Nicole Bendaly is a renowned author and President of team performance and development companies Kinect, teamfitnesstool.com and healthcareteamfitnesstool.com.
The experienced Toronto-based HR professional has been invited to talk at this month’s HRPA conference. Nicole will be offering insights into team performance enhancement and the behaviours and practices she has found to be critical to success.
We got some time with Nicole to ask her about her career to date, hopes for the coming year and why she’s excited to be a speaker at Canada’s biggest HR conference of 2015.
Editor: Tell us a bit about your academic and career history and how you came to be invited to speak at HRPA Conference 2015
Nicole: I have always had an interest in helping others to tap the best of themselves and this interest turned to passion when I specialized in organizational behaviour at Dalhousie University over 20 years ago. Since then my focus has been on both identifying and strengthening the behaviours and practices most critical to high performance teams and leaders and I will be sharing some of these essential best-practices and our research at the HRPA Conference.
Editor: Tell us 3 things that the HRPA Conference offers which causes high profile speakers such as yourself to choose to speak?
Nicole: It really is such a great venue to learn with and from other HR professionals which is one of the main reasons I am attending. The Conference always attracts the best speakers and experts in the field of HR and I am proud to be among them. The HRPA Conference offers the opportunity for me to share my expertise and build relationships with people and organizations I haven’t had the pleasure of working with.
Editor: What speakers will you be looking to hear from at the conference?
Nicole: There are so many fabulous speakers this year, I wish I could attend every session. Some sessions that stand out for me in particular include I’m too stressed out! How to accommodate mental health in the workplace, presented by Leadership Evolution, From IQ, EQ, to CQ. Character Matters in Leadership presented by David Town, Seizing Opportunity in an Unpredictable World, presented by Frans Johansson and.. Five Ways to Make Work Matter Again, presented by Roman Krznaric.
Editor: What will you be speaking about at the conference?
Nicole: The session, When Getting Along Together, Doesn’t Equal Results communicates the fact that team performance depends on far more than creating camaraderie and smooth sailing. In this session I’ll be sharing the behaviours and practices we have found to be critical to a teams success that go beyond simply ‘getting along together’.
Editor: What can people expect when you speak?
Nicole: Energy. I strive to create energy in the room and ensure that every session I deliver is highly interactive and results in people walking away with not only practical tools to apply right away but with the motivation and excitement to use them.
Editor: What do you want people to know about you? About Kinect?
Nicole: For the past 25 years we have had a singular focus at Kinect, to help people to tap the very best of themselves and those they work with so that they can achieve better results with less struggle.
Editor: Finally, as a Toronto native, can you tell us where’s good to go for networking lunches and dinners around the Metro Toronto Convention Centre?
Nicole: There are lots of amazing places and it would be hard for me to do justice to the buzzing area around the Metro Centre locale by naming just a few. What a diplomatic answer right! But seriously, I’d suggest checking out the restaurants around Union station. Lots of amazing places along the southern end Yonge and Bay streets plus it is only a short walk to the Esplanade with all of its amazing eateries and bars.
To learn more about how you could be a speaker at next year’s Conference, check out hrpa.ca/Conf2015/Pages/2016-Call-for-Speakers.aspx
First published in: www.hrpatoday.ca