GreenShield’s Nadim Kara offers practical advice for leading through change
This article was provided by GreenShield.
As 2026 approaches, HR leaders continue to navigate a landscape defined by global and personal change, from rapid AI acceleration to mounting mental health challenges. The pace is intensifying, and the stakes for employee engagement, retention, and performance are high.
For Nadim Kara these aren't new, or abstract, ideas. “I’ve spent over 20 years learning how to improve the employee experience to unlock organizational productivity, performance, and impact,” says Kara, Executive Vice President and Head of People & Culture at GreenShield, Canada’s only national non-profit health care and insurance organization.
As Kara and his team prepare for 2026, he shares five insights to help HR leaders maximize employee potential in the year ahead.
1. Embrace AI, with humility
AI adoption is accelerating across industries, with employee response ranging from enthusiasm to apprehension. And for good reason; it’s an incredibly powerful tool, but one that must be tested carefully, explains Kara, adding that HR leaders should take a proactive role in demystifying AI.
At GreenShield, Kara’s team developed an internal AI chatbot that answers common employee questions, providing 24/7 support for a national workforce across time zones and enabling HR to trade the transactional work to focus on business partnership. “We said: ‘Let’s study the technology. Let’s pilot it. Let’s experiment.’ Once employees try it themselves and see the potential to simplify their work, it becomes less abstract, and less scary.”
Kara is clear that AI adoption is about freeing up employees to do the meaningful, strategic, and empathetic work. To do this well, HR leaders must invest in change management, prioritize training, and apply a human lens to all AI adoption, he adds. “Not embracing AI will cripple an organization’s impact and productivity, but you have to embrace it with humility too, building on a foundation of trust and learning.”
2. Well-being powers productivity
Mental health challenges remain widespread across Canada’s workforce, with one in three Canadians reporting they would leave their job for better mental health benefits, with even higher numbers among Gen Z and 2SLGBTQI+ employees, according to research from GreenShield.
Comprehensive well-being support is crucial for retention—GreenShield’s own Total Rewards program offers $10,000 in annual mental health coverage for each employee and their dependents. “When support is done well, you take care of your people and increase presenteeism and engagement,” says Kara. “And it’s not just about providing coverage; it’s making sure employees can find the right help at the right time, from anywhere.”
GreenShield is ensuring that access through GreenShield+, a first-of-its-kind platform that combines health care services and insurance coverage, meaning users can find a counsellor, attend virtual therapy, order prescriptions, and make claims all in one place. The platform’s personalized therapist matching tool ensures employees receive tailored, culturally relevant support, helping users find a counsellor within 24 hours and achieving a 93 per cent satisfaction rate.
3. Make benefits inclusive
Beyond personalized mental health support, employees increasingly expect benefits designed to meet their unique needs. This is especially critical when it comes to underserved groups such as women, youth, and racialized individuals, who often additional face additional barriers to accessing health care.
“At GreenShield, we believe health care is a right, not a privilege. And that means care tailored to you. We’ve designed our products and services to be on the leading edge of inclusion to support our diverse workforce,” says Kara.
Those offerings, available to all GreenShield employees, include gender-affirming care, family-building support, and hormonal health programs, enabling employees to bring their best selves to work.
4. Stay the course on DEI
While many high-profile companies are scaling back diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, Kara encourages HR leaders to continue to prioritize the work.
GreenShield brings their DEI philosophy into practice through Employee Resource Groups with intentional governance, executive sponsorship, and funding for both operational work and community impact, ensuring employees can meaningfully foster inclusion in their communities.
“We were founded on the principle of health equity nearly 70 years ago, and we will continue that work for generations to come,” says Kara. “This perspective is ingrained in our social impact work, products and services, and workforce. It’s not that we have it all figured out, but we choose to engage with both the struggles and the joy.”
5. Connect employees to purpose
“At GreenShield, delivering on our mission of Better Health for All is our measure of success,” says Kara. “You recruit people who are passionate about that and have the commercial skills to drive it forward. That’s why we define our culture as a place where purpose meets passion and performance.”
Employee giving programs make that connection tangible: GreenShield matches employees’ charitable donations up to $3,000 annually, rewards volunteer hours, and offers two paid volunteer days. This industry-leading program enables employees to drive positive change in a way that's meaningful to them.
The lesson is clear: supporting employees to align their personal values with organizational purpose translates into strong engagement, and strong performance.
Ultimately, 2026 will demand agility, empathy, and innovation from Canada’s HR leaders. Kara’s last piece of advice? “Invest in employees and create tangible ways for them to see the role they play in your big picture mission. When your team understands the impact they are making on people and communities, they show up with fresh energy and passion. That’s how purpose unlocks performance.”
