Inspire Club: Recent Episodes
Inspiring Workplaces
The Inspire Club podcast comes from the world of work with just one rule for each guest. They must share a story of someone who has inspired them along the way. We then explore their career, life away from work, share advice and tips for inside and outside of the workplace and much more. Want to feel good and learn something in half an hour? Join us at The Inspire Club.
In this episode we talk with Gideon Pridor, Chief Marketing Officer at Workvivo.
Gideon Pridor is Workvivo’s interim CMO and chief storyteller. Gideon is a veteran marketing leader with a track record of growing disruptive startups into global leaders, that redefine their markets. Before Workvivo (and a well-deserved sabbatical) Gideon was VP Marketing at TravelPerk, One of the world’s fastest-growing SaaS companies, Perfecto (acquired by Perforce), and others.
Gideon is a frequent speaker at industry events, an HRtech enthusiast, and a startup mentor helping companies build their story and tell it to the world.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with Nick Court, CEO of The People Experience Hub.
Nick Court has a wealth of experience in the fields of people analytics, reward, HR systems, employee engagement, employee relations, employee experience, and employee benefits. In 2019, they became the CEO of The People Experience Hub, an organization that allows companies to track how their employees feel at each stage of the employee journey. From 2015 to 2019, they were the Founder of Cloud9 People, a multi-award winning professional people services consultancy.
From 2017 to 2018, they were a Reward, HR systems and People Analytics Consultant at Travis Perkins plc, a People Analytics Consultant at Kier Group, a Reward and Analytics Consultant at Fuller, Smith & Turner, and an Advisory Board Member at Healthia. From 2016 to 2017, they were a Reward, Culture, Engagement and Analytics Consultant at Domino’s Pizza UK & Ireland Ltd, an HR Systems and People Analytics Consultant at wagamama, a Reward and Data Consultant at Dr. Martens plc, and a Global Reward Consultant at Thomas Cook Group plc.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with Perrine Farque, Founder & Speaker at Inspired Human.
Perrine Farque has worked for over a decade with organisations in London, including Facebook, PagerDuty, Pivotal, AvePoint and Nlyte Software. Perrine Farque is passionate about building diverse and inclusive workplaces that cultivate employee engagement, retention, productivity, profitability, innovation and business growth. Perrine Farque believes that the world needs more diverse and inclusive workplaces to build new products and services that reflect the diversity of the population.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with Kaitlin Howes, HR Business Partner at Reward Gateway.
Kaitlin Howes is an HR Business Partner at Reward Gateway. Kaitlin loves the dynamic nature of her job and that she gets to wear many hats, but is especially happy when creating a welcoming, fun and supportive experience for RGers. When she isn’t wearing her RG hat, you can find her repelling her sticky-fingered toddler from grabbing her laptop or chasing sunshine that provides the perfect setting for a picnic.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with Bobby Duffy, Author of The Perils of Perception.
Bobby Duffy is Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute. He has worked across most public policy areas in his career of 30 years in policy research and evaluation, including being seconded to the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit. Bobby sits on several advisory boards including Chairing both the Campaign for Social Science and the CLOSER Advisory Board, is a member of the Executive of the Academy of Social Sciences, a trustee of British Future and the Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO) and a Senior Fellow of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with Daniel Crosby, Chief Behavioural Officer at Orion Advisor Solutions
Dr. Daniel Crosby is a psychologist, behavioral finance expert and asset manager who applies his study of market psychology to everything from financial product design to security selection. He is co-author of the New York Times bestseller Personal Benchmark: Integrating Behavioral Finance and Investment Management and founder of Nocturne Capital. He is at the forefront of behavioralising finance. His ideas have appeared in the Huffington Post and Risk Management Magazine, as well as his monthly columns for WealthManagement.com and Investment News.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with Lance Secretan, CEO & Founder of The Secretan Center.
Dr. Lance Secretan is the world’s top authority on inspirational leadership, a trailblazing teacher, advisor and expert on corporate culture, whose bestselling books, inspirational talks, and life-changing retreats have touched the hearts and minds of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. He is the author of 21 books about leadership, inspiration, corporate culture and entrepreneurship as well as an award-winning memoir, A Love Story. His latest book is The Bellwether Effect.
In his chat with Matt, Lance highlights what the most important trait for leaders is, what drives motivation, why it is opposite of inspiration and how to make the world a kinder place.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with Mike Klein, Principal at Changing The Terms.
Mike has been working with a number of corporates, consultancies, startup enterprises on a wide variety of change-focused, internal, and external communication initiatives in the US and Europe. Based in Reykjavík, Iceland, Mike is also the Senior Advisor for Smarp Strategic Services where he supports their position as a thought leader and advocate for internal communication, employee advocacy and the value added by communication professionals, including frequent appearances on Smarp’s industry leading podcast, Comms Shift.
In his chat with Matt, they discuss the considerations around returning back to the office, setting employee expectations, what is one of the biggest failings of employee communication and why trust is so important.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with Beth Collier, Communications, Creativity & Leadership Expert at Beth Collier Consulting.
Beth has had more than 15 years of experience helping individuals and companies improve their communication and leadership – from executive communication and massive transformation programs to everyday business writing and presentations. She has also worked closely and delivered programs for people at all levels – from senior executives and leaders to graduates.
In her chat with Matt, Beth details her experiences working in the television industry, why she believes everyone has a creative side and why it is important to have courage to help express your creativity.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with David Beeney, Founder of Breaking the Silence.
As it is Mental Health Awareness Week here in the UK, David is the perfect guest to address the issues of workplace mental health.
As one of the leading voices on Mental Health in the workplace, David has had experience working in media and news publishing. During his time in work, he had been afraid to let his organisation know of his mental health struggles but now, with Breaking the Silence, David now works around the world to bring mental health and wellbeing strategies to organisations as well as helping to reduce the stigma of mental health at work.
In his chat with Ruth, David highlights the importance of learning more about your employees (talk about Stacey's dog!), why addressing mental health leads to improved business results and what song he is looking forward to playing at his wedding.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with Mike Adams OBE, CEO of Purple.
Mike leads Purple in developing products and services which are transforming the landscape of business. His initiative Purple Tuesday has received national acclaim for its contribution to changing the customer experience for disabled people - including online accessibility. Purpleis changing the disability conversation with businesses and disabled people across the globe - making an incredible impact on the world.
In his chat with Ruth, Mike highlights the importance of demystifying disability in the workplace, why mental wellbeing is so crucial during this time and what international celebrity he gets mistaken for whilst abroad!
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with Fiona Spencer, Strategist at Home
Fiona has worked with some of the world’s leading brands to deliver award-winning engagement and communications campaigns. As a strategist at Home, Fiona works with employee engagement and communication experts working with organisations to champion new ways to engage people in businesses across the globe.
In her chat with Matt, Fiona highlights what she learned working with James Dyson alongside his Foundation, the biggest problems facing people during the pandemic as well as some of her greatest (and nerve-racking) life experiences.
We hope you enjoy it.
In order to have great communication teams, constant education and communication training is key to discover what the latest practices in the field are.
In this episode we talk with Emma Bridger, Founder & Managing Director at People Lab
As one of the leading employee engagement experts, Emma is passionate in helping organisations design and create great experiences which help people truly be their best. As a previous lecturer in Psychology & Behaviour Change, Emma has combined her knowledge of Behaviour Change with her experience at companies such as EDF, RSA & E.ON to provide some amazing change.
In her chat with Ruth, Emma highlights the importance of wellbeing and how we should not look at it as something to fix but to strengthen for. On the personal side, we find out about Emma's love for music and what instrument she played in her band.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with Jason Anthoine, Managing Founder at Audacity: Bold Thinking, At Work
With extensive experience in the communication space, Jason has worked within organisations such as Siemens, GE Energy Connections and Newell Brands. With his own consultancy Audacity: Bold Thinking, At Work, Jason helps organisations see a vision of the future that’s totally different from their reality by helping them implement real culture change.
In his chat with Matt, Jason highlights the difference between leadership and management, why some leaders may confuse the two and why it is important that leaders actually lead. He also discusses the importance of doing rather than talking in helping to move an organisation forward.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with Jane Roques-Shaw, Global Executive Director, People Growth and Experience at WarnerMedia.
With extensive knowledge and experience in HR, communications and culture, Jane works to improve the employee experience. In her role at WarnerMedia, Jane is responsible for creating and curating the opportunities and environment for our employees to learn and develop.
In her chat with Ruth, Jane discusses how to be in service of employees, why its important to let your guard down and say yes to everything as well as why she loves to travel in order to wind down.
We hope you enjoy it.
HR departments are responsible for developing tasks that have an impact in many areas of the organization, in order to be able to carry out these developments professionals need to be constantly informed about the latest practices with the right Human Resources training.
In this episode we talk with Kelly Swingler. Founder of The Chrysalis Crew.
Kelly is a beacon of positivity and knowledge in HR for many around the world. Kelly is also the co-founder of Inspire: London, the London-focused community of Inspiring Workplaces. We hope to have our first socially-distanced meeting some time in September.
In her chat with Matt, Kelly reveals some of the potential struggles with transitioning your organisation to a 4 day work week. And why it is important not to answer your emails late into the night.
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with Jo Moffatt. MD of Woodreed Consulting and Strategy Director for Engage for Success
Jo has been at the forefront of the Employee Engagement cause for over a decade now. Personally coming at it from a brand perspective.
Host Matt Manners said “Kindred spirits with a passion for changing the world for the better through workplace initiatives, love for the one and only Bruce Springsteen and both history graduates from University, it was a pleasure and privilege to chat with her. You’ll learn so much about how to make an impact at work and Jo herself. Enjoy”
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode we talk with Lisa Hagger, HR Director of The Fielding Group.
Lisa is a highly motivated and energetic leader who creates an exceptional culture, which drives high performance. A genuine influencer who thrives on tough challenges. At The Fielding Group, Lisa is responsible for implementing people strategy as well as creating and co-ordinating leadership development programmes.
In this discussion with Matt, Lisa discuss why mental health in the workplace shouldn't just be a 'trend' and why it is important to teach leadership to children at school.
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
In our seventh episode we talk with Matt Gosney, Vice President, Organizational Development of UCHealth based in the US.
Matt is an executive leader whose primary focus is in partnering with leaders in articulating an organizationally-aligned talent strategy. At UCHealth, Matt is responsible for leadership program design and development, talent and succession planning and employee engagement.
In this discussion, Matt tells us why his mother is his biggest inspiration as well as the importance of a good employee strategy.
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
We hope you enjoy it.
In our sixth episode we talk with Russell Robinson, Founder of Amplified Research based in the US.
Russell's work encompasses conducting research and providing solutions to employee engagement, employee voice and change management challenges. With Amplified Research, Russell provides support, consulting and on-demand products to impact talent management, developing strong and inspiring leaders, and the creation of open and safe cultures.
In this discussion with Matt, Russell breaks down the importance of great leadership, giving employees autonomy and ensuring your employees match your company culture.
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
We hope you enjoy it.
In our fifth episode we talk with Sonia Stocker, Director of Stockerhouse Consulting based in the UK.
Sonia is a strategic transformation and engagement leader and has worked with brands such as Technicolor, Sky and BT. With Stockerhouse Consulting, Sonia works with senior leaders to help shape, articulate and deliver an engaging vision.
In this discussion with Ruth, Sonia shares what she has learned by visiting organisations, the importance of leaders instilling belief in their employees and how she manages stress during the lockdown.
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
We hope you enjoy it.
In our fourth episode we talk with Scott McInnes, founder of Inspiring Change based out of Dublin, Ireland.
Scott has worked with brands such as Hewlett-Packard, Ulster Bank, AIB and London 2012. With Inspiring Change, Scott helps organisations to connect with their people in clear, memorable, authentic and inspiring ways.
In this discussion with Matt, Scott breaks down the importance of being an "inch wide and a mile deep" and how he is keeping himself motivated during the lockdown period.
Scott also hosts his own podcast - The Inspiring Change Podcast where he has interviewed some Inspiring Workplaces favourites such as Jenni Field, David Macleod and Matt Stephens. Please check it out!
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
We hope you enjoy it.
In our third episode we have managed to get our CEO & Founder on the other side of the microphone. He lost a bet.
Interviewed by IW Academy managing director, Ruth Dance, in this episode Matt pulls no punches on what he really thinks, talks us through the story of who inspired him along the way (might be someone very close to him), his best experiences at work, the best advice he has even been given, his go to productivity trick, the workplace priority right now and much more.
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
We hope you enjoy it.
In our second episode we get the opportunity to speak with the uplifting Heather R. Younger, J.D., CDP. Heather is an experienced keynote speaker, two-time author, and the CEO and Founder of Employee Fanatix, a leading employee engagement, leadership development, and DEI consulting firm, where she is on a mission to help leaders understand the power they possess to ensure people feel valued at work.
Known as The Employee Whisperer, Heather harnesses humor, warmth, and an instant relatability to engage and uplift audiences and inspire them into action.
In this episode Heather talks us through the story of who inspired her along the way, her best experiences at work, the best advice she has even been given, her go to productivity trick, the workplace priority right now and much more.
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
We hope you enjoy it.
In our first episode as Inspire Club we speak with mercurial Stuart Rhys Thomas, founder of Masgroves. He works with leaders to help them create, communicate and deliver strategies that work. He also hosts Thursday Brunch and Pull No Punches, a podcast which talks with global leaders such as Alan Hilburg, Bill Quirke, David Hieatt and many others, about strategy-related topics.
In this episode Stuart talks us through the story of who inspired him along the way, his best experiences at work, the best advice he has even been given, his go to productivity trick, the workplace priority right now and much more.
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
We hope you enjoy it.
On this episode of Engagement Zone, we speak with Cat Kennedy. Currently, Head of Talent & Organizational Development at Sabra Dipping Company in NYC, she has also worked around the world for the Bank of Scotland and Heineken.
Aside from discussing rediscovering Lenny Kravitz, we get stuck into:
- The power of employee voice and ideas
- Keeping it simple
- How school might be a breeding ground for suppressing expression and much more
We hope you enjoy it.
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
We hope you enjoy it.
“This is not the society I’ve signed up for” - This episode of Engagement Zone is different to all other episodes. Focusing on the anti-racism movement in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. The purpose of it is to share a conversation between three friends (in the UK & US) on how all of this change is impacting them.
Thank you to Dr. Russell Robinson (Washington DC), Stefan Worburton (London) and Matt Manners (England)
Questions we discuss:
- How have you been impacted by these events of the past few weeks?
- Why do you think Floyd has had a different impact?
- Is there systemic racism in organizations?
- What can organizations do to create equity in organizations?
- What is next?
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
In this episode, we speak with Paul Devoy. Paul is the CEO of Investors in People.
We cover topics such as:
- Latest research undertaken by Investors in People showing 4 in 5 employers are concerned about the wellbeing of their people
- How this crisis has fast forwarded certain issues more than a decade in just a matter of weeks. Issues such as employer trust and breaking the stigma around mental health
- Rather than asking How are you? We should ask, How are you, really? It gets more to the point and harder to deflect
- What will work look like moving forward. Do we want it to change so fundamentally as others are predicting?
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
In this episode, we speak Tom Gibby. He is the Co-Founder of The Bot Platform who were recently crowned the UK & Europe Employee Engagement Vendor of the year.
Areas we cover in this interview:
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Our failed effort to meet in NYC this March (for obvious reasons)
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How the march of technology has afforded us to be more agile without a huge investment
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The importance of dialogue with your workforce & the power of their ideas
and much more
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
In this episode, we speak with Jean O’Donnell from Allied Irish Banks. This Podcast took place in late March during the onset of the Corona Virus.
AIB was shortlisted in the Innovation category for the 2019 UK & European Employee Engagement Awards. What this interview shows is how being forward-thinking can help when crises arrive. How rapidly we have evolved over the past 6 weeks to adapt to the situation we all face.
Areas we cover in this interview:
- The shortlisted entry focused around Photovoice - bringing personality and humanity to a remote workforce during the transition
- How using out of the box thinking such as a sociologist from a local university can bring innovation
- How a focused good idea can rapidly impact the entire business in a positive way
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
We hope you enjoy it.
In this episode with speak with Employee Engagement guru David Zinger.
Many years ago, David was the person that first introduced us to the concept of psychological safety (PS). Ever since it has been a cornerstone of what we are driving towards. Creating a world without fear of being who you are. Bringing your true self to work and all the benefits that it can deliver both the individual and organisation by doing so.
This Podcast does touch upon the importance of PS during these testing times too.
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
We hope you enjoy listening as we did recording. Thank you David
.
In this episode, we talk with Robert Glazer. Robert is the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners, author of the inspirational newsletter Friday Forward, author of the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller, Elevate, and of the international bestselling book, Performance Partnerships.
On this Podcast we address the following questions:
- What are the keys to building a healthy, high-performing remote culture?
- In what ways can a remote culture drive better engagement and happiness for employees?
- What permanent changes will businesses experience with regard to employee engagement because of COVID-19?
- What are the biggest mistakes companies can make when transitioning to a remote environment?
This episode is powered by Waggl – Waggl is an agile and comprehensive Employee Voice platform that measures, and truly improves engagement.
Enjoy the episode below.
In this episode, we speak with David Ducheyne from Otolith and chief curator of the largest LinkedIn group for Employee Experience professionals. David has also been a judge for the awards in UK & Europe.
This podcast covers:
- How to build and sustain people strategies
- The importance of patience, agility and consistency in building strategy
- Why Organizations still struggle with Engagement
- Plus much more
Enjoy the episode below.
In this episode, we speak with Lee Nicholls from Pladis.
Pladis were the winners of the Innovation in Engagement Category in the UK & European Employee Engagement Awards.
This podcast covers:
- How they have engaged 3800 employees across multiple sites on their mission #RoadtoZero - making the world a better place by reducing product waster
- Learning about the Pladis agenda - People, Product, Planet
- How Employee ideas drive innovation
- Plus much more
Key terms:
- Employee Engagement
- Culture
- Empowerment
- Employee Voice
- Sustainability
Enjoy the episode below.
In this episode, we have a fantastic chat with Parmjit Flora, Senior Operations Manager at Ocado.
Ocado were Unsung Hero winners in 2018 and 2019 finalists in the Innovation in Engagement category in the UK & Europe.
This Podcast covers some fantastic topics from:
- One size doesn’t fit all – the need to empower and give autonomy
- Using insights to give the introverts in your team a platform
- Thinking outside the box - Using behavioural economics to benefit & influence the people and organisation
- What can be achieved on a Sunday afternoon whilst having a coffee and watching Colombo
- Plus much more
Key terms:
- Employee Engagement
- Culture
- Empowerment
- Employee Voice
Enjoy the episode below.
In this episode, we speak to the ‘Apostle of Appreciation’ and worldwide best-selling author, Chester Elton. Chester will be also speaking at our NYC conference this June.
Chester this week published his new book – Leading with Gratitude – providing us with key lessons of creating a culture of gratitude and distilled from over one million engagement surveys over the past decade.
In this podcast we learn:
How Culture starts at the top
- About ‘The Gratitude Gap’ within business
- Key tips from the book itself
- Plus much more
Key Terms
- Culture
- Recognition
- Leadership
We hope you enjoy this episode.
In this episode, we speak to Paul O’Nions from Sanofi & Paul Frith from Rubica
Sanofi won the Experience category at the 2019 UK Employee Engagement Awards.
In this podcast we learn:
- How you can transform your organisation with a people-first strategy - £6 million increase in revenue & 82% of people feeling more empowered
- How to get buy-in from senior leadership and line managers alike
- How to stay the course through the rough periods
- Plus much more
Key Terms
- Employer Experience
- Customer Experience
- Organisational Development
We hope you enjoy this episode.
In this episode, we speak with CEO of KVA Digital, Kelly Allison.
KVA were highly commended in the Culture & Purpose category in the UK & European Employee Engagement Awards.
In this Podcast we learn:
- How Culture and Values are the bedrock of a business
- How innovating in an industry where unpaid overtime has been and is still expected can pay dividends
- The power of leaders putting their employees' wellbeing ahead of customers even when it can cost huge money
- Proving to those that believe and say “You’ll never succeed in business because you’re too nice” are so outrageously short-sighted and wrong.
Key Terms
- Culture & Purpose
- Wellbeing
- Employee Engagement
Enjoy the episode below
In this episode, we speak with Daniel Waite & Mark Abrahams, Visual Co-ordinators of the John Lewis Magna Park team.
John Lewis were highly commended in the Best Use of Technology category in the 2019 UK Employee Engagement Awards
In this Podcast we learn:
- How to use technology to engage with a non-desk based workforce
- To engage across a diverse workforce and drive peer-to-peer recognition
- How employee ideas can be acted upon rapidly to improve the experience
- How technology creates efficiencies in time to enhance both the employee and customer experience to the greater good of the business
Key Terms:
- Employee Experience
- Employee Voice
- Gamification
Enjoy the episode below.
In this episode, we speak with Kate Bowyer, Internal Communications Manager at Buzz Bingo.
Buzz Bingo were finalists in a competitive Internal Communications category in the 2019 UK & European Employee Engagement Awards.
One of our favourite chats, in this episode we learn:
- How an internal comms strategy can elevate an organisation
- How proper IC provides a two way comes channel – a voice for both employee and employer
- How to roll out an IC strategy - involving your people from the very start
Key terms
- Internal Communications
- Employee Engagement
- Employee Voice
We hope you enjoy this episode.
In this episode, we speak with Evan Sinar, Head of Assessments at BetterUp.
In our conversation, we discuss The importance of understanding EX more deeply.
While myths abound about the modern workforce being driven by cold brew and onsite yoga, a deeper look reveals that what really drives employees are factors like sense of purpose, belonging, and opportunities to grow.
In his role leading design and creation for developmentally-focused assessments at BetterUp, Evan has been able to dig deeper into the nuances of employee experience to determine not only what factors are important but to quantify what factors are most important, and in what order. His latest findings debunk some long-held beliefs within HR and provide new insights on where businesses can best invest for impact.
Learn about these finding on our Podcast with Evan.
You can read the full report by downloading it here too:
https://www.betterup.com/en-us/blog/announcing-the-employee-experience-index-why-moving-beyond-engagement-is-essential
Key Terms:
- Employee Experience
- Wellbeing
- Leadership
- Purpose
Enjoy the episode below!
In this episode, we speak to Max Barnard, Employee Experience Manager at Harrods.
Harrods won the Employer Brand category at the 2019 UK Employee Engagement Awards. They won it with the first-ever perfect score from our judges. Congratulations.
In this podcast we learn:
- All about the rollout of Uniquely you – Together Harrods
- How building an Employer brand is all about human connections
- How to involve your people in building the brand - Focus on their stories & living those values
- The importance of psychological safety within a business
- Plus much more
Key Terms
- Employer Brand
- Culture
- Psychological Safety
We hope you enjoy this episode!
In this episode (our last of 2019) of Engagement Zone we achieve a first in our short history, We have 2 guests and have a mini debate.
Our guests are the esteemed Ken Oehler and Dan Riley of Kincentric. They will be speaking at our NYC Conference being held on June 11, 2020. Our Super Earlybird ticket offer ends on December 31, 2019.
Things we debate in this debate:
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Experience v Engagement and the convergence of buzzwords
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The importance of strategy above all else
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The future impact of HR Tech and the impact on the workplace & much much more
We hope you enjoy the Podcast. We have had fun bringing you the new Podcast in 2019. As we enter a new decade we will be bringing you 50 podcasts with finalists and winning organizations from across the world. Sharing best and sometimes worst practice on how to drive the Employee Experience.
In this episode of Engagement Zone, we speak with Aaron Hurst, the foremost expert on the science of purpose and fulfilment at work. In 2014, he brought global awareness to the rise of the fourth economic era in history, the Purpose Economy. He is the CEO and Co-Founder of Imperative. He has written for or been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg TV, Fast Company and now on Engagement Zone.
Aaron will be our closing keynote at The North American #EmployeeEngagement Conference in NYC this June 11, 2020. Book tickets here.
Areas we cover in the Podcast are:
- The three biological needs for people to feel that they have a purpose at work
- Discussing how we have been removing the humanity from the workplace for the past 50 years.
- How we are moving from Engagement to Fulfilment and the research around this
- Advice for companies to develop a purpose strategy
In this episode, we speak with Lewis Garrad, Partner at Mercer in Singapore. Lewis is a published author in HBR.org, a top 101 Engagement Influencer since 2017 and trained psychologist. Every chat we have with Lewis is enlightening.
Key elements you will learn from this podcast are:
- The value of people sciences to performance at work
- Employee Experience in the age of disruption
- The risks and rewards of AI in the modern workplace
- What Singapore is like when Formula One comes to town
Measuring the impact internal communication has on business results is the profession’s holy grail.
Research shows that currently, internal communication practitioners rely on employee engagement surveys to measure their impact. 73% put is as their preferred measurement tool followed by Intranet or online analytics (page views, etc.) and feedback from face-to-face events.
Today we explored whether internal communication functions are practising ‘wrong thinking.’ Our guest is Tony Cosgrove from internal communication experts, Masgroves. They argue the purpose of internal communication is not to impact business results at all – it is simply about making your business ‘better.’
In this podcast, we speak with best selling author and Top 101 Influencer, Debra Corey – Chief ‘Pay It Forward’ Officer at DebCo HR.
Key elements you will learn from this episode are:
- How to be a rebel and learn specific plays from her best selling book – Rebel Playbook
- Advice on taking the first step to improving your Engagement strategy
- The incredible holiday she has just taken
In this podcast, we speak with Director of People Sciences at Hive, Ryan Tahmassebi.
Ryan has years of expertise as a business psychologist, presented at Amazon’s EX Summit and been helping organizations big and small improve their EX. He was also our top-rated speaker at our London Conference in 2019.
Key elements you will learn from this episode are:
- Sneak preview of the webinar we are recording with Ryan on “Where we have been going wrong with Employee Engagement”
- The vital importance of why we have to connect EX with CX – in fact, do we just drop the words employee and customer in front of experience and much more
In this podcast, we speak with the CEO of Waggl, Michael Papay
Waggl was recently awarded the honour of The 2019 North American Employee Engagement Vendor of the Year.
Key elements you will learn from this episode are:
- What the 4th industrial revolution will look like and the role of the workforce within it
- How to empower your people and get out of their way for the greater good of your organization and them
- Waggl’s awesome event, Waggl Harvest – Voices at Work (tickets still available)
In this podcast, we speak with President-elect of the CIPR & UK judge, Jenni Field.
Jenni has years of expertise in delivering world-class internal communication strategies.
Key elements you will learn from this episode are:
- How to engage remote workers
- Effective communication channels to reach them
- “The Third Space” – where employees don’t want to be communicated with
- Reinforcement of the belief that line managers are just vital to a successful communications strategy and engaged workforce
In this podcast, we speak with Carmen Collins of Cisco. Cisco has won multiple North American Employee Engagement Awards, most coming due to their exceptional Employer Brand Strategy.
Key elements that you’ll learn on this episode are:
- The importance of having permission to fail
- Listening to employees & how to amplify their voices
- How to measure success
- Elements to the award-winning #WeareCisco strategy
Plus our host learns a new phrase that he loves….”Stop worrying about what can go wrong and start wondering what can go right”. A great philosophy for anyone charged with internal or external transformation.
In this episode, we speak with Mark Diller from T-Mobile. T-Mobile won in the Employer Brand Category at the 2019 North American Employee Engagement Awards.
Key elements that you’ll learn on this episode are:
- The award-winning story of the T-Mobile talent brand
- Making the employee the face of the brand
- How to empower employees to take control of the employer brand
- The positive impact of a successful employer brand strategy
In this episode, we speak with April Bembridge, Head of People at Cooper Parry. Cooper Parry won 3 UK & European Employee Engagement Awards in 2018, including the Top Engaged Workplace company of the year.
Key elements you’ll learn from this podcast:
- How Cooper Parry transformed itself into a business that outperforms the marketplace by putting its people first
- The importance of leadership in driving a successful culture
- How to involve your people to shape your values and much more
In this episode, we speak with Julie Ann Sullivan about the following:
- Insights from her new book – Culture Catalysts
- The four attributes of creating a successful workplace culture
In this episode, we speak with Ryan McGrory of Youi Insurance – the Top Engaged Workplace across Australia and New Zealand.
In this podcast, we learn from Ryan:
- How being given permission to fail, to fail fast and fail often provides the freedom to build an award-winning workplace culture
- How you can improve the lives of your people in and out of the workplace
- The importance of collecting data as you go and much more
In this episode, we speak with one of the early and leading voices on Mental Health, David Beeney of Breaking the Silence.
David is also one of our Top 101 Employee Engagement Influencer. He shares with us the following:
- His own inspiring story
- The importance of and benefits of having a clear mental wellbeing strategy
- How creating a successful company culture can drive engagement and much more
In this episode, we speak with Elliott Bryant-Jeffries, HR Change Manager at Southampton Football Club. Southampton FC was the Top Engaged Workplace across the UK & Europe in 2017.
Key elements you’ll learn from this podcast:
- How they built an award-winning workplace culture: “The Southampton Way”
- The importance of asking: The Why? The What? The How?
- How strategy has a 3-year lifecycle and much more
In this episode, we speak with Sesil Pir, an inspiring forward-thinking practitioner driven to improve the world of work.
Sesil has also been a judge in Europe and is currently listed in our Top 101 Employee Engagement Influencers.
In this podcast, we learn from Sesil:
- Insights into the global report entitled: Human-Centred Leadership
- The behaviours, mindsets and attributes of required for the future of work
In this episode of Engagement Zone we talk with 2019 North American speaker Jody Ordioni from Brandemix & AchievEE about the following:
- The importance of the employer brand
- The impact of employer brand on the retention and engagement of employees
- How do you differentiate your brand from other organisations
In this episode of Engagement Zone we talk 2019 North American judge Dr. Russell Robinson from the US Department of Health & Human Service about the following:
- The importance of the employee voice – why employees share ideas and why they remain silent?
- The impact of how management deal with the employee voice
- The talent management traits that we may adopt from successful sport leaders
In this episode of Engagement Zone we talk to Ruth Dance, Managing Director of The Employee Engagement Alliance about the following:
- The big problems in employee engagement that the Alliance plan to fix
- Key tips on taking your employee engagement strategy to the next level
- How to manage work-life balance in today’s world of work
In this episode of Engagement Zone we talk to Aimee Lucas, Senior Principal Analyst at XM Institute about the following:
- The integral link between the customer and employee experience – with compelling data to support it
- The biggest pitfalls that organisations make when trying to connect customer experience with employee experience
- Top recommendations on how to improve your employee experience within your organisation and the benefits of doing so
In this episode of Engagement Zone we talk to Raphael Crawford Marks, Co-Founder & CEO of Bonusly about the following:
- The five principles to follow to implement a successful Recognition strategy
- The importance and impact of empowering your people
- How it seems the norm the world over to get into the garden when Spring finally arrives and much more
We also explain how we have given up on time stamping each episode from news of the day as Brexit and Trump still dominate the daily news. Meaning it this Podcast could have been recorded anywhere between June 2017 or April 2019.
For over 15 years Josh has helped leaders build purpose-driven organizations through brand and culture management. He is a co-founder of CULTURE LABx and a senior lecturer at California College of the Arts’ MBA program in Design Strategy. His writing has been featured in publications including Fast Company, The Design Management Journal, and 99u.
Throughout the podcast, we discuss:
- How to design a great company culture – and what companies do this well
- How integral is ‘purpose’ when creating a company culture
- How a great company culture feeds back to the satisfaction of your customers
In our first episode of Engagement Zone we talk to our North American advisor, Engagment101 Influencer and Employee Engagement expert, Jason Lauritsen. For nearly a decade, he spent his days as a corporate Human Resources executive where he developed a reputation for driving business results through talent. In our first episode we talk about the following:
- Trends he has seen in the work of North American Employee Engagement finalists over the years
- His new book – Unlocking High Performance – How to use performance management to engage and empower employees to reach their full potential
- Advice on how to unlock high performance in employees
We have five copies of Jason’s book to giveaway. Please register for our Podcasts here to have a chance of winning one.
Also be patient with our host. It is his first Podcast. Our guests are the main attraction though : )