About Us
Core Purpose
To enable our clients lasting business success.
Core Values
C
uriosity – Embrace the fuel for contagious learning and improving.
H
appiness – Don’t take yourself (or others) too seriously, leave your ego at the door.
I
nclusivity – Be open to all people, experiences and ideas.
S
afety – Feel comfortable to disagree, or agree.
E
motional Commitment – Be driven by feelings, and a sense of responsibility. Believe in the power of culture.
L
istening – Is the core element of communication and the cornerstone of learning.
Our Culture
Bringing life to C.H.I.S.E.L., our core values.
Core Purpose
To enable our clients lasting business success.
Core Values
C
uriosity – Embrace the fuel for contagious learning and improving.
H
appiness – Don’t take yourself (or others) too seriously, leave your ego at the door.
I
nclusivity – Be open to all people, experiences and ideas.
S
afety – Feel comfortable to disagree, or agree.
E
motional Commitment – Be driven by feelings, and a sense of responsibility. Believe in the power of culture.
L
istening – Is the core element of communication and the cornerstone of learning.
Our Culture
Bringing life to C.H.I.S.E.L., our core values.
Greg Smith, CMC
Greg Smith is Chief Executive Officer of Populii Inc. His career has been a journey of diversity with amazing learnings. Starting as a Teller at the TD Bank and becoming their branch Accounting Officer. Moving from the Maritimes to Ottawa with the Public Service starting as an Auditor at Unemployment Insurance Commission in Moncton then a Management Trainer with Revenue Canada’s Center for Career Development in Ottawa and eventually becoming a Director of Organization Development at Veterans Affairs. After which moving to High Tech as a Manger of Employee Relations with Northern Telecom, then a switch to Head of Human Resources with Nabu Manufacturing and concluding as Director Performance Management at Bell Northern Research. Then off to the consulting world, originally working with Strada Change Management as Managing Partner in the U.S. and ultimately founding his own Canadian based consultancy, GHS Enterprise.
During his consulting tenure he took on a number of opportunities to expand his knowledge and stay connected to organizational interactions.
- taught Leadership both at University of Ottawa Telfer School of Management (EMBA and MBA) and Algonquin College.
- had the privilege of working with Rona as an in-store and Eastern Ontario Regional Installs Manager for multiple stores. Experiencing the real time challenges of life in retail and its associated culture.
- assumed the role of Special Learning Advisor for Carleton University’s Accessibility Institute which increased his sensitivity to supporting those with disabilities and the importance of an inclusive culture.
His experience initiating startups, consulting, educating, managing, advising and coaching has put both learning and culture shaping center stage that will transcend to helping Populii’s clients grow and prosper.
It was his experience in leading an M&A practice for a major HR Consulting firm that lit a fire to mitigate failures in that area due to the lack of organizational culture considerations. He has embraced “Culture Shaping” as today’s primary change management practice. He also believes that it is the greatest potential “pivot” for businesses to experience sustainable success.
Greg Smith, CMC
Greg Smith is Chief Executive Officer of Populii Inc. His career has been a journey of diversity with amazing learnings. Starting as a Teller at the TD Bank and becoming their branch Accounting Officer. Moving from the Maritimes to Ottawa with the Public Service starting as an Auditor at Unemployment Insurance Commission in Moncton then a Management Trainer with Revenue Canada’s Center for Career Development in Ottawa and eventually becoming a Director of Organization Development at Veterans Affairs. After which moving to High Tech as a Manger of Employee Relations with Northern Telecom, then a switch to Head of Human Resources with Nabu Manufacturing and concluding as Director Performance Management at Bell Northern Research. Then off to the consulting world, originally working with Strada Change Management as Managing Partner in the U.S. and ultimately founding his own Canadian based consultancy, GHS Enterprise.
During his consulting tenure he took on a number of opportunities to expand his knowledge and stay connected to organizational interactions.
- taught Leadership both at University of Ottawa Telfer School of Management (EMBA and MBA) and Algonquin College.
- had the privilege of working with Rona as an in-store and Eastern Ontario Regional Installs Manager for multiple stores. Experiencing the real time challenges of life in retail and its associated culture.
- assumed the role of Special Learning Advisor for Carleton University’s Accessibility Institute which increased his sensitivity to supporting those with disabilities and the importance of an inclusive culture.
His experience initiating startups, consulting, educating, managing, advising and coaching has put both learning and culture shaping center stage that will transcend to helping Populii’s clients grow and prosper.
It was his experience in leading an M&A practice for a major HR Consulting firm that lit a fire to mitigate failures in that area due to the lack of organizational culture considerations. He has embraced “Culture Shaping” as today’s primary change management practice. He also believes that it is the greatest potential “pivot” for businesses to experience sustainable success.
Mathew Burns
Mathew Burns, President and COO of Populii Inc.
previously worked with the largest bank in Canada (RBC) and with one of the largest global banks (HSBC) which showed him the power of organizational culture, both good and bad.
Successfully navigating senior leadership positions at both organizations taught him the value of culture when building a thriving team with engaged employees. He also experienced the lack of insight many corporations have into their organizational culture and how that lack of understanding can hinder change. He learned first-hand the opportunity to empower employees to build a positive culture is difficult to grasp for leaders and employees.
Having started his career in sales and marketing, he learned how an earnest value-proposition, stupendously communicated, cannot overcome a contradiction in the cultural expectation for how that value proposition is delivered.
Aligning the promises made to customers, with the promises made to employees and embedding that commitment can be a challenge without the right knowledge and guidance. Customer commitments, employee experience, learning, culture. That’s his goal, that’s what he does.
Mathew Burns
Mathew Burns, President and COO of Populii Inc. previously worked with the largest bank in Canada (RBC) and with one of the largest global banks (HSBC) which showed him the power of organizational culture, both good and bad.
Successfully navigating senior leadership positions at both organizations taught him the value of culture when building a thriving team with engaged employees. He also experienced the lack of insight many corporations have into their organizational culture and how that lack of understanding can hinder change. He learned first-hand the opportunity to empower employees to build a positive culture is difficult to grasp for leaders and employees.
Having started his career in sales and marketing, he learned how an earnest value-proposition, stupendously communicated, cannot overcome a contradiction in the cultural expectation for how that value proposition is delivered.
Aligning the promises made to customers, with the promises made to employees and embedding that commitment can be a challenge without the right knowledge and guidance. Customer commitments, employee experience, learning, culture. That’s his goal, that’s what he does.
Our Story
Background
Prior to GHS Enterprise, Greg Smith spent 5 years as an M&A Practice Leader for Watson Wyatt Worldwide based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and 10 years as Managing Partner for Strada Change Management based in Raleign, North Carolina, United States.
The insight gained through that professional experience helped Greg develop the capability to help organizations improve how they conduct themselves as a foundation to be more successful with a focus on “culture shaping” and “continuous learning”.
1984
Factors Impacting Basic Satisfaction (FIBS)
A paper based self-assessment career management tool
1986
Strada Change Management Limited Raleigh, North Carolina
1995
Watson Wyatt Worldwide - Canadian Merger & Acquisition Practice Lead
2000
GHS Enterprise. A global business consultancy
2010
Suitability Gauge (MVP) - Based on FIBS, an online tool to assess hiring fit for Job Seekers
2012
Culture Meter (MVP) - Online tool for organizations to assess employee perception of culture
2020
OrgFitech Inc - via Invest Ottawa, providing two Online tools, Culture Monitor (replaced Culture Meter) and Suitability Gauge 2.0
2022
Culture Shapers Collective, A Canadian centric business
2022
Culture Screener - An additional OrgFitech online tool for organizations to assess candidates prior to hiring consideration
2024
Culture Tag - Online tool to help organizations create a universal culture reference acronym
2025
This is the DNA of Populii
Decades of helping organizations better understand and shape a sustainable culture drove the creation of tools and identified a set of core skills for culture shaping. Populii brings that knowledge, those tools, and those skills together to directly empower organizations and individuals to shape their own culture.
Our home page features a 1-minute introduction to our approach and how we view culture. If you missed it, don’t worry. It’s so good, we included it again below. Take a look.