Workplace Success Specialist; Leadership, Organizational and HR Change Management
No nonsense, professional. Gets right to the heart of the matter. Excellent stage presence.
Robert Harris specializes in helping organizations overcome barriers impeding individual and corporate success. In particular, he explores interpersonal dynamics at play in all business settings; for example, communication effectiveness, relationship skills, motivating others, overcoming resistance to change, and resolving conflicts. Robert teaches individuals how to become more effective in relating to others in achieving important goals.
Robert has published numerous articles in the business press and is the co-author of two books: Global Impact – Award Winning Performance Programs from Around the World, and Navigating Your Career – A Roadmap to Individual and Career Success. He is currently writing a new book on Strategic Change Leadership and Communications.
Robert has a distinctive ability to integrate workplace challenges into his presentations, which provides audiences with practical solutions that can be applied in their work and personal lives. Robert quickly connects with audiences of all sizes in presenting simple yet innovative strategies for improving workplace effectiveness.
Robert's corporate experience includes management roles in the high technology, healthcare and beverage industries. He started his career in the public sector and prior to forming his own company in 1999, was a partner in a Canada-wide consulting firm.
"Thank you for your excellent training with our managers and employees throughout the organization. They have clearly learned new tools and techniques to influence others and resolve conflicts in a win-win way. I can only say that your training evaluation results are excellent and at no point in my career have I ever seen marks this good. Well done." -
Corus Entertainment Industries Inc.
"Bob, thanks for a great presentation to our National Sales Team. Your content was very well received and our sales group was still buzzing about the new concepts and tools, even after you had left. We all found your presentation to be very valuable. We would like to have you back in the fall." -
ING Canada
"Your presentation on Influencing Clients to Accept Change was a highlight at both our Niagara Falls and Vancouver regional conferences this year. In fact, our members' feedback about the lessons learned during these sessions prompted us to ask you to do some more intensive and industry-specific work with us at our 2005 national conference in September. Thank you!" -
Canadian Society of Customs Brokers
"I just went through the evaluations – they were excellent. Your teaching/presentation skills and knowledge of the topic were rated 4.90 out of a possible 5.00 – thanks again for doing an excellent job. I do hope we get a chance to work more together in the near future." -
Centre For Leadership, Government of Ontario
Robert L. Harris regularly presents keynotes and workshops on current topics of interest which require him to apply his own experience and knowledge to emerging organizational and client needs. These topics include: Change Leadership; Negotiating and Influencing; Conflict Resolution; HR and Leadership Best Practices; and Career Management.
Research shows that over 2/3's of all change initiatives fail. A big reason is the 'disconnect' between those pushing for change, and everyone else. Robert presents a proven model for turning employee apathy and resistance into understanding and commitment. He highlights 5 key strategies that are simple to implement, and highly successful, but invariably neglected by organizations. Robert will make linkages to workplace examples of change success.
Communication and engagement are the two most critical ingredients to change success. People can't do what they don't know; people can't do well what they don't understand; and people won't do what they have no involvement in. This presentation unveils a strategic model for planning, communicating and then implementing change. Robert will give examples of what works and what doesn't from his extensive experience in organizational change.
Negotiating is a critical skill for all organizations. Both internally and externally, we must be able to secure an agreement that also causes both parties to want to continue to do business with each other. All too often, people fail in their ability to achieve necessary outcomes - either was give-in to keep the peace, or force others to accept our solutions which can damage the relationship. Robert presents the secrets to 'win-win' negotiating, demonstrating how to achieve positive substantive and relationship outcomes. He teaches how to both "claim value" and "create value" in a way that maximizes results.
Most people do not know how to resolve disagreement or influence, especially UP! All too often, we argue hard for the validity of our perspective, or spend time trying to refute the validity of others. Invariably neither side is happy and often, no agreement is reached. In this presentation, Robert Harris presents a highly innovative "Strategic Influencing" tool and 4 step process that causes the most conflicted parties to find consensus and commit to action plans for moving forward. This is one of the most critical skills needed in organizations - how to reconcile differences and influence for agreement. This tool allows you to influence UP, Down, Laterally, and Out in getting the commitment you need to succeed. The audience can immediately apply this tool to real workplace needs.
According to Gallup Poll data, only 29% of employees are fully engaged at work. Disengaged employees cost North American companies $300 billion in lost productivity. Engaged employees have higher productivity levels, create higher profitability, and show better levels of retention. Employee satisfaction and engagement strongly correlates with customer satisfaction and engagement. According to the 2006 Job Retention Poll conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management, 52% of employees cite career development as the most effective tool for job retention. Robert Harris is an expert in Navigating Your Career - both from an individual and an organizational perspective. In this presentation, Robert outlines what a company must do to put a state-of-the-art career development process in place (it is not costly!), and what employees must do to "take charge" of their careers. Although the responsibility is shared, ultimately the onus falls on the individual. Robert will explain a 3 step process (model) for taking charge of career matters. The result will be better equipped employees and higher retention for organizations.