Deb Best

01Speaking

Talks that say the thing the room is avoiding.

I speak to HR audiences, executive teams, boards and conferences. The material comes from practice: pay decisions I signed, restructures I delivered, and cultures I helped repair.

02Confirmed

2026

WorldatWork Total Rewards 2026 conference

Confirmed speaker, presenting in the Culture, Leadership and Governance, and Well-Being tracks.

03Topics

  • Fear at work

    What insecurity does to decisions, and how leaders recognise it before it shows up in results.

  • Psychological safety in practice

    Beyond the phrase: the meeting habits, escalation routes and reward signals that make honesty survivable.

  • Total rewards

    Pay, benefits and recognition designed so they can be explained in plain language to the people they affect.

  • Culture

    How culture is actually set, through what gets rewarded, escalated and quietly tolerated.

  • Leadership

    Holding steady when the ground moves, drawn from mergers, restructures and thirty years of financial services.

04Platforms

I lecture at Acsenda School of Management in Vancouver, and I am affiliated with Women's Equity Lab. I write regularly for an audience of more than 3,100 followers on LinkedIn.

Further engagements will be listed here as dates are confirmed.

05Booking

Invite me to speak.

Send the event, the date, the audience and the outcome you want from the session.