Challenge Factory

Nobody actually wants career tips and tricks. We want work that means something. 🌱

Lisa Taylor, CEO of Challenge Factory, has spent 15+ years helping organizations build career infrastructure that actually works—for every generation, at every stage.

Because fixing how we work can’t happen in isolation. Just like we invest in our finances and our health, we need to start investing in the systems that make meaningful work possible for everyone. 💛

That’s the movement. And it’s just getting started.

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https://challengefactory.ca/

Longevity is having a moment...but the workplace hasn’t gotten the memo yet. ⏳

We’re told to plan to live longer, save smarter, and stay healthier. But when it comes to actually working through that longer life? The support drops fast, and older workers are left to figure it out alone.💡

Ageism and labour shortages are happening at the same time. That’s not a coincidence. That's a design flaw.

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https://challengefactory.ca/

Career conversations are supposed to help people grow and move forward.

But often these conversations stay at surface-level.

People hold back.
Managers aren’t sure how to respond.
And what really matters goes unsaid.

Over time, that silence slows everything down.
In this recent radio interview, Lisa Taylor shares why psychological safety matters more than we think when it comes to career growth.

Because when people feel safe to be honest, internal mobility expands, and so does organizational capability.

💬 How safe does it feel to talk about career goals in your organization?

Want to take action on this? Check out our newly released playbook, Career Development as Strategy: A Practical Guide to Internal Career Centres, co-authored by Lisa Taylor and published by CERIC with CACEE as a partner (link below).

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https://challengefactory.ca/internalcareercentreplaybook/

What if students could directly contribute to your business from day one? 👀

Today is the first day of the job for our next group of co-op students, and they are already doing real work.

Videos are being produced.
Content is being created.
Ideas are being turned into materials our team can use. 🔎

That does not happen by accident.

It happens when organizations are ready to bring students into meaningful work from the start, with the right support and structure around them.

Students bring energy, perspective, and developing talent. When they get the chance to contribute early, they build confidence faster and see how their work connects to the bigger picture. 🌱

Intergenerational teams work best when everyone has a role in moving the work forward.

What would change if more organizations gave students real work from day one?

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https://challengefactory.ca/

What happens when organizations stop investing in entry-level talent? 🔎

A lot of the conversation right now is focused on uncertainty — are entry-level roles declining? Should we still hire co-op students? What changes with AI in the mix?

But the bigger question is about leadership: where will future leaders actually learn how to lead?

Entry-level work is where people build judgment, confidence, adaptability, and real-world problem solving. When organizations stop creating space for that, they're quietly weakening the leadership pipeline they'll need later. 💡

💬 Questions worth asking:

Are students getting real work or leftover tasks?

Are early-career roles part of your leadership pipeline?

If future leadership is on your agenda, entry-level talent needs to be there, too.

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https://challengefactory.ca/