Dessalen Wood

Chief People Officer Thoughtexchange

Dessalen Wood is an HR professional, facilitator, and executive coach

who has specialized in passionately leading Learning and Development

and Human Resources teams within blue chip Canadian organizations.

Dessalen has over 20 years of experience in mid- and large-size

Canadian and US organizations, such as Reitman’s Canada, Hudson’s

Bay Company, The Children’s Place, and The Disney Stores and as

Vice President, Talent Development with Cineplex Entertainment. In

2019, Dessalen moved to Thoughtexchange to become the Chief

People Officer, making her first move into tech. Throughout her career,

Dessalen has created multiple programs and support systems designed

to create engaging corporate cultures and developing leaders at all

levels.


Day One: Wednesday, June 17, 2020

12:45 PM Ready or Not, Here it Comes: Adapting your Learning Culture to a #SuddenlyRemote World

Companies today face the challenge of engaging their employees in meaningful dialogue - whether it be due to geography, power dynamics, organizational dysfunction or the new normal of social distancing and remote work. Even with the talk of “returning to work” many organizations want to have a robust remote offering for all of their once-live employee touch points. Learning leaders are being asked to find ways to adapt everything to our #SuddenlyRemote world, from on-boarding, to company town halls/offsites and traditional face to face training. What should we prioritize? How can we maintain the culture and connection when we are not able to be in the same room?


Learning objectives—In this session we will learn:

  • How technology can humanize the employee experience
  • The power of allowing all voices to be heard
  • How to adapt learning to a virtual world
  • The value of gathering ideas and solutions from a broader, more diverse population
  • How to simplify cross functional collaboration and innovation through high quality,
  • Frequent conversations  

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Dessalen.

Download The Latest Agenda