Who We Reach¶
The professionals ProActive is building relationships with through content.
ProActive's content does not target end-users of workplace conflict services directly. It targets the referral network — the professionals who recommend ProActive to organizations navigating workplace conflict.
Primary Referral Audiences¶
1. Employment and Labour Lawyers¶
Highest referral value. Hardest to reach. Require legal credibility first.
Lawyers recommend external resources to employer clients managing workplace disputes. ProActive enters their referral network as a credible alternative or complement to investigation. This audience is risk-averse and legally precise — they need to see procedural rigour before they'll stake their reputation on recommending a relational approach.
What earns their trust: Richard's legal credentials (lawyer, mediator, arbitrator, 25+ years), legal framing of ProActive's approach (Baker v. Canada, Bill C-65 analysis), documented accountability outcomes.
Key objection to address: "No blame equals no consequences." Relational accountability must be framed as more accountable, not less, with outcomes that are legally defensible.
2. HR Leaders (CPHR and HRPA Members)¶
Broadest addressable audience. Highest volume channel.
HR leaders have operational responsibility for workplace conflict, psychological safety programs, and policy design. They read Canadian HR Reporter and HR Professional regularly, attend CPHR/HRPA events, and are actively seeking tools and frameworks. This is the audience where ProActive can build the largest following fastest.
What earns their trust: Practical, evidence-based analysis. Framework that translates into policy language. Acknowledgment that investigation is a legitimate tool — just not the default tool.
Key objection to address: "We have an investigation process — it works." The argument isn't that investigation is wrong; it's that investigation alone leaves restoration undone.
3. Health and Safety Professionals¶
Growing psychosocial mandate. Regulatory-driven.
New regulations across Canada — and internationally — are requiring employers to address psychological safety as part of their occupational health and safety obligations. Health and safety professionals are on the front line of this shift and are actively looking for frameworks that connect violence prevention, psychological safety, and conflict management.
What earns their trust: Regulatory fluency (Bill C-65, provincial OH&S regulations), risk framing, connection to existing safety management systems. FVAIS (ProActive's violence risk assessment tool) speaks directly to this audience.
Key objection to address: "This is a people problem, not a safety problem." Psychosocial hazard regulations have already answered this objection — the audience just needs the framework to apply it.
4. Executives and Boards¶
Approve the spend. Influenced by lawyers and HR.
Executives don't initiate the ProActive conversation — they approve it. They're reached through the content their advisors (lawyers, HR) are reading, and through LinkedIn. The governance and risk framing matters: what's the liability exposure, what's the Board's duty of care, what's the cost of doing nothing?
What earns their trust: Concise, evidence-based risk framing. Peer examples. Clear ROI. Nothing that reads as soft or unstructured.
5. Academic Peers¶
Credentialing function. Slower cycle. Enables all other audiences long-term.
Richard's academic work — theoretical papers, journal articles, conference presentations — establishes the scholarly foundation for ProActive's framework. Academic credibility takes years to build but is permanent. It enables all other audiences: a practitioner who cites peer-reviewed work carries more weight than one who doesn't.
Phase: This audience is targeted in Phase 1B (April–May 2026 onward), after the practitioner track is established.
Sector Focus¶
ProActive's content is targeted at specific Canadian sectors where workplace conflict is high-stakes and where ProActive has direct experience:
| Sector | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Healthcare | High conflict density; psychological safety regulations; union environment; strong need for FVAIS |
| Universities | Complex governance; faculty disputes; harassment investigations; growing demand for restorative approaches |
| Mining, Forestry, Engineering | Remote workplaces; high-stress environments; violence risk; BC primary market |
| First Nations Organizations | Distinct governance structures; community-based conflict; cultural competence required |
| Policing and Fire & Rescue | High trauma exposure; internal conflict; difficult investigation dynamics |
| Government (federal, provincial, municipal) | Heavy reliance on investigation; procedural justice frameworks; Bill C-65 compliance |