Work in Flux

Working from home now has a catchy acronym — WFH — but I embraced the concept a long time ago, when I started my freelance business in November 1999. For me, the flexibility to set my own hours and the freedom to choose my own projects more than made up for any downsides. It helped that, when we moved into our current home a year later, I got a spacious room full of sunlight and bookshelves to call my office. I’ve never looked back.

However, people who abruptly found themselves working from home in March 2020 weren’t making the choice for themselves. They had to adapt overnight to what was often a less-than-ideal office setup — maybe an unergonomic chair pulled up to a kitchen table, interrupted every recess and lunchtime by the pitter patter of little feet no longer in school. They were wrenched away from the easy camaraderie of a bustling office with no ability to replace some of that (as I did) with coffee dates and lunches out.

Despite these challenges, many loved it. More than three years later, as Kira Vermond points out in this issue’s cover story, “working from home, at least part of the time, is no longer seen as a perk, but mandatory.” Many organizations have settled on hybrid work as the best of both worlds — but how can firms and advisors make hybrid teams both effective and supportive, and how can employees access training and mentoring opportunities if they’re mostly off-site? In the article on page 10, Kira identifies four strategies that may help your organization make the most of a workplace transition that seems like it’s here to stay.

On page 14, you’ll find Kelsey Rolfe’s reporting on Advocis’s 2023 Symposium. Sessions explored the impact of the IIROC–MFDA merger into the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), what it means to be a professional advisor today, your association’s grassroots-focused advocacy work, and total cost reporting disclosure. There was also a session on compliance that touched on the dark side of artificial intelligence (AI) in enabling fraud — but Erin Bury shares tips on how AI tools like ChatGPT can be used for the good of your practice in her column on page 9.

In addition, this issue includes a tribute to Don Glover, which you’ll find on page 20. As I learned from speaking with his former colleagues and peers, Don was widely admired across the industry and remains to this day the only person to have held two of Advocis’s most important positions: elected volunteer board chair and full-time staff president. I wish I’d had the chance to meet him.

Finally, I’d like to thank former FORUM columnist Glenn Stephens for countless insightful interpretations of corporate insurance topics. In this issue, Glenn passes the torch to Patrick Uzan, who on page 28 explores policy transfer rule changes that affect the capital dividend account. A warm welcome to Patrick!

The FORUM team wishes all of you a wonderful holiday season and every success in 2024.