Our Now of Work community welcomed Stacey Harris of Sapient Insights Group, Zach Chertok from IDC, and Stacia Garr of RedThread Research to the meetup. This uber smart panel of industry analyst friends joins us at the onset of a busy HR Tech fall conference season to help SUMMARIZE 📌 2024 so far and LOOK AHEAD 👀 to themes and challenges promising to carry us into 2025. So far, 2024 has been full of AI buzz, skills chatter, increased HR Technology investment, consolidation and optimization of tech stacks, and conservative growth. The global labor market continues to be challenged by inflation, geopolitical tensions, and technology changes. Employers struggle to retain talent and curb jobs growth amid waning GDP growth, but they're also dropping degree requirements and training workers for skilled tasks. Artificial Intelligence and the transition to net-zero emissions will have the biggest impact on jobs in the short term. Whether you're on the conference circuit this fall or heads down in boardrooms setting strategy for 2025, conversations are sure to be full of AI as a DOMINANT FORCE, transforming daily work routines into intelligent business processes. As always, data privacy and security will require rigorous problem solving and governance. AI will drive innovation in predictive analytics for talent, and we'll leverage design thinking to consider human-machine teaming in blended workforces with AI and bots. One thing is clear: human-centered technology is the Future of Work, and HR are the primary stewards of the human experience of work. Exciting, heady stuff, but much work to be done. LEARN, WEIGH IN, GET INSPIRED

We welcome Madeline Laurano back to our Meetup!
Are we getting a little broad and loose with the term Talent Intelligence? -- YEP. Madeline will explain. She'll also share new capabilities around #interview intelligence, hot-off-the-press insights from Workhuman, and a new research effort with Torin Ellis on reducing #bias with #AI.

Meet David Gloss, Head of Team Effectiveness at AIIR Consulting!

As most of us may know, burnout has become more prevalent than ever before. And the solution isn't to avoid it, but rather it's about finding ways to mitigate its impact since it's something that everyone will experience. Teams, whether they are intact or cross-functional, play a vital role in shaping a company's culture and productivity levels. This has always been true, but as the pace of change continues to accelerate, the ability of teams to establish connections, build trust, and adopt healthy ways of working becomes an even stronger indicator of employee health and performance.

David Gloss, Head of AIIR Consulting's Team Effectiveness Practice, leads a dynamic group that is dedicated to helping clients assess, measure, and enhance team performance across enterprise systems. Whether clients choose to tap into the expertise of AIIR's exceptional Consultants & Coaches or opt to license their Enterprise Team Effectiveness (ETE) system for internal use, they can rest assured that they have a reliable and trusted partner by their side. 

Dave's 15-year career as a business leader, has been driven by successfully scaling venture-backed tech companies and creative agencies. He's gained invaluable insights into what it takes to both succeed and come back from failure in rapidly changing industries and markets. He leverages the psychology of high performance to empower clients with the knowledge and strategies needed to overcome challenges such as difficult acquisitions, managing big personalities, revitalizing frozen teams, and breaking free from stagnant growth.

Take a listen to a lively community conversation about TECH!

We've never had better technology at our fingertips, and that includes solutions for the workforce. We're a bunch of bright, smart, innovative people with an appetite for tech - we've shown that in our consumer and personal lives. So why can't we get tech to do all it's capable of when it comes to the workplace? Why does work still feel so.....clunky? 1993? Mainframe?

Maybe we've made it too complicated. More likely, we're not taking the right approach. Does HR need to be a technologist to shape and support the digital workplace, or do they just need to be technology-aware problem solvers?

Jess and Leapgen's President and Chief Service Officer, Mike Brennan, welcomed Ray Nunn and Reid McLaughlin of Covalence Consulting to our Now of Work Community. They unpacked the differences between deployment and implementation, talked about how to get tech to produce the right outcomes and the mindset required for true transformation.

The world of events doesn't look like it did before, but what will return, what's changed, and what's BETTER? The physical event business has already bounced back, but like the workplace, it's more innovative, more digital, more hybrid, more communal and human. There are more virtual participation options, smaller meetups and watch parties surrounding bigger events, and enhanced engagement opportunities. There are pros (hybrid and digital experiences are more accessible!) and cons (making a case for physical attendance & investment is harder when virtual is an option).

But what do people really want? Zoom or hugs? Expo halls or a virtual collaboration? Big stage keynotes to inspire, or micro-content from the comfort of their kitchens?

Kathryn Frankson is a world-class digital experience creator, event marketer, and storyteller. She just executed one of the largest events of her career, and there's more up her sleeve. She offers insights on the world of digital experiences and events. Our virtual #NowofWork community is ready to host LIVE & IN-PERSON MEETUPS; no one better to help us sort it out. ;) Take a listen to learn how! 

Leadership is never easy. It demands all of you. We talk a lot about bringing our whole selves to work, leading with empathy, the power of authenticity in creating cultures of connection. What if you're a leader who also happens to be an LGBTQ person? 

You require safety and support, especially if you seek to create judgement-free, compassionate workplaces where people can show up as who they are. WHAT A WIN THAT WOULD BE. Fully empowered humans leading with their authentic selves, using their unique voice to lead and inspire others. That's the type of executive coaching Chris Rollins provides, he tells a powerful story, as we continue to honor and celebrate Pride Month. 

Listen in as we talk with Chris about the power of authenticity, leading with empathy, building coaching cultures, and being an LGBTQ+ leader

75% of the workforce face some kind of caregiving responsibility. 83% of those use sick or leave time to provide care, and here’s the real kicker: 92% report heightened stress, depression, or trouble sleeping.

Caregiving can be beautiful, an honor, and a deeply fulfilling part of our lives. But it can be a financial, social, emotional, and legal burden — and it certainly affects our productivity at work.

Lindsay Jurist-Rosner founded Wellthy to care for caregivers. From supportive health plans and services to inclusion and community, Wellthy makes it easier for caregivers to feel supported. They also suggest ways for employers to de-stigmatize caregiving in the workplace, showing them they’re not alone and providing help and resources. Caregiving isn’t a new experience. It’s just become harder to ignore at work. In this episode, we discuss and look at the different ways we can all take better care of each other. 

Take a listen to our very special chat with Lindsay about how to best support caregivers so that they can thrive at work and home.

Automate to humanate! We say this often at Leapgen. When we talk about automate to humanate, we’re talking about giving everyone the experience they deserve. Automate what begs to be automated so humans can do what they’re especially equipped to do: BE HUMAN!

Why don’t we provide more tools, more virtual assistants, more robotic process automation (RPA), more conversational AI? Forget what it’s called: It’s called HELP. Humans are begging to be upskilled, supported, developed and career pathed. Technology is begging to improve experience for everyone: job seekers who need transparency and help navigating a clunky process, recruiters with overbearing req loads, hiring managers trying their best to onboard and unleash. Turn HELP WANTED into HELP IS HERE.

We talked AI with Josh Zywien, Chief Marketing Officer at Paradox, a software company fueled by the concept that AI can make recruiting more human. 

TAKE A LISTEN! 

When it comes to BEST DEPLOYING PEOPLE against WHAT THE BUSINESS NEEDS, most employers would admit they’re behind the eight ball. We hire, develop, and attempt to retain talent from a broken supply chain; always reacting, dependent on the weather vane of the talent economy, transactional, and riddled with waste. We don't have a clear line of sight to the talent we DO have - what skills they have or want, what they can do or want to.

What if organizations could future-fit their workforce, strategically and proactively building and equipping workers with the KNOWLEDGE and SKILLS they’ll need to support the growth trajectory of the business? 


Knowledge is power, skills are gold. Guild understands this. 

Take a listen to this special knowledge-filled episode with Lorna Hagen of Guild Education!

Energy and innovation have been bubbling in the HR Tech space for the past few years. What's next? We were thrilled to be joined by one of the most brilliant researchers in the industry to give us the inside scoop. Stacey Harris and Sapient Insights are currently fielding their 25th Annual HR Systems Survey. That’s right, 25 YEARS tracking the evolution of HR systems. You remember what we were using 25 years ago, right? We’ve gone from pushing paper to publishing APIs, graduated from mainframes to the cloud. 

Innovation is catapulting. But it hits different if you’re SMB vs. enterprise…or does it? What applications and vendors are seeing the most adoption and satisfaction, and why? What are the big spending plans? What’s the future of HRIS and Shared Services, and how in the world is HR resourcing everything?

In this episode, Jim Holincheck, Leapgen's VP of Advisory Services, and Jason Averbook welcomed Stacey Harris to the conversation to discuss insights and trends from this year's HR Systems Survey. How can we hone the right use cases to better optimize our workforces in uncertain times?

Take a listen to learn more about this year's HR Systems Survey! 

The conversation around the future of talent: attraction, acquisition and retention strategies, how to be more strategic and proactive around hiring, and how to build a talent pipeline that is sustainable, flexible and diverse - whether your organization is hiring like gangbusters or putting the brakes on, continues...

Molly Weaver, said it best: "My secret behind recruiting the best talent? People over paper. Fresh ideas over process for process’s sake." 

The former head of talent at Children's Mercy Hospital of Kansas City knows what she's talking about. She was responsible for recruiting the best medical, clinical, and research talent in the world to one of the most highly rated children's research hospitals in the country. Molly has endless stories about the creativity required to bring top global talent into flyover country USA in a highly competitive healthcare industry.

This is a conversation you don't want to miss! TAKE A LISTEN! 

"Companies that embrace remote work will replace every company that doesn’t.” This is the hill Chris Herd, CEO of Firstbase will die on, and we can’t find too many reasons to disagree. 

Where does your organization stand? What are the pros, cons, and challenges to making remote work a reality?

Chris just raised his $50M Series B to help power incredible remote work experiences for everyone. TAKE A LISTEN to our conversation on the pros, cons, and challenges of making remote work a reality. 

“The resources in our organization are the PEOPLE, that is what our human resources are.”

The last few years of pandemic life set the stage for both talent and an organization’s People function. The people function is more important than ever before; it’s how we BUILD UP our people. But how we have created opportunities for improvement? How we define the true meaning of HR? IT IS THE PEOPLE.
…AND that sparks the question, how are we taking care of our people? How are organizations shifting their HR mindset? How are we helping organizations reframe what HR really is? No organization should revert backward, pre-pandemic. You must solve for the outlier because then you have really done the work of the true people function.

This is an extremely important and powerful conversation, one that will make you think about your own people function. TAKE A LISTEN!

Meet Will Sealy, Co-Founder & CEO, and Daniel Macklin, President of Summer!

Summer is a certified B Corporation combining innovative technology and policy expertise to serve student loan borrowers across the country. Built by borrowers, for borrowers, Summer provides an end-to-end workplace student loan solution that is proven to reduce employee turnover and guaranteed to save employees thousands by simplifying student loans for everyone.

Summer partners with employers to deliver a tailored benefit that empowers employees to save for education, better manage their student loans, find forgiveness options, and lower monthly payments.  Summer has helped over 148,000 borrowers save an average of $333 per month on their student loan payments and save over $45,000 over the course of repayment. In addition, Summer recently announced $1.15B in total projected savings for members.

Their company has made huge progress since its founding, and continues to make great strides amid a complex and critical landscape.

They covered:

• The scale of student loan debt and college costs crisis. It's not just a “student problem,” but rather one that impacts adults of all ages, and 80% of families in America
• The impact employers can have in the immediate term to help employees’ overall financial wellness by introducing student loan and college cost planning solutions
• The massive potential for employers to boost talent attraction and retention by addressing this critical concern for their workforce

TW // suicide, trauma

This conversation addresses mental illness and attempted suicide. If you or someone you know is suicidal, please contact your physician, go to your local ER, or call the suicide prevention hotline in your country. For the United States, the numbers are as follows:
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or message the Crisis Text Line at 741741. Both programs provide free, confidential support 24/7.

On January 25, 2021, Natasha Bowman attempted suicide. Before this, “The Workplace Doctor” had written a best-selling book, performed a TED Talk, and was about to travel to Indonesia to be honored as one of the World’s Top 30 Management Professionals by Global Gurus. And was when that familiar record scratch happened: COVID-19.

“Other than my career, I felt like I didn’t have anything else to offer this world,” Bowman told HRD. She sunk into a hole some know all too well, others have a hard time understanding.

After Natasha was hospitalized and diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she was ashamed and reclusive. A vibrant presence on LinkedIn with more than 80,000 followers, she went silent on the social media platform. Now she is silent no more. Natasha has made it her life’s work to use her experience and expertise to drive needed change to destigmatize mental health, create mentally healthy workplaces, empower employers and managers to have human conversations and provide accommodation, and go beyond EAP to help employers provide truly meaningful support. 1 in 5 adults suffer from mental illness; it’s time to have the conversation.

Take a listen.

There are lots of opportunities to address perceived talent shortages and close workforce gaps. One big opportunity is tightening up your talent funnel. It’s one thing to attract and engage talent, it’s another to move them elegantly, intelligently, and respectfully through your talent funnel and - hopefully - into your business. And what about those who don’t get hired? Why don’t we keep talking to them about the next or another opportunity? Just ask any sales team worth its salt — a sales team doesn’t reject the sales lead if they aren’t ready to buy. They get nurtured. So why do we cut the relationship with the candidate when they say ‘not yet'? (Nice mic drop, Adam.)

Jason Averbook and Jess Von Bank invited Adam Gordon, Co-Founder of Candidate.ID, and Susan Vitale of iCIMS, to bring fresh #talent perspective to the Now of Work community. 

Listen to their chat about hiring trends, TA tech innovation, what people need in the changing world of work, and consumerizing the talent experience.

How do we really humanize and bring employee experience to life in the #NOWofWork?

More than ever, we need to continue to deliver a positive workforce experience. The devil is in the details: people are more digital, more remote and more distributed than ever before. There is still SO MUCH opportunity to deliver meaningful experience to people wherever they are, however they’re working. 

The question is: how are we delivering to a distributed workforce, and how do we plan to evolve from here?

This episode dives deep into true employee experience with the number #1 employee experience thinker worldwide, Ben Whitter, the Founder & Chief Experience Officer of HEX Organization. If you’re looking to deliver a workforce experience that is BETTER and more HUMAN than ever before, this is an episode you do not want to miss!

What do neurodiverse people need to feel welcome, be treated fairly, and celebrated at work? Often when most think about workplace diversity, race and gender are top of mind. But, please don’t stop there. Between 30-40% of the population are neurodiverse. Neurodiversity, or brain diversity, describes people who think differently. This includes members of the workforce with dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, and autism.

How do we define, understand, and de-stigmatize neurodiversity? JOIN US TODAY as we honor Autism Acceptance Month with a Special Edition Digital Meetup discussing neurodiversity in the workplace. AT 1P ET, Jess and I will speak with a special guest panel that includes: 

-Michael Hofer, Global HR Transformation Executive at SAP and Neurodiversity Advocate

-Jose Velasco, Autism at Work Program Director at SAP

-Silvia Velasquez Casado, MBA/MPA Candidate at MIT Sloan/Harvard Kennedy School: Jobs for the College-Educated Neurodiverse

-Ed Thompson, Founder & CEO of Uptimize, focused on Talent that Thinks Differently 

Thinking differently can mean having a fresh perspective,  a stellar imagination, an uncanny ability to challenge norms, or habits that make you an incredible problem solver or innovator. These are a few of the assets we think about when we imagine equitable workplaces for neurodiverse talent. 

Thanks for listening! 

Joseph Ifiegbu comes to today's Now of Work Digital Meetup with stories to tell: how he discovered HR Analytics, his early days at the forefront of the people analytics movement inside envelope-pushing brands like Snap Inc. and WeWork, his own founder’s story as the CEO of eqtble...Joseph has built a career turning people data into people stories. The goal, after all.

Every good storyteller knows the critical elements of a story: characters, context, hero’s journey, ending. HR Analytics, or using people data for business outcomes, is often missing context, basic data collection, and interpretation. Alas, no good ending. “You can’t connect the dots if you can’t collect the dots!” (Jess Von Bank's favorite thing to say)

On this Digital Meetup, Jess and Jason hear Joseph’s take on collecting and interpreting data stories for workforce insights. Pretty useful stories to have in an employee-driven talent market!

The workplace is supposed to be neutral. "If you work hard you're going to rise, and that's all you need to do is put your head down and work, and all will be ok," Deepa Purushothaman shares before adding, "And I think that's wrong. That sets up a lot of people for struggle." 

For many, the tone of work culture is defined on a peer to peer level and a manager to peer level, which explains why many people are leaving their roles. Oftentimes it boils down to "My manager doesn't get me, doesn't understand, is talking over me," Deepa explains to host Jess Von Bank on our Now of Work podcast. As the Co-Founder of nFormation Deepa Purushothaman is focused on providing safe, brave, and new spaces for women of color at work: 

"Part of my work is talking about how the structure is differentiating and how the structure has its flaws, and it's ok to talk about that. It's important to understand that the experience is different, because if we don't understand it's different, we're not going make it better." 

In this engaging chat, Jess and Deepa not only talk about work structures and systems, they talk about what many women of color are doing after they resign (hint: it's not necessarily moving on to another job), why putting WOC in leadership seats is not always the best solution, why allyship is not enough, and how HR can and should listen--in a different way. Plus, they discuss Deepa's book: The First, The Few, The Only: How Women of Color Can Redefine Power in Corporate America. LISTEN: 

Tune in!

Happy Friday! How would you describe your work week? Need to refuel or get inspired? Want to share your wins or challenges? We are here! Enjoy the transformational power of our community from today's Digital Meetup. 

Our weekly meetups are now over 1500 people strong. Every week, co-host Jess Von Bank and Jason Averbook look forward to connecting with our friends in the HR, HR Tech, and talent acquisition communities.  

People are calling the shots, and we’re calling them differently. Work matters but for different reasons. Joy, inspiration, fulfillment, and human connection finally take a front seat. People want to be SEEN, not managed. They want to deliver VALUE, not performance. They want to be part of something SPECIAL, not a system. 

This is why our weekly meetups are so important. It's about connecting us all; as people—as humans, as a community truly focused on changing work.  

This is one of the most important Digital Meetups that we've hosted to date! Today Jess and Jason have the opportunity to speak with two incredible guests about two major causes that need immediate action and understanding.  

We will start by welcoming Kateryna Kovalevska, Chair of the Ukrainian Association of HR Professionals, to our live broadcast. She has fled her country for safety, and will join us to share stories about what is currently happening in Ukraine, and how we as an HR and HR Tech community can help. “There is no time for doubt...Ukraine needs your help now,” she told us. Here's a few ways:  

1. Show your support for Ukraine by attending protests in your cities.  
2. Press your governments to cancel flights to Russia, to freeze all Russian assets abroad and stop diplomatic and economic affairs.
3. Ask your government to deliver humanitarian aid, financial and military support to Ukraine. Silence is complicity.
4. Sign this petition to close airspace over Ukraine and protect them from bombing:
https://lnkd.in/gAFKiF4x

Kateryna's visit will be followed by Allison Robinson, the founder of The Mom Project, an amazing organization committed to helping women remain active in the workforce at every stage of their journey. 5.4 million women have lost jobs in the pandemic. 2 in 5 of those might never return because often work doesn't WORK for women - especially moms with added challenges and barriers. 

What now? How do we get moms back into the workforce on their terms? The Mom Project is leading the pack when it comes to disrupting the modern workplace so that women don't have to choose between family and career. We'll dive into the work and vision of The Mom Project, their new research, and their RISE program. PLUS, they are hiring HR pros! 

From restoring the dignity and equity of work to working moms to reaching out across the globe, we are reminded every Friday that HR includes HUMAN. Never to be missed, but especially TODAY. We hope to see you soon!

How can we restore sanity at work? Plain and simple—ditch the drama! Foster wellness and collective genius. Sounds simple, right? But can we make it happen given our current work models and business structures? Jess and Jason are excited to talk about this with Cy Wakeman on today's Digital Meetup!

Once referred to as "the secret weapon to restoring sanity in the workplace," Cy is an International Speaker on Leadership and Management, whose clients include organizations like NASA, Google, Bank of America, Cisco, Pfizer, and FedEx. Using her background as a counselor, and love of good mental processes, she also helps improve the workplace as a Drama Researcher. Yes, that's a real role, which she takes seriously and her methods deliver impactful results.

In a new #NowofWork podcast chat with Jess, Cy explains "If we had more adulting at work, we wouldn't have to be so resilient, because part of what kills our resilience is all of the drama and hassle at work."

The New York Times Best-Selling Author will share tips on restoring sanity at work AND give us a sneak peek of her NEW book, available on March 29! It's titled: Life's Messy, Live Happy: Things Don't have to be Perfect for You to Be Content. Cy shared, "I've faced divorce, homelessness, obesity, (grief)—deaths. This is a personal book on the lessons I've learned so far that I'd like to invite people to reflect on."

Pre-order Cy's book here: https://amzn.to/377WzU5

Once referred to as "the secret weapon to restoring sanity in the workplace," Cy Wakeman is not your average leader. The New York Times Best-Selling Author keeps audiences on the edge of their seats as a riveting International Keynote Speaker and Thought Leader on Leadership & Management, and workplaces in check as a Drama Researcher. 

What is a Drama Researcher anyways? And what's drama got to do with work? A LOT, Cy explains in a fascinating chat with our Now of Work podcast host, Jess Von Bank. "If we had more adulting at work, we wouldn't have to be so resilient, because part of what kills our resilience is all of the drama and hassle at work," Cy shares. Using her background as a counselor, and love of good mental processes Cy was once asked to get emotional waste our of the workplace, and she hasn't stopped since. Her clients include organizations like NASA, NBC Universal, Viacom, CDC, Google, Facebook, Bank of America, Cisco, Pfizer, and FedEx. 

"I saw how (companies) celebrated if we saved like one minute of time in a process, and you multiply that by 100 a day; and WOW, we've got a big breakthrough...I thought if we taught people how the world works and how the mind works, and use good mental processes, we could eliminate hours of emotional waste every single day and make the work at hand more effortless." 

Cy and Jess cover a good amount of ground in their chat, including topics like:

-Communication and miscommunication at work
-Employee wellness: Who should be responsible for it, the employer or employee?
-What happens when organizations meet evolved individuals?
-How organizations can be better designed to collaborate, foster collective genius, and remove hassle

LISTEN TODAY  & JOIN US THIS FRIDAY as we welcome Cy Wakeman to our Digital Meetup to talk about restoring sanity in the workplace, and her NEW BOOK: Life's Messy, Live Happy: Things Don't have to be Perfect for You to Be Content.

Pre-order Cy's book here: https://amzn.to/377WzU5

John Land, a Partner at Mercer, is an experienced HR & Workforce Transformation and Global Rewards & Recognition Practice Leader/Consultant with a demonstrated history of building and leading transformative HR functions; including program/process/organization design, technology enablement, upskilling, and performance improvement. He is skilled in mergers and acquisitions (due diligence through integration/standup), HR digital transformation, and building highly effective teams. John is passionate about leveraging technology to drive employee and organization innovation and improve customer outcomes by creating people-centric experiences.

David Landman, an HR executive with 20+ years of experience driving business performance by enabling people to be their best selves at work. David is passionate about supporting the visionary founders, investors and innovators who are redefining what it means to thrive in the workplace and he is a prominent leader in the HR executive, startup and venture capital community. 

Based on John Land's client experience as a Total Rewards practice leader at Mercer, coupled with David Landman's role running Talent programs at Goldman Sachs and now advising startups on their value and position in the evolving landscape of people and work, what is our current thinking about TALENT and ORGANIZATIONAL strategy? How do we think about keeping people (important) and keeping them happy (big difference)? 

There's a big shift in HR Tech. The solutions are no longer about HR, they are about work, life, people — how we function and thrive. HR is learning how to better leverage technology to not only manage the workforce but to deliver learning, skills, holistic wellbeing, collaboration, and leadership. In other words, HR tech is becoming LIFE tech, in the flow of work. And the investments are only getting bigger. 

George LaRocque, Founder of WorkTech, joins this week’s Digital Meetup following his HRTech Conference keynote. In a market with almost $18B in VC investment, more than 21,000 vendors, and 30 brand new unicorns, what’s driving innovation? How do you cut through this kind of noise and build a business case for the right investment? 

In Jason's Spotlight Session at HR Tech this week, he explained that solutions require prioritization, sequencing, and roadmapping. We have to connect PEOPLE to PURPOSE — or the solutions don’t matter! When you think about any investment you're making...you need to ask, are you doing this with purpose? The only real reason people think that purpose is soft is because they are uncomfortable with what it might reveal.

We dig into it all on TODAY'S SPECIAL HR TECH WRAP EDITION of our Digital Meetup.

Online~REGISTER here: http://bit.ly/35qB28h

There’s lots to celebrate, and also a lot to hold each other accountable for in today's workforce. You may have remember seeing a lot of organizations make public pledges, commitments and investments to diversity, equity and inclusion programs in 2020. While the intention to diversify work may be good, the real question is has there been progress? Did organizations follow through on their commitment, were programs developed? Do these programs or initiatives have sticking power in an ever-evolving workforce? During today's week's Digital Meetup, we'll take a deeper look.

Today, Jess and Jason are excited to host leaders who are voices of hope, inclusion, diversity, and humanizing work to discuss DEI proof, progress and accountability. We'll unpack this important #NowofWork topic during a Special 90-minute live chat with leaders who you may have seen on past meetups, but never together in this sure to be dynamic panel setting:

-Torin Ellis, Speaker/ Founder/Advisor

-Jackye Clayton of Textio

-Shaun Peet  and Michael Metcalf Jr. of NASCAR and DECK Leadership.

Have a great listen!

Why are people leaving their jobs in droves? It's the top question asked since the start of The Great Resignation. Many answers have been given, but this one sticks. "The focus of manager has been put on the work, not on the people that create the work, who deliver the results...Everyone is just trying to manage the work, then they wonder why people are leaving?" Heather Polivka, of Awesome People Leaders, told our Jess Von Bank.

In a new #NowofWork podcast chat, the CEO shares why she believes that better trained managers hold the key to retention, the difference between being a manager and a people leader, and why great workers don't innately become great managers. Jess and Heather also talk about the importance of adjusting the traditional business mindset that people are replaceable, and how Awesome People Leaders acts as a resource for small and medium sized businesses who are struggling to make sense of the mass employee exodus. 

If you're looking to pump up employee engagement and retention, you'll want to TUNE IN to this conversation.

Now over 16,000 people strong, TODAY our Now of Work community will celebrate something special. It's our 100th Digital Meetup! 

Our weekly meetups started off as live Q&A chats designed to help leaders navigate work during an unprecedented time. Now, they include an ever-rotating, ever-lively lineup of HR & HR Tech industry guests, including Josh Bersin, Ben Brooks, Jackye Clayton and more. 

For today's Special 100th Meetup, we're thrilled to welcome a dynamic guest, Marcus Buckingham! The globally renowned workplace expert and the author of two of the best-selling business books of all time, chats with Jess Von Bank and Jason Averbook. He gives us a sneak peek at his NEXT book, LOVE + WORK, coming in April. LOVE + WORK helps us discover where we are at our best — both at work and in life. His premise is based on one core belief we can get behind here at Leapgen: Love has been driven out of our workplaces, and we need to get it back in.

JOIN Marcus, Jess Von Bank, and Jason Averbook, along with a special musical guest, The Brothers Koren, who toured with Coldplay, Pink and Rod Stewart. 

We’re celebrating community, all of you, LOVE + WORK, and our 100th live broadcast. Thanks for listening!

We might overcomplicate a few things - like feedback. You know, how a message is received. How leadership communication is distilled and delivered. Leadership, communication, culture, and organizational behavior CAN BE complicated, and it’s only by breaking it down it becomes intentional, impact-driving, and insightful.

We break it down through signals. Signals are what makes feedback real-time, relevant, and actionable. Authentic leadership really isn’t possible without truly listening to signals. But how do we signal-and-response at scale? In distributed work environments? In diverse and cross-functional teams? As a true habit? 

Feedback loops can be powered by tech so that positive behaviors can be reinforced, dissonance addressed, and psychological safety better supported. In this episode, Jason and Jess chat with James Kelley at qChange, about cutting down the leadership lag, leveraging signals and real-time feedback through technology, and creating authentic leadership in today’s Now of Work.

A lot of employees are leaving their roles because they don't feel seen. They don't feel like they're getting help with career development or growth, or able to harness connections.

Workhuman is on a mission to change that. As their wonderful brand name suggests, when working with clients they lean deeper into the individual experience, whether it has to do with a person's job role, or not. 

We're so excited to share this episode as Jess Von Bank chats with Workhuman's Rosette Cataldo who lays out what a human-centered organization is all about, and how they're winning at business in the new world of work. Jess and Rosette dig into the business of gratitude and who benefits from it, what it looks like when someone brings their whole self to work, freely-without judgement, and how to cultivate a supportive work culture that recognizes the direct correlation between wellbeing, recognition, and performance. 

"What many don't realize is that (gratitude) actually reduces stress. Lots of data shows that when you give gratitude, we call it 'Vitamin G,' you can actually reduce stress. Who doesn't want less stress?"

We couldn’t help but notice an exciting launch this week. Spotlyfe, we see you! In fact, we hope this keeps trending; show us more solutions employers can offer employees *right now* to help in this post-pandemic work environment. It’s about time we humanize work by truly seeing the people stepping up to do it every day.

It’s really up to CEOs/Chief People Officers/CHROs to SAVE people or watch them GO. The Great Resignation doesn’t have to impact you like it does your competition if you step up, meet people where they are, offer help, and provide basic resources to help people thrive at work and in life.

That's why we’re so excited to see our friends Josh Schwede, Scott Fowle, Tara Cooper and their team bring something fresh and innovative to market. We’re not even calling it HR Tech; this is a way to help the people you employ WIN AT LIFE.

Our relationship to work has shifted from “work for me or die,” to the power of a collective voice, to individual employees gaining power to meet their own needs, with managers as their co-pilots.

In this economy, fulfillment is the ultimate KPI, and building collective purpose serves to create connections between diverse populations in organizations through mutual paths forward.

In this episode, our host, Jess Von Bank, welcomes Aaron Hurst, foremost global expert on the science of purpose and fulfillment at work. In 2014, Aaron brought global awareness to the rise of history’s fourth economic era, the Purpose Economy. At the core of it is this concept that purpose-driven work is here to stay.

TUNE IN for their fascinating conversation about the PURPOSE OF WORK

Happy Friday! We've got a great chat lined up for you on today's Digital Meetup, and an opportunity for you to learn how to redesign work in 2022.

Jess and Jason are excited to preview FUEL, our 2022 kickoff event for HR, work tech, and people that takes flight on Monday! 'The Year of the Human,' is the theme for our 2-day digital experience. Jason will deliver the opening keynote about the HUMAN side of work, and our team of consultants will lead sessions designed to help you revolutionize work in 2022. Whether your organization is transforming employee experience, tech or operating models, you'll hear the best strategies from our expert team, crafted to make this year your best one yet!

REGISTER FOR FUEL—JAN. 24-25: HERE: bit.ly/3rT21m2
SPECIAL GUEST: Madeline Laurano, Founder of Aptitude Research, will also join today's meetup to talk about the role of tech in solving organizations' hiring challenges and why so many recruiters are joining The Great Resignation. We're excited to dive in with Madeline, a friend of Leapgen, to unpack more about current recruiting technology best practices and market trends.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT HERE: http://bit.ly/2LoMGn4

Every family caregiver you know is so over it. Juggling work, life, distance learning, Covid closures and exposures, Covid itself, their own wellbeing, running a household, staying sane. It’s a lot!  

Let’s not forget about informal caregivers, elder care, and all of you in a caregiving arrangement of some kind without even realizing it. There’s no training or preparation for caregiving. We just do it. 

In the last two years, caregiving has become a global conversation at macro and micro levels. It affects our economy, our wellbeing, and how we live. There is so much humanity in it. People doing incredible things for those they love; more than they think they can.

There’s a lot we can do to help make the life of a caregiver easier, including at work. We are so happy to welcome TODAY'S special conversation with Susan Van Klink, full-time Chief Revenue and Chief Diversity Officer at Grokker, AND full-time caregiver. 

Thanks for tuning in

Michael Kannisto runs a think tank called MindemicLab, which utilizes scenario planning, wargame simulation, and predictive modeling to help organizations develop strategies that will be effective across multiple possible futures.

Michael began his career as a research chemist, but quickly realized that while molecules always act predictably and consistently, people rarely do. He has spent much of his career in corporate Human Resources exploring the uncertainty that comes along with having humans in the workplace. Large, successful, well-funded organizations frequently experience failure when purchasing technology or implementing new policies. This is mainly the result of unanticipated changes that occur along the way. Michael started MindemicLab as a resource to help others “rehearse” alternative futures, and thus increase their likelihood of success.

Prior/ongoing work in this area includes deep dives into The Future of Work, The Future of Early Career Recruiting and The Future of Disability.

• Plastic Love by Mayiya Takeuchi
• Virtual HR Technology Conference

Everyone is talking about the business of change and transformation. What does it take to get an organization from point A to B during these changing times? How can you turn #NowofWork challenges into solutions? Curiosity is the common denominator, or as Dr. Diane Hamilton says, "Be willing to break things."   

Our Jess Von Bank had a fascinating chat with Dr. Hamilton, the CEO of Tonerra, about the role of curiosity at work, on our latest Now of Work podcast. Tonerra is a consulting firm that helps improve an organization's success by leveraging emotional intelligence, engagement, and curiosity for business success.   

They explore what keeps people from being curious, why it's imperative to transformation work, how to cultivate curiosity in leaders, and why being willing to break things is one of the best approaches to take with work, right now.

The new year is here, and the urgency to transform work has never felt stronger. The Now of Work comes with new sets of rules, discoveries, and challenges. We can't wait to dive in! 

Jess Von Bank and Jason Averbook are excited to host Leapgen's first Digital Meetup of 2022. JOIN US as we talk about the 10 Key Themes in the Now of Work. We'll preview FUEL, our 2022 digital kickoff event for HR, work tech, and people on January 24-25. The 2-day digital event is designed to inspire and motivate the transformation of work.

If you want to make an impact this year when it comes to humanizing work and maximizing business value, don't miss today's meetup or FUEL! 

LET US show you how to put people at the center of your digital transformation, technology, and change initiatives in the Now of Work.

As we step into 2022, we can't help but think about baggage that we can leave behind in 2021. What can we carry forward into the new year to fuel positive transformation, change, and innovation at work?   

Jess Von Bank, our Now of Work podcast host, was thrilled to dig into this topic with Cheryl Cran. The author, keynote speaker, and founder of NextMapping, is all about helping leaders put their people first. Nextmapping is a consulting company that leverages key strategies to help people navigate the Now of Work.   

As digital transformation evangelists, we LOVE their mission to: Automate the mundane, to innovate the humane. They believe that leaders and employees have more control to when it comes to being future-ready than they may know. It takes looking under the hood for patterns that will best serve us in our lives and our work.   

Want to shake off the dust from 2021 and move forward with purpose in 2022? LISTEN to our first podcast of the new year to help you design a year filled with impact, on your terms.

“We’re getting to the point where companies are getting more and more uncomfortable with all the technology available to them. Will someone build a better mousetrap that will just explode again?” We loved Larry Dunivan’s brilliant take on the NOW of Work.

The CEO of Namely, an HR, Payroll, and Benefits platform, pulls no punches during his chat with Jess Von Bank on our NOW of Work podcast. They dive into topics like: What happens next as we usher in the 4th wave of #HRTech? Whose job is people and culture and why does an HR leader own diversity? And the idea of solving HR problems that should be business problems. 

Interesting stuff!

Employees care, and they want to work for employers who care...About the world around them, that is. Philanthropy belongs in the employee experience conversation as we continue to blur the line between work and life, and take a whole person approach to designing work around people.  

Social giving and social impact are more important than ever as we wrap a year of lingering chaos, market turbulence, persistent change, and ETERNAL HOPE. We love that GIVING BACK is working its way into conversations around culture, employee wellbeing, employee experience, and workforce benefits.  

In this episode we dive into this topic on our LAST Digital Meetup of 2021. Alex Zea, Leapgen Client Partner, joins Jason Averbook as co-host. We're excited to welcome One Donation to talk about EMPLOYEE GIVING.   

We hope you’ll join us with your most festive self as we GIVE THANKS.

When your job is to attract the world’s best talent to spur company growth, it requires that your company become irresistible to talent, who have tons of  choices in what's become the tightest global talent market we’ve seen in decades. 

Enter Andrew Saidy. He leads Global Talent Acquisition for Ubisoft, a French video game company. In our new Now of Work podcast episode, he explains what it takes to be a company  that's irresistible to talent. He tells our host, Jess Von Bank, that companies must consider new ways of working, provide internal mobility options so people don’t stagnate and leave, and develop or restate an Employer Value Proposition that really means something in our evolving world of work. 

Andrew also has a thing or two to say about leading in the next era of business, and there’s ONE BIG THING he’ll carry with him into 2022. What is it? 

Take a listen.

22 days left until we greet 2022, and we've got some BIG, BOLD questions when it comes to the world of work. They include: Will the talent crisis turn around? How will employee power continue to manifest itself? Will this be a year that a robot sits on a Board of Directors? 

No one better to answer these questions than James McQuivey. He's built a long career deep inside Forrester Research. He’s also the author of Digital Disruption, and his change models are being used to consider the next wave of innovation in the Future of Work. We had a fascinating chat with him on this week's Now of Work podcast, and we continue that conversation on today's digital meetup.

If you haven't had a chance to listen to our podcast with James McQuivey, check it out here: https://bit.ly/304eist

Tune in for more great content weekly. 

How do companies exploit the economics of digital disruption? Did we see this pandemic-fueled talent crisis coming, and how will employee power continue manifesting itself? How long until a robot sits on a Board of Directors?

We had an opportunity to ask James McQuivey these BIG, BOLD QUESTIONS on our newest Now of Work podcast. James has built a long career at Forrester Research, he’s also the author of Digital Disruption, and his change models are being used to consider the next wave of innovation in the Future of Work.

This is one of the most fascinating podcast conversations we've ever had! Hear James' answers to our host Jess Von Bank's BIG BOLD QUESTIONS. He also makes TWO GIANT PREDICTIONS FOR THE WORLD OF WORK in 2022, and Jess asks him if we’ll FIX PAY in our lifetimes. You don't want to miss this one.

WE CAN'T WAIT TO DIVE INTO THIS CONVERSATION FURTHER ON THIS WEEK'S DIGITAL MEETUP! JOIN US ON FRIDAY,  DECEMBER 10 AT 1P EST AS our Jess and Jason UNPACK THESE BIG, BOLD QUESTIONS WITH James McQuivey, our special guest. 

REGISTER: bit.ly/2LoMGn4

How do today’s business leaders leverage HR Technology to help people work more efficiently? Stacey Harris is the Chief Research Officer and Managing Partner of Sapient Insights Group, where she oversees their industry research work including the esteemed Annual HR Systems Survey and White Paper, now in its 24th year. No one knows more about the VAST OPPORTUNITIES of technology to add value to the HR function, to business, and to PEOPLE who stand to work better. In fact, she wrote a book about it! 

Jess Von Bank and Jason Averbook have a great chat with Stacey about the evolution of HR Technology, how HR and IT can better organize themselves around common transformation goals, and measuring impact on business.

PLUS: Here are a few good references for today's chat with Stacey: 

-Sapient Insights Group: 2021-2022 HR Systems Whitepaper: https://bit.ly/3daofro

-Stacey's book: Introduction to HR Technologies: Understand How to Use Technology to Improve Performance and Processes:  https://amzn.to/3rzBE4y

Mo Hamzian knows the same thing an MIT professor recently declared: traditional office working is dead. The 9-6, too. In fact, stop calling work labor and learn to love what you do.   

Our host, Jess Von Bank, jumped right up on her talent soapbox to challenge employers everywhere: the pandemic gave people permission to put themselves first, and the first thing they want is an employer who has their backs. Who recognize they want choice and flexibility when it comes to how, when, and where they work.   

Mo designed a business that does one thing: makes PEOPLE the hero of the work story. Yes, VEL is a business model comprised of inspiring co-working facilities that sell the world’s best coffee. That’s not the real product. The real product is HUMAN EXPERIENCE.  

Which happens to be our favorite thing to talk about on the NOW of Work. Take a listen to Jess Von Bank and Mo Hamzian tell the greatest story of all time: the moment humanity won in a pandemic.

Dr. Amy Dufrane, SPHR, CAE, is the CEO of HRCI, and the founder of HRCI’s sister organization, the HR Standards Institute (HRSI). Amy has spent her career helping businesses maximize their human capital and HR professionals maximize their careers. As HRCI’s top steward, she leads an organization dedicated to assisting more than 500,000 business-leader members around the world who want to enhance their HR and expertise through learning and certification. Amy oversees HRCI’s work to establish international HR standards in partnership with ISO, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and the global community. She is a member of the Wall Street Journal CEO Council, the Economic Club of Washington, DC, and CEO Update’s CEO Roundtable. Through these organizations, she connects regularly with CEOs, CHROs, and other leaders, giving her firsthand knowledge of the workplace changes happening in industries everywhere. Prior to joining HRCI, Amy held CHRO and executive HR leadership roles at organizations in a variety of industries, where she faced issues similar to those confronting the HR professionals she partners with today. She chairs the board for the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, is a director of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence, and serves on the advisory board of Certree and Southern New Hampshire University.

The Now of Work demands transformation, change enablement, growth mindset and innovation. How do people and business leaders get from reactive to proactive, from disaster recovery to thoughtful strategy, from mobilizing to maneuvering?  

Best-selling author and renowned innovation expert Simone Ahuja reveals the secret to winning in a "disrupt or be disrupted" market: innovate from within. She joined Jess Von Bank in our latest episode to explore the disruption of HR, how companies can intentionally and strategically disrupt to innovate, and how creating intrapreneurs within your own organization can drive radical and healthy innovation.

If we’ve learned something in the last 18 months, it’s the power of technology to connect people, not divide them. It doesn’t replace human relationship, but it can help form community, create interaction, drive conversation, fuel experiences. If we do it right. We talk a whole lot about Artificial Intelligence in terms of automation, but is it playing the right role in driving connection and creating cohesive relationship? Or getting in the way?

Phenom People is phenomenal at thinking about the power of AI and technology in forging one of our most significant relationships: WORK. In fact, they’re on a mission to hire and retain 1 BILLION PEOPLE. Can they do it? Will you be part of it?

Get ready for this pretty REAL CONVERSATION TODAY with Cliff Jurkiewicz, Phenom’s VP of Strategy -- including his big, deep, very personal WHY.

Chief Joy Officer. Have you ever heard of a better job title?  

We don’t use the word often enough when it comes to work, job satisfaction, candidate experience, and certainly not when applying for a job.

Symphony Talent's mission is to change that: to bring JOY back to the process of finding, interviewing, and applying for a job. Connecting incredible talent to inspired employers should spark JOY, too. Too often, the job of “processing” candidates (what a terrible word) is taxing, mundane, and duplicative. The whole thing begs for innovation.  

Jess Von Bank was overjoyed to have this podcast chat with Debbie Tuel! The Great Resignation means employers who do a better job finding, hiring, and nurturing available talent will have a massive leg up. In that case, JOY seems like a good goal to have.   

Take a listen to Jess & Debbie on our latest NOW of Work podcast episode.