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Summary: My current workplace (a regional office of a national business law firm) has undergone a massive growth and expansion over the past several years. In my 2.5 years tenure, I have recruited and onboarded about 40 people (accounting for both newly created positions and attrition). I have witnessed the office grow from about 70+ people to 100+.

At the time of my arrival at the company, there was only one Business Leader - Senior Manager, Talent & Operations. Her portfolio consisted of three rapidly growing components - Operations, Business Professionals and Legal Professionals. It was soon evident that effectively managing and leading three different segments and populations of the office was not sustainable even for a superstar like her!

Eventually, a decision was made to promote select high-performing and promising team members into junior leadership positions and let them take on certain components of the previously single portfolio.

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Why Effective: Alignment, Resources, Access

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Why Effective: Alignment, Resources, Access

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1. Senior Manager, who later was promoted to Director, was able to optimize her capacity and focus on providing strategic overview to the new people leaders that were now taking the responsibility of overseeing smaller groups and completing low- to medium-level tasks. Previously, the Director would do it all by herself which was not sustainable for her or the growing office.

2. Newly appointed people leaders had more bandwidth to dedicate to their assigned groups and portfolio segments. The team members under the new supervision felt like they were receiving more attention and support which reenergized them.

3. The decision positively contributed to the culture and morale in the office by promoting from within, stimulating high-performing employees and sharing accountability and ownership

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1. Succession Planning - identifying high-performing team members who has demonstrated leadership potential

2. Continuous Coaching and Mentorship - formal and informal teaching opportunities, "trial" runs in a low-stakes situations, ongoing support and feedback

3. Increased contact between future junior people leaders and the target groups - introducing more interaction, interdependence and rapport-building

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Trust

Empowerment

Accountability

Open-mindedness

Support

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The plan was reviewed and approved by the Regional Managing Partner (a role similar to CEO), Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Operating Officer

The Director checked in with the team members from the groups that were going to be reporting to the new junior leaders

The Director developed communication plans that ensured that the affected groups were notified in ahead of the office-wide announcements so as not to make them feel blindsided. It was also done in an supportive and empathetic manner to ensure that the transition was smooth.

Regular check-ins post-transition were arranged in order to support the new leaders, provide coaching and resources.

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New people leaders received words of encouragement from Senior Leadership: Managing Partner, CHRO, COO

Ongoing coaching from the Director

Access to resources from the national HR team

Director provided autonomy and encouraged independent decision-making which further inspired and motivated the new people leaders to take ownership of the roles and respective groups

The Firm expressed financial support for any courses/training that the new leaders wanted to take

The Firm committed to hold in-house training sessions for new leaders

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·      Leadership championed the change and resourced it properly by creating new jobs and rewriting job descriptions so that they aligned with the initiative.

·      They started with good data that was consistent amongst their faculties. Then, they let the data lead.

·      They put budget behind efforts that were compliant with the new initiative

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Renick, T. (2020) Predictive Analytics, Academic Advising, Early Alerts, and Student Success. In H.Y. Zheng & K.L. Webber (Eds). Big data on campus: Data analytics and decision making in higher education (1st ed.). (pp.177-197) Johns Hopkins University Press.

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The story that jumped out to me is about a post-secondary institution that I was reading about, George State University (GSU) and how they transformed their university to make some incredible gains and become an outlier in the realm of student success. I am particularly inspired by their story because they use a similar platform to the one my institution uses and they have used the platform to really soar. On their website, they claim to be “No. 1 public university for undergraduate teaching. Top 5 most innovative institution in the U.S. — again” U.S. News & World Report, 2025. One of their key strategies was centering their student success initiatives on the student/advisor relationship and proactive interventions to ensure students are on track. Their strategies have produced 300,000+ proactive interventions, an increase of 23% in graduation rates and increased retention rate of 26% (Renick, 2020)

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·      Physically putting the advising centre in the middle of the campus so that it was a reminder of where they were placing value.

·      Turned to big data and predictive analytics to deliver personalized and proactive assistance to students

·      Forced all data to be house in one central warehouse

·      Focused their efforts where it was having the most impact – not students who were on academic probation, but on students who had low B’s to C’s  - “the middle”.

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·      Equity and Inclusion – one of their guiding lights was ensuring that all students in their diverse community had access to the supports that they needed to succeed. Their key demographic is situated in a low socioeconomic area and includes many diverse cultures.

·      Innovative– they pioneered the use of big data in education and have become leaders in this field. This required them “to go first” and that takes courage.

·      Transparent – they didn’t keep the stats they generated in a black box. Students were given access to them, so that they could build their own self-awareness about their trajectory.

·      Growth Mindset – GSU build this a culture where it was okay to talk about failings and learn from them

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Sometime during the early 2000's the Canadian Armed Forces began a major initiative to create a psychosocial resiliency and mental health first aid psycho-education program. This program became the Road to Mental Readiness (R2MR) program.

I joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 2000. In my role as a junior sailor maintaining electronics, I became fascinated by how the unique world of the military affected the health and wellness of personnel and their families. This curiosity led me to eventually become trained as a Mental Health Nursing Officer and a clinical educator in the Road to Military Readiness (R2MR) program.

In the R2MR program, I found a program that was revolutionary in providing a framework for developing psychological resiliency skills and a pathway for early Psychosocial and Mental Health intervention for members of the Canadian Armed Forces. The program has since been adapted by the Mental Health Commission of Canada is is available to a wide range of society as The Working Mind.

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1. The need for R2MR had come from a series of significant events including the Swiss Air disaster, Balkans deployments, Rwanda genocide, and the Somalia scandal. Finally, the war in Afghanistan that Canada entered in 2001 created an intense need for a robust and integrated MH and resiliency program. The need was to not just create a program but to change the culture of the organization.

2. The R2MR program had the support at the highest levels of the organization- including the Minister of Defence, the Chief of Defence, and the Surgeon General.

3. Around 2000, General Romeo Daillaire bravely shared his mental health challenges following his time as the Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda. This high profile story was widely shared in the media creating awareness in general society.

4. A scientific knowledge base was growing around the topics of PTSD and mental health supports.

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1. R2MR department was provided with extensive funding and authority to develop, implement, and assess.

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Peer driven

Evidence based

Strength based

Universal

Integration

Transformative

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Subject matter experts were consulted in involved in the program.

QA/QI principles adopted.

Shared with MH Commission of Canada for use in other settings.

Subject to outcome research by outside researchers.

Wide range of print and electronic resources created.

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My current workplace, the Yukon First Nation Education Directorate (YFNED), opened in the summer of 2020 and put a lot of emphasis and thought into the original design.  It was a brand-new organization, that was built from the ground up.  We are a not-for-profit, so our board of directors, which we call the Chiefs Committee on Education, had a very strong vision for the organization.  YFNED was created to have unified control over First Nation education so we can empower our people in our ways of knowing and prepare our children to be active participants in the current world.  This vision has been crucial to every design decision that was made.  Every decision was made with our people and our kids at the center.

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Why Effective: Alignment, Resources, Access

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Why Effective: Alignment, Resources, Access

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Alignment - Everyone who works at YFNED is there because they believe in the vision. Above all, we hire for fit. If you believe in the purpose, we can provide you with the skills you need to be successful.

Timing and need – YFNED started at a time where our community was in crisis. First Nation children were not receiving the education and health supports that they needed.  There was such a gap in these services that YFNED was immediately able to make positive change. Additionally, being in the middle of a pandemic, everything was changing.  It was a time of uncertainty and shifts in education.  YFNED was able to come in and seamlessly make space for ourselves within this new education system.

Community and wellness – When creating YFNED, the Chiefs Committee on Education was very mindful in their design.  They have been generous is our leave and benefit policies, they prioritize activity and have dedicated a space for a gym in our office, we have space for employees to relax and eat together.  Employee satisfaction was a key pillar in the design of YFNED.

Structure – YFNED was not created to be top down.  One of our founding beliefs is that parents and communities know what is best for their children and we utilize that belief within our own teams.  Everyone has the ability to be apart of the decision making for their team.

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The organization started from a good place, so it was important to maintain the environment.  To do this, we host quarterly All Staff Meetings and SACRED events.  All Staffs are intended for administrative and organizational updates, but also include team building activities. SACRED, which my maternity leave brain can’t remember what the acronym stands for, is our staff on the land day.  We spend time outside, on the land, enjoying each other’s company. We share a meal and spend time together.  Both of these events are mandatory for all staff.

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Community

Collaboration

Growth Mindset

Servant Leadership

Empowerment

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As we grow, one of the challenges is to ensure that everyone within the organization is kept in the loop. To do this, we have four main streams of communication:

1) Monday Morning Stand Up - Zoom meeting where everyone who is available is expected to log on and get updates on the week ahead

2) Team meetings - biweekly meetings for each team to gather

3) Senior Team meetings - biweekly meetings for managers and directors

4) GWANU - Weekly written newsletter sent out to all staff on Friday with important information. Gwanu, essentially translates to gossip in native language.

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Experts were involved in developing the program.

TV

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The program had support at all levels.

TV

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They had sufficient resources to create the program.

TV

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There was a high need for the program from an organizational and individual level.

TV

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More information/research came about PTSD

TV

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A well known leader disclosed his personal challenges with PTSD

TV

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Strong anchor - clear values at the centre of the creation.

TV

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They hired for fit. Staff members align with the values and purpose.

TV

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There was a strong need for the organization and its services.

TV

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Taking care of staff and their wellness is a value that they action.

TV

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Decision making is shared. They are empowered to co-create.

TV

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Time and resources are spent on building the community and culture of the organization.

TV

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The company has seen positive growth in the past years.

TV

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Management delegated/found support and was able to focus on issues they needed to.

TV

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Employees benefited from the proper staffing levels at the management level.

TV

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They hired from within - showing good loyalty to the employees.

TV

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Rewarded high performing employees with promotions.

TV

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What a great story of success which is especially inspiring in the context of education!

Themes I have identified:

Trailblazer - not waiting for other universities to pilot the program and then jumping on the bandwagon, but starting their own program;

Proactive (vs Reactive) - taking active measures to create a conducive environment and not waiting till things got bad;

Strategic alignment - vocal support from the leadership;

Data & Research - instead of rushing into rolling out the initiative, it was vetted through research;

Resources - tied in with Strategic Alignment, the leadership backed up the initiative both materially and socially;

Visibility - keeping the initiative in the forefront of people's minds physically (location of the advising centre) and mentally (consistent application of the program throughout the year).

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Thank you for sharing, John. I can only imagine how needed this program was!

Here's what I gleaned from it:

Empathy - the initiative was developed and driven from listening to people and their experiences and to support them moving forward;

Big Picture Mindset - it was not meant to be a local program, but a global initiative;

Transformation - similar to the previous point, the goal was to change things fundamentally;

People-driven - though not in the context of business and profit, it was centred fully around the well-being of the people and their experience, not around their performance and goals;

Top-down alignment - the program was supported and championed from the highest levels of the organization. It was streamlined and encouraged, thus integrated and socialized well.

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What a beautiful story, Courtney. I recently finished a book that shared how hard the Indigenous communities have had to fight for education, especially in the context of their culture, so it's in the forefront of my mind. Thank you for sharing your experience!

Vision & Commitment - due to the way YFNED is positioned, it is important to attract and retain similarly minded individuals that will further promote the core values;

People oriented - benefits and perks for staff that provide support and conducive environment to help people stay well and focused on the bigger tasks;

Community oriented - parents are invited (formally and informally) to the decision-making process. It's an even exchange instead of a one-way relationship;

Culture - all decision are informed by the community's culture and the commitment to uphold it;

Authenticity & Accountability - it is imperative to live by the core values of the organization and let them shine in all the aspects of the work.

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Not waiting for peers/competitors to act

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Support from the leadership

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Based on research and concrete data

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Focusing on organization's people, not just on performance and metrics

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Focusing on global long-term impact

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Not local, but affecting the entire organization

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Support from the top - fewer challenges with implementation and buy in

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Organization driven by its unique vision

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The organization is driven to uphold its roots, culture and history

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All stories has support from the top layer of leadership

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All stories has resources and budget behind the initiatives

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Similarities between Igor and my story (Courtney) about the fast growth of the organizations.

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Strong foundation in evidence for Theresa, John and Courtney's story.

Although, I didn't include it as part of my story but our organization was created right after the auditor generals report on education in Yukon was released. And the need was quite evident.

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The health and wellbeing of people was a strong pillar in all four stories

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Igor - to team members & new leaders

Theresa - to students

John - to military personnel

Courtney - to community

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In Theresa's story, moving the location of students support services

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Each new initiative was transparent. There was clear communication and nothing was hidden.

Igor - clear communication to larger team, open communication with new leaders and director

Theresa - data was shared with the students

John - research and resources were shared

Courtney - transparent within organization and to broader community

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In Courtney's story, parents are invited to the decision-making process

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Servant leadership/ distributed decision making

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Servant leadership/ distributed decision making

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Person centred (including both client and staff)

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Person centred (including both client and staff)