Janis Foord Kirk's keynote presentations are known for providing practical, up-to-date information about the ways in which individuals and organizations can respond to changing times.

Career Resilience
Engaging the Mature Worker
Creating Healthy Workplaces
Work & Life: A Delicate Balance
Survivability® Skills for a Changing World of Work
Career Self Manager

Career Resilience

Career Resilience is a mindset, a way of thinking that says: Okay life, throw at me what you will, I’ll find a way to handle it. Behind this mindset is a blend of skills, attitude and learning grounded in personal responsibility.

This dynamic, thoughtful presentation examines the myriad issues reshaping the Canadian workplace in the early years of the 21st Century and defines the approach needed to successfully maneuver in uncertain times.

Audiences are asked to assess themselves and create a profile of their own Career Resilience, noting factors such as: Computer literacy, attitude, self marketing, communication, learning, problem solving, applied resourcefulness, personal initiative and self-management.

Employers call such skills "employability skills". Educators, deem them to be "essential skills". From the individual's perspective, however, this is the range of skills, attributes and competencies needed to excel on the job and at the same time productively manage one’s own career.

One hour

Engaging the Mature Worker

The talent pool is aging, not just in Canada, but throughout the Western world. At the same time, fewer children are being born. By 2016, it’s predicted, there will no longer be enough young people coming into the workplace to replace those leaving it. The “talent pinch”, as it has been called, has been predicated for over a decade and is now being felt in industries and in regions across the country.

Solving this demographic puzzle will take creativity and flexibility. One solution is to encourage mature employees to give up their visions of “freedom 55” and stay on the job. Another is to convince those who’ve already retired to hang up their golf clubs, re-organize their travel plans and head back to work.

This presentation provides insights and strategies to assist employers to successfully compete in the hiring of mature workers and entice those already on the job to stay.

One hour

Creating Healthy Workplaces

In the break-neck paced of 21st Century life, the price tag for unhealthy, dysfunctional workplaces has been marked up to billions of dollars each year. Disability claims and prescription drug costs are skyrocketing. Absenteeism is on the rise. Productivity is well below optimum.

The concept of workplace health has evolved considerably since the 1970s when the safety of the physical workplace was its sole focus. In the 1980s, wellness and lifestyle support were added to the model. The newest frontier in workplace health is the "psychosocial" atmosphere in which people work; the intensity of work, the way people are treated and the manner in which they are trained and supervised can directly affect their health.

A healthy workplace is a corporate advantage. Not only does it mitigate the affects of workplace stress, it is also a recruiting magnet. Research indicates people want to work in healthy environments and those that do are far more engaged, productive and loyal.

In this presentation, Toronto Star career columnist Janis Foord Kirk details the tone and texture of a truly healthy workplace and offers practical tips for improving general workplace health.

45 minutes/ 1 hour

Work & Life: A Delicate Balancing Act

In the tug-of-war between work and the rest of life, work generally wins. And yet, work is only part of our lives, an important ingredient without question, but just one of several elements that combine to make us who we are.

Most people need and want to work, for reasons of income, identity and general involvement in the sweep of modern life. What they don't need is for work to gobble up so much of their time and psychic energy. It becomes a question of balance.

Is your life well balanced? Have you incorporated your work in to a broad spectrum of personal activity to allow breathing space for other essential aspects of life?

Toronto Star career columnist Janis Foord Kirk provides a framework in which to answer these questions, offering practical techniques to help people move beyond passive acceptance of the status quo to take active control and build a well-rounded life.

45 minutes/1hour

Survivability® Skills for a Changing World of Work

Survivability is the blend of skills, attitude and learning needed to survive and thrive in times of upheaval and change. But what skills? What attitude? What sort of learning?

This dynamic and interactive presentation answers questions such as these, providing:

• A review of the changes reshaping the Canadian workplace.
• Self-assessment to create a personal Survivability profile.
• A succinct and engaging definition of the skills needed to ensure success

People define success in all sorts of ways; their skills and abilities help them achieve it.

Employers call them "employability skills". Educators, for their part, deem them to be "essential skills" necessary to leading a successful life.

From the individual's perspective, however, they are "Survivability skills", the personal attributes and competencies needed to successfully maneuver in volatile times.

With increased awareness, individual Survivability can be built and strengthened. And that's what this presentation is all about.

One hour.

Career Self Manager

Amid rapid and complex change, career self-management has become something of a moving target. Decisions made today can easily become irrelevant tomorrow, goals can become outdated, dreams can change.

As we venture tentatively in to the 21st Century, only you can set the mark, or change it. Only you know when target has been hit.

Active career self-managers are constantly reviewing their status and re-evaluating their personal situation, their dreams and goals. They are highly "adaptive" and ready to change plans and projections in light of shifting conditions and circumstances.

Practical and thoughtful, this presentation examines:

• The various factors affecting change today
• The increased demand for greater consciousness founded on acute self-awareness
• Personal strategic planning - a five step process.

One hour.

For more information about booking Janis Foord Kirk for a presentation or workshop, please contact:
Ingrid Norrish ~ Creative Meeting & Marketing Services
Phone: 905-456-0438 ~ Fax: 905-456-9429
Email: ingrid@survivability.net