Mark Edgar, SVP of Human Resources at RSA Provides a Preview of His InnovateWork Presentation
The 5th InnovateWork Toronto summit is less than two weeks away and is set to make a big impact on the Ontario HR, Talent and Tech communities. The evening meet-up is almost sold out due in no small part to the stellar line-up of speakers and panellists. One of which is Mark Edgar, SVP HR at RSA. Here Mark provides a glimpse into his session and why it matters..
300 Years of Re-Imagination
Something remarkable is happening in the workplace making it a fascinating time to work in HR. The Future of Work (FoW) or New World of Work (NWoW) represents a completely different construct around how work is organized and as HR professionals we have a unique opportunity to influence its success.
RSA Canada is an insurance company with a rich history of over 300 years. During this time we have demonstrated our ability to adapt to a set of ever-changing circumstances by reimagining our culture and employee experience. In this world of continuous improvement, we know we will never reach our final destination, but as part of the journey, we continue to have some great successes and of course some failures.
‘How things get done around here’ is the most pragmatic and common definition of organizational culture that I have come across. While the definition is simple, the reality of organizational culture is very complex. It’s multi-layered, ambiguous and hard to change. The FoW demands a different culture driven by different expectations from a multi-generational workforce, new and disruptive technologies and increased competition.
As custodians of the organizational culture, HR’s role is to shape it, nurture it and evolve it as it will likely need to change again. At RSA Canada, we talk about building an ‘agile culture’. With more than 300 years of experience of the working world, we see ‘agility’ as a key enabler to ensure we’re around for the next 300 years. An agile culture will allow us to quickly adapt to changing circumstances by ensuring people have clarity around our vision and feel empowered to get us there.
Our employee experience supports our culture and is designed to attract, retain and inspire the best people. Consistently delivering this experience is a challenge as we have many variables and numerous constraints. It’s early days but we’re making good progress. We know what is important to people and we know what will make the biggest impact so this allows us to focus our efforts.
Join me at InnovateWorkTO on April 16 where I will share our story of creating change in a 300-year-old organization by reimagining our culture and the employee experience.
About the Author
Mark Edgar, Senior Vice President, Human Resources in Canada sponsors RSA’s collaboration with the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) in Canada.
Mark supports the commercial benefit it delivers and the volunteering opportunities it provides employees, enabling them to share their expertise and develop their own skills.
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