CEO Corner

Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial institutions and Canada's most international bank. With 69,000 employees, Scotiabank Group and its affiliates serve approximately 12.5 million customers in some 50 countries around the world. We have long recognized that our employees are our greatest strength and that is the reason for our success

Scotiabank has used Dave Howlett on a number of occasions for workshops and conferences. I was in attendance when he presented his "Knocking
down Silos" seminar at our Asia Pacific Conference in China. He had our international team up on their feet identifying commonalities and assisting each other with key challenges. Dave’s reputation- management seminar bridged cultural as well as business divides.

I would recommend him to any multi-national interested in knocking down silos and increasing employee cooperation and communication.

Rick Waugh
President and CEO
Scotiabank

With over 31 million passengers a year, Toronto Pearson International Airport is the busiest airport in Canada. Providing Quality service to these travelers is our highest priority after safety and security. The vision I have for GTAA is to pursue continuous service improvement by strengthening communication, creativity, innovation and trust. Variances in trades, unions and demographics can occasionally however present a significant challenge to implementing this type of company-wide team building effort.

We engaged Dave Howlett to present his "Knocking Down Silos" workshop beginning with management cadre. He had a great interactive presentation that was well received among GTAA leaders. It reinforced an ownership-philosophy that urges people to take charge of their career. The concepts of "assume everyone is intelligent, have a passion for what you do and get over yourself" resonated with my team long after the talk.

Lloyd A. McCoomb
President and Chief Executive Officer
Greater Toronto Airports Authority

After acquiring two companies and at the same time adding to our team to support significant organic growth, we wanted to maintain and build upon our 50 Best Employer status by striving for a common “good guy” culture that philosophically connects Aecon’s many operating units. Dave’s down to earth, interactive and powerful Knocking Down Silos’s was right on for our 400 leaders, and was rated one of the top sessions of our two day conference. I highly recommend Dave and his RHB “good guy” perspective and presentation.”

Scott Balfour
President, Aecon Group Inc.

Janes Family Foods is a leader in providing high quality meal solutions for busy families. We believe employee engagement is an essential ingredient in our success – when everyone here is engaged in making excellent products we can maximize market share and reduce loss. In such a competitive industry, a workforce that takes personal responsibility and strives for continuous improvement gives us a definite edge.

The employee-centric Real Human Being concept has been enthusiastically received and taken up across Janes. This intrinsic reward system "sticks" as it is based on continual repetition of striving to be a "Good Guy" or an "Amazing Woman"... our employees keep their peers, and themselves, accountable using the RHB 3rd Gear Philosophy. It’s become a part of our everyday language.

Janes Family Foods is now taking Dave Howlett’s teaching to the next level by implementing the RHB eCourse to help keep our brand as a visible source of pride for all of our employees.

Steve Malinowski
President Janes Family Foods

The leadership group of Accreditation Canada has focused on developing a strong culture - a culture within which staff feel respected, valued and rewarded. We continue to strive to be a 'workplace of choice' and take the necessary steps to get there. As one of our team building initiatives, Dave was asked to customize his talk to the needs and relevant issues of the Accreditation Canada team. His philosophy and approach was extremely well received by our everyone. I would not hesitate to recommend him to any company that is seeking a energizing type of speaker who will galvanize those participating and leave them with strong messages and strategies to improve their ability to cope with personal and professional challenges and stresses.

Wendy Nicklin
President of Accreditation Canada

BC Housing is one of the largest landlords in the province, and works with a wide range of partners to create new social housing for BC's most vulnerable. Our culture is mission-orientated and so we have a workforce that is focused and cares deeply about the work they do. However, as in every organization, improvements can be made to help us break down silos and work more effectively together - both internally and with our external partners. Our semi-annual staff meeting focused on a collaboration theme and the RHB “don’t demand the wave” mindset had all of our employees buzzing long after Dave’s presentation. I would not hesitate to recommend him to any group that relies on real cross-organizational collaboration and partnerships to effectively deliver on their mission.

Shayne Ramsay
CEO of BC Housing