It’s no secret that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is threatening to take over many jobs as it continues to grow. Accounting and finance are no exception. The addition of AI increases the ease and automation of many trivial accounting duties (i.e. journal entries, banking, etc.). AI’s largest contribution is its ability to collect and manipulate data at a large volume and rapid speed. Yes, this may seem like entry level roles in many industries are in jeopardy, however, in the big picture AI has been around for decades and helped with the growth of many businesses. AI is a popular topic today for two reasons, one, access to information has become easier, therefore, its improvements are more noticeable; and two, the advancements have been accelerating recently causing a fear of job loss. I think AI is actually going to help businesses focus on larger and more important projects that help grow the business. At the cost of some lower level job positions the efficiency of the business should increase which will result in company growth. For larger organizations this can be a really good thing. Company growth means better performance and expansion in the long run; in the end, creating more jobs. With my accounting and finance background I like to look at everything with a cost versus benefit mindset, and the benefits of growing your business and providing a better service or product to your consumers certainly outweigh the potential loss of transactional level job roles. A lot has been said about how AI will help grow large organizations through improving overall efficiency and creating a greater product or experience for the end user. This doesn’t mean the impact on smaller companies won’t be as positive. It‘s harder to see this end result for a company that may not have the resources to grow, so it may seem like these smaller company’s will be able to survive with less employees and eliminate many jobs and opportunities for young professionals to grow and enter their field of work. But, in reality, roughly half of small businesses fail, and if AI can improve this, there will be many more accounting professions which can have a great impact on the local economy. But how can AI really make accounting easier? There are several ways AI creates a new standard of efficiency; but the main ones are human error, manipulating and collecting data, and decision making/problem solving. Limiting Human Error In theory, the perfect AI system should remove all human error associated with the tasks performed. However, I believe we are very far from the perfect AI system, we still rely on humans to monitor and adjust these systems when needed. Nonetheless, by having AI perform transactional level tasks this really limits the human error when done by an associate. The simplicity and redundancy of the tasks mean employees with great strengths and talents should not be wasting their valuable time on these tasks, and AI allows them to have an impact in a more valuable area of business. A machine can also remove any bias in the decisions it suggests that a human may have such as availability, and confirmation biases. AI will consistently make rational decisions that humans can use to aid them in their decision-making process. Manipulation of Data As mentioned earlier, AI has the ability to manipulate large amounts of data. This advantage can save an associate hours, weeks, or even months of analysis allowing them to spend their valuable time on tasks that have a greater impact. The increased standard of efficiency comes from this collection and manipulation of data. Machines gather the data with little to no bias or human error, allowing the user to rely on the consistency of the patterns derived from the AI. Adding to how AI enhances the decision-making process. Problem Solving At this point I should start sounding like a broken record, AI collects data and analyses it with little to no errors, resulting in an efficient problem solving and decision-making process. But that’s really all it is. AI is an aid to accounting and finance in coming to conclusions and making decisions. AI gives the user possibilities, but there will always be the human need to make the final decision and consider the extraneous variables the machine cannot. Final Thoughts All in all, by automating accounting tasks such as tax, payroll, and banking employees can put their strengths and critical thinking towards higher level work, resulting in a more efficient use of employee’s time. And even though some lower level job roles may be eliminated, the need for humans to monitor and assess the effectiveness of the AI will always be there. This can create new roles in the IT departments, and create new tasks surrounding monitoring and evaluating the results of the AI and seeking room for improvement. Author Adam Rifai Accounting & Business Analyst / Associate Consultant Toronto Email | LinkedIn #artificialintelligence #foresight

I’m a huge fan of Amazon and you can often hear me saying ‘Amazon is taking over the world.’  This week they held their annual sale, Amazon Prime, which has quickly established itself as one of the most popular shopping events of the year.  Amazon impresses me for many reasons but I must say I’m really impressed by the fact that the company has really shaken up many industries and there doesn’t seem to be an area or line of business they don’t play in.  I recently discovered Prime Read, a private library for Prime members that lets you read for free. I have now added this to the list of Amazon things I use in addition to Amazon Prime, Prime Video and Amazon Music. I’m aware of the impact that Amazon has on things I love like the library and small businesses, and yet I can’t stop myself from using what they offer. I’m also fascinated by the company’s origins. What first started as an online marketplace for books has since expanded to include just about everything even space exploration! In today’s world the competition is fierce. Companies are no longer competing with others in their industries, instead disrupters are often new entrants or businesses that do other things like e-commerce, really well. Amazon is one of the biggest disrupters and there are countless factors that can be attributed to this, but their ability to be adaptable is one that I believe is propelling them to take over the world. Here’s why. They dream big and they move quickly. They have adapted time and time again to meet increasing customer demands and do not restrict themselves from entering new markets and launching new products. They have literally touched almost all industries and are significantly impacting how businesses operate today. A great example of this is Amazon Prime which started as an annual sale for Amazon Prime customers, but has turned into an event that competes with the likes of Black Friday and Boxing Day. It now also includes sales from many of its competitors like Walmart and Canadian Tire. They have truly leveraged AI to support their business growth and operations. They use AI to predict what customers want and how frequently they need it. In fact, I’ve heard that there will be a day where we will no longer need to choose what to buy, but that these sorts of decisions will be made for us. That’s crazy to think! What’s more is they leverage all of this data as a key driver to their strategy and business development. Instead of being good at one thing, they are good at many things and are continuously learning how to do new things. A great example is Blue Origin, Amazon’s aerospace manufacturer. Even in this niche market that includes many unknowns and new ventures, they are committed to achieving their mission to build a road to space so our children can build a future. How will they do this? We’ll have to wait and see. Change is at the heart of what they do and they’re embracing it. They look at strategy from a different lens and don’t limit themselves to taking a defensive approach. Most importantly, they are always looking to lead and aren’t afraid to fail. A recent article from Business Insider even quotes Jeff Bezo’s saying that Amazon has had failures worth billions of dollars. If you read through the whole article, Bezo’s perspective on failure is very clear. You aren’t successful unless you are also failing. This is particularly interesting to me because there are still many organizations and managers that do not look at failure in this way and this must change. “What really matters is, companies that don’t continue to experiment, companies that don’t embrace failure, they eventually get in a desperate position where the only thing they can do is a Hail Mary bet at the very end of their corporate existence,”  Bezos told Business Insider’s Henry Blodget in a 2014 interview . 5. Adaptability is part of their DNA. As noted above, culturally they embrace failure from the top. They also encourage risk taking, innovation, flexibility and continuous learning. Finally, they recognize that customers are in the driving seat and have developed a customer centric business model that is woven within everything that they do. With the pace of change occurring like we have never seen before, what can everyone learn from Amazon? That adaptability is the key to long-term success and sustainability. To thrive and be successful for the long-term, businesses must get used to change and need to begin thinking about what they need to do to become adaptable. It’s not going to be easy, but the road to success never is. Author Siri Maldonado Director of Marketing & Communications Toronto Email | LinkedIn #ThoughtLeadership #changemanagement #arti #ecommerce #adaptability

Peter Babiak is a senior instructional designer who has been working with Harbinger for just over three years. While Peter’s work is currently focused on instructional design activities, he also has extensive change management consulting experience. Prior to working with Harbinger as a contractor, Peter was an independent consultant for about 18 years. What is your favourite part about being a consultant? My favourite part is the people. For example, Harbinger has done a really good job at building teams that work well together, support each other effectively, and also have extensive and broad-ranging industry experience. In the current case, many of the consultants on the team have known and worked with each other in some capacity over the years so there’s an automatic advantage in place before the work even begins. It’s great to be able to work with such a well-rounded team where everyone shares the same values when it comes to serving the clients best interests. What aspects of change management or instructional design do you find most fascinating? I like the challenge of figuring out what the actual change is—it’s like a puzzle. From the instructional design side, it’s looking at what the system is, how it works, how it’s been customized, how the end-to-end processes works, and how those factors in combination impact the end users. Then you have the change management side. Once you’ve figured out what the changes are, how do you best prepare the end users for the coming changes in order to mitigate fear, resistance, and all the other things that come with any large change? Solving those puzzles, coming up with an effective, strategic solution and effectively implementing it is what I find most fascinating. Were you working in another fields before you got into change management and instructional design? Do you see any connections between your past and current fields? I kind of have a varied path with a bunch of different jobs. With a lot of them, if you had asked me at the time how they would prepare me for my future career, I would have said they wouldn’t. But as time went on, I realized that a lot of my past jobs and experiences did in fact provide me with a broader understanding of how different types of businesses operated. This has enabled me to better understand the people I work with and train. For example, when I worked as an inside sales rep, we underwent an implementation of changing from one system to another. I went through the training as an end-user, so I have a better understanding of the challenges people go through when they’re learning a new system, going from something they’re comfortable with, to something new and (seemingly) more complicated. I’ve also had many summer jobs working in warehouses and factories, which has served me will in a couple of ways. For example, my understanding of warehousing, logistics and plant maintenance has directly helped me when developing training materials for those functional areas, which in turn made them more relevant and relatable to the end users. In addition, some of the people I’ve trained work in these environments, have limited to no computer experience and are required to then learn a complex system like SAP. Having had similar experiences help me to better see the implementation from their perspective and to modify my training delivery approach accordingly. What would you say are the main values you hope to bring to your consulting approach? The biggest values for me are empathy and honesty. Change is scary for people, especially when they are comfortable doing the same thing for years, and then suddenly their work world is getting flipped upside down. So it’s valuable if I’m able to put myself in their shoes. With these big implementations, end users are expected to dedicate a lot of time to the project while still managing their day job. Knowing how taxed these people are, respecting their time, and being empathetic to their situation is important to me. Also, I’ve found people really appreciate honesty, whether about the time commitment, the complexity of the system, the progress being made, etc. For example, sometimes what was a 2-step task in the legacy system is now a 5-step task in the new system. It’s worth taking the time to listen to peoples’ concerns and if possible, explain the reasons behind the change, e.g., giving the client better data mining and reporting capabilities. It’s also worth having the difficult conversations with project leadership when things aren’t going well, helping them navigate through and mitigate the inevitable challenges that arise on any implementation or re-org. Do you have any advice for consultants starting out? Be a sponge; take in as much information from as many different people as you can, both from a business/industry knowledge perspective and from a working/managing perspective. The knowledge you gain from working in different industries not only builds your overall business acumen, but can often be used across industries. When it comes to figuring out your own working style, you’ll find that while you use some of what you learn, don’t be afraid to discard things that don’t work for you. For example, when I first became a project lead, I initially tried to emulate the behaviors and leadership styles of previous project leads. However, I found that while some aspects of how they managed worked for me, some didn’t and so I had to discard those and modify how I managed, to the betterment of both me and my team. I think for most consultants, while figuring out your particular working style, it’ll end up being a blend of what you’ve learned from others and what you bring to the table yourself organically. Is there anything that surprised you about what it’s like to be a consultant? I kind of knew I wanted to be a consultant when I got out of school so that’s the avenue I pursued. I liked the idea of seeing a project through from start to finish and the definable sense of accomplishment it provides. As a consultant I think it took a few projects for me to realize that while you might be working on the same software, the challenges are different from client to client and that even within particular project, you’re constantly running into new challenges and opportunities for growth. On a personal front, what surprised me most was the friendships you make and how you can bond with the people who are going through the same experiences as you. The hours you put in can be kind of crazy, especially during crunch times. But, when you have those shared experiences, they sometimes strengthen existing friendships, forge new ones, and make for an even better project team. Authors Rachelle Su Marketing & Communications Coordinator / Associate Consultant Toronto Email | LinkedIn #changemanagement #teams #job #experience #instructionaldesign #Consultant #leadership

Siriphone Maldonado, Director of Marketing & Communications, recently sat down with our newest Harbinger, Rachelle Su, Marketing & Communications Coordinator, to learn more about her background and interests. Rachelle will be focusing much of her time on marketing activities including writing and developing various online materials for Harbinger’s website and social media channels. She will also be working closely with Siri on several internal engagement initiatives and will be supporting other members of the team as needed. Tell us more about your role at Harbinger. My role at Harbinger as a Marketing and Communications Coordinator assists in developing the overall marketing strategy of the brand, while supporting other creative and design functions in the company. Ensuring marketing materials are both attractive and meaningful are within the scope of my responsibility, along with increasing Harbinger’s online presence. As the company continues to grow, it’s important for the brand to grow with it. This means engaging with our audience, developing our voice, and portraying an accurate and consistent image of who the company is and what it represents. I help express the Harbinger story and shed light on our values to encourage a strong, trustworthy and impactful brand. What was the last book you read? The last book I read was Stephen King’s Skeleton Crew book. I don’t usually enjoy scary novels but I thought I’d give it a chance, I would recommend it because it’s a super creative and well written book. It’s not as scary as it seems if you’re afraid of anything remotely horror themed like me! What are you happiest doing when you’re not working? When I’m not working, I’m happiest spending time outdoors swimming or doing water sports up north. I love going camping with my friends and being by the water whenever I can. What do you enjoy doing the most as a communications and marketing practitioner? I enjoy the creative liberty marketing and communications enables, I get the opportunity to transform information into concise, attractive, and creative components of a brand. For example, I like doing anything related to visual design. This means everything from rebranding logos, creating visual content, designing infographics, to creating a website! Although I can be very visual, I also enjoy focussing on marketing strategies and looking at the big picture and hard facts before creating content that makes the vision come to life. What are some of the values that drive you? Some of the values that drive me are curiosity, compassion and responsibility. I am a curious person, who enjoys learning and asking questions. I try to figure out how different pieces of a bigger image fit together or why something does what it does. My role with Harbinger is my first job out of university and the environment allows me to be a sponge and take in as much as I can as a young professional. In addition, having responsibility and accountability is something that drives me because I like to personally feel I can make meaningful contributions to my community through hard work. Lastly, compassion is one of my core values because it complements other important principles such as respect, inclusivity, kindness and more, which are all important to practice everyday. Being compassionate to others helps build my personal and professional relationships to be stronger and more meaningful. How will you leverage your past school and work experience at Harbinger? I will leverage my past school and work experience at Harbinger by using some of the marketing tools I became familiar with throughout my university career. Through the varied internships I’ve completed that either focussed on sales or a design-based role, I’ve learned some valuable skills that are transferrable to this role. Some of which are my technical abilities, research aptitude, problem-solving skills and initiative. My experience has prepared me to be successful in both creatively supporting the Harbinger brand, but also in contributing to the more strategic aspect of the company’s goals. Do you have a special talent? My special talent is that I can draw and paint quite well. This artistic ability has always been an asset to my role in marketing positions because strategy and design in communications goes hand in hand. How do you like to learn? I like to learn by doing. I find that by doing something independently I am able to learn from my mistakes or challenge myself to solve a problem on my own. Define change. Change is trying something new, challenging the status quo or the regular routine of doing things. Sometimes change can be something small but other times, it pushes you out of your comfort zone and forces you to learn or take a new perspective. Change encourages you to discover your potential. What makes you most excited to be a Harbinger? I am most excited about the opportunity to learn with Harbinger. Being surrounded by experienced professionals at this company will allow me to learn more about thriving industries and best practices in the workplace. Harbinger has a valuable network of people that I have the opportunity to connect with and learn from which is definitely an asset in developing my own career, especially in these early stages. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? If I could visit anywhere in the world it would be Indonesia. The hot weather and crystal blue waters seem like an awesome time! Authors Siri Maldonado Director of Marketing & Communications Toronto Email | LinkedIn Rachelle Su Marketing & Communications Coordinator / Associate Consultant Toronto Email | LinkedIn #changemanagement #graduate #internship #creative #communications #marketing #international

H arbinger Leader Insights discusses various decision-making subjects that can result in a failure or success of a transformation or change project. Siri Maldonado, Director Marketing & Communications, highlights the importance of letting go of perfection in leadership positions to drive efficiencies and lead their teams to drive change. It’s no secret that change initiatives take a long time, and within this time frame many unforeseen changes also take place like changes to leadership or project sponsors. Changes in leadership for a business transformation can happen for many reasons – the individual may have decided to move on to a new opportunity externally, they may be needed for other internal projects, the project requirements may have changed, and the list goes on. In a perfect world, the leadership change would have a minimal impact on the progress of the transformation. Unfortunately, this often isn’t the case and while there are various factors contributing to this, an important piece does involve how the new leader manages and guides the team. In my opinion, the best way to do this is to ‘let go of perfection’. How does one do this do you ask? You can start by acknowledging the pain of the past. The people that have been living it want and will appreciate your candor. Giving them anything less will only cause distrust which will be hard to turnaround. They know exactly what’s been happening and want you to be genuine and transparent in what you share with them. This will also help to build trust which is critical during times of change. What’s more, confront the skepticism. This is a natural part of the change curve for people, especially if a project has been drawn out or there have been several changes in project leadership. Use this as an opportunity to work collaboratively with the team to address the issues head on by finding solutions or revisiting the project scope. Once this is completed, it’s important to regularly ask for feedback and complete a pulse check to ensure you are progressing well against the plan. It’s also important to b e visible. Start with town halls or huddle tours by introducing yourself and hearing from the people on the ground. This is a great way to develop relationships and gain that trust. Another great way to embed yourself within the business is to do job shadows where you’ll get firsthand look into what it’s like for other members of the team. This will demonstrate your commitment to gaining a stronger understanding of the ins and outs of the new project you are leading, helping you make sound decisions when needed. It also helps to combat the “they have no idea what my job entails” comments which we’ve heard time and time again. Employees also appreciate leaders that are human. Contrary to popular belief…ahem Krista…we are not all robots! Humans make mistakes, have lives outside of work and are flawed. Share your past experiences from companies or teams you have worked with to demonstrate that mistakes are acceptable, however it’s important to find ways to move forward. When working with leaders, I have always advised to let people have a peek into your personal life – don’t be afraid to share what you’ve done over the weekend or stories about your pets. Let people understand your path to success hasn’t always been perfect and explain how you have learned from your past experiences to get where you are today. Allowing others into your life beyond work lets people know that you are more than just their leader and can go incredibly far in driving engagement. I would however caution that there must be a fine balance here. Leaders should not overshare and be conscious of the fact that they are there to manage people through the change and to do this there needs to be a level of authority and respect. Additionally, we know as a leader it can also be hard to accept help. I know this isn’t easy, but the most successful leaders are able to delegate and achieve success through collaboration. Leverage the skillset of the members on your team to give yourself the space to make the tough calls and decisions to move the project forward.  What’s more is that accepting help is especially important given the size and pace that change happens today. And if you add the influence of technology which has resulted in the need for decisions to be made faster, leaders simply don’t have the capacity or the time to be in the weeds. Finally, many business transformations today involve technology. These projects are typically the most costly and are incredibly technical. The good news is that b eing a strong leader doesn’t require you to be an expert on the system or change. The focus instead should be placed on how you can engage people. Let the experts and tech-savvy individuals do what they do best without interference, make sure you have the right people in the right roles and most importantly keep them inspired. Being a leader today isn’t what it used to be. People want to be able to connect with their leader, and I truly feel that letting go of perfection helps to establish stronger relationships between employees and leaders. It’s funny how much things have evolved. Perfection is not seen in the same light anymore, in fact diversity and failures are now celebrated. Many of the most successful companies and leaders have embraced this shift. It’s now time for others to follow suit. Author Siri Maldonado Director of Marketing & Communications Toronto Email | LinkedIn #ThoughtLeadership #changemanagement #collaboration #human #relationships #learning #leadership

The Impact of Storytelling in Change Management It’s likely you’ve experienced some change in the workplace during your career that’s left you wondering “why?”, consequently leading to other questions like “ how does this change apply to me?” or “what do I get out of this?”. There’s been plenty of times where organizations decide to make a change and end up leaving employees feeling left outside the loop. They also try to convince these same employees to be the driving force of the change, an even harder result to achieve. Sometimes, the new change just isn’t compelling enough for those outside of decision making for it to fully reach its’ potential. So how do leaders overcome these challenges and get employees to trust and support their organization during the change process Storytelling, one of the most influential tools used by change leaders, communications professionals and other leaders to help employees visualize the forthcoming change and understand their role within it. Storytelling can change an employees’ entire perspective on the change initiative by simply helping them visualize it, answer questions about its purpose and most importantly, find out what it means to them. Employees want to know what challenges they can expect and how to minimize turbulence, a well-developed change story can provide this understanding. People are more likely to get on board with the change and reduce their resistance during implementation when they have a story they can believe in and reference. Just as brands leverage powerful stories to attract consumers, the same concept applies to change initiatives. Storytelling can be used to paint a picture of a specific person, using a real example or highlighting personal experiences within the narrative also gives employees more reason to listen and relate. Similar experiences can unite employees across different functions and enable a stronger relationship between storyteller (change leaders) and the audience. So why doesn’t just telling your employees about your new plan for change work more effectively? Employees beyond the boardroom need more concise information and less jargon, providing them with a business case for change instead of a well-rounded picture of how they are going to be involved, doesn’t provide enough transparency. Change narratives are often used by communications professionals because they’re the ones who transfer the change message and introduce the initiative to everyone down the line. An honest narrative with an authentic tone can go a long way in communications. One of the details communications practitioners focus on is the extent to which they can create a captivating or persuasive message without sacrificing its straightforwardness, the same idea is represented in storytelling. Communications professionals always put their audience first, narratives connect with the audience and build trust which are key elements in reducing resistance during the change process. Components of an Effective Change Story Using personal experiences from trusted employees or highlighting them in the plot of your change story can turn them into “informal leaders”, this shapes the employee as a role model or focal point of the story for others to relate to. It’s likely that other employees have experienced a similar situation and may attempt to strive for similar results, using the underlying change initiative as a key element in solving the problem. Using a “protagonist” for the story showcases the initiative’s benefits, how the change was originally born and how it could be useful in other situations. Stories are an effective testimonial for communicating to your employees that this will work for them too. Stories can also be co-created; this ensures you’re getting the right perspective. Take your story beyond the boardroom and do your research to find out how end-users are getting things done, in addition to what works well and what doesn’t. Ask them how they would improve the system or inform them of the possible outcomes if things persist as they are. The most important information to listen to is what they think the best way to implement the change would be, once they’ve understood why it’s needed. These elements will help you build your case and story, and might even save you from executing the wrong change before it’s too late. Co-creating stories bridges the gap between the idea and the people, it amplifies their voice and gives them a chance to play an actual role in leading the change. In closing, give context and use real experiences when communicating change to employees; storytelling is much more effective than overwhelming people with features of your new change plan. People want to know why and how it’s important to them in order to fully believe in it. As change progresses, you can continue to add onto your story or highlight new employees to grow a network of inspiration. Author Rachelle Su Marketing & Communications Coordinator / Associate Consultant Toronto Email | LinkedIn #changeleaders #changemanagement #narratives #storytelling #leadership

With the rise of the gig economy, and use of mobile phones (by 2020, nearly half of the world is projected to have a smart phone) it’s only natural for learning to have a stronger presence here as well. As a trainer and instructional designer, it’s been interesting to see the evolution of using such devices to learn. In fact, 97 per cent of elementary schools and 100 per cent of secondary schools have reported to have at least some teachers use technology to communicate with their students. You’re also very likely to find young children or toddlers frequently using such devices on a regular basis to watch videos or play games. It’s quite impressive to see them navigating these devices so easily and I’ll be interested in seeing how this new way of learning impacts this generation in the long-term. So, what makes learning via mobile so popular? Well there are several reasons including flexibility. Flexibility in today’s world is key. As I mentioned above, the gig economy is thriving. More people are taking on temporary positions or contract work because of the opportunities that mobile has provided us with. Work can now be done from just about anywhere, and learning is the same. Many of our clients today have roles that require them to be on the move, or to work remotely and it’s important for us to take all these factors into consideration when we design and develop training. While we will always recommend a blended training approach (in-person, online modules etc.), we need to make sure that we are developing training that is accessible and incorporates new channels like mobile to be relevant and effective. Another reason for the rising popularity in mobile learning is the ability to engage and collaborate digitally. There are numerous tools available today, including Slack and Yammer. Both are great supplemental tools to use alongside online training courses and help to encourage interaction between people. The best learning experiences are ones that involve two-way communication, and allow you to learn from your peers and trainer. I’m always amazed at the new things I learn during my in-person sessions from attendees. Mobile learning has also been noted to have higher engagement. If you’re anything like me, getting notifications and adding tasks to my calendar are incredibly helpful in ensuring I get stuff done. It’s also normal for most people to push training activities on the back burner so that they can focus on other high priority work, making notifications and reminders an important piece to ensuring people complete their training. It also allows us to track completion. What’s more is expectations are changing. There are literally millions of people using phones for just about anything, so it’s not surprising to find that they want everything that is available on a computer, to be available on their phones. People today are regularly using them to learn; our team particularly enjoys Ted Talks and Good Reads. There are also many of us who frequently use Google or YouTube to figure out how to do something. Podcasts have also grown in popularity and are often used for training purposes. As you can see, there are several reasons why I predict that mobile learning will continue to grow however it’s important to note that there is still a long way to go for this to become the norm. Even though almost half of the world possesses a phone, you cannot forget about the other half and must take their accessibility into consideration. Author Colin Carmon-Murphy Sr. Financial Analyst / Consultant Toronto Email | LinkedIn #future #engagement #foresight #change #mobile #learning #accesible #leadlearnchange

Like everything else, change management continues to evolve. In its’ early days, it was used predominantly within technology projects but over the years it has become an essential piece and common component of everyday projects. As a change practitioner, I’m thrilled about the fact it has become common practice. Despite this progression, I am often taken aback when executives, or sponsors say “I need you to change us”. Changing people or other organizational components is not what we do. No change consultant has a magic wand that we wield to miraculously change people or organizations. What we do is provide the consulting and coaching, and often support the planning of the change. Yes, sometimes we even help the organization execute the plan, but ultimately managing the change that is desired is only successful when there is: Optimism and desire for the change – enough that people will move through all the stages despite the ups and downs. A strong case for change – a vision, a goal, a “what’s in it for me/us” – that the people and organization can relate or align to. Leaders driving the change – these include senior organizational leaders and also leaders without titles – the people whom others follow because they have influence, and respect of their peers. What DO we do? We will assess and diagnose problems that are holding your people or organization back. We will create a strategy and plan that includes all the change components such as communications, training and learning, sponsor and stakeholder engagement, and metrics and reporting. We will work with you and guide as necessary with insight and support as your people and organization move through the change journey. We will hold you accountable for what was promised to be delivered, constantly query, absorb and synthesize data to provide ideas and recommendations that will keep you on the right path, or that will help you know when to pivot. We will teach you how to do things differently and provide examples and best practice where it makes sense, or help you carve your new path. But we cannot change you. Only you can change you. So how do you do that? Here are four things that you need to ensure are in place for change to happen properly. 1. Own it – take responsibility for the change you are trying to achieve. All too often it is decided and agreed that “change management” is important, but key people in the organization are not ready or refuse to change. Sometimes this is because they don’t see their role or their impact in the success of the change. But more often it is because they don’t feel the change is for them, only for everyone else. 2. Change is hard and sometimes dirty but you are equipped to lead your people through it. The current world we live in is in a constant state of change that is often uncomfortable and disruptive, making change difficult to accept. In fact, there is no change without discomfort and disruption, even if minor. This is where communications come in. While change is hard, effective communications, usually from leaders, is an important tool that should be used to explain the change. To engage people along the change journey, the messages are best delivered by you. Consultants should not deliver the messages for you but we will certainly help you plan and craft the messages. When the message comes from you it brings credibility to the messaging and provides employees with a consistent source of information 3. Be present, available and VISIBLE. Basically, show up! For lasting change to truly take hold, your people and the organization need to see that everyone, especially those leading the organization, have bought-in and are on the same journey. This means, people managers, VPs and the c-suite all need to be involved and have to show their support, even if they are not the sponsor or directly impacted. 4. Don’t take short-cuts and always keep culture top of mind. Two other factors that can affect a successful change is not taking short-cuts, and always keeping culture in mind. Short-cuts seem like a good idea but should always be approached with caution. The “low hanging fruit”, trying to fast track change, or simply not investing enough time or money into the change are all recipes for failure. Before taking the easy road, think about the long-term benefits. Will these quick wins last or are they just band-aid solutions that will have be dealt later? Will this have a positive contribution by helping the business move forward and reach its long-term goals or are you just trying to get it over the line? There are absolutely benefits from quick wins, but these are only truly wins when the rest of the change is executed, planned and funded appropriately. Culture is key. Really. But what does that mean? There is a lot of buzz these days about building culture or changing culture, but the reality is culture, just like change, is a journey and takes time. Things to consider with culture is what is the current culture and what are the aspects of this culture that you want to see continue or change? Finally, how does culture fit into the bigger picture and support your change management initiatives? Is it important for you to embed a culture that fails and learns quickly, is agile and has resiliency? Knowing how you want to see the organizational culture grow or shift will inform how you communicate, how you train, and how you lead. The good news is that even though change is hard, it is possible to work through it and be successful! Leaders have the ability to drive change, and the best part is that you’re not alone in this journey. We’re here to help. Author Krista Schaber-Chan Managing Partner Toronto Email | LinkedIn #changemanagement #culture #organizationalchange #change #strategy #leadership

In today’s workplace, employee engagement is significantly growing in importance. It involves fostering an employee’s sense of loyalty and investment in their organization’s success and nourishing a company’s most valuable assets, their people. Engagement continues to be a difficult achievement to attain for organizations of any size because of changing priorities, competing commitments and countless other obstacles leaders tend to focus on first. To better understand why employee engagement should be a strategic priority for organizations, here are some facts on its potential impact: Companies with highly engaged workforces are 21% more profitable High-performing company culture leads to four times larger revenue growth. Disengaged employees cost companies $450-500 billion each year According to a 2017 study, 71 percent of employees are willing to leave their job and accept pay deductions in exchange for strong company culture, strong leadership, open communication and career development opportunities. Today’s workforce puts extra emphasis on factors such as work-life balance, career development, training opportunities and more. Given this renewed importance on valuable investment in employees, which factors do business leaders view as the most critical to success? As more studies conclude that high levels of employee engagement and strong leadership contribute to success and the bottom line, this puts employee engagement as a top priority for organizations. Employers are starting to put more time and effort into understanding what their employees want, how they are feeling and what they need to succeed. Collecting accurate employee data as a starting point for developing successful employee engagement initiatives is a crucial step that could impact an organization’s growth, and drive the outcomes they’re seeking in the marketplace. Current processes of collecting employee engagement information are inefficient and provide inaccurate insights. Although annual reviews and performance assessment activities can give leaders insight into the pulse of their organizations, these results are not specific enough to specifically pinpoint what various employees are lacking from their job. The traditional one-size-fits-all approach for analyzing employee data doesn’t provide enough actionable insights and limits investigation. With the explosion of machine learning, growing IoT applications, big data and learning analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is finding greater purpose in all aspects of business. The application of AI tools in organizations enables leaders to modernize their practices and improve how they interact with their employees, manage performance, deliver training and much more. AI serves as a productive tool for leaders to truly humanize the function of data collection and predict employee changes for the future. Some current AI applications that organization’s use to better understand and deploy successful employee engagement initiatives include: 1. Behaviour Mapping Learning & Development is a critical factor in attracting and retaining talent, professional change and career growth enable employee engagement. AI is being used to deliver digital learning by augmenting existing content into readable and fresh formats, without valuable design and development time. AI can extract important and relevant information specific to users, develop personalized training materials and adjust them to every employee’s learning styles. Using training information collected by AI, leaders can better understand employee behaviour and predict any issues that may arise, before they happen. 2. Chatbots and Real-time Feedback Communication is an essential aspect of employee engagement, Chatbots interact with employees through informal conversation. They can offer targeted communications and quick responses to questions. Chatbots can become training assistants or onboarding leads by offering virtual tutorials at an employee’s convenience. Personalization at scale and employee-specific learning recommendations (i.e. tips, reminders etc.) motivate employees to progress smoothly. 3. Collaboration Machine learning accumulates employee data that can be leveraged by leaders to easily determine when, how, or which employees work best together, thus driving group engagement. AI applications can manage meetings for employees or delegate process-oriented tasks, this simple automation frees up time for employees to engage in meaningful interaction and productive work. Using AI tools for performance management, data collection and improving learning processes enables employee engagement and identifies the critical issues that cause barriers to engagement. As AI continues to develop it will provide more opportunities for training leaders to better understand employee behaviour, resulting in accurate and actionable insights for the long-term. Understanding the pulse of your organization is important but knowing why or where it comes from is crucial. AI has the power to reveal an abundance of valuable information about employees and can make engagement less ambiguous, and more achievable. Organizations are constantly on the lookout for new technologies that can keep them relevant in today’s environment. AI acts as a complementary tool that can modernize current practices and ultimately lead to a better understanding of broader existing concepts like employee engagement. Companies of any size should consider how AI fits into their business model or how it can be used as a potential steppingstone to improve efficiency, service offerings, operations, and the development of their people. Author Rachelle Su Marketing & Communications Coordinator / Associate Consultant Toronto Email | LinkedIn #AI #EmployeeEngagement #Chatbots #Collaboration #LeadLearnChange

When you first hear the word conflict what comes to mind?  I naturally think back to my upbringing where I was discouraged from any form of conflict.  I was instructed to always do what I was told.   I must admit, this mindset has stayed with me and it took many years and coaching from colleagues and leaders for me to change. So when I heard Dr. Liane Davey speak about conflict at The Art of Leadership conference earlier this month, it got me thinking about conflict and how it can drive change within the workplace.  What I’ve learned throughout my career is that avoiding conflict solves nothing.  Instead, it inhibits innovation, collaboration and progress.  It provides a greater risk of having group think, avoids the real issues and makes even the smallest decisions hard.  Culturally, it can foster an environment with minimal diversity, where everyone is a carbon copy of one another.  This is not what you want and in fact research has told us that companies with: diverse management teams have 19% higher revenue are 1.7 times more likely to be innovation leaders in their market leads to better decision making outperform industry norms by 35% In a world where change has become a part of the everyday and is happening more rapidly then ever, how do we overcome our fears of conflict at work? The first step is making sure it is embedded within the culture.  A culture that is not only agile, but encourages a safe environment where employees feel empowered to share their thoughts and engage in open dialogue are able to try new things.  Conflict isn’t about arguing, it’s about having those crucial and constructive conversations, investigating all the options on the table and developing the ability to work through roadblocks.   Start-ups are great examples of the benefits that can be seen from having an agile culture. The second step is that it must be managed appropriately for it to be an effective tool.  This means that leaders must be able to facilitate or mediate conflict within their teams – by remaining objective, listening, and not being reactive.  It’s also important for leaders to understand the diversity within their teams so that they can adapt their management style accordingly. I’ve been fortunate enough to have leaders that have encouraged me to think outside the box and have worked in team environments where conflict is welcome.  The outcome often resulted in significant wins for the team and the business. The third step is to help your people understand how to disagree.  As leaders we have a responsibility to engage and develop our people.   One of the ways to do this is by creating a team environment where they know how to productively disagree with one another.   This can be done through structured team meetings, leveraging collaboration tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams so that things can be addressed in real-time, and with conflict resolution training.  There are many resources and tools available to train individuals on how to manage conflict. The fourth step is to know when to pick your battles.  It’s ok to disagree, but it’s also ok to let things go.   Not everything has to be a conflict and sometimes it just makes more sense to proceed with the status quo.  What matters here is knowing what to prioritize and when to engage in conflict.   While these circumstances are not easy to identify, a great trick is to think about how much it may contribute to the overall business strategy or results, or how it may impact your team. The final and fifth step is to ensure everyone understands how to move forward once decisions have been made.   Now that you have fostered an environment where conflict is encouraged, it’s important to also be able to take the next step and come up with a plan of action on how to proceed.  Once a decision has been made, everyone must be on board and possess a clear understanding of the next steps.  Moving forward will be challenging if you’re not able to manage the nay-sayers.   Finally, it’s especially important for leaders to show a united front, and use the same messaging and activities to get their people on the same board. Today it’s impossible to avoid conflict at work.  Businesses and leaders have a responsibility to lead their people through disagreements so that innovation and long-term success can occur.  What’s more is that businesses don’t have the option to sit still. If you don’t believe me, take a closer look at how some of the most successful companies leverage conflict as a catalyst for success today. Author Siri Maldonado Director of Marketing & Communications Toronto Email | LinkedIn

Harbinger Travel Diaries is a blog series documenting various worldly experiences from our team of consultants. This week Adam Rifai, Business & Accounting Analyst/Associate Consultant, shares his first client business trip experience. Shortly after graduating from Western University last year, I was scooped up by Harbinger, and I've already learned so much. They've quickly trained me in Instructional Design and Consulting, allowing me to make impactful contributions in my work. Getting into Change Management was a first for me. And this past month, I also had my first client business trip to Québec City. I had the pleasure of visiting one of our clients, Medicago, a pioneer of plant-based transient expression and manufacturing, in the fascinating and historic city. However, before I get into my experience working there, I wanted to share just how great it was to be in Québec. This wasn't just my first business trip; it was also my first time in Québec City. Anyone who's been to Québec City and Toronto can easily spot the differences. While Toronto, like Montreal, is vibrant, Québec City is very picturesque. Although the food in Toronto can be delicious, the preparation and presentation of Québec City's cuisine are far more detailed, resulting in an excellent experience. Some Terms: Here are some terms that will be used throughout this post: Instructional Designer: Learning Consultant that designs and develops the training material for the client Super-User: A unit-based support person who serves as the point person for the IT system being implemented End-Users: The individuals who will use the IT system being implemented Train-the-Trainer: Sessions where the Instruction Designer works with the Super-Users (or other client assigned trainers) to prepare them to deliver training to the End-Users Training material/content: The material used by the Super-User to train the End-Users Go-Live: The launch date of the IT implementation Working in Québec City As satisfying as it would be to visit Québec City and try all the different restaurants, there was work to be done. In fact, there was a lot of work to be done. As a consultant, it's crucial to build strong relationships with the client, and by meeting with Medicago's Super-Users face to face, I had an excellent opportunity to do such. It was a pleasure to work with the Medicago Super Users, and while we’re great at connecting through channels like Skype and phone, I always enjoy having the opportunity to deepen my relationships with clients through face to face interactions. During my time here, we participated in Train-the-Trainer sessions, where the Instructional Designers, like me, worked with our Medicago Super-Users to practice delivering the training content we've built. After months of collaboration, it was amazing to see the Super-Users deliver their training material so effortlessly in these sessions. I believe we had a very successful week doing so, not just in my area, but in all the functional business areas. The Experience As this was my first business trip, it was a great experience working hands-on with the client and to finally be able to see this side of consulting. I learned a lot from being on-site and engaging with others within Harbinger and Medicago in this environment. I would say this is where I was able to solidify and develop my own training style. I will certainly take everything I learned from my first business trip and use it to my advantage going forward in my career. The Results Early November was my first business trip. One month later, I had my second business trip. This past week I had the opportunity to go back to Québec City to try more restaurants. Oh, and also witness the outcome of the months of hard work put in by everyone on the project. I got to see Super-Users deliver their training. To be able to see them to do this was great and I really need to give kudos to the Medicago team for being naturals in their training delivery. Final Thoughts As training continues to be delivered before Go-live, I am confident that Medicago's End-Users will be prepared to use their new ERP system, Microsoft D365. This will give me the full experience of working on an IT system implementation with a client. The more exposure I can get working with clients on business trips, the more I am able to foster invaluable relationships that are crucial in ensuring we achieve success together. I really enjoy the learning aspect of consulting and hope to travel to many more places in my career. Author Adam Rifai Accounting & Business Analyst / Associate Consultant Toronto Email | LinkedIn

January 2020; not only a new year but also the beginning of a new decade. I predict this year and the years following in this decade are going to be full of amazing changes in all areas including global politics, the environment, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), to name a few. The workplace is another area I predict will continue to see continued change. It won’t be unsurprising to find more office and workplace restructuring, increased emphasis on self-paced digital learning, the rise of a new generation of informal leaders like Greta Thunberg, and additional focus on change enablement instead of change management. In my blog change management is dead, long live change enablement I speak about how we need to shift how we “manage” change, that it isn’t something to be managed but rather something we all need to enable in ourselves and in our team members. So, what are the three top changes coming in 2020 and this decade? AI, specifically Machine Learning, will see significant advances over the next year and over the decade. We already rely on machine learning for all sorts of things such as the responses we receive from Alexa or Google Home, the shows that Netflix suggests to us, and even those amazing albeit creepy ads and recommendations we all receive from Google, Instagram, and Facebook. But Machine Learning is increasingly being used and even excelling in customer service. For instance, chatbots are becoming more interactive, and are providing a more “human” experience. I personally have had amazing interactions with computerized customer service assistants when making hotel reservation changes with a leading global hotel chain. I also recently received a suggested caption for a photo that was uploaded to Google photos, where the recommended text read “A baby sleeping wearing a shirt with cats”. This kind of blew my mind because the picture was indeed a baby who was sleeping and wearing an outfit that had cats on it. These are only a few examples of how Machine Learning is already impacting our lives and areas where we will continue to see (or not see) changes and improvements. Self-paced digital learning has also been on the rise. I do believe there will continue to be a need for in-person or classroom training, but it will be the exception or used for very special circumstances. Digitally enabled and e-learning saw a rise over the past six years but it is this decade when we will see it become the primary mode of learning. As workforces are becoming more distributed and the desire for on-demand learning increases, we will see more and more digitally enabled learning. I further predict that peer-to-peer user-generated content (UGC), like those found in enterprise social networking websites such as Yammer, will make a serious advance in the corporate workplace. Interested in learning more? Check out this video on Change Management which is a great example of digital learning. Lastly, with change being the new normal - the status quo - individuals, leaders and organizations will shift how these changes are experienced. Gone are the days of merely managing the impact of the change. People need more. They demand more. They deserve more. Change enablement is the future. We manage things, but people can only change when they are enabled, and enablement can be learned and normalized. Change is happening rapidly, and we need to keep up. Whether on a personal or professional level we all have a choice to be prepared, aware and enabled. Now that I’ve shared my top three changes for the next year and the coming decade, I’d love to hear more about your predictions.  Share them with us here. Author Krista Schaber-Chan Managing Partner Toronto Email | LinkedIn