health-related work you do specifically. QUENTIN  4:23 I've had a recent change in my role from not just rep but where I do that 50% of my role, but also the other 50% is member education coordinator for BC. Part of my role as the coordinator, and has actually been as a rep for the last three years, is providing Mental Health First Aid courses to our signatory companies, to our staff, and to our stewards. And I've done I think, in the last few years about 23 or 24 in total, and these Mental Health First Aid courses are designed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and basic courses are about 12 hours. So over two days, generally speaking, and then a blended virtual course that came online as of the pandemic, that's about eight hours. And I deliver these courses throughout BC and Alberta. Part of my role, too, in the last year-and-a-half has been creating Mental Health Moments. And that started of course with the onset of the pandemic, when I was tasked to write Mental Health Moments that were published on a weekly basis to our membership and staff about 60,000 people plus, and now they're published monthly. And they hit a variety of different subjects. The reason I started writing them is because I realized at the beginning of the pandemic, that once the virus comes and goes, or it's no longer on our minds because we've had these vaccinations, and herd [immunity], really what we're left with is really going to be the damage that's caused to our mental health. And so, I started seeing it in our representatives and I asked our national office if I could begin to write some articles for our reps, and they took that and decided it needs to be published to the rest of our membership. And we've gotten a lot of responses from a lot of people sharing their stories. And so that's been very, very great part of my journey in this last year-and-a-half in my role. JO  6:14 And I think in this difficult time, people are just craving that kind of information. QUENTIN  6:20 Oh, absolutely. The reality is, what I've seen anyways, from my perspective, the pandemic did a few things. And I would kind of categorize that impact on three different types of or kinds of experiences out there. The first being someone who has never had mental health-related issues, and they might be anxious, and they might worry from time to time, but never a diagnosable thing. And then all of a sudden, three weeks, four weeks, four months into it, they're now sitting across from a therapist or an EFAP program, and they're talking about an anxiety disorder. And then there's other people that have had them lying in the weeds, like myself for years, but I just kept myself busy, or didn't pay attention to it, or sort of deflected it, or pretended it wasn't there. And with the pandemic, I mean, it just bubbled to the surface for so many people. And then the third category of people, like where I'm at right now, where I have two diagnosable mental illnesses that I've lived with for most of my life. They've just been amplified... I've had to really dig down and really learn how to manage them in the middle of this pandemic, much differently than maybe prior to the pandemic. It is affecting people. JO  7:32 Thank you for being so vulnerable about that. Can you share your story? QUENTIN  7:37 Absolutely love to. I'm 51 years old. And my personal journey with mental health issues goes way, way back. I just didn't realize how far back the rabbit hole really went. But like I said, one of my diagnosable illnesses is clinical depression. I had it from early childhood into adulthood. It was seasonal at first... September was the start of new school year or work year, or January... the start rebooting of that. So, it would come like that, and it was kind of like this cloud that would come over me. And then it started to develop in a year-round in about 2008. It was nonstop, and some weeks were worse than others. Some of the darkest times I battled with suicidal ideations. In fact, those go back to grade four, where I first tried to take my life by suicide. And fortunately, I'm still here. In 2012 it got really bad for me, and those ideations came back again, and I had to pull over to the side of road, while I was traveling between two different cities, and call for help. I didn't realize that I had a clinical depression, until actually I took our Mental Health First Aid course, about five years ago, or four years ago. The irony of this all is I'm married to a former therapist, and three of my friends out of the top four are therapists. And so, they've known this for a long, long time. But like they said to me, you know, you weren't ready to hear it. And so when you're not ready to hear you just shut everything down. So that was kind of ironic the way it came about. I also have an anxiety disorder that I believe just comes from my being an infant... I was adopted... and at an early age I spent my first number of months going between wet nurse to wet nurse. And one particular time I was dropped on my head on the cement sidewalk, and that just changed my brain, physiologically, from that day forward. I didn't know that was an issue, until like I said, about 15 years ago when I was in therapy, and it was brought up as something that that's actually a big impact. And then into early childhood, my attachment issues that come from the adoption, like abandonment, emotional depravations, where the need to feel loved, significant, valued, like us all. But that just added to the anxiety part of it. In the early school years, I was bullied horribly physically because I was adopted. We're from a low-end family, and I was really the runt of the school. And emotionally, for sure, the bullying continued where, you know, I was always picked last or assigned to a group, which is even worse, because no one would pick you. And then it increased into high school where I was routinely held down by a group of guys that were popular, and jocks, and in woodwork shop, for at least by Grade 10 year anyways, and pinned to a table at some point during the class and they poured linseed oil down my throat until I threw up. Then I was sent to the principal's office because I was the troublemaker. And then it just continued on like that throughout high school and I even had a cancer scare. And so, I developed a phobia of death, which added to my anxiety. And then to my adult years was just even harder, in the sense that I made these vows that I would never, ever get rejected or bullied again, which, if you look at life, those are ridiculous, right? Because it happens every time we turn around. But those vows actually turned into my curses, and my default setting... my racket as a human being, I like to call it... is to get big, loud, critical, and overwhelm people. You know, in the midst of that, I developed panic attacks, too. And they started back in 1999. And I occasionally still have them. Last one happened to me was in Costco. And all that to say, though those are my issues, I've learned how to manage them much more effectively now that I know what they are, and how I function inside of them, and how I function with them. I've had a lot of therapy in the last number of years, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, to look at my attachment issues, my anxiety and panic attacks, and ways to deal with that neurofeedback, which is a recalibrating of your brain, Alpha-Stim, which was a big step in adding to my Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I've taken a lot of education and emotional intelligence in why I do the things I do. And then type theory, understanding my personality type. There's been this very robust sort of knowledge that I've gained once I understood what was in front of me. That's kind of my story. I don't think they'll ever go away... I don't expect them to. But that's not the issue. For me, the issue is, how do I function with them? They're part of my life, and they are who they are, and I am who I am. So, how do I learn how to manage them? That really is the issue, not hoping and wishing they would go away, because that's probably not going to help. JO  12:37 Thank you so much for sharing so many very personal experiences. Quentin. One of the things I'm learning through this podcast is just how resilient people can be. And those stories of resilience, and your particular story of resilience, are not only so informative, but inspiring. And people like yourself, they tend to take what they've learned about themselves, and then move that into an area where they can help other people who have similar challenges. I'd like to know, how has your personal experience helped you better understand and serve CLAC members who are struggling? QUENTIN  13:24 That's a great question. Well, let me start with this. One in five Canadians live with a mental health issue... and that figure only actually includes people seeking treatment. And you know what Joanne, I would say the last three years in my classes, it's more like one in three… it's not one in five, I think it's more like one in three. But that's just from what I've seen. And almost 50% of people will develop a mental health illness in their lifetime. Psychological health problems and the illnesses are the number one cause of disability in Canada, according to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety in 2016 survey. The Mental Health Commission of Canada, as well as the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, report that one in five workers experience fatigue, sleeping problems, headaches, and anxiety, and 23% of workers experienced physical health problems caused by stress, anxiety, or major depression, and 20% of all sick leaves are related to mental health. So, nationally, in Canada, an estimated 35 million workdays are lost to mental health conditions amongst our 10 million plus workers. That's astonishing. So, it's not fake. It's real. JO  14:34 Well, not only that, but also the impact on our economy. They say that the impacts of mental health on our economy are at least $55 billion a year. And by the year 2030, or 40, I believe, they expect it to be more than $300 billion a year. QUENTIN  14:55 Yeah... so it's not going away. So, because it's not going away, then my next thing is… it's about promotion. And what I like to say in my discourse with people, whether it's the workplace or wherever else... and what I actually alluded to earlier.... that it's entirely possible to be diagnosed with a serious illness or disorder, and then learn to live with your life, coping well with it and have a positive mental health about it. So, my mental health issues, like I said, might never go away, but it's how I learn to manage them that can make all the difference in terms of a person's resilience. JO  15:26 How has your personal experience helped you serve your members better? QUENTIN  15:32 I just teach them what I know. The reality is that it's a part of my personal mission in life to educate others of the prominence and importance of addressing mental health issues, not just in our society, but in our workplaces... in providing them with the skills and tools necessary in the way that I can, because I got to stay in my lane. I'm not a professional therapist, or a doctor, but I have a lane. And my lane is to be able to help our workers in our workplaces recognize the changes, or possible signs, of the decline of mental health, well-being in their selves first, and then maybe others around them. And then to assist those who might be in a mental health crisis by offering the proper comfort and support. And that's a key. And then probably one of the biggest things outside of that... and connected to this, and sort of the driver of it... is helping reduce the stigma that surrounds mental health in our society and workplaces. And it's there, and it's big. JO  16:29 Thanks, Quentin... we'll dig deeper into that a little later, but now let's bring Trevor from AECOM into the conversation. AECOM is an award-winning infrastructure consulting firm of planners, designers, engineers, consultants, and construction managers. Its Energy Operations & Maintenance Division provides best-in-class maintenance, turnarounds, construction, and fabrication services to North American oil, gas, and chemical industries. Hello, Trevor, and thanks so much for being here. TREVER  17:04 Thanks a lot, Jo. I'm very excited to be part of this conversation with you and with Quentin. Just a side note... Quentin has become probably one of my biggest mentors in the last year-and-a-half. His attitude towards mental health and the way he opens up people is just huge for me. So, thanks again. JO  17:20 You are a site safety lead for AECOM, which is an international engineering firm... which I mentioned earlier. Can you tell us a little bit about your work?  TREVER  17:32 I'm a safety professional here at Joffre NOVA Chemicals. We're about half-an-hour from Lacombe, [Alberta]. We deal with a lot of different trades out here... we've got pipe fitters, iron workers, electricians. And then we have a couple of CLAC groups with our insulators and scaffolders. We have a multiple trade group that does a lot of projects on site, deals with a lot of different, stressful environments... a lot of stuff that can go wrong, day to day. People is a key to our industry. Having people fit for duty, making sure that they're healthy, when it comes to the physical and mental state of their body and their mind, is so important to us. It's really changed I think, too, in the last couple of years of how we support people. We look at them in a different way. And I really put a lot of the onus onto the Mental Health First Aid course that we started two years ago that really changed the way we look at [being] fit for duty. JO  18:22 I understand that AECOM is zealous in its approach to optimizing mental health for its 47,000 workers around the world. What does that look like from your perspective, as the site safety lead in Lacombe? TREVER  18:39 Whatever safety I can give to somebody... when it's procedures, policies, site safety rules... if they're not fit for duty, and they're not healthy to come in, we can achieve that. We just had a milestone last week Wednesday, we've done a full year without any incidents, no injuries, no first aids. And through a time of COVID, it's a huge announcement... it's exciting to have that happen on our site. We've had so much diversity, so much isolation, where people come to work, go home, go to grocery store, go to the mall... there's not much left to do outside of that. We've really tried hard to make sure that people still feel that they're getting that support. Digging deeper… when you see someone who looks off, or just isn't firing on all cylinders, so to speak, that's such an important thing that we don't just push them off or put them in a corner. I like to talk to individuals and find out how they're made inside, and what they like and dislike... how they're wired. Every individual is created in a special unique way, and that's the message I give in every orientation. So, of course the safety guy sits there and 90% of people think the safety guy is just going to pump safety and policies and procedures. But the first interaction I get with every worker... if it's a subcontractor or it's an AECOM person on site... is just that individuality of each person, so we understand that we build that relationship right from the ground level... so they feel that respect built right away, they feel that connection built right away. So, you start that relationship. My safety director, Dale Hartery, he always talks about hand on shoulder... that's one of his favorite lines. That's something I really try to show to people when they come in, it's very clear in our company to see that right from our VP, down to all our corporate, our site managers, and all our safety that work in the service industry. One of the biggest things we use is our human performance tools, that gives them the tools to see obvious things that can cause things to go better, to help them slow down. It gives them triggers to do what's right and not be rushing, not be causing something to cause an accident or an incident on site. We give them the tools that we put in front of them, the traps too, that could cause things to go wrong. So, we make it very clear, you know what, these are common things, stuff that cause problem, but it gives them that opportunity to see what's right. And then of course, we have all the different organizations in our company, through HR, through Morneau Shepell, through the counseling groups, that we can help them to treat anything that's going on. It's not just the physical things that go wrong. It's more the internal, the mental stuff, the mental health issues that people have, that now we can put them into the right place to get that help and get treatment. And I like what Quentin said earlier, a lot of things that we deal with in life, if it's a mental health issue, they don't go away. We need to treat them and figure out a way to manage them. And I think AECOM is getting way better at managing this part of mental health and being able to deal with it. JO  21:36 That's amazing. Trevor, you too have a personal story with mental health challenges. Can you share your story? TREVER  21:43 AbsoluteIy. Mental health challenges, feel like it's part of who you are. It's part of your fiber of your being. And sometimes it's so embedded, you don't know what it is. I grew up on a mixed farm Saskatchewan, had seven siblings, and we all had a part to play on the farm. When I was about 11 years old, my brother Emile, who was 18, passed away from cystic fibrosis. He was born with this disease, and it goes after your digestive and you're breathing. When he passed away, I had to grow up in a big hurry, and I was by no means ready for it at that time. And now I had to take over responsibility for the farm, I was the next person up to do the work and didn't really understand why. Wasn't a lot explained to me why I needed to step up. My dad wasn't very understanding with this specific issue and didn't have time for me to make mistakes along the way. After about five years of trying to figure out where I belonged, I ended up quitting school and moving out... basically running away. We never talked about things at home when it came to how we were feeling or going through. Usually there was a lot of hollering with teaching... very physical aspects to life. There was no point to make mistakes, I guess. When you made mistakes that wasn't looked on as a learning experience. When I can look back on things now, my mental health, my own issues were never dealt with. It was embedded so deep inside me that I never got a chance to talk to anybody about it, And I thought that was a dark part of my life that I didn't dare bring up. My opinion of mental health at that time was someone who was born with the physical disorder. You talk about stigma! To me, mental health wasn't something that you could even have in everyday life. It wasn't something you could deal with. And, in my opinion, it couldn't be corrected or dealt with. This was a huge stigma. I went to drinking and smoking fairly heavy, and at 14 basically became an alcoholic. I didn't know how else to deal with what was going on inside, didn't feel like it was going good enough for my own family, and really struggled for the next seven to eight years with where I belonged and what I should be doing. Feeling like I wasn't good enough really drove me to always try and be the best at anything I tried to accomplish, and not in a good way. I would go on to different jobs and different work jobs, and if I would learn a task, or a school, I would drive until I could be better than anybody on that site. Failure, when I did make a mistake, wasn't a learning experience. So, it basically crushed me. So went from getting into drinking and heavy smoking, into basically working every second of my life. I felt the more I could work, the better I would feel and wouldn't have to deal with those internal mental health embedded hurts and hang-ups which were just always there gnawing at me. I had a son at the age of 19. We were both in the party scene and didn't want to grow up and take care of responsibility. We got married before the baby was born and I ended up working away, of course...  workaholic... work before anything else, and she got into an affair and left me basically a year after the baby was a year old. After a couple of years of back and forth with our son trying to figure out where we could be in life... again, I was working like crazy because I thought that was the way to fix everything. I met a great young lady who had her life together. She was beautiful and really smart young lady who was going to college at the time, taking care of her two young boys. The moment we went on a blind date, set up by one of our cousins, I stopped smoking and drinking all the same night... so I got rid of something that was really causing a problem. This felt like the right thing to do. A year later we were married. As soon as we started out, my mom started to dictate how we lived and especially picked on my new wife, Cindy... on how she was doing everything completely wrong. My old hurts and hang-ups kicked in, and I went straight back into a workaholic... the stress of life knocked me down again. And I hadn't figured out a way to deal with my own mental health, and didn't dare talk to Cindy about it because, again, this was something that I thought you didn't dare bring out... you didn't talk about. And the stigma to me was, this has no value, I've got to somehow bury that and move on. Cindy and I now have been married for 24 years, and it's because of her love and patience and perseverance that have taken us this far. And I have to say very clearly, a year-and-a-half ago, when I went through this Mental Health {First Aid] course, there was so many things that opened my eyes to my own mental health issues that I dealt with. And Cindy and I... she's had an opportunity to see a part of me 23 years after we were married that she'd never seen before. The vulnerability that I've been able to bring to her has changed our marriage. And by no means is it 100%... there's still lots it has to be dealt with, but it's amazing. And what I've gone through in my life, I turned 50 this year, so I'm not quite caught up to Quentin yet, but passion for mental health and people, who I rub shoulders with every day, so not just at work... works very important... but anywhere I go. So, through COVID a big thing I always tried to do if I was out shopping, I keep my eyes up and I try to get eye contact. And if you just say, "Hello, how's it going?" You could just feel that isolation and the hurts of people. We couldn't rub shoulders. We can't hug anymore. We can't shake hands. But man, whatever I could do to show people that you care, and the expressions and the excitement, sometimes in people's voice to get that interaction was just amazing. JO  26:49 You both exemplify the power of vulnerability with the stories that you've shared. Quentin, first, when you're dealing with people in your union who are struggling with mental health challenges, do you share your story? And if so, how does that help those people? QUENTIN  27:09 It's funny that you should say that because when I first started mental health courses, teaching them, I was with a very good friend and colleague at the time, Dave Phillips, who is a family therapist for 30 years. My wife actually worked underneath him in Abbotsford. I remember getting into the weeds of it the very first time and feeling very nervous, because the initial platform was to our entire staff. And I'm about to open my life up in front of my colleagues, which means... and again, attached to stigma... what are they going to think? Here's a guy who's like completely unstable, and should we actually think about promoting him? Or should keep an eye on him? Or maybe we should send someone to visit all these things that kind of going through my brain. And so, the very first course I did, after we were debriefing, Dave just said to me, "Quentin, you got to jump in with both feet, man." I said, "Dave, you know my story, we're very good friends, and I'm not comfortable. What will people think?" He's like, "What have you got to lose? We're not just talking about you, we're talking about other people, and they can learn from your narrative." Your narrative is nothing to run from. It's everything for you to embrace and walk into. I do that... I am not afraid of speaking my story. I'm not afraid of saying I have clinical depression...that I have anxiety disorders... that I get panic attacks every so often. And sometimes I feel like I'm losing my mind. Some days are better than others. Not every day is filled with rainbows and ponies. For me, it becomes very vital that the first sort of entry into mental health is me, at least telling my story when I'm given the opportunity to. And so, every class, I start with my story, and then I turn it over and say, "Why are you here?" Jo, you would not believe the reaction that people have, once you step into that arena and say it's okay to tell me and to tell us, and for you to vocalize who you really are, and where you're really at. And it's amazing. There are people in there that in my 23 classes across the last number of years who have said to me, "I'm going to say something I've never said... I have bipolar." Or, "I live with schizophrenia." That's the first words out of their mouth. I'm telling you right now, Jo, there was a time, and not too long ago, where that was never your entering comment. And so, at the workplace, do the same thing... exactly what Trevor does. I try to maintain eye contact, and I know I can feel it when something's off. I don't necessarily ask a lot of questions, but I do take the opportunity to talk about, "Man looks like you guys got a pretty difficult job here. That must be really wearing on the brain. I know what it would do for me." I think those type of things, just to recognize what they're experiencing and what they're feeling. For me, it's an essential critical step. If you don't have that step, if I'm not sharing my story, my narrative... and my narrative doesn't have to work for everyone, it's not about everyone, it's about me.... but when I do that, it changes the environment. It lightens the air, and it allows people the permission to say, "You know what, things aren't really great... haven't been for a while. Here's what I'm dealing with." JO  30:27 What it does is it really engages people emotionally. And that's where things really start to happen. A personal example of mine is, when I was initially fundraising for the HEADS UP program, I would talk to people about what the program was and what our objectives were, and what our plans were. But when I shared my story of chronic anxiety... and like you, I have an anxiety disorder... when I share that story, people would lean into me. I could see their body language change and their interest in what I was talking about, just increase exponentially. I agree that that vulnerability is so critical. Trevor, how have you found the use of vulnerability to either help or hinder your work? TREVER  31:23 So, first off, when I did this course with Quentin, and I've been in safety now for seven years, but we did this course a year-and-a-half ago, we sat down at the course, I'll be very honest, I was pretty nervous. I was a little stressed about where's this was going to go. I've never gone through that before. Like Quentin said, he tells a story right from the beginning. It's like it knocks your socks right off. And everybody in the room, their eyes are wide open, and they want to speak, it just opens the room. He's not asking them to speak, he's not telling them to speak. People want to tell him their story and open up.  The vulnerability he gives to people… it's such a huge reaction. And I've been involved now with two of his courses, we did that one and three of us from our site went. And then we had a full course here on site with a very mixed group. And it's a true story. Like he says, it's real life. This is real, this isn't something made up. And people, just they want to tell their story. I had so many texts and phone calls that da, ye did it here on site, they couldn't believe that this is actually something that was happening. It opened up such a new part to our site that we've never had before. And it's still there. After COVID, we've had trouble getting training back, but it's slowly coming again. But for me, on a daily basis, this year not as much because we're a lot slower. But in 2019, we had 200 people on site, and almost on a daily basis people would come down and sit in my office, and some would be in tears when they show up... some would be having stresses going on. They would say, "You know what... this is what's going on in my life... this is what's happening at home... this is what's happened to me... my wife isn't doing good... my wife got cancer... I had a family member pass away." And they understand that because I've opened up with my story, what's going on in my life, that they can come to me and say, "Hey, this is what's going on." And they feel like I'm going to be able to either direct them, or just listen to what they have to say. And it completes them for that day. And either I give them the right that they should go home, or they should take a break. It's just that conversation. I don't tell them it's okay. But they have that feeling that now I've been able to open up. And it's part of a treatment that they feel good about, hey, somebody listened. I'm by no means a counselor. But that feeling they get when they leave, it is really good. JO  33:35 They feel they're not alone. And I think that's huge. And particularly during the time of COVID when people are feeling so isolated, people are feeling lonely. That sharing of stories and emotions, and solutions, and all of that great stuff becomes an antidote for isolation and loneliness. And people just realize that they're not alone. TREVER  34:04 I know when COVID hit last year, we had a quite a big group on site. And, of course, we had the COVID payments come from the government, and it was quite a disaster to start off. And I became an in-between person working with HR and payroll, trying to get these ROEs done and trying to get people paid. And some of them it took sometimes a month to almost a month-and-a-half to get there first cheque. And the stress that was caused by that was something we haven't seen for a long time because it happened so quick. The government wasn't ready. And there was a lot of dotted I's and crossed T's that weren't done. So, it took a long time to get people the right help they needed, just financially. So, to be part of that really helped to build a lot more relationships and build a lot more respect for people to be part of that. Again, it had to do with financial, but sometimes they'd be on the phone for 45 minutes just talking to somebody, just taking the time to listen and see what I could to just support that person, and it built again relationships. To me, really, relationship is so important with any mental health issues people are having, because then they feel comfortable to be vulnerable. It's just such a big key. QUENTIN  35:08 Not only that, but going, hey, you know what, no matter what the issue is, not only are there resources, but I can have a preferred future. I don't have to live under the weight of this. I can learn it is manageable. And for some disorders, some mental health issues are harder than others, you can live with them. And there's many examples out there of normal people living with significant issues, learning to manage them, and having good mental health, even though they have a significant mental health issue. JO  35:40 That's just such a good point, Quentin. And I know that, Trevor, you mentioned earlier about how every one of us is unique. And that's why every one of us needs to have a very special management plan. And for me, that includes medication, getting good sleep, good nutrition, regular exercise, support from my family, and my friends. As this unfolds in front of you, you will learn what those management strategies are for yourself. QUENTIN  35:56 And some work better for others. For me, I check all those boxes off too, Jo, maybe in different ways, but those are the boxes that I use as well. What's comforting is to know that there are resources, and that there is a way through these weeds, and that's a God send. When somebody in front of me not only feels comfortable telling me their story about issues they're dealing with, but also how they're dealing with it, that goes a long ways. TREVER  36:43 I understand that there's treatment, I think when that's the key. When you bring on the course, yes, now they have a mental health issue that they've been dealing with their whole life, or it's just come to light, like you said. Now it's out there, but all of a sudden, there's a way to treat this that they never knew was possible before. It's not just being open and vulnerable, but going through whatever avenue we can give them to get that treatment and living a normal life, still having that mental health issue. We talked about Speak Up when it came to mental health, quite a few years ago, and it was so short lived, that there wasn't really any help for it that we could see. And now, with this Mental Health First Aid course that we do, that you've been running for the last year-and-a-half, the treatment is there. We're treating this Mental Health First Aid course just like first aid when it comes to physical injury or when you're born with something that's physical. Stigma, we talk about. We take that away now and say, "You know what, it's no different than going to the doctor when you have cancer, or you've got anything that you have to deal with through life." At certain ages, as men, we've got to go ahead and get tested to make sure we don't have cancer for colon, all these different wonderful fun things we get done. But that's part of life on the physical side. Now we show up and say, "Hey, mental health is the same way. We've got to treat it just like physical illness or injury." And we can live life healthy, dealing with and treating our mental health. And I think that's something when we did these courses, people came out of it, looking at it saying, "Wait a minute, this isn't just some dark thing that we have to hide and put in the past. It's something we need to bring out and talk to people about to help them." But then we can treat this because it's a condition. It's real. It's a fibre of our being. We are born this way, or something pushed us that way. But it's part of our life. I think that's the exciting part of bringing mental health out the open is the treatment side of it. Because now we can help people. And because they have this mental health issue doesn't mean they can't live a healthy life, a good life, and be involved and do all the normal things that everybody else is doing, because we can take care of that. I'm so excited about the learnings I have for mental health. QUENTIN  38:42 There's no discrimination with mental health. It doesn't care who you are. It doesn't care how your status... doesn't care about your sexuality. It doesn't care about your worldview. It doesn't care about your ethnicity. It doesn't care about your social or economical background. It doesn't care, your gender, your religion, it really doesn't. There's no discriminatory pieces to this. It goes after everyone. It's a predator. It's a predator, though, that we not only know more about than ever before, but we're naming it more than we ever have. And we're calling it out. And we're saying, "Enough is enough. You've wreaked havoc long enough. And this is where I draw the line." And we can help people draw the line and go, "That's it." It's like Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings, when he's being chased by the fire demon, and he's across this bridge and he slams down his staff and he says, "You shall not pass." That's the picture of a resilient person who understands the issues, who has the resources and support and goes, "That's it. You have a corner… you stay in that room. That's all I'm giving you. You do not have access to the rest of my life, the way that you have in the past. I am the one, you are not." If we can deliver that, however it is that we do, not only will our workplaces transform, but our families, our relationships, our community, and most of all, with ourself... empathy for self, love for self, compassion for self. When we make those things available to us, even with significant mental health issues... that it's not a character defect, that it's not a problem with whatever it is with me, that there's nothing wrong with me... but when I can actually give myself the permission to feel those things and to accept those things, that is then much easier to give out.  JO  40:39 Wonderful input, thank you. I'd just like to step back for a minute. Quentin, in the union environment, how has people's interest in, and response to, mental health challenges changed over the years you've been doing this work? QUENTIN  40:57 Trevor and AECOM is a classic example. It's the acknowledgement that there's been this increased level of acceptance that mental health issues are real and common, and they're here to stay. And then it's a subject that's influenced lawmakers, HR departments, policies, lunchrooms. It's not as demonized as it used to be, the ones we shall not speak of, that's gone. That kind of mentality is making a quick exit, and it's increased the resources around us to assist people. Those are probably the top markers. JO  41:33 You both mentioned stigma... and you really can't talk about mental health without discussing stigma. So, Quentin, I'm really interested to know how stigma manifests in your members' work environments. Nowadays, I know that great progress is being made, but what are you noticing that still has to be dealt with? QUENTIN  41:57 Let me back it up for a second and just set this as the foundation. The Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety report that, nationally, an estimated, like I said...  35, and I refer to this early because it's really important... 35 million workdays are lost to mental health conditions amongst our 10 million plus workers. So, it's an estimated cost to Canadian employers of $51 billion [annually]. And like you said, Jo, it's going to just catapult after that. But this is the cost of direct services and loss of productivity. So, that's the stage it's on. What are the manifestations? Here's the ones that are most prominent, from my experience of what I've seen, is that there's this sort of denial and apathy... that, "I don't have an issue. It's not that big. Like, for years I didn't know I actually had an issue, or issues." I think language, there's stigmatizing words and ideas and statements and stereotypes and categorizations and interactions based on ignorance and insensitivity. Those are the two things... either you know, and don't care, or you don't know, at all. Not just language, but I just think of fear in general, that we fear what we don't know or what we don't understand.... ones we do not speak of. I think there's fear of repercussions. Actually, the Conference Board of Canada said that 65% of Canadian workers in the survey said they would not disclose a mental health problem to their employer for fear of repercussions, which could look like job loss or lack of promotion, or keeping an eye on somebody, you know, that little extra because you just in case they snap, or discrimination. A Health Canada survey said that 54% of people reported facing discrimination for their mental problems in the workplace. This is all workplace related. There's embarrassment and shame. [In the] Health Canada survey, 54% of respondents who met the criteria of anxiety-related disorders or mood-related disorders, or substance dependence, felt embarrassed about their mental health problems. And then there's a kind of dismissal. I found this astonishing when I came across this, but according to Benefits Canada, there's a survey that was done based on malingering rates in Canada's workplaces, which means you're faking it or exaggerating your issue, your workplace-related health issue. So, the national board for psychological safety in the workplace, they approximate that the malingering rate in Canada workplaces is about 15%, which means, Jo and Trevor, that 85% of the people that are expressing health-related or mental health-related issues are in fact not faking it. It's real. That's significant. But stigma goes, "There's Johnny again, got to pull the slack because he's got an anxiety disorder. Really, what it's code for is he just wants more time off." JO  44:53 So, before we go into how we're going to actually tackle these stigma-related issues, I just want to chime in with you, Trevor, about stigma within the energy industry. And I may be assuming too much, but it would seem to me that that's likely a male-dominated industry. And men in particular, have a hard time expressing their feelings. And perhaps there's the macho thing going on. Can you tell us about that? TREVER  45:28 Absolutely. I think that's a key thing. In oil and gas, especially in construction, it is still mainly men dominated. It's changed a lot in the last couple of years... you see a lot more women in this culture, in this industry... but it is still a lot of men. And I think, as men, we don't want to talk about this stuff. And we really single people out, we build even on a whole crew. You'll go into the lunchroom. and, you know, these guys work together, and all of a sudden Johnny's sitting over there, he's by himself, and yet he's a good worker out there. But there's something different about him that everybody has pushed him out. Or he does have anxiety issues, or things like that, that are slowing him down and he can't keep up with a group. And you see those guys singled out. And it's so important that when that happens for me, especially when I've been in safety, because I have this opportunity now to do that. Those are the people that I warm up to... those are the people that I want to find out their story. I don't want to use that to beat up the other crew. But I want to find out how I can start to deal with this, make it more open. So, everybody sees, you know what, there's nothing wrong with this person. They've got something they're dealing with, but you guys have to accept them for who they are. QUENTIN  46:35 It's really been helped out in the workplace... guys like Trevor and their companies and HR departments and management. There's lots of government legislation out there that helped minimize it in the sense that there's laws that govern the physical safety of the workplace. Those same laws also govern the mental health safety of each worker in their respective workplaces. Some of that stuff comes with other fines, or it could even include jail time. It's serious. We're not just making this up. There's laws that are helping us work through this issue. And like Trevor said, the idea that AECOM is actually celebrating it, normalizing it as a way that can help minimize stigma. Stigma is never going to go away, but the onslaught of further education continues to say, "Here's what's really going on. You break the ice behind here and this is the thing." Part of education for some employers also includes discipline, for those people that continue to be offenders by using these kinds of silos and stigmatizing phrases and sort of nasty behavior. There's discipline in the workplace for that, which is also governed by legislation, that a lot of contracts have 'respect in the workplace' articles, and what that looks like. And if you don't toe the line, this is what you can expect. So, all those things, I think, do help minimize stigma. But like I said, with mental health issues, I don't think stigma will ever go away. We can get the upper hand on it, which is what AECOM is working towards, which is what I'm working towards, but will never completely defeat it. It'll still be there to some extent because we're people, and it's a people thing, it's not some nebulous force. It's something that's part of who we are, unfortunately. JO  48:18 We heard from Trudy and Lisa earlier about key components of mentally healthy workplaces. And there were four primary ones. And this is where we bring part two of this episode into alignment with part one, we're going to talk about those four components... leadership, culture, peer support and training. Starting with leadership, Quentin, how does good leadership set the stage for a mentally healthy workplace?  QUENTIN  48:54 Buy-in at all levels. So, from the owner, to the manager, to the workers themselves, you have to have that buy-in. It starts with the owner. It starts with the CEO. It starts with whoever's at the top. If they own it, it's disseminated much better than if it's not. Proactive HR departments where they make progressive workplace policies, on things like bullying, harassment, or zero-tolerance policies... on behaviors that would stigmatize the workplace and its employees. There's occupational health and safety committees... them using their platform to make mental health an actual regular agenda item for the promotion, or the education, of mental health. And it's awareness. Things like celebrating Mental Health Day. There's the education thing like 'mental health first date' as Trevor's attested to a number of times. It's a powerful, powerful thing for education in the workplace. Education on what is bullying. I'm doing actually a course a couple of weeks from now talking about what is bullying and harassment in the workplace, and what it's not. Respect in the workplace is along the same kind of lines... respect for each other. And on site, companies that take toolboxes, they do their toolbox in the morning just to brief everybody. But some of those toolboxes now are starting to add in Mental Health Moments. That's another great place. And of course, I'm an advocate of proper discipline in the workplace. And what I mean by proper discipline is not just the discipline that's rendered, but it's how they arrive at what discipline we rendered. For instance, I've been advocating into our companies... to our signatories and HR departments... listen, you need to be adding mental health as part of the framing of your investigation. In other words, "Is there a potential mental health issue at play that we need to consider as a factor?" I can remember dealing with a health care unit... a company... and this person had patterns in absenteeism around Christmas for the last three years. This is a number of years ago, going back a number of years ago. And I asked the HR department, the directors, "Have you ever asked this individual why that is? Because you've made a bunch of assumptions here. And maybe there's something going on that we're not aware of?" They said, "I don't think that's my place." I said, "It is absolutely your place to ask." It's the same thing as if you suspect one of your employees might have an addiction to alcohol, you have to ask the questions… "Do you have a problem? Are you in need of assistance?”... these types of things. And I just said, “Listen, do you mind if I approach the individual and ask them?" And so, I did. And I said, "Hey, listen, I just came out of a meeting. They're concerned about this timeframe... every year for the last three years you take it off, or you don't bother phoning in, and then you just go to kind of AWOL." I said, "If there's something going on, that would help me explain the situation to them, that we might be able to reconcile this in a different way than just discipline. And this lady told me that, "Yeah, I'll tell you what it is... I have an anxiety disorder, and it peaks. And it started three years ago, when my aunt and my niece were coming to visit me, and they went through Rogers Pass and got in a head on, and both died instantly on impact. So, every year, the week before Christmas, my brain shuts down, and I can't handle it." I said, "Do you mind if I share this with the HR department, because this is significant, and we can get you help." Long story short, went in there and said, here's the reason. And what we ended up doing is that we're not going to discipline her, what we're going to do is you're going to give her a hall pass for the next couple of years. “We're going to give you the time off, just let us know if you need it. But we'll just make sure that you're off the schedule, so that you can work through this issue, not worrying about leaving us behind.” And within that two years, we also got her some help dealing with a cognitive behavioral therapist about her anxiety disorder  around it. You know what, two years later, different lady and learning how to manage it. And now it's like, every so often, every Christmas since then, maybe a day, if that at all, couple days, but a significant difference. That's what I'm talking about. That's very, very helpful. Or including mental health days as part of the definition of sick days. That's an important piece to put in there. And of course, I think, personally speaking, that the inclusion of personal days, either paid or unpaid, preferably paid into the collective agreement, covering off mental health days, including mental health days, like I said, as definitions of sick days. I think that's huge. I am a big advocate of that. JO  53:25 Trevor, what are AECOM leaders doing to build more mentally healthy environments for its workers? TREVER  53:33 I think a big thing with our leaders, for our VP Shawn Jubinville, he has made this such a big mission of his for the last two years to talk about mental health. So, it's coming down from above, to our corporate guys, to our site managers, to our project managers, to our directors. He is such a key part to our industry. And in that same breath, he's serving the people, coming to the same level so that servant leadership is so important, because then people feel like they can come to you. I've worked for a few different companies in my life, and usually a VP or a director, usually you feel like he's above you, he's so far away that you can't connect, or you can't contact him. When our VP comes to site, or he comes to talk to people, they feel open to talk to him. If they've got an issue, they want something resolved, they'll bring it up to him... he has such a good way to represent our company in that servant way. And it's so easy for me as a site safety, to serve the people here to show them that we want to take care of any mental health issues that come up. And Quentin talked about harassment, and people that get beat up, and we don't see it. They're getting harassed by words... are getting picked on. We've had quite a few different occasions on site where that came to my attention. And we do have the tools to discipline and deal with that very quickly, even quicker than sometimes an instant, because when it comes to harassment, and somebody is getting pushed to the side, getting bullied, we do not allow that. And you don't always get to see it right away, so that's where, when you come in as a servant, you come in at the same level as people, you don't come from above, it's easy for somebody to come over and say, "Trevor, this is what's going on, what do we do?"... because they're at a loss... they feel like they're up against the wall. We need to show anybody in our group that it's very important to speak up. JO  55:16 So, it looks like AECOM is doing a number of really incredible things to foster better mental health. What else could they be doing? You're down in the trenches doing this work every day. What else can they do to help in that move toward minimizing stigma and mental health issues? TREVER  55:38 I think a big thing is we just need to keep pushing and keep speaking up to make sure that our leadership hears that the sites need this. And the importance of it is the same as safety. It's the same as practices, procedures, all the stuff we deal with already this has to be pushed that same level. And I like what Quentin said, when it comes to benefits, we need to get sick days, we need to get things that support mental health, as well as they understand that this is something we need time to deal with. We need to pull away and take that break to recharge, reset, and get that special treatment.  QUENTIN  56:10 If I'm an owner of a company and I have a problem with absenteeism, or even presenteeism, it's a lot more cost effective, to be honest, to provide that in a contract, than for people to take two three weeks off and collect either medical EI or short-term disability. The numbers make sense from a fiscal

Matt and I sit down to talk about all things marketing training - what to look for, why to invest in your people, and why to invest in yourself. Matt Handal provides marketing and business development strategies that actually work. He has helped firms 10X their proposal results and realize significant growth. He is the author of Proposal Development Secrets, Contributing Editor of SMPS Marketer, and leads the Construction Owners Association of America’s Communication Committee. He has appeared in Engineering News Record, The Architect's Handbook for Professional Practice, and other industry publications. To download Matt Handal's Proposal Management Training Checklist, please visit: https://www.helpeverybodyeveryday.com/aecmarketeer

As editor-in-chief, Jan Tuchman leads the editorial team creating content for the Engineering News-Record enterprise—online, in print, and at live events. She is active in many construction organizations and has developed a broad network of industry sources, who help keep ENR on top of the latest trends and innovations.   Melinda S. Gentile is a partner in P&A’s Construction Dispute Resolution and Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution practices and serves as Chair of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee 2021 Groundbreaking Women in Construction Conference | May 4-6, 2021 | Presented by ENR in partnership with P&A. Register at https://www.enr.com/groundbreaking-women-in-construction Jan Tuchman | ENR Editor-in-Chief | (m) 646 217 2221 email:  tuchmanj@enr.com Melinda S. Gentile | One Southeast Third Avenue | Suite 2000 | Miami, FL 33131 | mgentile@pecklaw.com | 305.358.2600 NABWIC IS THE VOICE OF BLACK WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION.| NABWIC.ORG NABWIC.ORG The Vision of the National Association of Black Women in Construction (NABWIC) is to build lasting strategic partnerships with first-rate organizations and individuals that will provide ground-breaking and innovative solutions for black women in construction and their respective communities.

About Jan Tuchman As editor-in-chief, Jan Tuchman leads the editorial team creating content for the Engineering News-Record enterprise—online, in print, and at live events. She is active in many construction organizations and has developed a broad network of industry sources, who help keep ENR on top of the latest trends and innovations.  Tuchman is vice-chair of the Industry Leaders Council of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of the Columbia University advisory board on Infrastructure, Facilities, and Public Spaces. Her most recent recognition is the Ted C. Kennedy Award in 2020 from the National Academy of Construction, the group’s highest honor. Melinda S. Gentile Melinda S. Gentile is a partner in P&A’s Construction Dispute Resolution and Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution practices and serves as Chair of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. Leveraging her more than 35 years of experience as a construction lawyer and commercial litigator, Mindy is a highly qualified Construction Arbitrator, Mediator, Neutral Evaluator, Dispute Board Member, Special Master, Fee Expert, and Private Resolution Judge.  2021 Groundbreaking Women in Construction Conference | May 4-6, 2021 | Presented by ENR in partnership with P&A. Register at https://www.enr.com/groundbreaking-women-in-construction Jan Tuchman | ENR Editor-in-Chief | (m) 646 217 2221 email:  tuchmanj@enr.com Melinda S. Gentile | One Southeast Third Avenue | Suite 2000 | Miami, FL 33131 | mgentile@pecklaw.com | 305.358.2600

About Jan Tuchman As editor-in-chief, Jan Tuchman leads the editorial team creating content for the Engineering News-Record enterprise—online, in print, and at live events. She is active in many construction organizations and has developed a broad network of industry sources, who help keep ENR on top of the latest trends and innovations.  Tuchman is vice-chair of the Industry Leaders Council of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of the Columbia University advisory board on Infrastructure, Facilities, and Public Spaces. Her most recent recognition is the Ted C. Kennedy Award in 2020 from the National Academy of Construction, the group’s highest honor. Melinda S. Gentile Melinda S. Gentile is a partner in P&A’s Construction Dispute Resolution and Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution practices and serves as Chair of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. Leveraging her more than 35 years of experience as a construction lawyer and commercial litigator, Mindy is a highly qualified Construction Arbitrator, Mediator, Neutral Evaluator, Dispute Board Member, Special Master, Fee Expert, and Private Resolution Judge.  2021 Groundbreaking Women in Construction Conference | May 4-6, 2021 | Presented by ENR in partnership with P&A. Register at https://www.enr.com/groundbreaking-women-in-construction Jan Tuchman | ENR Editor-in-Chief | (m) 646 217 2221 email:  tuchmanj@enr.com Melinda S. Gentile | One Southeast Third Avenue | Suite 2000 | Miami, FL 33131 | mgentile@pecklaw.com | 305.358.2600

 I am so excited to launch our first podcast of 2021 and our second season!   In this episode, I had the opportunity to sit down with the President of C.W Driver and Driver SPG Karl Kreutziger.  Knowing how to lead is such a rare talent that takes years to develop and that's exactly how Karl got to where he is today, by being patient and consistent.  One of my favorite take-aways of this show is when leaders focus too much on spreadsheets and sales reports and then wonder why the financials or even the company culture is not improving.He says that in order for a business to succeed and thrive, you have to put your employees "in the right seat on the bus" or otherwise you're not only doing your company and clients a disservice, but the employee is left to struggle because he or she is just not fit for that particular position.  Regardless of where you are in your construction career, this podcast is powerful for those looking to grow and succeed in construction. About C.W Driver:C.W. Driver Companies is a premier builder serving California since 1919. As a leader in general contracting and construction management services, C.W. Driver Companies are on the cutting edge across a broad spectrum of industries, including education, commercial/office, technology, healthcare/biomedical, mixed-use, assisted living, entertainment, retail, industrial and civic. Ranked in Engineering News Record‘s Top 150 General Contractors and Top 100 Construction Managers.  For more information, please visit www.cwdriver.com. 

Larry Armstrong joined me on Accelerate OC at a time that his industry, commercial architecture and building, is undergoing the greatest disruption and change of his multi-decade career.  It was such an engaging and compelling conversation! He is Chairman of Ware Malcomb, an international design firm providing planning, architecture, interior design, branding, civil engineering and building measurement services to commercial real estate and corporate clients, from its 25 office locations throughout the US, Canada, Mexico and Panama. They’ve been recognized as an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private company and Best Firm to Work For by Zweig Group. The firm is also ranked among the top 15 architecture/engineering firms in Engineering News-Record’s Top 500 Design Firms.Larry is a strategic visionary, accomplished architect and strong business leader. He’s been an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner, a multi-time OCBJ OC500 member of the most influential OC community leaders. He’s been with Ware Malcomb for over 30 years, and as CEO for over 25, as he grew firm revenue by 40x during his time as CEO.  Earlier this year he became Chairman.Larry guest lectures at USC, Chapman and UCI, and has even given the commencement address for his alma mater, Kent State. He’s super active in the OC community across a number of leadership groups, highlighted by his role leading the United to End Homelessness campaign here, along with a couple of my prior guests. He also recently joined the CEO Leadership Alliance of OC, which we discussed on the show.

Overview What are the steps leaders need to take in cultivating a mindset of psychological well-being and a caring community? In this podcast, Cal Beyer and I analyze the steps many leaders have taken to make suicide prevention and mental health promotion health and safety priorities at work. About Cal Beyer Cal Beyer Headshot B&W.png Cal is Vice President of Workforce Risk and Mental Wellbeing at Cobb Strecker Dunphy Zimmerman (CSDZ). For 100 years, CSDZ has specialized in construction insurance, surety and risk management. CSDZ, along with parent company Holmes Murphy & Associates, serve construction clients nationally with 16 offices in 11 states. Prior to joining CSDZ, Cal was the director of risk management for Lakeside Industries in Issaquah, WA. Cal has 30 years of work experience. He is a past National Secretary for the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA). It was Cal’s leadership that led to the formation of the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Engineering News-Record magazine, the global voice of construction industry, named Cal a Top 25 Newsmaker for 2016 for his work launching suicide prevention in the construction. He is currently serving as the “peer editor” for a third annual series of articles for Construction Executive magazine on mental health, suicide prevention, addiction recovery and wellbeing. For more information on this and every episode go to sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/57

OverviewWhat are the steps leaders need to take in cultivating a mindset of psychological well-being and a caring community? In this podcast, Cal Beyer and I analyze the steps many leaders have taken to make suicide prevention and mental health promotion health and safety priorities at work. About Cal BeyerCal Beyer Headshot B&W.pngCal is Vice President of Workforce Risk and Mental Wellbeing at Cobb Strecker Dunphy Zimmerman (CSDZ). For 100 years, CSDZ has specialized in construction insurance, surety and risk management. CSDZ, along with parent company Holmes Murphy & Associates, serve construction clients nationally with 16 offices in 11 states. Prior to joining CSDZ, Cal was the director of risk management for Lakeside Industries in Issaquah, WA. Cal has 30 years of work experience. He is a past National Secretary for the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA). It was Cal's leadership that led to the formation of the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Engineering News-Record magazine, the global voice of construction industry, named Cal a Top 25 Newsmaker for 2016 for his work launching suicide prevention in the construction. He is currently serving as the “peer editor” for a third annual series of articles for Construction Executive magazine on mental health, suicide prevention, addiction recovery and wellbeing.For more information on this and every episode go to sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/57

At the age of 14 and the oldest of five brothers, Sam Alley moved from the small town of Ramallah, near Jerusalem to another small town of Rose City, Arkansas with his family. Inspired by mentors, he found a passion for engineering and directed his schooling towards a degree in civil engineering when he was in high school. While still in college at the University of Arkansas, Sam began working in the construction industry. After graduation, he was hired as a project manager in 1979 at Pickens Bond Construction Company. Over the next few years, Sam gained experience in the field and it became his passion. He married his wife, Janet, who was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. Inspired by his father, who was an entrepreneur, Sam co-founded VCC in 1987, on his 31st birthday. Sam is now recognized as one of the top engineering and construction professionals in the United States. Under his guidance, VCC is consistently listed in the top 100 contractors by the Engineering News Record, largest contractor in Arkansas, and recognized as the largest retail contractor in the Country. Sam has been a pillar in his community for over 30 years. He serves on the steering committee for Campaign Arkansas, and is a member of the Arkansas Academy of Civil Engineering. His service to numerous civic groups has earned recognition, including being named a lifetime Board member and Youth Home’s Board Member of the Year in 1994, Junior Achievement Board Member from 2007 to 2010 and Arkansas Business Executive of the Year for 2013. Most recently Sam was honored with the Legacy Award for Junior Achievement, the Patriot Award in recognition of his support of our service men and women, and the Distinguished Alumni award for the University of Arkansas. He will be recognized as the Honoree at the Brandon Burlsworth Foundation Legends Dinner in 2020. Sam has been married to his loving wife Janet for 38 years, and has three kids Jessica, Derek, and Adrianna. He has three grandchildren Vivienne Rose, Sam Joseph and Wellington (Wells) Louis.

In this edition of the Digging Deeper podcast – brought to you by MSA – The Safety Company – John Meola, safety manager for the Timmons Group, and a regular contributor to ForConstructionPros.com, discusses OSHA requirements and best practices as they relate to PPE, including hazard recognition, hazard assessment, PPE selection and employee training. He gives particular focus to head, ear and eye protection for both workers on the ground and operators in machines. John Meola, CSP, ARM is the safety manager for Timmons Group in Richmond, VA. Recognized for nearly 25 years as one of Engineering News Record’s top 500 design firms, Timmons Group provides civil engineering, structural, environmental, electrical, geotechnical, GIS/ geospatial technology, landscape architecture and surveying services to a diverse client base.

Al Gerhardt is the President and COO of Kraus-Anderson Construction Company. Under Al's leadership, Kraus-Anderson has been consistently ranked in the top 50 Construction Management firms at Risk by Engineering News-Record. Russ Becker is the President of CEO of APi Group Inc., one of the largest specialty contractors in North America. APi Group is the parent company to over 40 independently managed life safety, energy, specialty construction and infrastructure companies in over 200 locations worldwide. Gerhardt and Becker have a candid discussion about the issues the construction industry is facing, exciting innovations like modular construction, and how they empower their employees to become leaders. Stay tuned for part two of their discussion, where Gerhardt and Becker discuss the workforce shortage, and get put on the hot seat with a speed round of questions!

This week, we sit down with Brent Darnell. Brent is a best selling author, speaker, coach, consultant, and emotional intelligence specialist. A few years ago, Eddie was able to hear Brent speak and was able to chat with him at a CURT conference. Eddie has been talking about Brent since then, so we wanted to get him on the show to talk about what he’s doing to change how we work with each other in construction. BRENT'S BIO - "The man Engineering News-Record describes as transforming the construction industry’s Alpha Males into service-focused leaders. 

Brent Darnell is an international best-selling author and leading authority on Emotional Intelligence. He is President and owner of Brent Darnell International, a training and consulting company that maximizes companies’ success by tapping into the “soft” skills, or the Emotional Intelligence of each employee. Brent has been awarded the prestigious honor of being named among Engineering News-Record’s Top 25 Newsmakers for his transformation of the construction industry’s Alpha Males.

His best-selling book, The People-Profit Connection: How Emotional Intelligence Can Maximize People Skills and Maximize Your Profits has sold over 30,000 copies worldwide. In this book, Brent introduces his unique approach to teaching Emotional Intelligence skills in technically trained professions. He has been called “…relevant to performance on every job and any industry, by Emotional Intelligence pioneer Kate Cannon and is a recognized expert in his field.

Clients include Skanska, Clark, McCarthy, Hunt, Hardin, Balfour Beatty, Truland Electric, Guarantee Electric, Jacobsen Construction, Kiewit, Granite, Brasfield & Gorrie, Caddell, WS Nielsen, Nobia, Langan Engineering, S&ME Engineering, Cousins Properties, Lyles Construction, and Geotechnical Services, Inc. (For all clients, visit: http://www.brentdarnell.com)” Related Links Brent’s Website Brent’s LinkedIn Brent Darnell International LinkedIn BRENT’S FREE BOOK Thanks for listening! Please be sure to leave a rating or review and follow us on our social accounts! SUBSCRIBE! Like us on LinkedIn! Like us on Facebook! Eddie's LinkedIn Tyler's Link, edIn (Our day job)

When I was but a wee lad, not even 40 years old yet, I worked in the Chicago News Bureau of McGraw-Hill as a correspondent for a number of niche business magazines. One of my most important clients was Engineering News Record, or ENR for short. Now this was an interesting challenge, since I had trouble screwing a nut on a bolt. And I’d never taken an engineering course in my life. I had to get up to speed super quickly on a whole range of things, to write about concrete, rebar, sheer forces, cantilevers, and all kinds of technical construction stuff that was a complete mystery to me. I did it, and it really paid off. I became ENR’s golden boy in the field, and when the San Francisco bureau chief job opened up, they lobbied to get me in it. And, for the first time in 40 years, San Francisco’s McGraw-Hill World News office had a new bureau chief: me. Now, the reason I’m bragging about this is to put some focus on a skill I developed that helped me get through many trials by fire. (That would be, each article I had to write for ENR.) The skill was, becoming a subject matter expert in a hurry. I’ve used this in copywriting, too. It’s one reason I’ve done work in more than 100 different industries. Today I’d like to share with you my step-by-step method for becoming an expert in a hurry. I’m going to share all my show notes on this episode with you on copywriterspodcast.com . So you can print them out and use them when it would be useful. -- Now I will say that my ENR experience came in handy 30 years later. That was when Kim Phelan, who was with GKIC at the time, asked me if I would do copy critiques for for some of their members. It turned out that Kim had worked for the Association of General Contractors and they all read ENR. So we had something from our backgrounds in common. But just as important was the way I was able to transfer the skill of becoming a subject matter expert in a hurry to any niche. I’ve been doing this on autopilot for years, but I decided to lay all the steps on the table and share them with you today. This is important because it gives you a comfort level in a new niche, and provides a kind of road map on where to go as you do the rest of your research. There are five things you need to become familiar with. I’m calling them “bricks” because together they form a little structure you can operate from. I guess I did learn something at ENR after all! Brick 1. Mindset Description/definition: The mindset is the way this market looks at things. When you’re writing for a niche or for a specific product, the first thing you need to accept is that they may not look at things the way you do, or the way a lot of other people do. Your job is to find out how they look at it. Example (keto): The keto mindset is: You can lose weight eating this way: By balancing healthy fats and proteins with a small amount of good carbs. With the right information and consistent action, you will succeed. With the wrong foods or the right foods in the wrong ratios, you won’t succeed. It’s possible to do, but you have to understand exactly how to do it, and then do it exactly that way. Questions to ask to build this brick: • What are they trying to accomplish? • What supports them in accomplishing that? • What keeps them from accomplishing that? Answering these questions helps you rapidly draw a rough outline of their world. Brick 2. Bias Description/definition: Possibly the only source of unbiased information in the U.S. is The Weather Channel, which boasts that it is the most trusted news channel on TV. But that’s only because there’s no constituency for bad weather. In other words, when it comes to weather, nearly everyone has the same bias. So, they pretend they’re not biased. But the fact is, everyone is biased. It’s just human nature. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is a bad thing when a copywriter doesn’t understand the bias of the market they’re writing for. Understanding it is an important part of becoming an expert in a hurry. Example (keto): Keto is biased against traditional “food pyramid” advice as well as a lot of diet approaches that do not emphasize fats and minimize carbs. It’s not a world where “all diets are created equal, but this one might work for you.” It’s more a world where, the information you’ve been getting is wrong and could be dangerous to your health. But keto is a proven, effective path to weight loss and overall health. Questions to ask to build this brick • What do they focus on as true and important? • What do they see as misleading or unimportant? • Which people or groups do they see for them, and who do they see as against them? Example: Construction engineers see facts, data and physics as important. Professional motivational speakers, who I’ve worked for, see feelings and experience as important. Both are examples of bias. Both make perfect sense for each group. Both would be ridiculous as the primary values of the other group. Engineers building skyscrapers would be nuts to focus mainly on feelings as their basis for building decision. Motivational speakers talking to civilian audiences would be out of their mind to talk mainly about facts and data, when their job is to inspire hope. But both groups are entirely legitimate with their own biases, in the greater scheme of things. Brick 3. Jargon Description/definition: Jargon is the special language of a niche, market or community. People use it for at least two major reasons: To indicate they are insiders instead of outsiders, and as shorthand, to save time. A lot of people trying to become experts in a hurry start here. It’s better than not starting anywhere at all, but you’ll be so much better off if you have a working knowledge of the mindset and the bias before you dive into the jargon. Because, for one thing, you’ll sound more like you know what you’re talking about when you use the jargon. Example (keto): Keto has special terms of its own. The one that stands out in my mind is “the keto flu,” which is not a real flu, as best I can tell, but the body’s reaction to going into ketosis, which is part of the process of the keto diet. It feels like the flu. “Low-carb” is a big term they use. Also, some biochemistry terms, like MCTs (medium-chain-tricglycerides) and ketones. That’s just a few of them. Questions to ask to build this brick: • What are the “official words” people in this space use? • What are the “slang words” people in this space use? • Are there sayings and phrases that mean one thing everywhere else, but might mean something entirely different in this space (like “keto flu”)? Brick 4. Thought Process Description/definition: Every market has an overriding thought process. This becomes easier to understand after you’ve become an expert in a hurry in a few different markets. Golf’s thought process is about improving the game by making each component more efficient. Copywriting’s thought process is about improving numbers through better targeting of customers, messages, and offers. Financial informations thought process is about unique, credible techniques to improve cashflow from investments. The more you can get a sense of your niche’s thought process, the better you’ll be able to write for them. Example (keto): Keto’s thought process is basically, everything else is wrong, and keto is the way to go with your diet. It doesn’t work exactly the same for everyone, so you may need to make some adjustments. It’s based on solid science and proven to work Questions to ask to build this brick: • Are they more like a detective (following clues and eliminating possibilities to get to conclusions)? • Or are they more like an inventor (trying out new ideas to find out which one works)? • Do they have inclusive (everyone welcome) or exclusive (only the best can do this) mentality? Brick 5. Enemies Description/definition: Many people would like peace, love and harmony in the world, but even those people have enemies, though they’d rather not admit it. The enemies of peace, love and harmony are war, hatred, and discord. The reality of life on this planet is that everyone perceives enemies of some sort, real or imagined. Your job, as a copywriter, is to figure out who your market sees as their enemies. This can come in handy at time when you’re actually writing the copy, and it certainly will help you understand some of the things you learn along the way as you do further research. Example (keto): Keto has many enemies. Processed food. Traditional ways of eating. Big Agriculture (because of all of the grains and other carbohydrate-rich foods they produce). Nutritionists who give advice contrary to keto. Fast food. The candy industry. As just a few examples. Questions to ask to build this brick: • Who or what makes it easier for people in this world/on this path, to succeed? • Who or what makes it harder for people in this world/on this path, to succeed? • Who or what do people in this world think is an enemy — even if you don’t? Okay, so that wraps up our little crash course in how to become a subject matter expert in a hurry. As a quick review, the five “bricks” are: 1. Mindset 2. Bias 3. Jargon 4. Thought process 5. EnemiesDownload.

When I was but a wee lad, not even 40 years old yet, I worked in the Chicago News Bureau of McGraw-Hill as a correspondent for a number of niche business magazines. One of my most important clients was Engineering News Record, or ENR for short. Now this was an interesting challenge, since I had trouble screwing a nut on a bolt. And I’d never taken an engineering course in my life. I had to get up to speed super quickly on a whole range of things, to write about concrete, rebar, sheer forces, cantilevers, and all kinds of technical construction stuff that was a complete mystery to me. I did it, and it really paid off. I became ENR’s golden boy in the field, and when the San Francisco bureau chief job opened up, they lobbied to get me in it. And, for the first time in 40 years, San Francisco’s McGraw-Hill World News office had a new bureau chief: me. Now, the reason I’m bragging about this is to put some focus on a skill I developed that helped me get through many trials by fire. (That would be, each article I had to write for ENR.) The skill was, becoming a subject matter expert in a hurry. I’ve used this in copywriting, too. It’s one reason I’ve done work in more than 100 different industries. Today I’d like to share with you my step-by-step method for becoming an expert in a hurry. I’m going to share all my show notes on this episode with you on copywriterspodcast.com . So you can print them out and use them when it would be useful. -- Now I will say that my ENR experience came in handy 30 years later. That was when Kim Phelan, who was with GKIC at the time, asked me if I would do copy critiques for for some of their members. It turned out that Kim had worked for the Association of General Contractors and they all read ENR. So we had something from our backgrounds in common. But just as important was the way I was able to transfer the skill of becoming a subject matter expert in a hurry to any niche. I’ve been doing this on autopilot for years, but I decided to lay all the steps on the table and share them with you today. This is important because it gives you a comfort level in a new niche, and provides a kind of road map on where to go as you do the rest of your research. There are five things you need to become familiar with. I’m calling them “bricks” because together they form a little structure you can operate from. I guess I did learn something at ENR after all! Brick 1. Mindset Description/definition: The mindset is the way this market looks at things. When you’re writing for a niche or for a specific product, the first thing you need to accept is that they may not look at things the way you do, or the way a lot of other people do. Your job is to find out how they look at it. Example (keto): The keto mindset is: You can lose weight eating this way: By balancing healthy fats and proteins with a small amount of good carbs. With the right information and consistent action, you will succeed. With the wrong foods or the right foods in the wrong ratios, you won’t succeed. It’s possible to do, but you have to understand exactly how to do it, and then do it exactly that way. Questions to ask to build this brick: • What are they trying to accomplish? • What supports them in accomplishing that? • What keeps them from accomplishing that? Answering these questions helps you rapidly draw a rough outline of their world. Brick 2. Bias Description/definition: Possibly the only source of unbiased information in the U.S. is The Weather Channel, which boasts that it is the most trusted news channel on TV. But that’s only because there’s no constituency for bad weather. In other words, when it comes to weather, nearly everyone has the same bias. So, they pretend they’re not biased. But the fact is, everyone is biased. It’s just human nature. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is a bad thing when a copywriter doesn’t understand the bias of the market they’re writing for. Understanding it is an important part of becoming an expert in a hurry. Example (keto): Keto is biased against traditional “food pyramid” advice as well as a lot of diet approaches that do not emphasize fats and minimize carbs. It’s not a world where “all diets are created equal, but this one might work for you.” It’s more a world where, the information you’ve been getting is wrong and could be dangerous to your health. But keto is a proven, effective path to weight loss and overall health. Questions to ask to build this brick • What do they focus on as true and important? • What do they see as misleading or unimportant? • Which people or groups do they see for them, and who do they see as against them? Example: Construction engineers see facts, data and physics as important. Professional motivational speakers, who I’ve worked for, see feelings and experience as important. Both are examples of bias. Both make perfect sense for each group. Both would be ridiculous as the primary values of the other group. Engineers building skyscrapers would be nuts to focus mainly on feelings as their basis for building decision. Motivational speakers talking to civilian audiences would be out of their mind to talk mainly about facts and data, when their job is to inspire hope. But both groups are entirely legitimate with their own biases, in the greater scheme of things. Brick 3. Jargon Description/definition: Jargon is the special language of a niche, market or community. People use it for at least two major reasons: To indicate they are insiders instead of outsiders, and as shorthand, to save time. A lot of people trying to become experts in a hurry start here. It’s better than not starting anywhere at all, but you’ll be so much better off if you have a working knowledge of the mindset and the bias before you dive into the jargon. Because, for one thing, you’ll sound more like you know what you’re talking about when you use the jargon. Example (keto): Keto has special terms of its own. The one that stands out in my mind is “the keto flu,” which is not a real flu, as best I can tell, but the body’s reaction to going into ketosis, which is part of the process of the keto diet. It feels like the flu. “Low-carb” is a big term they use. Also, some biochemistry terms, like MCTs (medium-chain-tricglycerides) and ketones. That’s just a few of them. Questions to ask to build this brick: • What are the “official words” people in this space use? • What are the “slang words” people in this space use? • Are there sayings and phrases that mean one thing everywhere else, but might mean something entirely different in this space (like “keto flu”)? Brick 4. Thought Process Description/definition: Every market has an overriding thought process. This becomes easier to understand after you’ve become an expert in a hurry in a few different markets. Golf’s thought process is about improving the game by making each component more efficient. Copywriting’s thought process is about improving numbers through better targeting of customers, messages, and offers. Financial informations thought process is about unique, credible techniques to improve cashflow from investments. The more you can get a sense of your niche’s thought process, the better you’ll be able to write for them. Example (keto): Keto’s thought process is basically, everything else is wrong, and keto is the way to go with your diet. It doesn’t work exactly the same for everyone, so you may need to make some adjustments. It’s based on solid science and proven to work Questions to ask to build this brick: • Are they more like a detective (following clues and eliminating possibilities to get to conclusions)? • Or are they more like an inventor (trying out new ideas to find out which one works)? • Do they have inclusive (everyone welcome) or exclusive (only the best can do this) mentality? Brick 5. Enemies Description/definition: Many people would like peace, love and harmony in the world, but even those people have enemies, though they’d rather not admit it. The enemies of peace, love and harmony are war, hatred, and discord. The reality of life on this planet is that everyone perceives enemies of some sort, real or imagined. Your job, as a copywriter, is to figure out who your market sees as their enemies. This can come in handy at time when you’re actually writing the copy, and it certainly will help you understand some of the things you learn along the way as you do further research. Example (keto): Keto has many enemies. Processed food. Traditional ways of eating. Big Agriculture (because of all of the grains and other carbohydrate-rich foods they produce). Nutritionists who give advice contrary to keto. Fast food. The candy industry. As just a few examples. Questions to ask to build this brick: • Who or what makes it easier for people in this world/on this path, to succeed? • Who or what makes it harder for people in this world/on this path, to succeed? • Who or what do people in this world think is an enemy — even if you don’t? Okay, so that wraps up our little crash course in how to become a subject matter expert in a hurry. As a quick review, the five “bricks” are: 1. Mindset 2. Bias 3. Jargon 4. Thought process 5. EnemiesDownload.

Mahogany Moms of the Week: This Momologist of the Week is Dr. Raissa Ferron. This wife, and mother of two is an Associate Professor at The University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework within the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering. Her accolades are too much to mention for our hour-long podcast, but prominent notables include being the first African-American woman to earn tenure in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Engineering News Record 2016’s Top 20 under 40, and American Concrete Institute (ACI) Young Member for Professional Achievement Award in 2018. Dr Ferron is an avid supporter of mentoring children, especially young girls, into STEM fields. Angel Frazier.  This mom of 4 whips many hairstyles back in sassy shape.  We commend her for keeping us all on our toes by constantly changing her look and elevating ours too. Resources:  8 ways you may be encouraging your child to be a bully (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2015/03/10/8-ways-you-may-be-encouraging-your-child-to-be-a-bully/?outputType=amp) https://techjury.net/stats-about/cyberbullying/ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/bullying https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-couch/201908/what-makes-someone-support-bully https://www.today.com/parents/how-stop-bullying-schools-what-works-what-doesn-t-t159669?fbclid=IwAR2acsZfzGCozR9KKtOdXHp_v8erCrqUZ1gvwgq676ZJOC6tlgGbrSOI3wM Podcast Partner: This episode is sponsored in part by HAK Electronics.  Based in Dallas, they focus on making STEM learning fun for kids 5 and up.  From after school, weekends, and camps your kids will see the amazing ways their lives are impacted by STEM.  Get 10% discount on classes by using the word Momology check them out at www.hakelectronics.com and now on to our show. Produced By: Greenville Ave. Recording Studio Continue the Discussion, Download, Subscribe, Rate, Like, Follow Us, and Share on: Website: https://linktr.ee/mahoganymomology Marvelous Mahogany Mom Nomination Form: https://form.jotform.com/Mahoganymomology/marvelous-mahogany-mom-nomination Twitter: @MMomology Insta: @mahoganymomology FB: @MahoganyMomology FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mahoganymomologist

Steve McGough is the president and chief financial officer of HCSS, a Texas based company that since 1986 has specialized in developing software to help heavy, highway and utility construction industry companies streamline their business operations.  HCSS’s mission is driven by a desire to help its customers “dramatically improve their business through our innovative, high-quality software and exceptionally helpful service, while providing a great life for our employees.”  The firm works with more than 4,000 of the best construction companies in North America, including most of the top 25 in “Engineering News Record” magazine’s “Top Heavy Civil Contractors.” Interview Highlights:  The biggest challenge facing the construction industry  How “I Build America” aims to address this challenge The many educational paths into the construction industry Changes in the construction industry, including the increasing emphasis on safety  How to avoid the biggest mistakes construction companies make when implementing new technology  Why continuing to promote infrastructure spending is vital to construction and the American economy How to attract Millennials and Gen. Z folks to your company  How Steve managed HCSS’ growth from 40 to over 300 employees The importance of aptitude, passion and grit  A simple method for identifying the right employee fit when hiring Using a customer service focus to build a competitive advantage  How HCSS customer, Carolina Bridge,  is successfully attracting high-quality employees More on Steve…  A 35-year construction industry veteran, McGough joined HCSS in 2005 as chief operating officer.  He added “president” to his title in January 2015 and “chief financial officer” two years later.  He began his career with Turner Collie and Braden, a consulting engineering firm in Houston that is now part of AECOM.  McGough has been a distinguished volunteer in national construction organizations for 15 years.  His leadership positions in the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) include: senior vice chairman (2019), first vice chairman (2018), central region vice chairman (2016-17), western region vice chairman (2013-16) and Materials & Services Division president (2012).  He’s also the chairman of the association’s Membership Development Committee, a post he’s held since 2015. He currently serves on the board of directors and executive committee for The Road Information Program (TRIP), a national transportation research group that promotes transportation policies that help relieve traffic congestion and its impact on air quality, improve road and bridge conditions, make surface travel safer, and enhance economic productivity. McGough is the recipient of the 2012 Paul F. Phelan Award, which recognizes outstanding leadership and contributions to ARTBA’s Materials & Services Division.  He is an active member of The Beavers, a heavy engineering construction association based in California. He earned his bachelor’s in civil construction from Texas A&M University and his M.B.A. from Tulane University. McGough and his wife, Elaine, live in Kemah, Texas, on Galveston Bay.  They have two adult sons, Ryan and Grant.   This episode is brought to you by the: Construction Leaders Dashboard  The Construction Leaders Dashboard is one of the simplest and yet most powerful tools for leaders in construction companies of all sizes that can be used to clarify what you need to focus on in order to be a highly successful leader. It includes: Vision, Mission, Values, Edge, Initiatives, Metrics, Key Relationships, and Development Opportunities.  To get your copy of the dashboard, click this link.

Weather is always a consideration when engineers design, and contractors build, our nation’s roads and bridges. But it’s becoming a bigger issue as the climate we’ve known forever has begun to change and grow stronger with each storm event. Our guest is no stranger to the impacts of weather on the things we build. Pam Russell is a veteran journalist who covered Hurricane Katrina for the New Orleans Times Picayune. Today she writes for Engineering News Record. We’ve gone through her most recent reporting on these issues and decided to ask her about some of those stories.

Episode 6 of the Empowering Women Podcast GUEST: Sepi Saidi, Civil Engineer & Entrepreneur, Founding Owner of SEPI, Inc. Sepi Saidi is a visionary leader who founded SEPI Engineering & Construction in 2001 and has led the company to become a premier full service civil, environmental planning, and construction management engineering firm in the Southeast. The firm's awards include Fast 50 firm by Triangle Business Journal, Zweig White Hot Firm List, Inc. 5000, and being ranked as a Top 500 Design Firm on the Engineering News-Record's 2017 list. Incorporating the firm's core values, SEPI is dedicated to providing a unique work space and environment for its employees to plan, design, build, and give back to the communities in which we serve. With a dedicated passion to support organizations that align with the health, safety, and well-being of the families in our communities, Ms. Saidi and the firm are proud to be champions of community service. A Professional Engineer and alumna of North Carolina State University, with degrees in Civil and Agricultural Engineering, Ms. Saidi has been named by the Triangle Business Journal as the 2018 Businessperson of the Year, was recently selected as a Charlotte Business Journal 2018 Women in Business Achievement Award winner, and has been inducted into the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame.   QUOTES "Persistence is really really important, and believing in your vision, whatever that vision is... believing and being excited about that vision is extremely important."     "When you're excited about your vision and you believe in it, you can do more."     "If you love your career...  focus on ways you could do it with the help of a husband partner, or building a community around ourselves... building communities and not giving up o the idea that it's important for me to stay in this... that I am really passionate about.     "You can start by really showing up when you say you show up, whether it is a committee you get involved in, whether it's a task you took on, or an extracurricular non-profit you're involved in - doing what you say you will do is really important - not coming up with excuses."     "Have a voice, but also allow other people to have a voice. So collaboration, positivity, solution-driven and supporting each other-- those are the beginnings and then it builds. [Success] just builds and builds on that."     "When you look at the world through the lens of curiosity, you are not being judgemental. You are open. You are interested in learning. You want to receive. And through that lens, everything is more inclusive... I feel that if we look at the world through the lens of curiosity, then we're not putting people, things, ideas in a box... and it creates more bonding opportunities."   "I believe we can find a common point with everybody, if you approach it from curiosity."     "Fundamentally, we are really all the same people... having freedom, having happiness, contributing to our communities, building a great career, contributing to our families. It's all the same. That's why I believe you can build bridges with people you think you have nothing in common. That has been one of the biggest secrets to my success. Embracing people from different walks of life. "     "It's not really about balance, and it's not really about having it all. It's about choosing... making decisions that create happiness and balance for your family, your particular lifestyle, and what's important to you. [You can] craft that. Craft your lif

Keith Warta is currently serving as the CEO of Bartlett & West, Inc. a Midwest employee-owned engineering and technology solutions company.  The company’s focus is to improve communities by positively affecting every organization and every person that comes within their footprint. Bartlett & West delivers unique value to clients throughout the country and was named one of the 175 largest design companies in the US by the Engineering News Record.  Zweig-White, an industry consultant, has also listed Bartlett & West as one of the Hot 100 Firms in the country for four years in a row. Every employee at Bartlett & West is an owner and the company promotes involvement of all employees in important company decisions like charitable giving, strategy development, and documentation of purpose and core values. Prior to his current role, Keith’s focus was on the design and management of major flood control and transportation projects.  His technical expertise is in hydrology and hydraulics associated with urban infrastructure. As part of his graduate work, Keith authored a study that examined design storm assumptions and the impact that they have on flood control system sizing and costs. Keith has a passion for community improvement at the grass roots level & he has volunteered for leadership positions in organizations providing senior services, education and community economic development. Listen as we talk about: How a trip at age 10 opened his eyes to how he can help in his community How having multiple jobs has helped him retain an open mind How he strives to meld his religious standards and his work environment What makes his company a stark contrast to others around it Why he sees employee ownership as the key to his business' success How he balances authority with humility How he stays in good mental health How he uses his faith to ground himself The importance of being a family man Recommendations to others wanting to be family centered while still being involved with work   Resources mentioned: Good to Great - Jim Collins amazon.com/s?k=good+to+great   Join our purpose seeking podcast community at...   Facebook   Instagram   YouTube Channel   Facebook Group - Purpose Seekers     Sign up for the Bi-Weekly Newsletter by emailing: peopleofpurposepodcast@gmail.com   Help More Find Their Purpose by Donating to the Podcast

PJ Glasco is a Principal at Cannon Design. She is a healthcare planner and designer who has worked with many of the nation’s top healthcare institutions to create landmark facilities. Her designs have enhanced the campuses of several institutions, including Texas Children’s Hospital, Harris Health System, the University of Texas Medical Branch and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. PJ is a past chair of the Houston chapter of the AIA Committee on Architecture for Health and has presented at national industry conferences for several years. PJ has been previously recognized in the “40 Under 40” program of Building Design and Construction as well as by the Houston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” and Engineering News-Record’s “20 Under 40” for the Texas and Louisiana Region. Her passion & strength lies in creating strong programs based on volume analysis and actualizing them into creative & operationally efficient planning solutions. In this episode, PJ talks about her experience of immigrating to the U.S. from India to get her Masters of Architecture degree from the University of Houston, how she ended up becoming a healthcare planner and designer, and what she loves most about working in that field. She discusses one of the biggest trends she’s seeing in healthcare design, and has some great advice for how to tackle really complex projects or problems. PJ also shares why we should call it work-life integration, instead of work-life balance.

Our guest today is Jim Donaghy, Executive Chairman of Structure Tone, a $4 billion construction services firm headquartered in New York City. In 2018, the company was ranked no.16 worldwide on Engineering News Record’s Top 400 Contractors List. Jim learned the business from the bottom up, holding various positions in operations, estimating, and management.Jim is a graduate of Hofstra University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, and has completed the Columbia Business School Senior Executive Program. Jim lives in Old Tappan, NJ, with his wife and son.In our conversation we talk about building for the Olympics, strategic planning, and the best way to waste a million dollars. We hope you enjoy the conversation.Conversations Around the CornerWelcome to Conversations Around the Corner where we talk to construction executives about who they are and how they got there, inspiring the next generation of construction leaders.Conversations Around the Corner is Produced by Wallprotex, the designer and manufacturer of wall protection products for healthcare, hospitality, or any commercial building. Visit us at www.wallprotex.com.For questions or comments, email us at john@conversationsaroundthecorner.com.F

Continuum Advisory Group President, Gretchen Gagel, speaks with Jan Tuchman, Editor in Chief of ENR Magazine. They discuss the importance of technology and innovation within the industry, driving diversity, lean practices and more.

New York's Citicorp Tower was an architectural sensation when it opened in 1977. But then engineer William LeMessurier realized that its unique design left it dangerously vulnerable to high winds. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the drama that followed as a small group of decision makers tried to ward off a catastrophe in midtown Manhattan. We'll also cringe at an apartment mixup and puzzle over a tolerant trooper. Intro: A surprising number of record releases have been made of sandpaper. In high school, Ernest Hemingway wrote a poem composed entirely of punctuation. Sources for our feature on the Citicorp Tower: Joseph Morgenstern, "The Fifty-Nine-Story Crisis," New Yorker, May 29, 1995. "All Fall Down," The Works, BBC, April 14, 1996. Eugene Kremer, "(Re)Examining the Citicorp Case: Ethical Paragon or Chimera?" Arq: Architectural Research Quarterly 6:3 (September 2002), 269-276. Joel Werner, "The Design Flaw That Almost Wiped Out an NYC Skyscraper," Slate, April 17, 2014. Sean Brady, "Citicorp Center Tower: How Failure Was Averted," Engineers Journal, Dec. 8, 2015. Michael J. Vardaro, "LeMessurier Stands Tall: A Case Study in Professional Ethics," AIA Trust, Spring 2013. P. Aarne Vesilind and Alastair S. Gunn, Hold Paramount: The Engineer's Responsibility to Society, 2010. Caroline Whitbeck, Ethics in Engineering Practice and Research, 1998. Ibo van de Poel and Lambèr Royakkers, Ethics, Technology, and Engineering: An Introduction, 2011. Matthew Wells, Skyscrapers: Structure and Design, 2005. Gordon C. Andrews, Canadian Professional Engineering and Geoscience: Practice and Ethics, 2009. "William J. LeMessurier," American Society of Civil Engineers, July 1, 2007. David Langdon, "Citigroup Center / Hugh Stubbins + William Le Messurier," ArchDaily, Nov. 5, 2014. Vanessa Rodriguez, "Citicorp Center - New York City (July 1978)," Failures Wiki (accessed Oct. 28, 2017). Jason Carpenter, "The Nearly Fatal Design Flaw That Could Have Sent the Citigroup Center Skyscraper Crumbling," 6sqft., Aug. 15, 2014. Stanley H. Goldstein and Robert A. Rubin, "Engineering Ethics," Civil Engineering 66:10 (October 1996), 40. "Selected Quotes," Civil Engineering 66:10 (October 1996), 43. "Readers Write," Civil Engineering 66:11 (November 1996), 30. James Glanz and Eric Lipton, "A Midtown Skyscraper Quietly Adds Armor," New York Times, Aug. 15, 2002. "F.Y.I.," New York Times, Feb. 2, 1997, CY2. Anthony Ramirez, "William LeMessurier, 81, Structural Engineer," New York Times, June 21, 2007, C13. Henry Petroski, "Engineering: A Great Profession," American Scientist 94:4 (July-August 2006), 304-307. Richard Korman, "LeMessurier's Confession," Engineering News-Record 235:18 (October 30, 1995), 10. Richard Korman, "Critics Grade Citicorp Confession," Engineering News-Record 234:21(Nov. 20, 1995), 10. Listener mail: Wikipedia, "Relative Hour (Jewish Law)" (accessed Nov. 11, 2017). "The Jewish Day," chabad.org (accessed Nov. 11, 2017). "Hours," chabad.org (accessed Nov. 11, 2017). "Zmanim Briefly Defined and Explained," chabad.org (accessed Nov. 11, 2017). Wikipedia, "Twenty Questions" (accessed Nov. 11, 2017). "Two Types: The Faces of Britain," BBC Four, Aug. 1, 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Kelly Bruce. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

Our guest today is Brian Acton, CEO of BMWC Constructors. He went to Purdue University where he studied Construction Engineering and Management. Brian has worked at BMWC for 32 years and has been the CEO since 2010. BMWC is consistently an Engineering News Record’s top contractor. In our conversation today we talk about Indiana basketball, the importance of fraternities, and the best strategies for recruiting young project managers and superintendents . We hope you enjoy the conversation.

This is a compilation of some of the earliest PM Point of View episodes, covering new directions in Project Management. Robert Brese, former CIO of the Department of Energy, talks about risk and what he looks for in a Project Manager. John Cable, Director of the Project Management Center for Excellence at the University of Maryland, discusses PM in the Academic sphere. Greg Balestrero, CEO Emeritus of the Project Management Institute, focuses on sustainability in Project Management – and it’s more than just the environment. German futurist, Oliver Schlake and Michael Hannan of Fortezza Consulting talk about how PMs need to create and nurture an environment that promotes innovation. Listen, learn, and get a free PDU! PM Point of View® (PM-POV) is a podcast series produced by Final Milestone Productions and PMIWDC. PM-POV allows our membership and the public at large to listen to brief and informative conversations with beltway area practioners and executives as they discuss various perspectives on project management -- its uses, its shortcomings, its changes, and its future. Listeners can send comments and suggestions for topics and guests to pm-pov@pmiwdc.org. PM Point of View® is a registered trademark of M Powered Strategies, Inc. PDUs Awarded:  1 PDU Information Earn education PDUs in the PMI Talent Triangle for each podcast you listen to — over 11.25 PDUs by listening to the entire series! Use the following information in PMI's CCRS system to register the PDUs for this podcast: PDU Category: Online or Digital Media Provider Number: C046 Activity Number: PMPOV0041 PDUs for this episode: 1 » More PM-POV Episodes About the Speakers Robert Brese   Department of Energy (DOE) Chief Information Officer (CIO) Mr. Brese is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Department of Energy (DOE). He provides leadership, establishes policy, and maintains oversight of DOE’s annual $2 billion investment in information technology (IT), at more than 25 National Laboratories and Production Facilities, to enable urgent missions that span from open science to nuclear security. Mr. Brese is also a leader in the U.S. Government’s cybersecurity community and a key contributor to the Administration’s efforts in legislation, policy and technology research, development, and deployment. He is a Chair to the CIO Council’s Management Best Practices Committee and also serves as an advisor to the Domestic Policy Council’s Strong City, Strong Community Pilot. Prior to his current assignment, Mr. Brese served as DOE’s Deputy CIO. Previously, Mr. Brese was the Deputy CIO for Information Technology for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and also the Director of the Office of Program Evaluation within Defense Nuclear Security in NNSA, where he began his civilian career and his tenure in Senior Executive Service. Prior to working in NNSA, Mr. Brese served as a submarine officer in the U.S. Navy, retiring after a 22-year career, which culminated in his assignment as a Senior Advisor to the Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs within NNSA. Mr. Brese holds a Federal Chief Information Officer Certificate from The National Defense University. He obtained a Master of Science from Catholic University of America, was a qualified Naval Nuclear Propulsion Engineer in the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear Propulsion Program, and received a Bachelor of Engineering at Vanderbilt University.   John H. Cable, R.A., PMP   Center for Excellence in Project Management Executive Director Mr. Cable is a licensed architect and general contractor with over 35 years experience. His activities have included planning, design, and construction of buildings; building energy conservation research; management consulting; and teaching. In 1980 he was cited by Engineering News-Record as “one who served in the best interests of the building industry.” And, in 1992 he was selected by Remodeling Magazine as one of the 50 best remodeling contractors in the United States. Since joining the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland in the fall of 1999, John initiated the graduate program in project management, an undergraduate minor, and the Center for Excellence in Project Management. He teaches courses in Project Management Fundamentals, and Managing Projects in a Dynamic Environment and is widely sought after for his seminars and workshops on a variety of Project Management topics. John is also chairman of the Project Management Institute’s Global Accreditation Center Board of Directors, a member of the Federal Government’s Project Management Working Group, and a member of the Science & Engineering Council of NASA’s Center for Program/Project Management Research. John is also a founding member of the International Project Management Educational Union along with Peking University and 6 other universities worldwide. In 2004 he coauthored a report for the National Academy of Sciences Federal Facilities Council on “Key Performance Indicators for Federal Facilities Portfolios”. Prior to joining the University, Mr. Cable was a Research Fellow in the Logistics Management Institute’s Facilities and Engineering Management group where he managed a variety of lead assignments analyzing facility design and construction practices, conducting benchmarking and business process re-engineering studies, assessing the use of information technology in the management of design and construction, managed business and program planning assignments, and training/assisting clients in becoming certified in compliance with ISO9000 Quality Management Standards. Prior to LMI, John created and managed a design/build firm specializing in renovation and new construction of residential, commercial and retail properties and directed energy conservation research in buildings for the U.S. Department of Energy.   Gregory Balestrero   International Institute for Learning, Inc. Strategic Advisor on Leadership, Corporate Consciousness and Sustainability Greg Balestrero has been a global advocate for excellence in performance management and business results. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he has been a project engineer, project manager, and for the last 30 years, a senior executive of professional membership associations related to engineering and project management. From 2002 – 2011, Greg served as the President and CEO of Project Management Institute (PMI®). He has met with business and government leaders in more than 60 countries, advocating and promoting a project focus in engineering, construction, and a broad range of business sectors. This exposure has shaped his thinking and message, reinforcing the need that organizations must transform to sustain themselves, integrating the values of community and the planet, with their own corporate strategies and values. Through his work at IIL as strategic advisor, Greg aims to help global corporations discover how they can change their strategies to focus on serving their communities and the planet, while being or becoming market leaders.   Oliver Schlake   Robert H. Smith School of Business Clinical Professor Dr. Oliver Schlake is a Clinical Professor at Robert H. Smith School of Business, a senior business consultant, entrepreneur and researcher. His publications and research on scenario-based strategic planning and innovation strategy have been featured in leading academic and practitioner journals worldwide. Oliver has been an international management consultant and strategic advisor for leading companies and government agencies in Europe and North-America. Prior to joining the Smith School he was Assistant Professor for E-Business at National University, San Diego and CEO for German based consulting firm Scenario Management International (ScMI AG).   Michael Hannan, PMP, TOC Jonah   Fortezza Consulting, LLC Principal Consultant & Founder Mike Hannan is Founder and Principal Consultant for Fortezza Consulting, LLC, which helps CIOs, IT PMO Directors, and project teams improve the speed and reliability of their Project Portfolios. Mr. Hannan brings over 20 years’ experience as a Consulting Executive, IT Project Portfolio and Program Manager, Process Engineer, and Software Architect/Engineer/Designer/Tester. His background in Project Portfolio Management started at NASA in the early 1990s supporting large, complex programs such as the International Space Station and High-Performance Computing & Communications (HPCC). He has managed and consulted on $500M+ project portfolios, and trained CIOs and other senior executives in Federal Civilian, Military, and Commercial environments. Mike has been an active speaker at industry events, including local PMI chapter and community meetings, webinars, PM Symposia, and in the Agile community. He is a leading innovator of disciplined ways to integrate Agile, Lean, Critical Chain, and other techniques to drive dramatic breakthroughs in the performance of IT Project Portfolios. Mr. Hannan has been a PMP since 2005, and is a member of both the PMIWDC and Montgomery County chapters. He has been a Theory of Constraints Jonah since 2011, and has Masters degrees in Information Technology and International Affairs. He is also a devoted father of 3 teenage boys, a competitive masters-level track athlete, and an amateur oenophile.    

With 30 years of leadership experience, Guy Neal serves as President of PBS Engineering and Environmental, recognized as a Top 500 Engineering Firm by Engineering News-Record. Guy’s engagement with the firm began 24 years ago as one of PBS first civil engineers. His unique background blends engineering with environmental science, assisting clients with the challenges of meeting regulatory standards as they expand. He later became Principal of PBS Engineering Division, overseeing environmental, geotechnical, and civil engineering services. As President, Guy’s leadership has played an important role in assuring the growth of PBS amidst an economic recovery which heavily impacted the engineering design industry. Now in its 35th year, the firm has emerged as one of the Northwest’s premier engineering and environmental practices, with a well-diversified client base and expanding geography. Guy leads the firm’s efforts to reinvest in the local community through sustainable practices, environmental volunteerism, and participation in STEM education programs that support a new generation of engineers. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Guy’s focus on giving back and ushering in the next generation of engineers The importance of diversifying your client base The benefits of a culture where your team always asks “why?” PBS’ formal feedback process every employee goes through Quality: why this must be top of mind for engineers entering into a leadership role Filling your team with quality people How “A Players” inside PBS define themselves Strategies PBS uses to retain their talent The challenges of keeping up with new technology (like PBS’ recent use of drones) Why you need to spend more time with your team Ways to contact Guy: Website: www.pbsenv.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/guy-neal-96a10678 Twitter: @pbsusa

The dramatic increase in project management degree programs leads us to ask, “what is the academic inquiry telling us about the future project management that we hadn't anticipated?” and Mr. John Cable of the university of Maryland obliges us with answers. Do you have comments or thoughts about this episode? Join the discussion on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/PMIWDC Project Management Point-of-View (PM-POV), a podcast series produced by the Washington DC Chapter of the Project Management Institute, allows our membership and the public at large to listen to brief and informative conversations with beltway area practioners and executives as they discuss various perspectives on project management-- its uses, its shortcomings, its changes, and its future. Listens can send comments and suggestions for topics and guests to: pm-pov@pmiwdc.org. PDU Information You can earn 0.25 Category "A" PDUs for each PM-POV podcast you listen to! Use the following information in PMI's CCRS system to register the PDUs for this podcast: PDU Category: Cat A: Registered Education Provider/PMI Component Activity Type: "Find an Activity" Provider Number: C046 Activity Number: 05282014PC » More PM-POV Episodes About the Speaker John H. Cable, R.A., PMP Center for Excellence in Project Management Executive Director Mr. Cable is a licensed architect and general contractor with over 35 years experience. His activities have included planning, design, and construction of buildings; building energy conservation research; management consulting; and teaching. In 1980 he was cited by Engineering News-Record as “one who served in the best interests of the building industry.” And, in 1992 he was selected by Remodeling Magazine as one of the 50 best remodeling contractors in the United States. Since joining the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland in the fall of 1999, John initiated the graduate program in project management, an undergraduate minor, and the Center for Excellence in Project Management. He teaches courses in Project Management Fundamentals, and Managing Projects in a Dynamic Environment and is widely sought after for his seminars and workshops on a variety of Project Management topics. John is also chairman of the Project Management Institute’s Global Accreditation Center Board of Directors, a member of the Federal Government’s Project Management Working Group, and a member of the Science & Engineering Council of NASA’s Center for Program/Project Management Research. John is also a founding member of the International Project Management Educational Union along with Peking University and 6 other universities worldwide. In 2004 he coauthored a report for the National Academy of Sciences Federal Facilities Council on “Key Performance Indicators for Federal Facilities Portfolios”. Prior to joining the University, Mr. Cable was a Research Fellow in the Logistics Management Institute’s Facilities and Engineering Management group where he managed a variety of lead assignments analyzing facility design and construction practices, conducting benchmarking and business process re-engineering studies, assessing the use of information technology in the management of design and construction, managed business and program planning assignments, and training/assisting clients in becoming certified in compliance with ISO9000 Quality Management Standards. Prior to LMI, John created and managed a design/build firm specializing in renovation and new construction of residential, commercial and retail properties and directed energy conservation research in buildings for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Dagmar is an internationally recognized leader in sustainability. She grew up in Germany before getting her Masters of Architecture from Georgia Tech. In 1991, she founded her own firm and began pioneering a process that would make The Epsten Group the world leader of LEED reviews.  In fact, through the US Green Building Council, her firm has completed more than 7,000 LEED certifications in 50 countries. The Epsten Group has been named one of the Top 10 Design Firms by Engineering News Record. As an architect and architectural consultant, Dagmar has guided large complex teams toward the sustainable performance of many significant buildings. all over the world. Closer to home, she is one of the pioneers of the green movement in Atlanta. She has provided consulting and/or design work for Atlanta institutions like Grady Hospital, Emory University, Coca Cola, and Georgia Tech. Dagmar also: Initiated the Atlanta AIA Committee on the Environment, serving as chair for its first three yearsHeaded the Georgia Committee on the Environment in 1994Championed the inclusion of sustainable criteria in the AIA Georgia Design Awards program, which led to her chairing a separate Sustainable Design Awards program for two yearsFounding member of the USGBC Greater Atlanta ChapterRecognized as Georgia’s first and only LEED Fellow in 2011

SUMMARY Given that most Canadian workers clock between 35 and 40 hours weekly, it's vital that time be invested in healthy workplaces that care as much about mental, emotional, and social well-being as they do about physical health. In Part 1 of this podcast, join workplace mental health expert Dr. Merv Gilbert, along with WorkSafeBC's Trudi Rondou and Lisa Smith. Together they explore Canada's groundbreaking National Standard for Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace, the subsequent Case Studies Research Project, regulatory approaches driving the much-needed move toward more supportive workplaces, and the vital roles played by progressive leaders, cultures of compassion, peer support, and training. In Part 2, discover how this “new normal” is rapidly playing out in CLAC (a Canadian labour union) and AECOM (an international infrastructure consulting firm). TAKEAWAYS This podcast will help you understand: The National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace (voluntary guidelines, tools, and resources) and the subsequent Case Studies Research Report (key findings, promising practices, and supports and barriers to implementation) ‘Promising practices' identified during research project (commitment across the organization, leadership support and involvement, supportive structures and resources, communication and awareness building across all levels and departments, a business case that includes baseline indicators, measurement approaches that track the rate and impact of change, sustained and updated implementation efforts) ‘New normal' vs. ‘old normal' workplaces Awareness of evolving ‘language' (mentally healthy workplaces vs. psychologically healthy workplaces vs. psychologically safe workplaces) Psychosocial issues and solutions Province of BC (WorkSafeBC) perspective and priorities on workplace mental health Importance of psychological injury prevention through policy and education Overview of WorkSafeBC's mental health-related policies and programs Overview of WorkSafeBC's commitment to getting members back to work after being injured Requirements of businesses to help prevent psychological injuries How employers' and workers' responses to mental health challenges have changed over the years What progressive unions and businesses are doing to help build mentally healthy workplaces Return on investment for businesses that do workplace health and safety right Types of stigma existing in the workplace Prevention of bullying and harassment Impacts of COVID-19 on workplace mental health How leadership, culture, peer support, and/or training impact workplace health and safety   SPONSORS WorkSafeBC is a provincial agency in British Columbia, Canada that promotes safe and healthy workplaces for more than 2.3 million workers. Serving more than 230,000 employers, WorkSafeBC's services include education, prevention, compensation and support for injured workers, and no-fault insurance to protect employers and workers. WorkSafeBC is committed to creating a province free from workplace injury or illness. By partnering with workers and employers, WorkSafe helps British Columbians come home from work safe every day. CLAC is the largest independent, multisector, national union in Canada, representing more 60,000 workers in almost every sector of the economy including construction, education, emergency services, healthcare, retail, service, transportation, manufacturing, and more. CLAC has 14 member centres in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and BC, along with 25 active, independent, affiliated locals. Based on values of respect, dignity, and fairness, CLAC is committed to building better lives, better workplaces, and better communities.  AECOM is a global engineering firm whose infrastructure services for public- and private-sector clients include transportation, water, energy, and environmental projects. Employing approximately 87,000 people, AECOM was ranked #1 in Engineering News-Record's ‘2020 Top 200 Environmental Firms,' and named one of Fortune magazine's ‘World's Most Admired Companies' for the sixth consecutive year. Transforming the ways it works through technology and digital platforms, AECOM leads the engineering world in environmental, social, and governance solutions… leading to the Ethisphere Institute naming it one of ‘2021 World's Most Ethical Companies.' THANK YOU for supporting the HEADS UP! Community Mental Health Summit and the HEADS UP! Community Mental Health Podcast.   RESOURCES National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace  and the resulting Case Studies Research Report Addressing the mental health effects of COVID-19 in the workplace: A guide for workers  Managing the mental health effects of COVID-19 in the workplace: A guide for employers Guarding Minds@Work Antidepressant Skills@Work Psychological Health and Safety: An Action Guide for Employers Mental Health Commission of Canada Canada's Workplace Mental Health Canadian Mental Health Association Government of Canada/Mental health in the workplace Wellness Works Canada Wellness Together Canada: Mental Health and Substance Use Support provides free online resources, tools, apps, and connections to trained volunteers and qualified mental health professionals. Workplace Mental Health Playbook for Business Leaders (CAMH) Workplace Mental Health Research Deloitte research reveals significant return on investment for workplace mental health programs    GUESTS  Dr. Merv Gilbert Dr. Merv Gilbert is a Director at Vancouver Psych Safety Consulting Inc., a consulting group providing services that enable organizations to foster psychologically healthy employees and workplace climates. He has worked as a psychologist for over thirty years in clinical and leadership roles in regional, provincial, and international settings. He is an Adjunct Professor with the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University, and a member of the Steering Committee of American Psychological Association's Psychologically Healthy Workplace Network. Dr. Gilbert is a primary participant in the development, evaluation, and dissemination of resources for workplace mental health, including Guarding Minds@Work, Antidepressant Skills@Work, and Psychological Health and Safety: An Action Guide for Employers. He has published in national and international professional journals, and has presented at a diverse array of forums on the importance of workplace psychological health issues for individuals and organizations. He has consulted with governmental, private, and public-sector organizations. Phone: 604-809-4173 Email: merv@psychsafety.org Website: https://psychhealthandsafety.org LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/merv-gilbert-064a125/ Trudi Rondou Trudi Rondou is a senior manager in Prevention Programs & Performance at WorkSafeBC. She's spent the last decade working with numerous industry and labour groups, to reduce workplace injuries and improve return-to-work outcomes. Over the last three years, Trudi's focus has expanded to include workplace mental health. She currently serves as Chair of the BC First Responders Mental Health Committee. Trudi speaks at conferences and gatherings around the province on worker safety for new and young employees, health and safety management systems, and promoting positive mental health in the workplace. She was the MC for the very successful BC First Responder Mental Health Conference in 2019, and the lead facilitator of the BC First Responders “Building Resilient Workplaces” workshops in 2019. Email: trudi.rondou@worksafebc.com Website: www.worksafebc.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorkSafeBC/ Twitter: twitter.com/worksafebc Linkedin: Trudi Rondou Lisa Smith Lisa Smith joined WorkSafeBC in 2008 as a Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant and transitioned to a Client Services Manager role in 2010. Presently, she is the Senior Manager of Special Care Services. She has worked with both workers and employers, which has helped expand her perspective on the importance of early intervention for people faced with a mental health challenge. Lisa recognizes the critical supports Special Care Services provides to some of the most seriously injured workers and their families. Her core belief is that we are best equipped to help workers and employers when we are mindful of achieving a healthy life/work balance for the people WorkSafeBC has the honour of serving. Lisa is also committed to a vision of respect and safety in the workplace, and is optimistic that BC's workers and employers are willing to embrace change that will positively influence acceptance of diverse cultures, abilities, and beliefs. Prior to her career at WorkSafeBC, Lisa worked for Social Services in Ontario for 11 years and spent 10 years overseas, teaching English across 5 countries. In 2006, she returned to Canada and began managing a program that transitioned at-risk people with behavioural issues from institutional to residential settings. Lisa's passion for improving outcomes for people with mental health conditions, led to her current undertaking of working on a Master of Psychology Counselling. Email: lisa.smith@worksafebc.com Website: worksafebc.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorkSafeBC/ Twitter: twitter.com/worksafebc   HOST Jo de Vries is a community education and engagement specialist with 30 years of experience helping local governments in British Columbia connect with their citizens about important sustainability issues. In 2006, she established the Fresh Outlook Foundation (FOF) to “inspire community conversations for sustainable change.” FOF's highly acclaimed events include Building SustainABLE Communities conferences, Reel Change SustainAbility Film Fest, Eco-Blast Kids' Camps, CommUnity Innovation Lab, Breakfast of Champions, and Women 4 SustainAbility. FOF's newest ventures are the HEADS UP! Community Mental Health Summit and HEADS UP! Community Mental Health Podcast. Website: Fresh Outlook Foundation Phone: 250-300-8797   PLAY IT FORWARD The move toward optimal workplace mental health becomes possible as more people learn about the challenges, successes, and opportunities. To that end, please share this podcast with anyone who has an interest or stake in the future of workplace mental health and wellness. FOLLOW US For more information about the Fresh Outlook Foundation (FOF) and our programs and events, visit our website, sign up for our newsletter, and like us on Facebook and Twitter.   HELP US As a charity, FOF relies on support from grants, sponsors, and donors to continue its valuable work. If you benefited from the podcast, please help fund future episodes by making a one-time or monthly donation. Merv Gilbert, Trudi Rondou, Lisa Smith Interview Transcript You can download a pdf of the transcript here. The entire transcript is also found below: INTRO  0:10 Welcome to the HEADS UP! Community Mental Health Podcast. Join our host Jo de Vries with the Fresh Outlook Foundation, as she combines science with storytelling to explore a variety of mental health issues with people from all walks of life. Stay tuned! JO  0:32 Hey, Jo here! Thanks for joining me and my five guests over two episodes as we explore the rapidly changing world of workplace mental health, and how progressive social scientists, governments, unions, and businesses are remodeling the foundations upon which our work lives are built. A big shout out here to WorkSafe BC, CLAC, and AECOM for co-sponsoring these vitally important conversations. In this first episode, you'll meet workplace mental health expert Merv Gilbert, along with Trudy Rondou and Lisa Smith from WorkSafe BC. We'll delve into their trailblazing research and regulation approaches that are raising the bar for workplace mental health and Canada and well beyond. In part two, you'll get to know Quentin Steen with the CLAC labor union and Trevor Amendt from AECOM, an international engineering firm. They'll share their groundbreaking visions and on-the-ground methods for building organizational cultures of compassion. While preparing for this episode, I came across groundbreaking work led by the Mental Health Commission of Canada in partnership with the Canadian Standards Association and the Bureau de Normalization du Quebec. In 2013, they launched the world's first National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. The standard was developed with input from more than 30 technical committee members representing Canadian corporations, unions, regulators, economists, service providers, and many others. The standard includes voluntary guidelines, tools, and resources that redefine what it means to be a responsible employer. In the move toward building more psychologically healthy, safe, and sustainable work environments, the standard helps organizations envision and implement more progressive frameworks, policies, and practices. Those, in turn, foster more connected, protected, and compassionate workplace cultures. The standard has been embraced by organizations of all sizes, and from all sectors and industries throughout Canada, and served as a template for an upcoming international standard. To help determine the standard's reach and effectiveness, the commission led a three-year follow up Case Study Research Project. It was conducted by Simon Fraser University's Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction between 2014 and 2017. Researchers studied more than 40 Canadian employers from a variety of sectors, industries, and geographies who'd implemented the standard. The resulting report outlines key findings, promising practices, and supports and barriers to implementation. As quoted in the report, these diverse trailblazers signed on to benchmark a "new normal." To help us understand project findings and what could be the new normal, I welcome Merv Gilbert, who was co-lead of the Case Study Research Project. Immersed in the work of psychology for more than 40 years, Murphy has spent the better part of the last decade focusing on the psychology of work, or more specifically, what makes a workplace work for all employees. Hi, Merv, great to have you here. MERV  4:19 Hi Jo... it's great to be here. Thanks very much for including me. JO  4:22 My pleasure. So let's start by you telling us why you're so passionate about workplace psychological health and safety, and why it's so important to all of us. MERV  4:34 At a kind of broad level, a lot of the focus on mental health, and I'll say more about language in a minute, has focused on very important issues like serious and persistent mental illness, childhood areas, where I worked a lot and so on. But there was relatively little attention to the fact that, frankly, the majority of folks with a diagnosed or diagnosable mental illness or mental health issues were working or had jobs at any rate, they may be off. And there was little focus on the workplace the extent to which it was actually supportive of their psychological health, mental health, or was detrimental to their health. Sort of broad level, it was an untapped area. At a more personal level, I worked as a director of a psychology department a large hospital for a number of years, and during that time two of my colleagues started to have some performance issues, which is usually the first indicator within a workplace setting. I started to struggle a bit, there were issues, there were some conflicts and so on. We did as an organization some things to try and provide some support. At any rate, both individuals quite independently went off work on, to use a euphemism at the time, stress-related disability, and to my knowledge never worked again. Now, maybe we failed them. Maybe I failed them at some level. But it was a terrible loss. It was needless suffering, and we lost some very skilled and talented individuals. So, it really became apparent we needed to do better. JO  6:03 Most of us have to work or have had to work. So, an obvious question would be is work good for our mental health? Or can it be? MERV  6:13 Absolutely. To paraphrase Sigmund Freud, which every psychologist is obliged to do, the two most important things in life are love and work. Good work provides us with all sorts of support, provides us with a sense of meaning and purpose. It gives us skills and talents, and opportunities for new learning that we wouldn't have otherwise. It gives us an opportunity to interact with others, obviously a little bit different during current circumstances. And it gives us a reason to get up in the morning, get dressed and go someplace else to interact with others outside your immediate family. So, absolutely, good work is good for us in many ways. JO  6:51 Before we talk about the new normal for workplace psychological health, I'm hoping you can help us understand the "old normal," and the state of some workplaces today where little consideration is given to psychological health and safety.  MERV 7:07 Prior to the national standard, for example, and some of the work that we and others around the world have done, workplace health and safety was primarily, almost exclusively, focused on physical health and safety. Appropriately so. Health and safety in various industries and sectors was a key factor, and really wasn't addressed and still needs a lot of work. Workers' compensation boards obviously focus on those kinds of issues, back pain and those kinds of things, but there was very little attention given to psychological injuries, if you will, in that sense. The only exception historically, of a work-related psychological injury was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Since we do not know definitively the cause of the vast majority of mental illnesses, we can't say workplaces are responsible, so, therefore, is not an area where there was attention. So, there wasn't much being done. I think things have improved a great deal in Canada and elsewhere. Part is a function of the standard and other efforts and so on, but there's still some sectors in some areas, that this is still a relatively new concept or remains not addressed. JO  7:42 Based on the work you've done over the last decade, and the work that you did as part of the research project, how would you define a "new normal?" New normal pre-COVID, or new normal current circumstances, little bit different. As I mentioned a moment ago, up until current circumstances, I think there was a lot of improvement, there was organizations who were identifying psychological health and safety officers, that were changing the name of occupational health and safety committees and groups and policies to include psychological [health]. So, that certainly was a good thing. Now, if we want to turn to COVID, and more importantly perhaps for the workplace, the response to COVID and, obviously, the impact it's had on individuals, workplaces... it's very different. People can't connect in the same way as they could before. So that support may not be there. There's a lack of clarity of boundaries and job roles and communication has been challenged in some ways. Certainly work life balance is more elusive than ever with folks working at home. That said, I will... and I say this with caution... for some folks, select groups... particularly more traditional white-collar folks and so on... the capacity, the ability to work from home or work in a more flexible way, may improve their psychological health. It's a mixed bag, but I remain concerned about it and I think we should all be concerned about it at a larger level, is that many of these things that are happening are accentuating the divide between groups. JO  9:49 The research, project findings and voluntary guidelines for successful implementation were based on applied research and then implementation science. For those of us who aren't academics, can you explain what those two things are? What is applied research? MERV  10:09 I think there's a lot of academics that wouldn't necessarily know what it is or necessarily agree with it. Applied research means basically taking up to the dirty world, where you don't have a group of volunteer undergraduate students as your subject pool, for your particular research enterprise, but you're actually dealing with real people who are the ultimate audience or the ultimate target for your work. But the real world, such as it is, is messy... you don't have the same degree of controls. So, applied research is an attempt to work collaboratively with whatever sector, whatever group you want to work with out in the real world. Implementation science is... the policy government, the literature in any field... frankly, littered with publications and research reports, and journals, and so on. Many of the findings from that, however positive, never actually get implemented, or if they are implemented, they're implemented poorly. So, implementation science is one of the factors that lead to successful pickup and sustainability of an effective program, or effective initiative. JO  11:17 So, how could we use implementation science to optimize the benefits of the research that you conducted? MERV  11:26 Great question. I'm being sincere when I say this, I think we can learn from advertising and marketing. Ask people... ask whoever your audience is... if they know about a particular program. What is the best way to make it available to them? What makes it more likely that they will make use of these particular findings, or whatever the initiative or program or policy is. Ask them. Second thing, and this certainly is reflected in the standards well, is to measure two things. Sorry. First one is to know why, and explain very clearly why you're doing what you're doing. If you're doing, for example, a work-from-home kind of initiative, and so on, explain why you're doing it... just don't keep people guessing. And secondly, measure the results... measure a sort of baseline finding... this is where this tradition is now, and then at a appropriate period of time, measure whether you've made a difference. There's uptake and application of whatever your findings are. JO  12:19 So, your project findings and the voluntary guidelines for implementation provide a recipe for success that lists key ingredients needed to create a psychologically healthy and safe workplace. But before we start cooking, though, I'd like to confirm the differences between the following descriptors. And here's where Merv, we talked about language. So, what is the difference between: first, a mentally healthy workplace; second, a psychologically healthy workplace; and third, a psychologically safe workplace? MERV 12:58 Let me start by suggesting a distinction between mental health and psychological health... [these] words are viewed somewhat synonymously. When we collectively, we the media, talks about mental health, we're actually not really talking about mental health. In most cases, we're talking about mental illness and that sense of already kind of changed the conversation. And when we're having those conversations, as I said at the outset, when we talk about mental illness... and frankly, when we see the latest atrocity, wherever it may be... the question comes up, there may be mental health involved. Well, that's not terribly helpful. That just adds to stigma. So, we talk about psychological health. We're talking I think, in a much broader way. We're talking about a continuum, not a categorical approach with a bunch of diagnoses. We're talking about a continuum from struggling and suffering, through to thriving, doing well, positive psychological health. So, it's a different kind of model that is not dependent on traditional mental illness labeling, in that sense. So, I think that makes a very big difference. When we talk about psychologically healthy... and against mentally healthy workplace, if one uses that language... I think, in general terms, is a place where people want to go to work, they believe in what they're doing, they believe they're making a difference. They feel that they have some voice in what is going on in their department or organization, or whatever work they're doing, volunteer or paid. And they feel like the organization, that leadership, and the organization itself, has good or bad to some degree, they will support them in various ways. And if they're struggling with their issues, they will do their best to address them. I think we all kind of know what a psychologically healthy workplace is, whether we work there or whether we're clients or customers. You can almost feel it in the air... you can almost smell it. Are people smiling? Are people saying hello, not because it's corporate policy to greet every customer, but because they actually want to say hello? So, I think it's a vibe in many ways. The "safe" part is interesting, let's say psychologically safe... I think two comments. Now, first of all, as I said at the outset, to some extent this notion with psychological health and safety is, in my opinion, an intentional and, I think, intelligent link to occupational health and safety, which is pretty well established and legislated in policy and practice in some ways. So, it's kind of latching on to that and expanding the concept. Psychological safety, however, is also used in some context to describe an environmental work environment, where people feel free to express their opinions and ideas, without fear of what they perceive as unfair criticism. I get that, but it's, I think, a narrower and somewhat different definition. JO  15:43 So, would it be safe to say then that a psychologically safe workplace would have the needed plans, policies, practices, and programs in place that would then enable and encourage a psychologically healthy workplace?  MERV 15:59 Yes, very definitely.  JO  16:00 So, let's go back to the key ingredients of the research project findings, or what the final report calls "promising practices." Those are intended to help nourish a psychologically healthy and safe workplace. Can you explain a few of them to us? MERV  16:18 Sure, and I should probably clarify, the national standard is, well, it's that... a standard set of guidelines, identifying what the key components of psychologically healthy workplace would look like. What we did when we did the case study project is identify those kind of practices that would lead to more successful and sustainable implementation. And there were a number of those that came up. Certainly one of them that was key, it comes as no surprise, was leadership... meaningful leadership throughout your organization... a large organization, a CEO, or whomever... who kind of gets it, and again, cliche, but who talks the talk. It's not something that it's a checkbox they're checking off... they actually believe in this. And I think that's key. And that that also has to, again, in particularly in large organizations, that has to filter down to every level of management. If a mid-level manager or supervisor... oh, here's another directive from on top, but he or she doesn't get it... it's not gonna be effective. So, it needs to actually cut across all different levels of your organization. The other thing that I think is really important is, in the same vein, having a what's called a business case. A clear rationale with data as to why you are making these changes... why having a psychologically healthy and safe workplace matters to you. And, initially, the argument among... and there may still be in some settings... particularly private-sector settings... maybe affects the bottom line. And indeed, there's all sorts of calculators of lost productivity and increased costs associated with psychological disabilities. And it may be financial or return on investment as well. But certainly for a lot of sectors, a lot of areas... particularly public sector, like hospitals... return on investment isn't really the point. It's not having staff available, the loss of talent, those kind of things. So, being clear as to why a particular organization wants to do these things, and having some data to back it up. JO  18:25 I think, too, getting back to the leadership comment is that you really need to have supportive structures and resources to keep this up over the long term, which is where you're going to see the actual change in culture. Can you tell us a little bit more about that? MERV  18:41 As I mentioned, some organizations, for example, WorkSafe BC, has in the last few years appointed a fairly senior level of management specifically around psychological health and safety. So, it's sort of embedding some of these responsibilities and roles and titles within the organization. And also supporting leaders... no one's immune from this, in many ways, leaders themselves... there's some research suggesting mid-level managers, like get this, quite frankly, can experience as much if not more stress than those that report to them. There needs to be some personal investment in it. And I guess to speak to that, certainly some of the organizations we worked with, when we talked to senior leaders... for many of them, the reason they saw this as a good thing and wanted to introduce it within their organization, was because they'd had some personal experience... family experience... they'd had some experience with someone who was struggling with psychological issues, psychological health issues. So, it takes on a personal note. We see that in all sorts of efforts to address illnesses, be it cancer, heart disease, and so on, people coming from their own experience.  JO  19:48 As a communication specialist I resonate with another promising practice, which is communication and awareness-building across all levels and departments. And I think what this means, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is that the messaging not only has to be pertinent to each of the audiences in the organization, but it has to be concise and timely, and particularly, ongoing. You can't just do a one-off campaign and expect people to change their attitudes and their behaviors. MERV  20:21 Absolute agreement at all levels, and it has to be very flexible. Again, I can bring it back to the pandemic response in some ways, we're seeing changing messages and so on. I understand the frustration... confusion with that, but it allows that kind of flexibility. And it also requires humility, not promising something that you can't deliver, in some ways, and being very realistic about what's actually helpful and practical. While many organizations in our study and elsewhere started with a mental health awareness campaign, that's good... awareness is a good thing and does make some strides towards reducing stigma... but you can't stop there, it's got to be a lot more than just awareness. JO  21:04 In most of the interviews that I've been doing for the podcast, we've discussed culture, and whether that be a family culture of mental wellness, or a workplace culture or a community culture. So, I was interested in another promising practice, which is the need to build a corporate-wide culture that respects, reflects, and protects psychological health and safety. So, what does that kind of culture look like? And what's it like to work in a culture like that? MERV  21:41 Great point, and it's certainly the case. and let's not lose sight... this does not mean you put aside your organizational objectives, and so on. These are actually to enhance or fulfill the very purpose of that organization. It's in the practical best interest to any department or group or organization where there's a work environment where people feel valued, and believe in what they're doing, they're willing to work together to achieve success... organizational success, personal success... and again, they feel that the organization, or the department, or their leaders have their back who can support them if there are challenges of some sort. And if I can give an example of that from the past, I find this a very touching and heartwarming example in a lot of ways. Years ago, I was involved in an initiative to recognize and acknowledge psychologically healthy workplaces. And one of the applicants for the British Columbia award was an extended care unit in the interior, actually, I'll name them because they deserve to be recognized... Brookhaven Extended Care. This was some years ago. So, they did a survey and filled out some questionnaires for us. And we did a site visit and what they had done, amongst other things, this is... as you can imagine... a place where mostly the elderly, but there were some younger brain-injured folks, and so on. So, it's a care facility that says their problem, like many healthcare settings, was staffing. It wasn't about return on investment. It was about having sufficient staff to provide the care they needed to do. And that staffing problem was difficult on days for their school holidays. They relied on retired or part time folks, and so on, who were often single parents, or two working parents. So, when school holidays happened, or school breaks or professional days and kids were off work, it was a real challenge if you got a call saying, "Hey, would you mind coming in and doing relief today?" So, what Brookhaven did, and this idea came from their staff… I think from a recreational therapist… to set up a program whereby staff, if they had a child between, say, eight and 12 years old, could bring their child to work. No, it was not a daycare. And that says I'm going to be clear about that. That's important issue, but this is different. That child was then paired up with a resident within the facility and spent the day with him or her hanging out. And I think that's particularly wonderful because... let's say Johnny, who's a precocious nine-year-old, got to spend today with Mr. Smith, and Mr. Smith was a Korean War veteran, and maybe he lost a leg. So,  he entertained Johnny with all sorts of stories about his past experiences. Johnny looked across and saw his mom doing her job, which a lot of kids never see. Mom looked across and saw Johnny being entertained and chatting away. They all had lunch together. It was, forgive the cliche, a win, win, win. Beautiful thing about that, first of all... they identified a problem with staffing. There was now a lineup of staff wanting to work in those days at this particular facility, because it's a cool program. What was the cost? Absolutely nothing. Whereas the leadership, and this is important... there was some initial pushback from, I suspect, the lawyers within this healthcare setting. What if Johnny trips and breaks his nose? And the executive director told lawyers to go away, said that's fine, I'm with it, and so on. The program was a wonderful success and got expanded to, I believe, some other facilities. And this was some years ago, and I didn't hear much about it for a while. And I hope it still continues. But what I did hear a few years ago is that some of the kids that have been involved in program had aged out, they're now teenagers, maybe even young adults. And on their own initiative, they continued the program, kind of a volunteer involvement program within the setting. And I love that story because it identified a specific problem, so it was a measurable problem, actually, staffing. Identified a solution that came from the people who worked there, didn't cost anything, and actually addressed the problem. So, that to me is a concrete example of a collaborative, psychologically healthy workplace practice. JO  25:42 So Merv, if you can put on a CEO hat for a few minutes, did the research findings suggest specific measures of cost versus benefits of a mentally healthy workplace? And if not, what does your experience tell you? MERV  25:58 Great question. And this is a challenge in some ways, because we don't have great quantitative financial indicators. We can look at disability costs, we can look at retraining costs, we can look at recruitment costs, as well, we can look at insurance, WorkSafe costs as well. But those are what are referred to as trailing indicators. That's after the cow has left the barn, if you will, in some ways. Leading indicators are things you measure at the outset. And those are a little softer and harder to track, and may rely more on qualitative kind of information. So, you can pick up through surveys, through initial interviews, those kinds of things. I think there's a lot of work that needs to be done in this area to quantify or qualify, if you will, the kind of measures that you want to look at, and the cliche is, if we don't measure something, you can't know if we have an impact. And that's certainly true here, we have work to do in this area.  JO  26:57 Along that same vein, barriers to successful implementation of the standard listed in your report include inconsistent or limited access to psychological health data. Tell us more about that.  MERV  27:13 It's exactly that kind of thing. It's not having the data that indicates, and certainly for both ethical and practical reasons, I'm not a fan of, for example, doing a survey or a measure of depression amongst all employees. I think ethically, or practically, that can be intrusive and, ethically, what you find you need to do something with it. So, it's going to involve asking employees and new recruits and retirees about their experiences and trying to capture what's important to them, what would be some of the indicators for them. Being realistic about it, if I can go back a little bit to talking about the business case for psychologically healthy workplace, and so on, the expectation amongst many was that companies or organizations would be doing this because it would save them money. And there's lots of consultancies and programs that are trying to sell on those grounds. We found that yeah, that mattered to some of them, some more than others. But in many cases, in fact, the majority of cases, the main reason they were adopting the standard and cared about psychologically workplaces was for a practical reason... i.e., people are struggling, if people are not at work, if people are fighting with one another… it's not good for the organization as a whole. So, practically, it makes sense to look after people. And also ethically it's just the right thing to do, in many ways. JO  28:31 Given the research and your experience, what do you think are the most difficult changes in attitude for leaders to make that needed transition toward a more psychologically healthy and safe workplace? MERV  28:46 Firstly, I think a recognition... and this is happening slowly but is happening... that this is not a fad. This is not flavor of the month. This is not fluffy. This is not a nice thing to do off the side of your desk... like let's raise funds for a particular charity on March 17, whatever the case may be. This is something that is important and will continue to be important. So, it needs to be embedded within your organization. Another thing is really critical, I think, is a recognition that this is a joint issue. This is a collaborative issue between workers and organizations... with employers and employees, I think there's a joint responsibility there. To be a little bit simplistic about it, a construction organization has some obligation to provide safety equipment, to provide a hardhat and so on… the employees, the worker… has responsibility to wear them. So, when you work jointly as opposed to finger pointing, where if it's saying "this is all about toxic workplaces and bad managers, not my responsibility at all," that's not going to help. And, if on the other hand, the perception perhaps unspoken, or the belief unspoken, is "this is all a bunch of wimps, why can't people just suck it up," that's not going to help. You need to work together. JO  29:54 So, were there any research findings that surprised you? MERV  29:58 One of them was one I just mentioned, quite frankly, in fact, that people did this for practical and ethical reasons, not financial reasons. Come back to the comment about leadership. One of the pioneers in Canada some years ago was Michael Wilson, our former finance minister, whose son died by suicide some years ago. This made it personal for him and for his family. And so, he worked hard to make it a corporate issue. What was surprising and encouraging was the fact that people got it and came up with innovative solutions. The thing that was a little bit worrisome, quite frankly... and this isn't intended to be a criticism, but it was a reflection of the level of knowledge and resource at the time... was that there was a tendency, even in well-intentioned organizations, to pick programs or initiatives, if you will, off the shelf. So, not considering whether or not it was a good fit, or whether address their particular needs, whether it was a good fit for the organization. And I do think there's a real need to customize it and adapt it back to your earlier point, in order to make things implemented effectively and sustainable. JO  31:02 That brings me to a question about customization. And you just mentioned that every business is unique... it has a special mandate and special plans and policies and programs and objectives. So, I suppose that while the standard and your research findings give people a general idea of how to make this work, they really to have to be so focused on their individual needs. MERV  31:32 It's a good point... we're all special in our own special way, but we also share a lot in common. So, it's finding a balance. I've heard from some sectors and some organizations where, "we're unique"... "you don't understand"... or "this doesn't apply to us, because we're very unique and different." Well, you're not that different. So there's gonna be some things that are universal, some things are going to be specific, balancing those two and asking people, gathering data... there's more and more tools out there that will do this... about what's the fixed snapshot...  what the organization looks like. And using that information to guide, be it policy or practice, or training, or new positions. JO  32:12 And that brings us to another one of your promising practices, which is measuring approaches that track the rate and impact of change. MERV  32:23 Yes, indeed. And I talked about the importance of measurement... an ongoing kind of measurement. These days, and under the current circumstances, people are being bombarded with surveys and being asked questions. I think there's absolutely merit in that, but one needs to be succinct. You need to be discreet and respectful of people's time and so on, or you're not going to get good information. Back to effective communication, in a sense, but tracking it on an ongoing basis, and then being flexible enough to change your approach if you're getting meaningful data or data suggests you need to change things. JO  32:57 While preparing for this, we talked about how increased stress fosters psychosocial issues that require psychosocial solutions. First, what is a psychosocial issue, and a related psychosocial solution that you can share with us? MERV  33:17 "Psychosocial" basically just reflects psychological... individual and societal/social kinds of factors... be they income equality, be they poverty, be they individual coping. It's a psychological aspect of things, as opposed to the, if you will, physical aspect of things. And what I mean by that, in this context, is I do have some concern. COVID, the pandemic, is indeed a physical risk, if you will, however, the response... our human response, or social response... is a psychological one, a psychosocial response in many ways. And frankly, it therefore requires, I would suggest, psychosocial, psychological kind of responses that we've talked about. The organization can do policies to provide appropriate and meaningful support… communication could actually support people's psychological health. JO  34:07 You conducted your research between 2014 and 2017. Are you aware of any emerging research or any groundbreaking trends or best practices that support this move toward more mentally safe and healthy workplaces? MERV  34:25 I think it's an evolving situation. One thing which I think was pretty cool, and I've seen this in several different sectors, are what's referred to as communities of practice. And that is something coming... I think I was first aware of it in the healthcare context... but it's basically organizations or groups with common features, getting together and learning from one another. There was initiative actually, that came out of I believe, UBC Okanagan in collaboration, I think it was with Waterloo, for a kind of communities of practice for universities and colleges, where they took an opportunity to meet to discuss with one another what they were doing, what was working, what wasn't working. So, learning from one another... I think that's very promising. That's a great thing. And frankly, I think the same thing can happen on a more micro level, within an organization or a group, just creating a space... creating opportunity... for the key people to talk about these issues, and identify possible solutions moving forward. I'll throw a bit of a side comment in this one. And this one was a bit surprising to me too, certainly, when it comes to programs and things like employee assistance programs, and policies and benefits and so on. Those are typically the purview of large organizations, and smaller mom and pop businesses may not have that opportunity. That part may be true in terms of having the money and size to initiative things, but I think smaller organizations actually can be a lot more nimble. The leader or manager, whomever, within a department or a small construction crew, or whatever the case may be, is more likely to be in touch... more immediate contact... with the people he or she is working with, and therefore can come up with things on the fly... perhaps a lot more readily than large organizations that go through a kind of bureaucratic process. That creativity is certainly encouraging. JO  36:17 Have you conducted any other workplace research that you'd like to share? MERV  36:21 Let me add one more comment to what we're saying earlier. The other thing, which I think is promising is, we're now seeing organized labor and contracts pay more attention to psychological safety in the workplace, and a great example is here in British Columbia, where the nurses union in a prior contract, essentially... and the employer agreed with this... mandated adoption of the national standard across of all health care. So, I think that was another positive thing. Back to your question. So, on new things we're doing... certainly my colleague, Dan Bilsker, and I have been working with support from WorkSafe, frankly, with BC Emergency Health Services for about the last three years. And very much what I was saying a moment ago, recognizing that paramedics and dispatchers have unique work circumstances, and it's a unique organization. So, we've started by learning from them what resiliency looked like, what some of the stresses of the job were, what some effective coping methods were. And on the basis of that have created a workbook, a resilient coping workbook, which we're currently in process of disseminating throughout the organization.  JO  37:26 I'm wondering if you can tell us a story about an organization that moved from being perhaps not so focused on psychological health and safety, to embracing a psychological contract that really made a huge difference in the lives of all the people who work there? MERV  37:45 The beautiful example of an organization that took evidence-informed steps... there is a financial institution, I guess I can name them... VanCity (Vancouver City Savings Credit Union). Being a financial institution, they experience robberies. Now, as I said earlier, historically, WorkSafe did not cover psychological injuries, with the exception of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Well, frankly, being robbed or held up within a finance institution can be very traumatic event. So, it actually was data of days lost following a robbery. What VanCity did some years ago, again, I hope the program is still in place was, hey, okay, let's talk to people. What can we do here to actually sort of address this issue? We can't necessarily stop robberies, per se, but what can we do to address the impact psychological impact on staff who've gone through such a troubling, and potentially traumatic event? And what they came up with were a couple of things. First of all, they used and bolstered their employee assistance program, and so on, made that available. If there was a robbery in a particular branch, I believe the CEO, the head of the organization, communicated very quickly with that particular branch and said, "How are you guys doing? Are you okay?" So, leadership, they connected, in some sense said, "Something happened here that wasn't good... is troubling." And then they said, "What can we do? How can we help?" And they put funds and resources aside, said, "Okay, you guys just been through a bad event or troubling event. How can we help? Here's some funds… you want a pizza party, you want tickets to a baseball game, you tell us something that would help, if you will, recover or move forward from a difficult event." Because they had some data on lost time, they could actually measure the impact. And they also were able... circumstantially, back to your question about applied research, frankly...  they couldn't, because it's the real world that said, roll it out to all the organizations. So, those branches that adopt the program, great, but there were also some new branches, new people came on. So, they actually had a control group, and they can compare those branches that didn't have this kind of a program and those that did, and indeed, there was a notable difference between the two, and lost time went down and continued over time. And they were then able to spread the program. So, that one, I don't say they're in bad shape, but they started by identifying a problem, and asked people and then did something about it that was measurable. JO  40:12 I'd like to end our time together with you sharing about what I think is one of the most important pillars in a workplace mental health program… and that's trust. How can leaders best build trust with their employees around psychological health and safety? And how can employees come to trust their leaders? MERV  40:33 Part of my response is, how long has it tried to measure growth, tried to understand what the level of trust is. I did hear about an organization awhile ago, and the CEO talked about a "trust meter," in a sense, and not something that's necessarily quantified, but recognizing that trust is a very fragile entity. Trust is based on a perception, it's a belief, the belief that you as an employer, in this context, are concerned about my interest, and you're going to sincerely try to do what you're saying you're going to do. And that belief is going to be based on past behavior. It's a perception kind of thing, not something you put your finger on. But yes, I absolutely agree is critical to all interactions, not just with respect to psychologically healthy workplaces, but just the effectiveness of an organization, of a group effort. There's a concept that has been floating around for a number of years, which I think is useful...  people talk about "psychological contract" is context between employer and employee. The psychological contract is the implicit mutual reciprocal understanding between the two parties... between the employer and the employee... as to what they expect of one another. As an employee, I expect to be treated fairly. I expect to be compensated fairly. I expect opportunities to learn new things and do new things. I expect my opinion will be listened to. I'm willing to put that extra effort in if need be. As an employer, I expect my employee to do his or her job, to ask questions, to respect leadership, and follow the appropriate practices, and to put your shoulder to the wheel a little bit more, if needed, if there's some kind of crisis or emergency. And that contract is fragile, and very fluid, and perhaps more fluid during a COVID response. But if that contract... unspoken... it's not a job description, it's not a labor contract, per se, it's unspoken... if that's broken on either party, results can be very, very deleterious to either side. JO  42:32 How can that psychological or can that psychological contract be moved from being implicit to explicit?  MERV 42:42 Crazy as it may be, talk about  it... try to take the covert and make it a little bit overt.  Asking supervisors, managers, leaders... asking and meeting in a very authentic way with the people they work with. And asking them how it's going. Are your expectations being met? Are there things that we need to do? So, again, it's going to be communication, it's going to be communication that's succinct, not overwhelming people, that's going to be humble, for lack of better word, not promising things that you can't deliver. And it's gonna be fair, saying that I don't have that information, but here's what I'm going to do to get it. Or, we don't have that service right now, that program right now, that initiative right now, but here's what we might do, or here's what might be available instead. And, particularly, helpful... what is going to be helpful, not just empty language. I do feel concerned about the language especially... it started with the pandemic, was, "We're all in this together." Well, no, we're not. We're all in this, yes, but we're not necessarily together. Many of us… and many organizations and sectors and individuals… have their own circumstances that are very different from others. A little bit of a Kumbaya, we're all in this together, can sound false. If you're a single mom who's lost your job in the hospitality sector, and has a special needs kid at home, your circumstances are very different. So, humility is called for. JO  44:02 So, in closing, Merv, I'd like you to imagine that you're standing in front of a group of 100 CEOs from a variety of sectors and industries. And that you can say one thing to them about workplace mental health, and that they would not only take you seriously, but they would move forward, really being open-minded about potential change within their organizations. What would that one thing be? MERV  44:33 I think it would be, in essence, this attention to the psychological health and psychological well being of organizations under the people who work in them is not a fad... is not going away. It's very real. Work has changed in many ways. Whereas in earlier times, many jobs involved primarily physical labor. Increasingly, jobs these days require psychological labor. We used to talk about "putting your back into it" to describe the physical efforts that were required for doing a lot of work. And perhaps not surprisingly, the majority of workplace injuries and disability were musculoskeletal back injuries. Nowadays, we expect people to "put their head into it," they put their psychological skills and learning and knowledge into a thing. And correspondingly, when that's not supported, you're gonna see psychological injuries. So, this is very real, it's good for the worker, it's good for the workplace. And it is absolutely essential to the resilience and success of the organization. JO  45:36 Marv, I understand that you're involved in some research around trust. Can you tell us what that's all about? MERV  45:43 Years ago, actually, before the creation of standard, actually, we created a tool called Guarding Minds at Work, which has had a lot of uptake... it measures, psychosocial risks in the workplace. It's a survey-based tool and we have noticed... and along with another colleague, Dr. Graham Lowe... that trust, as you pointed out, is really a key ingredient. But we need to try and measure it to understand it. So, what we did is use our existing data around this Guarding Minds at Work tool and looked at what kind of factors, what kind of considerations, were related to a basic question, "Do employers and employees trust one another?" And they come across things that we've talked about, like communication, and honesty, and sincerity, and practicality, and culture. And we've created a tool called the Trust Building Survey, that we're currently in the process of informing a variety of groups in Canada and elsewhere about this tool to trial it… to use it. Frankly, as a snapshot, it's not long, it's about a 20-item, survey, but take a snapshot of where an organization is at at various points. And I think because things are so fluid with the world in general, and the pandemic response, in particular, it is very worthwhile for organizations and departments to take that snapshot at various points over time to try and capture an evolving and ever-shifting nature of the situation. JO  47:05 Is that opportunity to be involved in the research still open to organizations? MERV  47:12 Absolutely. Yes, we welcome inquiries from various groups, organizations that want to help us use this tool, apply this tool within your organization. So, we can all learn about trust as it evolves over time. JO  47:25 And how would people connect with you? MERV  47:27 They can connect through my email, my email is Merv... m-e-r-v at p-s-y-c-h-s-a-f-e-t-y dot org.  JO  47:39 Well, that's amazing. I think that trust in the workplace is a huge issue. And maybe a little further on into your research, we can do a whole episode on that. MERV  47:49 Terrific, that would be wonderful. JO  47:51 That's amazing. Merv, thanks so much for kicking off part one of this episode. MERV  47:57 Absolute pleasure. And I really appreciate the you're paying attention this issue and spreading the word, as you will… we've come a long way, but we've got a long way to go. JO  48:05 My pleasure. Thanks again. I'm excited because you're wise and wide ranging insights...  after 40 years of working in this field... I think they set the stage perfectly from my next conversation with Trudy Rondou and Lisa Smith from WorkSafe BC, which is a progressive provincial government agency in British Columbia, Canada. But before we get to that, listeners can visit the Mental Health Commission of Canada's website at m-h-c-c dot c-a to learn more about the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace, the subsequent Case Studies Research Project, and a variety of tools to help organizations meet their goals. As mentioned earlier, you can connect with Merv about the research project or other workplace mental health issues at m-e-r-v at p-s-y-c-h-s-a-f-e-t-y dot org. Now to help us get a feel for what's happening with workplace mental health from a provincial perspective, I'm here with WorkSafe BC's Trudy Rondou and Lisa Smith. WorkSafe BC promotes safe and healthy workplaces for about 230,000 employers and more than 2.3 million workers. Its services include education, prevention, compensation and support for injured workers and no-fault insurance to protect both employers and workers. Trudy, let's start with you. First of all, thanks so much for being here. TRUDI  49:54 Thank you... I'm really pleased to be here. This is the topic I'm pretty passionate about, so I'm excited to be involved. JO  49:59 WorkSafe BC's vision is… British Columbians free from workplace injury, disease and death. To that end, there's a strong focus on prevention through policy and education. What does that look like in your world as senior manager of prevention programs? And why are you so motivated to help? TRUDI  50:20 As senior manager now in prevention programs, I actually have a new department called Mental Health and Psychological Safety. And while WorkSafe BC has been dealing with mental health from a claims and compensation point of view for a number of years now, this is sort of the start of the shift to looking at mental health from a preventative perspective. So, we're really looking at what we can be doing with workers and employers to try to prevent those mental health injuries from happening. JO  50:49 And again, speaking to your motivation? TRUDI  50:52 Well, I guess I'm passionate because I do believe in the sense of prevention. I don't think that we have to wait for a mental health injury to occur before we can help treat. I think that early intervention has shown lots of signs of assisting people and mitigating their mental health issues.JO  51:08 So, it sounds like an upstream approach to health care is applicable in your industry as well. TRUDI  51:15 Absolutely. JO  51:17 What does WorkSafe BC require of employers to help prevent psychological injuries? TRUDI  51:24 We want businesses out there to recognize that psychological health is just as important as physical health. And I think that's a real mind shift for employers. Employers in the province have been dealing with the physical health and safety for years, and they're used to that. But recognizing now that psychological health of the workplace is equally as important is a new shift. And I think along with that, having an employer recognize that they can play a proactive role in psychological health... again, going back to that notion that it's not just about treatment. There are proactive upfront things that can be done. And we also want employers to implement policies and programs that support mental health in the workplace. JO  52:03 Building on that theme of proactivity. What are some of the emerging best practices employers are using? TRUDI  52:11 Employers who represent best practices always have leadership champions. So, it starts at the top and they have people who are in senior roles, who really advocate for mental health and normalize mental health as being part of a workplace conversation. We want employers who have policies in place... so, recognizing that any behavior that goes contrary to mental health is not allowed in the workplace... things such as bullying and harassment are not allowed in the workplace. And policies that are going to support proactive and positive mental health. Anti-stigma campaigns have been proven to be really successful, because there is a lot of stigma around mental health. And I think we'll talk a little bit about that later, but some of these campaigns that individual employers have done, again, trying to normalize mental health and make it part of the regular conversation. Training and education are certainly important. And that is training and things such as mental health literacy so people understand how to have the conversation, as well as coping skills so people can understand what they're feeling in times of stress. What are some resources that they can fall on themselves? What are some coping skills that they can have? And what kind of resources and supports are available? Many employers have informed Employee and Family Assistance Programs or ESAP programs, but in a lot of cases, employees aren't always aware of the supports that are offered through those programs. So, those are some of the things that progressive businesses are really doing to help.  JO  53:38 Do you have a specific example of an employer who has done a really good job with this? TRUDI  53:45 Yes, I can certainly think of an employer... it's actually a first responder organization... and they recognize the importance of the mental health of their workers. And if you think of first responders, they're exposed to traumas all the time in their job... they see and hear things that are quite exceptional that regular workplaces, and regular workers, don't see. And so, this employer wanted to implement everything they could, so they had leadership champions step forward. They created a very robust peer support program so that workers had somebody that they could relate to, to talk to. And they even went so far as to start hosting family nights, so they recognize the importance of first responder families. And they hosted these family nights so that they could get the first responders and their families together to talk about what mental health supports were available. JO  54:39 So, what is the return on investment for businesses that are doing this health and safety right? TRUDI  54:46 That's really interesting. There has been some research done recently by Deloitte, looking at the return on investment for mental health programs. So these aren't just health and safety programs. These are specific to mental health and they actually found there was a return on investment of about $1.60 to $2.20. So, for every dollar you were investing in your mental health program, you were getting a return of about $1.60 to $2.20. And you were seeing that return on things like less absenteeism, less workplace claims, and more presenteeism for people who are working. That report really focused on the fact that we should invest in proactive programs that promote positive mental health, in addition to treatment. So again, that report reinforced this messaging around prevention, and promoting positiv