Internationally respected mental health and Human Resources expert will strengthen Morneau Shepell's capabilities to help organizations improve productivity
TORONTO, July 7, 2015 /CNW/ - Morneau Shepell is pleased to announce that Dr. Bill Howatt, Ph.D., Ed.D. joined the Company as Chief Research and Development Officer for Workforce Productivity. He will build on Morneau Shepell's leadership position in workplace mental health, absence and disability management and health consulting to provide new services that help organizations improve health, engagement and productivity. Morneau Shepell and Dr. Howatt have completed a number of successful projects together over the past year.
With more than 25 years' experience in academic research in human behaviour, Dr. Howatt is internationally known for his work in Human Resources strategy, mental health, organizational learning design, leadership development, and the treatment of addiction issues, and has authored several books on these topics. Based on his research, he has developed a Quality of Work Life (QWL) survey tool to help organizations evaluate the health, engagement and productivity of their workforce, and understand what drives these factors. His research has found that coping skills play a key role in organizational performance, and are a lead indicator for predicting the health and engagement of a workforce.
Morneau Shepell is the largest provider of employee assistance programs in Canada, and one of the largest providers of absence and disability management and health consulting services. It has the country's largest normative data set on employee behavioural factors, providing a rich source of data for its published research. Morneau Shepell has leveraged this data by building analytic tools to help organizations understand the drivers of productivity in their workforce, and the actions they can take to improve business performance.
"Our clients are increasingly looking for measurable results," said Randal Phillips, Executive Vice President and Chief Client Officer at Morneau Shepell. "Dr. Howatt's survey methodology and approach to human capital addresses this need by helping employers measure the factors that drive health, engagement and productivity in their organizations. It provides an evidence-based approach to help employers diagnose problems, make changes to improve performance, and monitor their progress over time."
"Morneau Shepell is an ideal organization for me to partner with," said Dr. Howatt. "They are doing complementary research in the areas of health and productivity and I am especially excited about the work we can do together to help employers improve mental health in the workplace."
Dr. Howatt will be part of the Innovation Centre at Morneau Shepell, and will be working to develop the services that organizations will need to improve their health, engagement and productivity, and ultimately their business performance, in the years ahead.
About Morneau Shepell Inc.
Morneau Shepell is the largest company in Canada offering human resources consulting and outsourcing services. The Company is the leading provider of employee and family assistance programs, as well as the largest administrator of retirement and benefits plans and the largest provider of integrated absence management solutions in Canada. Through health and productivity, administrative, and retirement solutions, Morneau Shepell helps clients reduce costs, increase employee productivity and improve their competitive position. Established in 1966, Morneau Shepell serves approximately 20,000 clients, ranging from small businesses to some of the largest corporations and associations in North America. With approximately 3,700 employees in offices across North America, Morneau Shepell provides services to organizations across Canada, in the United States, and around the globe. Morneau Shepell is a publicly-traded company on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: MSI). For more information, visit morneaushepell.com.
SOURCE Morneau Shepell - Corporate
Nathan Gibson, Manager, Corporate Communications, Morneau Shepell, 416-390-2641, [email protected]
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